Sorry for the lack of romantic stuff, as some of you have voiced,
You want to see Alex & Liz kiss.
This chapter will have kissing. *snickers*
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Our month was up, and the long anticipated match between Westgreen had arrived. They were playing on our turf, Everfield Academy’s soccer field and we had more support as the students need not travel to another location. We had been undergoing intensive training, putting in our blood, sweat and tears into this, foregoing our studies sometimes to get in some extra practice. We could see the improvements in the team, and I had been promoted to vice captain.
Our goalkeeper, Jackson, had a much faster reaction time now, able to save goals at the last minute. Our team’s defense had become much better, the balls usually not entering the penalty area. Our attackers scored goals with more efficiency and accuracy. My friendship with Alex was closer than ever. As captain and vice-captain, we had to work closely to plan our strategies. Furthermore, as centre forward and striker, we had to understand each other better and coordinate our movements.
We were prepared, but so was Westgreen. Alex had been putting in two hundred percent of his effort into this game. He wanted to win this very badly, for Bradley. I would see him coming into the dining hall during dinner, still in his football clothes, drenched in perspiration. We all knew he had been practicing. The rest of us, especially me, would offer to accompany him. I would leave slightly earlier to shower, but he would just go directly for dinner after practice.
Hours and hours had been spent on preparation for this game. We cannot lose.
We will not lose.
The day of the Finals showed good weather conditions. The sun was not too hot, and the wind had a pleasant cooling effect. I was lacing up my shoes twenty minutes prior to the game when someone called me.
“LIZ! Over here!” It was Alex.
I jogged over to the guys where Alex was holding the game ball.
“We’ve got a tradition at Everfield. Everyone has to kiss the ball for luck. Especially you. We could use your birthday luck.” He grinned.
“I chop the spot where Liz kisses the ball!” Daniel shouted.
“No way! I want it!”
“Back off!”
“I’ve got dibs!”
“Guys! Liz will kiss the ball last.” Alex commanded.
“Alex, Alex, Why do you always have to spoil the fun?” Daniel sighed.
“Just kiss it already, before I decide to smear it with mud.”
After Alex passed the ball to me, I used my index fingers to hold up the ball some distance from my face.
“EWW. Gross!” My face scrunched up in disgust, “What did you guys do? Lick the ball?”
“Woof woof.” Daniel laughed.
“Do I really have to do this?” I shuddered.
“Yup!” The guys chorused.
Gingerly, I pressed my lips to the driest spot on the ball that I could find. Pulling me head back quickly, I tossed the moist ball to Alex.
“Uggh. I need to go boil my lips now. That was so yucky.”
“Glad you liked it.” Alex chuckled. “Speaking of which, we’ve got something else for you.”
“What?” I asked suspiciously. They better not be up to some silly prank, or they are so doomed.
Daniel reached into his back pack and pulled out a velvet box, raising it to my face.
“For you, the charming, the talented, the wonderful, the mind-blowing, the sexy-”
“Dan. Just give it her already. You shouldn’t be hitting on his girlfriend.” Jackson reprimanded.
Alex’s head and mine instantly snapped to Jackson, “Whose girlfriend?” we both demanded.
“I didn’t say anything about a girlfriend, did I guys?” Jackson looked at us innocently.
The rest of the team murmured in agreement with Jackson while Daniel placed the box in my hand.
“It’s not a ring or anything is it?”
“Yes, it is!” Daniel mocked, “Liz, will you marry me?”
I rolled my eyes and Alex stomped on his foot.
“Ignore him, Liz. Just open the box.”
I nodded, and gently lifting the lid, nestled in the cushion was a silver bracelet. I took it out and saw three pendants on it. One was a silver arrow-in-the-heart charm with ‘Liz’ engraved on it. The second was a soccer ball, and the third was a heart with the picture of the football team, excluding me, on it.
“Wow.”
“Happy sweet sixteenth birthday, Liz.” Alex grinned lopsidedly, one corner of his mouth pulled up.
“Thanks so much, guys. How can I ever repay you?” I whispered, my eyes still fixed on the picture of them.”
“Well, for starters, you could wear that bracelet wherever you go, so that a piece of is always with you. We bugged it you know, it has a camera so that we can spy on you, so make sure you wear it even when bathing. I also wouldn’t mind if you a miniskirt again, then you could go on another date with us. An unlimited supply of kisses from you would also be awesome-”
“Dan, shut up. It’s a gift, which by the way, I assure you has zero spy cameras. There’s nothing to repay.” Alex cut him off. “But if you really want to make it up to us, score us some goals.” He grinned.
“Totally! We’re gonna win this! Right guys? Westgreen’s going down!”
“YEAH! SCORE US SOME GOALS LIZ!” The team cheered.
“You too, Alex!” Daniel reminded.
“For Bradley! Let’s show Trevor who’s boss!”
“WHOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!! GO EVERFIELDERS!” The team whooped.
“Now get onto that field!” I ordered, jabbing my finger in the direction of the field.”
“Yes, ma’am!” The saluted, like soldiers.
“Wait!” I paused.
“I haven’t thanked you guys properly yet!” I continued.
Smiling mischievously, I stood on my tiptoes and kissed each of the guys one by one on the cheek, shocking them.
“WOAH, Liz totally kissed me!”
“I bet she kissed me the longest!”
“I knew she couldn’t resist the Gregster!”
“Can I get another one?”
“That was hot stuff, girl!”
“How about one on the lips, Liz?”
“Get yourselves on the field NOW!” I directed.
Now I was left with Alex.
“Too bad Coach isn’t here. This is the match of the season.” Alex commented casually.
“Yeah, Mrs. Keel picked an awesome time to go into labour.” I hesitated. What are you waiting for? Peck him on the cheek and get yourselves on the field! There’s only five minutes left!”
I took a deep breath, stood on my tiptoes, and kissed him affectionately on both cheeks, unlike the others where I gave them one. He blushed deeply, the colour matching the miniskirt I was forced to wear. My lips burned where it had come into contact with his cheeks.
“I’m never washing my face again.” He joked.
I laughed a little, then said to him more seriously, “Alex, …thank you for being the one who trusted me. Thanks for passing me the ball that day with Glendale, even though more experienced team mates like Daniel were quite unguarded as well. If you hadn’t done that, I would be here right now and everything. You guys would probably still hate me right now.”
“Liz, I have never hated you, and I’m sorry if I ever made you feel that way.”
I kept silent and looked down at the grass as the blood rushed to my cheeks.
“Bradley would have been proud to be your team mate. He would have liked to know you. I’m lucky that I do.” He whispered, his voice cracked with emotion.
“TWEET!” The referee blew his whistle, signaling for us to get on the field. The guys from our team were looking at us, their expressions unreadable and they exchanged knowing glances at each other.
We lined up in a neat row, team facing team, and traditionally shook hands with our opponents. I flexed my fingers, and as I predicted, all of the Westgreen players attempted to crush my hands, but I was prepared. I gripped their hands firmly and squashed them back. When Trevor reached me, he raised his middle finger at me, hissing “You bitch, you’re going to regret that day. May the best man win, and I think we all know who that is.”
I sneered, using my right hand to slash across my neck, warning him that he’s dead, “Yes, may the best man win, little boy. Good that you know Everfield’s going to win, rather than wallow in denial.” I glared at him, adding in a deadly tone, “I won’t let you off for what you did to Bradley.”
He opened his mouth to speak, but the referee tapped him on the shoulder, telling him to move on to the next player. I spotted Daniel baring his teeth at Trevor while the referee wasn’t looking.
“How dare he call you a bitch…” Alex growled lowly. “When I get my hands on him, I’ll-”
I shrugged, placing a hand on his shoulder. “Calm down, captain. Sticks and stones may break my bones but words can never hurt me. We don’t want you sent off the field before the game even starts.”
I felt his breathing slow down to a normal pace.
We got into our formations, the Everfielders adopting the 4-2-3-1 formation, with me as the lone striker. The Westgreeners preferred their standard 4-4-2 formation, surrounding me with their defenders, but I would counter it with agility and with the help of Alex and the other midfielders.
The whistle sounded and the game began, adrenaline circuited around our bodies and the fans rooted for their respective teams.
Alex had grabbed possession of the ball and passed it to Daniel, who passed it to me before one of the Westgreen centre backs could intercept him. Immediately, Trevor and the other defenders were hot on my heels. I passed it to Craig who was open, and the other defenders changed their course, with Trevor still guarding me. I was their target because I would be the main player scoring goals. The ball flew to Peter who passed it to Daniel.
Trevor was in between Daniel and me. He saw the ball coming and headed it to a gorilla-sized boy near our penalty box. Max charged at the boy who was aided with two other midfielders. Jackson had foreseen the boys intentions, the gorilla boy kicked the ball to the top left hand corner of the goal and he jumped, both hands outstretched and caught the ball in a spectacular maneuver.
“Good one, Jack!” Julian yelled, over the deafening roars from the Everfield supporters and Jackson grinned, giving us a thumbs up.
“Greg! Heads up!” William shouted as he kicked the ball to Greg. The ball was intercepted by Trevor who passed it to another midfielder, but was in turn, seized by Alex. We could hear the Westgreen fans boo at us. I saw the ball fly towards me, at the same time noticing that Westgreen’s goal keeper had shifted his position more towards the left of the goal, big mistake. I executed a banana kick and the ball swerved into the net from the right side of the goal.
The Everfield crowd went wild, and I hi-fived my team mates who were near me. Trevor was giving the goalkeeper an earful for his blunder.
Everfield – 1, Westgreen – 0
***
We were now three-quarters through the game and the score was tied thirteen all. Two of our goals were penalty kicks. Trevor had tripped me on one occasion and another player had shoved me aside when I tried to get control of the ball. They were out to get me.
I was now running after the ball with two Westgreeners, but I had the advantage in speed, kicking it up a notch and taking possession. I tried to kick it to Daniel but one of the Westgreeners slid his foot out at the last moment, sending it out of the field as we were near the field’s boundaries.
The next time, my pass was successful and Alex did a bicycle kick, scoring another point for Everfield. I was awestruck. It was the first time I had ever seen him attempt that kick and he looked so… wow.
Home – 14, Visitors – 13
Unfortunately, the next goal scored was by Trevor, who practically bull-dozed his way from one end of the field to the other end, Everfield’s goal. The ball had just barely escaped Jackson’s grasp, grazing past his fingertips and into the goal. We shouted to Jackson ‘nice try’, encouraging him and the Everfield crowd followed suit, chanting his name. The cheerleaders flung their pom-poms around and hopped about, trying to enthuse the crowd further and motivate Jackson.
Everfield – 14, Westgreen – 14
Now playing into the extra time the referee had allocated, we only had nine precious minutes left. Nine minutes to break the tie. We were all exhausted, sweating from head to toe and our leg muscled ached, but we had to go on. Jackson had managed to save another goal, attempted by the gorilla boy.
The ball was about to reach Alex, when we heard a sharp cry of pain. Alex was on the grass, his hands clutching his right knee.
Oh no.
The team ran to his aid, Trevor standing next to him, arguing with the referee.
“Alex, are you okay??” I asked frantically, wiping away the perspiration from his forehead and sweeping the hair that fell to his face. Daniel was bending over his knee, inspecting the injury. Jackson remained at the goal, a look of longing in his face. He wanted to join us, but had to keep alert in case the Westgreeners tried to pull of any stunts. The rest of the team either attended to Alex, or stood surrounding Trevor, waiting to hear his explanation.
“It was an accident!!! I swear! I was aiming for the ball and I missed!”
“Liar!” I snarled.
The referee held his hand up for silence, and produced a yellow card for Trevor.
Expletives and vulgarities of all sorts were uttered to no one in particular by Trevor. It had reached the ears of the referee and that was it. Trevor got the red card, at the crucial point of the game. Back at the bench where he sat for the rest of the game, the coach was screaming at Trevor for his big mouth.
The referee then bent down to check on Alex. He was no longer clutching his knee, but sitting up, massaging it.
“Do you think you can continue?” The referee asked Alex.
“Yeah.” Alex grunted. The referee walked to the center of the field and indicated to the players to get back to their positions, while Alex pulled me to his side briefly as he got up.
“Liz, my knee still hurts a bit, but I can play. However you’ll have to take the lead. I won’t be able to cover you as well this time, so be careful.”
I nodded. “Don’t push yourself if you cannot take it. Dan and I can take care of this with the help of the others.”
Once again, the game commenced with seven minutes left and counting. For more than five minutes, no goal was scored or attempted. I was in possession of the ball, but the defenders were nearing me, I had to pass to someone or it would be too late.
Shit. The others are too far away. Daniel’s my best bet, but he’s being guarded tightly. Craig is not as closely guarded but I can’t pass the ball to him from here and I can’t move either with all the defenders approaching me.
I was panicking, the clock was ticking and dangerously close to zero. I heard Alex call my name. He was virtually unguarded, but his knee…
Just pass, Liz! He trusted you, now you have to trust him.
Trust him. I made a split second and unexpected decision and kicked it to Alex. He quickly let go of the ball and it flew towards the goal. 10 seconds …the defenders just realised what I’ve done. 9 …8 …7 …6 …the goalkeeper reacts to my pass and starts to move. 5 …4 …the ball is still flying towards the goal but is very close …3 …2 …the goalkeeper jumps. 1…He’s too late, he fails to block the ball and it enters the net. 0 …Everfield wins.
The crowd that had been holding its breath, now erupted to into cheers on our side while the Westgreen supporters had to settle for a loss.
We were the state champions. We had won. WOW.
I ran to Alex and flung my arms around him, squeezing him till me mumbled, “Liz. Cannot. Breathe.” And I released him.
“Thanks for trusting me this time.” Alex gave me his lopsided grin, and leaned forward to kiss me on the forehead. I checked my body’s reaction.
Heart racing, stomach doing gymnastics, temperature rising, lots of blushing, tingling sensations. Damn. Why did I not notice earlier?!
I’ve never read romance novels, ever, being a tomboy and all. I certainly did not believe in what they said when you’d meet your, I shudder to say it, true love. But I had definitely heard enough girls gushing about it to know better and recognize the signs.
I don’t love him like a sister loves a brother. I love him like a girl loves a boy.
I love Alex Taylor. Wow.
I couldn’t tell him yet. This was a team moment. We had won the state championship. I would tell him when we celebrate our victory later.
The team all grabbed a piece of the trophy, surrounding it and holding it up triumphantly cheering along with the crowd. We had head slapping, shoulder punching, hair mussing and bears hugs going around. Alex whipped out his phone and dialed for Coach Keel, putting him on speakerphone.
“EXCELLENT. GOOD JOB GUYS!!!” He roared.
In the background, we could hear Mrs. Keel. “Honey! Be quiet! You’ll wake up Alexis!” He then had to hang up to attend to his new daughter.
“Cool. My middle name is Alexis too.” I laughed, amused.
“That’s very similar to Alex.” Daniel commented. Still up to his tricks, I see. I mock punched him on the cheek.
“Can I exchange that punch with a kiss?”
I sighed. “Will you ever give up, Dan?”
“Unlikely. Though there is something that will make me…” He trailed off, pretending to be deep in thought. I knew where he was getting at.
Finally, the team scattered to meet people from the crowds, their parents, friends and such. Suddenly Miranda and Sean appeared.
“LIZ!!!” Miranda squealed, hugging me. “You won!!! Awesome playing! I’ve totally got a surprise for you. I’ll meet you back in the room, I’ve got to prepare. Don’t be late!” Then she scurried off with Sean in tow, waving to me.
“Congrats on winning, Liz! I’d stay but as you can see, Mira has some plans for me, help her out or something.” He called out as Miranda dragged Sean out of the field and out of my sight.
Wondering what Miranda had in store for me, I quickly packed up my stuff and started to exit the field. That’s when I saw them.
Her arms were around his neck, his hands on her shoulders, their lips locked together. Alex and Alyssa. Kissing.
A thousand emotions flooded into me. My eyes were filling up with tears at an alarming rate. I had to get out of here. Even a second’s glimpse at the pair was too painful to bear.
Leaving behind my bag which I had dropped in shock, I fled.
