Betting on You

23

t w e n t y t h r e e

Tension radiated off the field.

Middleton Oak's black and gold jerseys all seemed to be strategically placed across the grass, but the opposing red and yellow of Gridlake High was just as well stationed. Both teams had a strong offense, yet the defense on Gridlake was slightly weaker than ours. You would think that that would be a good point, yet they made up for their weaker defense with faster plays, trickier shots, and just so happened to nail almost all of them.

I bit my bottom lip as I watched jersey number 7 dart around the field, wielding the soccer ball with expert footwork as he maneuvered around Gridlake's players.

My eyes glanced slightly ahead of him only to see a bunch of Gridlake's faster players making their way towards Luke. They were going to corner him and snatch the ball right from him if he didn't pass to someone else.

Luckily he seemed to be thinking of that already.

Luke seemed to notice Calum at the edge of the field, Jared close to him, and I held my breath as he made a quick decision.

The crowd roared as Luke made an expert pass to Calum, who took the ball further up the field before passing it to another player.

To Jared.

I was bouncing on the balls of my feet as I watched him maneuver between two Gridlake players before ultimately, the ball was snatched from him and carried back up the length of the field. Gridlake's player number 12 made a long pass and into the possession of another Gridlake player, who skillfully received it.

"Dammit!" Michael and Ashton cursed as we all spectated anxiously, yet we knew what the outcome would be.

When Gridlake scored, Middleton Oaks' students let out a collective groan, some going as far as to throw their food or food wrappers onto the field or others yelling out curses directed to the opposing school. Most of them throwing things just ended up hitting students in the bottom bleacher rows.

"Dammit." Ashton ran a hand through his hair in frustration, just as invested in the game as the rest of the student body.

"How could Jared let those guys get past him?" Michael threw his arms up in frustration, nearly clobbering Jaime in the process yet he didn't, only making her roll her eyes.

"They still have time to catch up," Jai shrugged, trying to lighten the mood of the two boys, "I mean, we're not even at halftime yet."

"If they go into halftime any lower than they're gonna get pissed and play worse." Ash shrugged, sitting back down on the bench just as the players were getting into their collective team circles. I tuned my ears into their conversation, but I let my eyes stay trained to Luke on the field. Even from here, I could notice how frustrated he was with the play and how Jared messed up.

He was stalking over to his team circle where the other players seemed to be just as pissed off as Luke was at Jared. There was alot of gesturing going on down there.

"-And then we're gonna have to hear about it." Michael finished.

The boys continued their complaining for a little while longer before the next play commenced and all eyes were back on the field. Middleton Oak was in possession of the soccer ball, bringing it up the field and making short passes as they went.