Loving Olivia

Chapter 4 - I'm the Captain Now

Nico

"You're up, Durant."

I lift my head to see Coach looking at me expectantly, trying to understand what the heck he's referring to. He has his arms firmly planted on both sides of his hips, and he's staring me down on the bench that I'm currently sitting at along with the rest of my teammates.

I can't help but observe his thick grey mustache sticking out from underneath his big nose. It curves over his mouth, accentuating the deep frown that seems to be etched permanently on his face. Come to think about it, his whole face looks like it's drooping downwards, starting from his thick eyebrows protruding over his eyes and the dark circles that form underneath. Needless to say, sometimes he scares the living shit out of me.

As it's the first match of the season, he just finished delivering his pre-game "go get 'em" pep talk complete with every sports analogy and motivational quote you've ever heard of. But coming from him, it just sounds like he's giving us military orders right before sending us off to battle, and I often wonder if he might be a direct descendant of General Franco.

He sighs dramatically and runs his hand over his bald head, save for the few strands of white hair that are combed backwards over it. Does he want me to say a few words too or what?

"The coin toss, Durant," he barks when I don't respond.

Oh, right.

"On it, Coach."

God, I'm such an idiot. I'm so used to Adrian always doing this part I didn't even think about it. I run up to the referee and the captain of the other team and earn an eye roll from both of them for apparently keeping them waiting.

I pretend not to see it and decide to take the higher road and shake both of their hands.

The referee tosses the coin in the air and asks the opposing captain to call it. I guess I'm on his bad side or something.

Lucky for me, I end up winning the toss and of course opt to kick off. I take my position on offense and as soon as the game starts, run up the field as a forward.

A buzz of adrenaline shoots through me, and it's the best feeling in the world. This is the reason I love playing soccer. I haven't felt energized like this in months, and I suddenly realize this is exactly what I've been needing.

But as energized as I'm feeling, something feels off. I find myself staring at the ball from across the field for the first ten minutes of the game, while our defense helplessly tries to push it back with no luck. Even when they manage to pass it to someone in midfield, the formation breaks and they quickly end up losing the ball.

What the hell is going on?

It isn't until I see Ruiz in what would normally be Adrian's position in center field that it dawns on me. I know I shouldn't even be comparing them, but Ruiz doesn't come close to the player that Adrian is. It's like comparing a sequel to an original movie. They're just not the same.

But somehow he manages to get a break, and suddenly he's running towards me with the ball. Both of the defenders try to tackle him at the same time, leaving me completely open. Big mistake.

"Right side!" I yell towards Ruiz, indicating that I'm wide open.

But he doesn't listen to me and continues to run the ball down by himself.

"Ruiz! Right, dammit!"

One of the defenders manages to steal the ball from him not even fifteen seconds afterwards and kicks the ball to the other side. The ball ends up going out of bounds so I run up towards Ruiz.