By her twentieth birthday, there are a few things Valarie Ricci knows for certain.
She knows that her waitressing job barely covers the costs of living out of a beat up old van. She knows she's stuck in the dead end hometown her high school friends...
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Valarie shifted from foot to foot, chewed her lip, and checked her phone for the tenth time in the past five minutes. There were still no new notifications since the on my way text Alice had sent her ten minutes before. Rachel had not responded to Valarie's two calls and four texts that were all some variation of where are you?
Scrolling through their conversation history, Valarie realized that there wasn't anything that resembled a proper conversation in over two months. Just the occasional question, unanswered what's up messages, and a thousand memes that Rachel had only thumbed.
God, had she done something? Said something? She used to have phone calls with Rachel where the two of them could speak or not speak for hours at a time. She couldn't even remember the last time they'd hung out just the two of them. Sure, Rachel was busy with school and the million and one things she filled her time with and Valarie had been spending a lot of time with Alice lately, but still...
The groans of the crowd gathered around her on the bleachers dragged Valarie's attention away from her phone. She glanced up at the soccer field, where the other team was running towards the centre line, celebrating yet another goal scored. Her eyes immediately sought out Theo, who was recovering the ball from the goal behind her while arguing with one of her own defenders.
Theo was hurt. It was painfully obvious. She could barely pick up the ball much less block a shot–and yet she still tried. She wouldn't stop hurling herself in front of the ball no matter how much pain she was clearly in or how flimsy her wrist became.
"This is getting sad," someone behind her said. "They gotta pull her."
Valarie imagined walking over to Theo, attempting to coax her off the field, and held back a wince at what she knew the reaction would probably be. She remembered the steel in Theo's voice when she decided that she wasn't injured.
Yet, the game did not start up again, and soon the coach and the ref were walking towards Theo with tight faces. Both teams and the gathered crowd–at least half the school–watched as the three of them spoke. The coach shook her head, and Theo's shoulders dropped. Even from a distance, Valarie recognized the tell-tale signs of anger rushing through Theo's body.
When they finally brought her off the field, Theo stared out towards the crowd, maybe trying to find those university scouts she'd told Valarie about. Instead, their eyes met, and Valarie offered a sad half-smile. Theo quickly looked away. When the game resumed with the back-up keeper in net, Theo did not stick around on the bench but grabbed her bag and stalked towards the school building.
Valarie's phone buzzed. Hereee. Alice.
She apologized to everyone she passed as she shuffled her way off the bleachers, taking a deep breath of relief when she was free of the crowd. Valarie navigated her way past the various booths, attractions, and games that had been set up across the school property, waving or smiling at the various people who called out to her as she passed.
