Mark My Words

36 | Last Shot

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"Oh, fuck," Joanna groaned. "Isn't this just fucking perfect."

Rosalie rose to her feet, slowly, horror seeping into her piece by piece as she watched Juliana run from where she had been blocked off by two of the Lions during the play. With the game on hold, though, Juliana broke away and ran to the goal where one of the referees was talking to an Adams girl—#5. The number alone was enough to fill Rosalie with dread when it had to do with Jade now on the ground.

Coach was at Jade's side when Juliana arrived, crouching low to where Jade blinked, squinting up at the field lights. "Oh, fuck me," Jade groaned, trying to heave herself up off of the ground.

"Easy there, Dalby," Coach said, hand to Jade's shoulder. One of the referees was there, pulling a flashlight from his pocket. He crouched down beside Jade and told Jade to keep her eyes open. Coach held open Jade's eyelid through it before at last shutting the flashlight off and giving Jade one of her dismal, solemn expressions.

Jade put a hand to the swelteringly red spot on her temple.

"It's a concussion?" Juliana said. "Not again..."

"Are your parents here?" the ref asked. Jade muttered something along the lines of affirmation, dropping her hand over her eyes.

"Juliana, help Jade off the field. We need to get her checked out," Coach said. Juliana nodded, and with the ref's help, they got Jade to her feet. A sizable bump began to swell on her head.

Adams had two points on them, and as Rosalie stood with her toes on the sideline's white paint, Coach returned, eyes ablaze and honed in on Joanna sitting on the bench beside Lu. Lu squeaked in terror, clasping onto Brynn as Coach came up to them with the intent of dragging Joanna onto the field whether she liked it or not.

"I'm not going out there without Rosalie," Joanna said.

"Tough shit, Spencer. Gloves on."

Joanna stood, eyes never leaving Coach's. Rosalie stared at her, silently begging that she comply, but the silence that followed lasted long enough for the referee to show up and demand to know what the issue was. She listened to the sound of the audience talking amongst themselves and staring in their direction when Joanna bent down, picked up her gloves, and silently agreed to be in the game.

Before Joanna could get past the sidelines, though, Rosalie caught her by the sleeve and tugged her back. "Don't ruin this," Rosalie said. Joanna blinked, and for a split second, Rosalie was convinced that Joanna hadn't heard her. "We can still get to State, at least. Seattle doesn't matter right now."

"Yes it does," Joanna said.

Rosalie sucked in a deep breath and shook her head. "Don't do this," she wanted to say, but couldn't. Joanna pulled away and went to the field with the referee behind her. The ref said something to her as they approached the penalty box, and Rosalie hoped Alyssa had the good sense to listen in, if only to tell Rosalie later. The look on Joanna's face said it was not what she wanted to hear.

The instant the game was back in motion, Rosalie's anxiety skyrocketed. She stood beside Brynn, who couldn't be contained to her seat either, and together they watched Alyssa square off against a Lion near the penalty box. Rosalie looked from the ball to Joanna, who was just past the goalpost. She knew Joanna's tricks by now, and being out of the goal in the free space of the penalty box was not how she played, especially not when the ball was far off near the sideline. At close quarters, Joanna risked stepping out of the goal, but not like this.