× Horan

"The redhead is definitely the cutest," Jace was saying once I made it back to the benches. Their eyes followed after the girls as they ran around the circumference of the field like they were the antelopes and the lads were the lions, watching their prey.

"What did I just say five minutes ago?" Coach snapped from behind me. I took the seat I was sitting at before I was rudely requested away and made myself look out at the field. "I don't want to hear any of your opinions of the girls' appearances while I am here. You don't hear Horan talking about them like a bloody prize to be won."

"Ohh, Coach," James grinned, grabbing my shoulders from the seat behind me playfully. "He may not be saying anything, but he is sure thinkin' it."

I brushed James' hand off my shoulders like it was a bug as Coach said, "My point exactly, Moore. Keep it to yourself."

The thought of "hooking up with" or "who was the hottest" never even entered my mind. My anger toward them overpowered their appearances. Especially that Lynn chick. Coach brought us there to watch her play, not to look and admire, but more specifically, for me to watch and be convinced that she was worthy enough to join the team.

From beside me, Jace offered me some popcorn but I declined. All around me, people talked and ate, the smell of deep fried food wafting around us like a cloud of smoke in the California humidity.

I watched Lynn as she ran around the field, her arms pumping at her sides. She was pacing herself, keeping in the middle of the group. I noticed the other team, North Carolina, glaring at her as she ran past them.

"What happened last year?" Thomas asked, his brown eyes gleaming in the hot sun. He placed his cold water bottle against his dark skin to cool off the best he could in the heat. "With North Carolina, I mean."

Coach was looking out toward the field and I was about to repeat the question thinking he didn't hear him, but I should have known better because Coach seemed to hear everything.

"Last year when the Bruins went against North Carolina, the Wolfpack is what they're called; it was the last game before they went into the Cup. It was a tied game up to the very end." He paused and gazed out toward the pitch. I followed his eyes to player number thirteen who had stopped running the laps and was now standing next to the Bruins' coach. "Do you remember that popular story that was on every sports news station of one of the Bruin players getting injured with only two minutes of the game left?"

"Yes!" William yelled, making some of the people around give us dirty looks. "I remember that. Some chick from the opposing team came out of nowhere and just tripped this girl. I was so pissed!"

"Wasn't that the story where the referee didn't see it so it wasn't a red card?" Jace asked from beside me. "And there was some rumors going around that the referee was related to the person who tripped her or something?"

Coach nodded his head but didn't say anything.

"Wait... that was her?" someone said from behind me. I didn't bother to look to see who it was; my focus was on the girl with the caramel hair and deep blue eyes. "That Lynn girl?"

"Yes, no one knows why she was tripped," Coach continued. "People thought it was a last desperation attempt to win the game, or there was some older history between the two teams. But either way, it was unfair."

"What happened to her?" I found myself asking. I remembered hearing the story on the news, but I never followed up on it to see if she was seriously injured or not. If she was, it obviously didn't affect her the next season because there she was, about to get onto the field and play her heart out.

"Lynn had to be taken off the field by a stretcher and paramedics," Coach told us, still not looking away from her on the pitch. "She was a fighter, though, she tried everything to walk it off, but it was no use. She's lucky to even be playing this season at all."

I couldn't help but feel nervous for her. I couldn't possibly know what was going through her head as the two teams jogged onto the field and into their positions. Our team had rivals, too, but nothing to the point of jeopardizing one another's chances of playing ever again.

I hated myself that I was a little worried for Lynn.

× × ×

Five minutes left of the game and everyone was at the edge of their seats, and I wasn't exaggerating. It had been neck-to-neck the whole time, one scoring, and then the other team after. It was 4-4 and it seemed like the Wolfpack had the advantage.

Beside me, Coach was chewing his nails in nervousness. All around me my teammates were watching intently at the field as the anticipation grew higher and higher.

Lynn had scored one of the four goals so far and it was obvious she was putting more into this game than any other. I watched as she took a drink out of her water bottle before dropping it back down on the grass and jogging onto the pitch, taking her position at the right of the center circle.

"Mer-cu-ry! Mer-cu-ry!" someone started chanting and was followed by another person until the whole stadium was roaring Lynn's name in a chant. Behind me, I even heard James join in and I had to punch him in the leg to make him shut up.

The whistle blew and the center player on the Bruins got to the ball first and passed it to a teammate. She started dribbling it between the insides of her feet, dodging defenders as she ran. Then she passed it to another partner but the opposing team intersected and booted the ball across the field into the penalty area on the Bruins goal.

The goalie scooped up the ball in her hands and looked out to see who was open. Lynn was waving her hands in the air and the goalie threw her the ball. Lynn stopped it with her chest and maneuvered it between her feet down the opposite side of the turf, making sure to keep close to the edge.

Someone on the Wolfpack started running up beside Lynn and it seemed like everyone had the same thought I did as the crowd started getting onto their feet to get a better view.

The time was ticking to a close, a little over a minute left of the game.

"Number four," Coach said from beside me, looking at the two girls running side by side on the field. "She was the one who tripped Mercury last year."

I didn't need to go into the future to know that history was about to repeat itself.

Suddenly, Lynn stopped the ball with her heel and came to a complete stop at the same time as player number four was about to check Lynn out of the way. She didn't see Lynn's actions until it was too late and fell right onto the green grass with the momentum she had built up to push Lynn.

There was an uproar by Lynn's actions and the cheering was contagious. So much so that I found myself standing up in surprise along with my other teammates and Coach, not wanting to miss the last couple of seconds of the game.

Lynn kicked the ball up with her heel so it would fall in front of her. She kicked it with her foot before it could hit the ground and over the fallen body of number four. Lynn jumped over the player and ran down the field the rest of the way past the defenders like a snake through tall grass. She clearly knew what she was doing.

With only a few seconds left of the game, Lynn booted the ball. Every eye in the arena watched as it whizzed past the goalie's head and swooshed into the net right before the end of the game whistle.

5-4.

"Holy shit," Jace said.

I stood, not really sure what I felt. I watched as Lynn was engulfed by her teammates and fell to the ground, wide smiles on every girl's face.

"Do you understand why I want her on the team now?" Coach asked me through the noise of the cheering crowd. The grin on his face told me that I didn't have to answer for him to know what I thought. Seeing her on the telly was one thing, but in live action truly made me believe that Lynn had a run for her money. She may have been as good as me.

"I'm still not agreeing to anything," I assured him just so he didn't forget how stubborn I could be.

Coach laughed and nodded like he didn't believe me, and, to be honest, I wasn't sure if I even believed me.

× × ×

The team and Coach Mathews stayed in the arena until it was almost cleared out of visitors that came to watch the game. Seeing an empty arena after a winning game was a sight to behold - it was almost like the energy would linger in the air for the next week. The lights had dimmed but there was enough to see where we walked. We followed Coach down to the pitch and down the hallway that led back into the stadium building.

"I want to talk to Coach Sharp before we go back to the hotel," Coach told us, looking down every hallway to figure out where he wanted to go.

Right then, a girl I recognized being a Bruins player was walking down the hall in front of us. Coach called to her.

"Do you happen to know where Coach Sharp is?" he asked the girl.

"Uh..." she said, looking around the hall, her brows furrowed in wonder. She was the redheaded girl that Jace said was the cutest. Her strawberry blonde hair went down to her lower back and she had bright blue eyes and freckles scattered across her cheeks. She was so tiny in her sweatpants and white t-shirt that I swear I could have put her in my pocket. "She was here a moment ago. She could be in her office?"

"Jamie!" someone shouted down the hall.

A brunette appeared around the corner and stopped once she saw who her friend was talking to. Lynn Mercury. Her eyes landed on me for a split second before she looked away.

"Hey!" William said from beside me. "You're Lynn, right?"

"The one and only," she confirmed with a curt nod.

Her cockiness was irritating, and I hoped it showed on my face.

"You played a right good game tonight," Coach told her, patting her on the back. "I knew you would win, never disappoint. I'm going to go find your coach. Is her office down here?"

"Yes," the redhead said. "Down the hall and to the left. There should be a plaque on the door with her name on it."

Coach nodded and started making his way down the hall. I wasn't sure if we were supposed to follow, but I did anyways, my teammates behind me like a herd of kindergarteners. There was no way in hell I would have a conversation with any of those girls if I could help it.

"Hey, wait a second," the redhead said behind us, almost like she read my mind and wanted to spite me. She looked uncomfortable standing there, having seventeen boy's attention, but she didn't abandon her thought. "There's this party, a celebration party for winning the game. Would you guys like to come? It's nothing big, its just a frat thing."

"Will there be beer?" Reece asked. Basically, if you were to invite Reese to your grandma's house, he would be happy to go as long as there was a never ending supply of beer.

"This is college, what do you think?" the redhead smirked.

Lynn looked nervous standing beside her friend. "Jamie, I don't really think they-"

"We'd love to come," I interjected with a smirk in her direction.

"Great!" Jamie said with a bright smile. "Do you have paper so I can write down the address for you?"

"No, but I got a hand," Jace said with a flirty grin. "You should also write your number, uh, just in case we get lost."

"Jesus Christ," I said under my breath, glaring at him.

Jamie smiled back and took out a pen from her back pocket. Jace lifted his hand to her and she wrote down an address on his palm along with a phone number. I caught Lynn's eyes and I smiled cunningly at her. She didn't look away from me this time; she just continued to stare daggers at me.

That was when I knew it was going to be a fun night.

× × ×

Someone asked if any of the other boys would be in the story, and the answer is yes. They will all be in it at one point, although some of them might only be in one chapter and briefly mentioned, and others will have a bigger role.

-Jess