Faking It

Chapter 16: The Away Game

"They don't make tea strong enough for this hour," Audra grumbled, clutching a huge travel mug as we climbed onto the coach bus. I was still shivering against the pre-dawn chill, wrapped in my thick team sweatshirt over my red and gold soccer uniform.

"One thousand percent yes," I agreed, plunking down into the first available seat. "And just so you know, I plan on sleeping for the four hour drive, so you'd better not try to talk my ear off."

"In my ideal world, there is no talking until the sun is up." Audra slumped down next to me and rested her head on my shoulder with an exaggerated snore. I tugged my hood down further over my head, wadded up my warm-up fleece blanket, and lay against the bus window. I was halfway back to dreamland when my phone buzzed in my sweatshirt pocket. I jerked upright, nearly upending Audra's tea as she tried to sleep against my shoulder.

Save me a seat beside you, beautiful, read Theo's text.

Sorry, already taken, I sent back, then switched on my phone's Do Not Disturb mode. Shoving in my AirPods to mute the quiet, early morning chatter of the other Kingsbridge varsity players, I found my sleep playlist and closed my eyes.

Hours later, when Coach Patel's voice crackled over the bus speaker to wake us all up, I saw Theo's reply, attached to a picture of me and Audra sleeping and looking like a pile of sweatshirts and blankets.

You're stone cold, MW.
I kinda dig it.

"All right, I suppose it's time to face the day." Audra stretched, cracking both her shoulders. "But first I need the loo."

Where Kingsbridge was all warm brown stone and red shingles, Harcourt was dark and grey, its copper roofing aged to a pale green patina. Only the kiss of autumn on the edges of the trees brought any color to the place. I shivered, thankful that I hadn't accepted a scholarship here instead of Kingsbridge. The bus pulled up to the soccer pitch—a dew-christened field flanked by concrete bleachers and a huge, painted sign reading Home of the Harcourt Hoplites. The Harcourt boys were already warming up in their blue and white uniforms.

A hand landed on my shoulder after Coach Farley barked at the boys to file off the bus first.

"A kiss for good luck?" Theo leaned down to ask.

Audra disguised her scoff with a cough.

"What's a polite way to say screw you, Audra?" I asked, "Bugger off?"

Her cough turned into a laugh. "Precisely. Bugger off, Ellerby."

Theo quirked an eyebrow at me, but said nothing and shuffled off the bus with the rest of the boys.

Thankfully, Harcourt provided bag lunches for us, along with a tureen of hot chocolate. Audra eyed it suspiciously, so I took her mug and downed the sugary goodness while the boys warmed up on the field. Coach Patel warned us against settling in too comfortably among the blankets we'd brought to keep us warm, assuring us that we'd start warming up once the boys got into their second half. Half the team heeded her warning, either scrolling their phones or watching the boys play, while the other half—like Audra—nestled in and fell back asleep under the cloudy grey sky.

I alternated between scrolling and watching, ripping my eyes back to my phone screen every time Theo got the ball. Which, annoyingly, was often. Even more annoying was that he really was an offensive threat, and the Harcourt defenders made it obvious. He was stuck under double coverage almost all the time, and yet he still managed to make a few dangerous crosses and lob a few shots at the net. Eventually, I gave up on trying not to watch him play and instead studied his moves. It pained me to say that he was good. Really, really good.

When he finally scored off one of his dozen shots on net, I leaped up from the bleachers and cheered with the rest of the girls who were watching, much to Audra and the other nappers' chagrin. Theo, like the showman he was, gave us all an exaggerated bow after he freed himself from the congratulatory huddle and jogged back to their side of the field. They scored again, just before halftime, off a relatively perfect set play that had Theo crossing the ball and his other striker heading it in. I wondered if JJ was as bored as he looked, hanging out all alone in his half of the field while the boys demolished Harcourt.

When the ref blew the whistle for halftime, Coach Patel forced us all to our feet to warm up.

"Won't be half as easy for us," Audra said, when it was finally our turn to take the field after the coin toss. "Harcourt boys aren't good, but the girls are phenomenal."

"So are we," I replied with a bright smile.

"I'm serious, Ellie," Audra said. "Their strikers are bloody quick."

I eyed the tall, Black girl and the tiny, Asian girl lined up as their strikers. "They don't look so fast to me."

When the whistle blew, however, I was proved wrong. The Asian striker flew down the field towards us, all the way to the open field behind me. Deanna, our sweeper, shouted for me to cover her, but already the ball was sailing overhead, kicked by one of their midfields as a part of their opening set play. I backpedalled to play it off my chest when, suddenly, the Harcourt striker was in front of me, heading the ball down to her feet and zipping around me as if I was a stake in the ground. She fired off a shot before I could so much as catch up to her. Audra sailed right to catch the ball and land with a whomp.

"Oy!" she shouted. "Wake up, will you? I told you they were fast!"

The Harcourt striker chuckled as she jogged past me, towards the center line. My stomach hardened. When Deanna pushed us all up after Audra's punt, I couldn't help but glance over at the stands. Theo's arms were crossed as he chatted with the other boys, but his eyes were on me. I hated that I felt embarrassed about him watching me make such a spectacular ass of myself. Especially when he'd played so well. But I shook myself off, set my jaw, and focused on the game.

I tried everything I knew to keep the striker in check, but somehow, she still managed to get around me. If I hung back, her mids passed the ball short so she could deke around me. If I stuck close, they'd fire it long so she could beat me in a footrace. Only Deanna could stop her, until halfway through the first half when she missed the ball with her slide tackle. The striker hopped over her foot and hammered the ball through Audra's outstretched hands and into the net.

"Bloody hell, are you going to do any defending at all?" Audra demanded as she fished the ball out of the net.

Nausea roiled in my stomach. Chewing my lip, I glanced towards the sidelines. Coach Patel had been staring down at her clipboard since I'd lost my second footrace against the swift Harcourt striker. My stomach sank when the linesman held up his flag, signalling a substitution.

"Morris-Whittaker," Coach Patel called, as one of our subs hopped with anticipation at the sideline.

Dammit.

My cheeks burned as I jogged off the field, halfheartedly high-fiving Julie, the sophomore taking my place.

"I'm sorry, Coach, I—" I began.

"She was too fast for you," Coach Patel said, her eyes back on the field as play resumed. She handed me the white sub pinny Julie had just shucked. "We'll have to work on that."

The words hit like a blow. I hated the tears prickling behind my eyes as I pulled on the sub pinny. Miserable, I looked up at the bleachers.

Theo looked away the moment I met his gaze and said something to the other striker sitting beside him, scrolling on his phone. The two threw back their heads with a laugh. I plunked down on the cold metal bench, absolutely mortified and wondering if I'd just kissed my position as starter goodbye.

**A/N: I realized my timing was off by one week because I'd intended for the romantic chapter to land on Valentine's Day...oops! But I guess that means you'll have something to look forward to next week! 😏😍

As always, if you enjoyed it, please take a moment to vote and comment!**