Because of You, Well, Us

Chase

I had to play well that night. Then, after my team won, we would celebrate, Kate would come over to me, maybe give me a hug saying how great I had played and maybe I would kiss her a little. Or maybe losing would end up better. I could kiss her because I'm depressed or something. Not that I had planned it or anything.

Something told me it wouldn't go as I wanted it to with this light throbbing in my side. Forget about it, I had to play. I would have to just man up and play. I probably wasn't breathing right because of nerves or something

Tossing my cleats in my bag, I yelled that I was leaving to my parents. Taking a few deep breaths, I headed for the park. The stupid thought of kissing Kate haunted me again. But it wasn't me who pushed it away this time, but the pain in my side. I had forgotten to take painkillers before the game, so I just ticked the pain off as a side stitch again and took a few deep breaths to cure it. When I started running around, it would go away.

I forgot about everything when I got to the park. I could only think about winning the game for Kate, as stupid as it may sound, and having an excuse to kiss her.

Just before the game, I stripped off my shirt and glanced in Kate's direction. Yep, I had her attention. I smiled and waved in her direction. It made her blush. Laughing to myself, I turned back to my bag and tossed my shirt on it. Just then, the thought of kissing her wasn't so haunting and annoying anymore.

Despite how close soccer season we played, the game got rougher than usual. Skins pulled ahead three nothing, and although no one had gotten seriously injured, more than one close call had happened. Seeing how I could score, I ran to steal the ball from Andy Stols, one of the shirts. Running into Andy knocked me to the ground, and the pain in my side hadn't gotten any better with running. If anything, it had gotten worse. I felt way hotter than I should have. I hadn't played very hard. Not to mention I felt like I could blow chunks all over the field.

No matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get up without it killing me. They had stopped the game because I was still flat on my back and screaming. I saw Kate running over to me. Score. She put a hand on my bare shoulder and blushed. Score number two. My whole screaming and half-crying thing? Took both of those points away.

"It's okay Chase, your mom's on the way. I know it hurts, but it will all be over soon. Just keep it together for a few more minutes. It's okay, Chase." She kept one hand on my shoulder, the other stroking my face.

She kept talking, "It's okay Chase, and there's your mom. Andy and I are going to get you up now, okay?" I nodded, and then screamed as they hauled me up. I felt like such a pansy.

Andy and Kate half-dragged me to the car. I felt it bend and sway as mom drive to the hospital. The pain must have knocked me out or something because the next thing I knew, I felt a little poke, and then nothing at all.