On Friday evening, Hailey attended her first football game.

Following the actions of the crowd, she got herself a comically large soda and an equally large bucket of popcorn. She even got one of those odd oversize foam fingers in the colors of Green Valley High. It was a first experience, safe to say mistakes were made.

She navigated her way to her seat, laden with the results of a moment of weakness and bumping past other spectators in the process. The match was yet to begin so no one got too upset by the disturbance.

As she settled in, she scanned the edge of the field for the reason she had come to watch girls kick around inflated pigskin—an activity she was yet to gain appreciation for. She found her reason easily; standing head over most of the other girls dressed in the gray, and blue of Green Valley High: The Timber Wolves. She had a striped band over her upper arm that no one else had.

Ash did not notice her, her attention flickering between the coach and her team mates huddled about her. She had her hair tied back in a ponytail and her brows were furrowed indicating a concentration she lacked when in class and only ever showed one other time and that was when she was staring holes in Ms Applebaum's derriere. Still, this was different. Ash was in her element: eyes gleaming excitedly as she talked and demonstrated things Hailey knew she would not grasp. She contented herself with staring stupidly.

Ash looked up and, eyes carelessly streaming through the crowd, she found Hailey. She winked and smiled before returning to the conversation around her. Needless to say, Hailey went tomato red.

On the other side of the field was the opposing team, dressed in an unflattering shade of yellow: The East High Stallions.

With a shrill blow of whistle that startled Hailey, the players were summoned to the field where the tenant referee stood. Hailey was sufficiently distracted admiring Ash's behind as she conversed with the coach, she never saw Cait walk up to her.

"Hailey Summers. The Hailey Summers. At a soccer game. I must be seeing things!" she said.

For a second time, Hailey jumped, this time popcorn jumped from the bowl and skittered to the ground. She straightened her glasses as she looked up at her offender.

"Caitlin! Jesus! Don't do that!"

"Do what? You would have seen and heard me coming if you were not too busy lighting Miss Tall Hot and Spanish's butt with your heat vision."

"I didn't... I wasn't..."

"Yeah right." Cait took the empty seat next to her.

Hailey knew when she was cornered and swiftly opted for a change of topic.

"What are you doing here?"

"Unlike you, I do go to these things," Cait said simply.

"You're a soccer fan? How did I not know this?"

"Me? God no! Boys love soccer. I love boys. It's a no-brainer."

Hailey nodded. That made more sense.

"So which boy are you here with?"

"I forget his name. Toby... Brody... something along those lines."

This was one of those times patience was necessary to deal with Cait.

"And where is he?" Hailey asked slowly.

"Oh...somewhere," Cait answered casually.

"You ditched your date? Why?"

"Because." Her arm flew around Hailey's shoulder and with the other hand she helped herself to the popcorn. "This is my best friend's first soccer experience and I want to be here with her for it."

"Oh."

"Plus, he didn't have popcorn."

"Ah." Hailey nodded.

There was another whistle blow and while Hailey jolted in her seat, her popcorn was mostly unharmed.

"Ah you made me miss it!" Hailey muttered sadly as she found that the game had already started in earnest.

"Miss what?"

"The kick off. This is all new to me. I wanted to capture every moment."

"Oookay weirdo," Cait said, "well you're not missing much. There's your girl." She pointed and Hailey followed her finger.

Ash was on the bench next to the coach, watching the game. Playing in her position was a girl Hailey recognized but could not put a name to the face.

Hailey was perplexed. Was Ash not playing? She had come to watch her play, the aim was very much defeated if she did not—in fact—play.

Out in the field Debbie had the ball and was already going for the goal, her two feet blurs of motion beneath her, propelling her rapidly towards her target. She had two defenders hot on her heels.

Coming to a sudden halt, she tried to dribble her way past them but lost possession of the ball along the way and Hailey watched as the defender shot it back towards the Timber Wolves' goalpost. One of their own strikers got the ball and continued on towards the goal where Maddie waited behind a spread out wall of defenders.

The attacker; a tall, slender, dark-skinned girl with rather pointy elbows, meandered past the defenders and took a shot.

Maddie moved so fast a blink would have meant missing her entirely. She caught the ball deftly and tossed it back into play like it was nothing.

Hailey found herself in admiration of the girl that was Madison. Her composure, her confidence in her own skill and her obvious shared interests with Ash left Hailey feeling grossly inadequate. How could Ash dump somebody like that? The girl was physically perfect while Hailey was just...Hailey.

Hailey's eyes left Maddie to follow the ball as it ricocheted from player to player, and eventually to Ash who didn't seem to have a care in the world as she discussed with the coach who shared her nonchalance, both their attentions slightly turned away from the game.

She kept waiting for a goal for the Timber Wolves to at least make her attendance worth it but when a goal did come, it was for East High. The Stallions were jubilant.

Soon after, another goal slipped past Maddie's grasp and the East High cheerleaders went wild, further intensifying Hailey's chagrin as she practically leaned back and sulked.

The score line remained 2-0 until the end of the first half and Hailey was ready to go home. Ash wasn't playing, the Timber Wolves were losing and Cait was already scraping the bottom of her popcorn.

"What's with the face? That's not the right spirit," Cait chided. Her scavenging was not enough to distract her from Hailey's sour mood.

"Are we this bad?"

"Whatever do you mean?"

"We're losing aren't we? And Ash isn't even playing. Do you think I'm bad luck? Maybe I shouldn't have come."

"And miss seeing your dream girl in action? Are you mad?"

"What are you talking about? You're not making any sense."

"You know what substitution is, no?"

"Er...of course I do." She had the decency to cringe under Cait's doubtful glare. It took a moment for her to access her textbook knowledge of substitution.

The referee blew the whistle.

"Oh look over there already." Cait nodded at the field.

Hailey looked. And there was Ash jogging up to the field along with the others, the other girl taking up her place on the bench.

"You can let go of my hand now," Cait said.

Hailey peeled her eyes off the field and found her arm clutched tightly over Caitlin's arm. Cait looked bored but otherwise unharmed as Hailey slowly retrieved her limb.

"Thank you."

The whistle went again, kicking off the second half.

The match started swiftly with East High securing possession. That was swiftly rectified as one of the twins retrieved the ball and sent it on. The ball moved from feet to feet, not once one of East High's, then Tiana launched it forward.

Ash trapped the ball and moved for the keeper but between her and the six-foot tall girl stood three defenders.

Hailey was on the edge of her seat.

"If this is how you will react at every game, I do not look forward to being your plus one some other time," Cait said, although she sounded more amused than disappointed.

"How can you be so calm?"

"How can you not?" she retorted, "For someone you practically adore, you don't give Ash enough credit." She rolled her eyes casually. "Just prepare to scream yourself hoarse."

"What do you—"

The question could wait, Ash was advancing.

She weaved past the first, then second and, with no more difficulty, the third defender.

Then she took the shot.

It took Cait's iron grip on Hailey's arm to keep her from rising as her eyes eagerly followed the trajectory of the ball. It sailed smoothly past the keeper who could do no more than blink before the ball hit the back of the net.

Cait promptly took her hand away and blocked her ears as the stands erupted in screams, Hailey's voice loud among them.

"Goal!" she cried.

"Oh boy," Cait mumbled.

Ash did not share the crowd's excitement, merely jogging away from the post with a sly grin to the keeper then a wave to the fans. Her teammates high-fived her as she passed them but that was all the celebration.

Five minutes into play, Ash scored again: an incredible shot from midfield that flew over the heads of the defenders. The keeper dived after the ball but hit the ground with a handful of air and a faceful of shame.

This time Ash did celebrate. She ran up to Debbie, somersaulted thrice, two-stepped and sprang into the girl's waiting arms, her own arms sweeping the heavens.

Debbie spun her around as some of the others girls crowded around. Back at the goalpost, the East High goalie was kicking up the grasses in frustration, raising a miniature storm of green and gritty.

The game resumed soon after and Hailey couldn't help observing the change in gameplay. The way the Timber Wolves played this half was different from the first half. They were more coordinated, more in charge, more driven. If she didn't know any better, Hailey would have assumed they had been going easy during the first half. It would also serve to explain Ash's absence from the first half.

Speaking of Ash, she currently had control of the ball and was pushing forward. Her eyes flitted to Debbie as she prepared to shoot wide when, out of nowhere, an opponent tackled her, missing the ball entirely and sweeping Ash off her feet.

Ash hit the ground, rolled and bounced back up fluidly with an amused glimmer in her eyes. But the crowd was unforgiving. Hailey found herself screaming with the crowd as they protested the foul play. The referee agreed, giving the guilty party a yellow card and awarding Ash a free kick.

Ash went on to pass across the field to Debbie who basically Usain Bolted with the ball all the way to the keepers box, putting quite the gap between her and her pursuers. She weaved past the defender in her path and went one on one with the keeper.

A wicked feint put the keeper out of commission and she launched the ball into an empty net.

For whatever else they were, Green Valley High cheerleaders definitely knew how to show team spirit. ays much as they hated the soccer girls, they seemed to hate the Stallions even more. They went wild with celebration as the soccer girls did, performing a routine that everyone who was not an East High fan—and even a few East High fans—watched with awe.

A glance at the score board showed they had seven minutes of playtime left as they took their positions and the game resumed.

While the game went on around her, Ash looked into the stands and found Hailey then with a meaningful look, she raised a finger then pointed at Hailey.

The meaning was clear: this one is for you.

Hailey's heart went wild in her chest and she couldn't stop smiling even when Ash turned back to the game. She barely noticed the curious eyes that turned to look for Ash's person of interest.

Rather than wait for a pass, Ash basically hunted down the ball like the striker she was and skillfully retrieved it from the opponent then made her way for the post.

Four defenders blocked her path, but rather than pass the ball or find a way around, she gave a freakish smirk and charged them head on.

Hailey had her heart in her throat as Ash weaved through the opposition. Her legs danced rapidly to a silent tune as she moved the ball from foot to foot. The first defender she encountered lost her footing and stumbled off to the side, possibly acquiring a sprained ankle. The second barely saw the ball before it passed between her legs and Ash darted around her to recover the ball.

"Now that's what you should be like," Cait commented.

Hailey turned and found what Cait was referring to. More accurately who. She found Maddie seated nonchalantly, leaning against the bar on one side of the goal post, almost like her trust in Ash was absolute.

As she looked away, Hailey realised that in truth she wanted to be like that. In her defense, she was new to the suspense and thrill that came with soccer, and to the wonder that was Ash.

Ash pushed past defenders three and four with the same lightning fast reflex. The keeper came forward, arms at ready.

Ash flicked the ball over her head, turning her back to the keeper as she followed its trajectory. She backpedalled, leaped off the ground; falling backwards as she did, then her foot shot out and connected with the ball before she hit the ground.

Ash was still spread eagle on the ground when the crowd went crazy. She had scored, sending the ball far to the keeper's side.

The girls piled on her without delay; Debbie, Emily and Tiana.

It was safe to say the East High girls did not share their ecstasy. It was rather obvious the match was over with them swallowing the bitter pill of defeat.

In three more minutes it really was over. As the referee blew the whistle thrice to signify the end, Ash sped like a bullet across the field towards the Green Valley High spectators with her arms flailing behind her. Kira appeared from nowhere with her arms open like she was waiting there. Ash took the invitation and pounced on her and the other girl spun her around recklessly. The other girls crowded round soon enough and Ash was blocked from view.

The crowd scattered like ants from a disturbed anthill, some towards the field, some slowly heading towards the parking lot; Hailey was part of the former, descending the steps so fast she briefly considered the possibility of falling and breaking her neck. Others like Cait remained seated as if basking in the ambiance of their victory was all they wanted.

Hailey found Ash the same time the raven-haired girl found her; found as in she was clearly looking for her. Ash peeled away from the girls and tackled Hailey scooping her off the ground like she weighed less than the soda and popcorn she had earlier consumed. With all the eyes watching, Ash tilted her head up and kissed Hailey with unfettered passion.

Despite the unashamed onlookers and the oohs and aahs that followed, Hailey did not hesitate to reciprocate.

When Ash pulled away, her eyes gazed into the crowd and her smile faltered. Hailey followed and found herself staring at Maddie's face. In Ash's expression, there must have been a question because Maddie gave a smile and nodded in approval. If Hailey's guess was right, she had just given her blessing.

*****

Hope everyone's having a good day (night) and I hope my story contributed to it. Alright, I'll be doing another interview. This is your chance to anonymously ask the characters questions you don't think will be involved in the book (personal questions, embarrassing questions, hypothetical questions, just keep it coming) I'll work on it and slide it in before the next chapter (which is ready by the way so you might want to hurry up with the questions). If you have any questions for me, I'll tackle those too. See you soon, people! And thank you for reading.