VIRAGO

erstwhile

erstwhile (adj.) - for one time, at a time

Her first full day of classes went surprisingly well. Her English classes with Ms. Gordon were the best, and she was glad she took the all year class, even though she was not required to.

"I'll see you in a bit, right?" Ms. Gordon asked her as the final bell for the day rang, and they all stood up to leave. Samantha looked up and smiled, nodding.

"That is if you're still planning on making it, then yes." She responded as she put her laptop in the bag and hiked it onto her shoulder.

"I've got to print some copies for tomorrow but then I'll be over. Good luck." She told her with a flashy smile, and she gave her one right back. Since it was a home game, she was dressed down in a pair of leggings, her Vans, and her away jersey. She left her hair down since she would just have to redo it when it came to game time anyways. She walked out of her classroom and made her way to the front parking lot so she could drive around, getting caught in the little after school traffic there was before turning into the parking lot of the stadium behind the school. She parked in her spot and grabbed her speaker and soccer bag, heading into the locker room to get ready. She was usually one of the first people there, so she quickly changed so the guys would not have to worry about her privacy. She hooked up her speaker and played their game day playlist, changed quickly into her uniform, and wore her traditional tournament long sleeve she wore before every game. She never wore her jersey to warm up in, it was one of her superstitions.

As she did her hair, the guys trickled into the locker room and she gave them their privacy, more out of respect than anything. None of them cared, they were a team of guys that knew a lot about one another and were tight. They jammed out to the music before they made their way out to the field to get loosened up and warm up. The athletic director went ahead and played their game day playlist over the loudspeakers, the clean version of course, and they went through their warmup routines. The stands had started to fill up and she was glad that they would finally have a decent crowd to play in front of, now that school was in session.

The referee blew the whistle for captains and she and Nash headed over to the sideline to do the coin toss. The other team picked heads, and it landed on tails, so the home team chose to switch sides. They would rather start the second half with the wind with them instead of against them, just in case they were down. They lined up on the sideline for the national anthem, then they stayed lined up for the teams to be introduced. They announced the away team first, the Pirates clapping in sync after each player was called, then they were all called, Samantha Reed being first. She high fived Coach Wallace and fist bumped the coaches from the other team, waved to the crowd and turned as Nash was called behind her. As he ran towards her they jumped and high fives in the air, and as each player came up the were opposites, so they would start with a jump up with her then would do a low five to Nash and so on.

Eventually Reed stood in her goal, leaping up and tapping the cross bar before the whistle blew. The wind was not awfully strong, but it came in gusts, which their opponent used to their advantage. They were able to get the ball up the field quite early, catching the defense off guard and then chasing backward. They were almost in one on one with her, but Nash had come in for a sliding tackle to at least get the ball out to the sides. Nick was waiting for it and passed it back to her while their forward was still charging at her. She quickly got to the ball before the forward did, but he was still coming at her, and she just made a little move to break his ankles and she passed it up for Bill. Nash fist bumped her for the cheeky move as they pushed back up. Their half was pretty back and forth, both teams getting a chance or two on net before heading into the half scoreless. They went down to the corner flag and sat, rehydrating as they talked about the half and what they needed to do.