Kickstart My Heart

VII: Playing for Keeps

I woke up to the blaring of my phone alarm in my ear. I didn't by any means want to get up. I had spent Saturday and Sunday ignoring my phone every time it went off and with my bedroom door shut. The only times I left my room were to go to the bathroom and I had only eaten once. I was just in one of those moods where nothing really mattered but the music pulsing from my headphones. After throwing my covers off I hastily got dressed before heading downstairs to start making breakfast.

Phoebe came stampeding down the stairs as usual and she surprisingly sat very patiently while the eggs cooked. I got her a glass of orange juice with her eggs while I just ate a slice of toast. When Marissa came downstairs she gave me one dirty look before taking a seat at the table without a word to me or our little sister.

"You ready for today's game," I finally asked her as I set a plate down in front of her.

"Why wouldn't I be," she grumbled, taking a bite of the eggs.

"You just haven't been acting like yourself lately."

"Mind your own business," Marissa snapped before storming back to her room and slamming the door shut.

Phoebe looked at me with a worried gleam in her eyes, causing me to force a reassuring smile.

"Let's get you ready for school," I said gently.

----

Raining, yet again; the weather only served to make me even more excited for this game. I got off the bus, following the coach and the other two team captains. As the game went on, we weren't playing as well as we should have. About two minutes before half time I had the ball and was headed for the other end of the field. We were up by two but the team we were playing wasn't letting up even a bit.

I pointed and shouted, getting Ashley's attention. She was a fellow senior, team captain and a good friend. We had played on the same team since we were young, so we always played in sync together. I kicked the ball to her and kept moving down the field, keeping an eye on where Ashley was with the ball. Finally, the other team's defense slipped even just a little bit leaving me with just enough of an opening to take a shot. Ashley saw it and was able to get the ball headed in my direction, but her kick was off just a bit. The ball soared high but I knew I could still try. I jumped and twisted my body, one of my legs curling up over my back and connecting with the ball.

I heard a cry of pain and then a roar of excitement from my team's sideline right before I felt a body collide with mine while I was still in the air. All of this happened in just one second. My body crashed into the soaking wet grass, a huff of air rushing from my lungs. I could only lay there, breathless for a moment before finally pushing myself up. Ashley was lying on her back holding her ankle and crying out in pain. My coach was already rushing to her side, calling for a timeout as he went. At this point I stayed down on one knee, silently praying to myself that Ashley was okay.

Deep down I knew though that she wasn't okay, she was a tough girl, she would have gotten up by now if it wasn't serious.

"Marissa! You're in, let's go," the coach said as we all returned to the sideline, watching as Ashley was carted off the field by the paramedics who had been on stand by since the game had started.

I could barely keep the surprise off my face though as the coach made the announcement. Mari nodded, shooting a smug look in my direction.

The game dragged on, but somehow we won. Don't ask how because I couldn't to this day tell you how. Marissa played fairly well with the Varsity girls but she had still struggled a bit. My younger sister just didn't have the same flow with the rest of the girls as Ashley had. When the team finally started the long bus ride home, I sat at the back and stuck my headphones in letting myself get lost in the music as I had been for the past few days.