Playing For Love

by Dana Burkey

  Before I knew it the day was over and I went to practice ready to work hard and be a better soccer player! It was tough too since we did a lot of conditioning, which basically meant we ran around the field a lot of times and then worked on running around the school and parking lot as well. All in all in made me feel like I was stupid for running on the treadmill yesterday. But, I was determined to not complain at all during practice, and Coach Heather noticed!

  “Good job Fabulous Fiona,” she grinned as I downed some water before we worked on some drills. I must have given her a funny look because she quickly added, “Skyler’s nickname fits pretty good.”

  I smiled but also blushed as I glanced down at my gym bag. It was a rather fancy one I got when I was in France a few years ago, so it stood out among the other Adidas and Nike bags the other girls have. It made me a little embarrassed, but also made me feel a little more at home with a nickname.

  During dinner tonight I made sure to bring up my next game. I was thinking that if Ross heard I have a game coming up he might want to come see me play, and he wouldn't want to sit alone so he would bring Jordan. I also figured that if I mentioned it around my mom and dad Ross would be less likely to just roll his eyes and ignore me. Sadly, my idea didn't work too well.

  “I have a big test on Wednesday, so I need to study tomorrow,” Ross explained when my mom suggested he go to my game so he could also be my ride home.

  “I have a game on Thursday too,” I noted, crossing my fingers under the table.

  “Maybe,” he shrugged, stuffing food into his mouth to hint that the conversation was over.

  So I guess a “maybe” is better than nothing, right? I'll take it for now I guess. Hopefully by Thursday the maybe will change into a yes and he will actually come see me play, bringing Jordan along as well. I don’t think I'll hold my breath on this one, but it's nice to have it to “maybe” look forward to!

  SEPTEMBER 9TH-TUESDAY

  Okay, I'm super tired right now and want to go to bed but I know I need to write down at least a few things for today since it was pretty amazing!!!!!

  This morning when I tried to mention my soccer game to Ross in the car I was never able to find a time where it didn't sound totally random and phony! I didn’t want Jordan to know that I was only bringing it up so he would hear it and all. So, instead I just sat back and tried not to worry. After all, everyone on the team including myself was wearing our socks all day so he was bound to know there was a game.

  Oh, and then he totally noticed the socks! Maybe not mine, but someone's! Our game was a home game and it was starting pretty soon after when school got out, so rather then go home just to come right back some of the girls on JV and I decided to stay and just go right to the game. I even packed some food to eat while we waited so I had energy and all that. The only bad thing was that it meant I wasn’t going to ride home with Ross and Jordan. But, on the way to the locker room I happened to walk past Jordan and he gave me a wave and smile!

  It was pretty amazing, but then it got even better when he called out to me, “Good luck in your game Fi!” I wanted to like explode right there, but instead called a “thanks” and just kept walking. Sure, it was a small thing, but it put me in a super happy mood.

  I think that good mood was part of the thing that helped me do good in the game too! Now, I'm only on the team to make Jordan like me, but I want him to like me for being a good player, not just being on the team! So, I tried hard in the game and even assisted a goal! I was playing forward in the second half of the game and the ball came right to me. Torri was in front of the goal and calling out to me, so I kicked the ball to her and she was able to kick it once and get it right in the top corner of the net! It was a pretty amazing moment!

  Well, that was about it for my day! It was great to help Torri score, and when people congratulated her for the goal they also congratulated me for assisting! Fingers crossed news of my assist gets back to certain people as well. Okay, I clearly only mean Jordan! And maybe Ross. But mostly just Jordan!!

  SEPTEMBER 10TH-WEDNESDAY

  Other than Ross basically blowing me off when I mentioned my game during dinner tonight, the day was pretty amazing! First of all, Jordan smiled and said good morning to me today, which is always great since I think his smile alone could melt the polar ice caps! But then, during the school day I had a few people come up and tell me “good job” at the game. I guess they had been there in the stands and saw me help with the goal or something. I have to say, it felt really good to have them congratulate me like that!

  When lunch rolled around, I was pleasantly surprised to see that Taylor brought magazines with her so we could start planning dresses for the Homecoming dance. I guess I haven't written anything about it yet, but basically it's later this month on the 26th and we decided a long time ago that we would all go together. Granted, that was before Taylor started hanging out with us, but now it just makes sense for her to go with our group. Well, she really knows a lot about fashion and was telling us all kinds of different dress shops she already looked at for dresses. It was really amazing since I don’t think the rest of us put much thought into it at all.

  Anyways, Taylor showed us the dresses she had at home, all of which she had taken photos of for us to look at. Then, she went over the style of dress she wanted to get. It was fun to look through the magazines and start to think about what I wanted to wear. Now that I am trying to impress Jordan I guess picking my dress might be a little more important. If he really liked me he won't care what I'm wearing, but a beautiful dress might make the different in case he hasn't totally fallen for me yet!

  Taylor said we should go dress shopping this weekend, so now I just need to convince my mom that I can get one of the super fancy dresses and likely makeup to go with it. She was not overly thrilled at first that I was using her old makeup for school some mornings. I think my mom still sees me as a little 10-year-old or something, so trying to convince her to let me wear a dress like the kind Taylor thinks I should wear will be interesting for sure!

  After school, I had practice again and this time it was pretty decent. Coach Heather explained that she thinks putting me on forward the other day was a great idea.

  “I think you do better when you aren’t afraid of getting hit by the ball,” she commented as we were finishing up stretches before practice. “Stick with Torri and Maggie today for drills, okay?”

  I nodded, happy to have a real place on the team. It meant that I had to run a lot more than usual, but it was fun to work with Torri and Maggie on passing and getting into a good position and all that. I’ve had a few classes with Torri before, but Maggie is a freshman that I don’t really know that much about her, so I'm hoping that by working with her more I'll get to know her. After getting to know Hayley so far this season, I really like the whole idea of being a part of a team and really being friends with people and all that!

  Well, I need to get some sleep so I'm ready to go for the game tomorrow! I really think Ross might come to the game, which means that Jordan might come to the game! Hopefully, that'll be the start of lots of good things to come. Like me dating Jordan!

  SEPTEMBER 11-THURSDAY

  HE’S HERE!!! HE’S HERE!!!

  Okay, so I only have a second, but Jordan's at my game!! Sure, Ross is here too, but I don’t really care about that too much! What I care about is that Ross is here thanks to my mom basically telling him he had to! I reminded him about the game during breakfast again today and when he said “maybe” again, my mom stepped in.

  “I think it would be wonderful if you showed your sister some support, Ross.” She had her hand on her hip and everything. “It would mean a lot to me and your father too.”

  I soon found out that it would help them since they wouldn't need to drive me home from the game since Ross would be there. And that means they could have a night alone. I wanted Ross to decide to go on his own, but this still works for me. Especially because Jordan's here too!!!!!!!

  I have
to go now, though. The game is about to start in a few minutes and I need to like breath a lot or drink water or something so I don’t totally freak out over Jordan being here!

  SEPTEMBER 11-THURSDAY

  I don’t know if tonight's game could have gone any worse. Or if my life could be going any worse!!!! I want to cry, but I don’t think I've got any tears left after everything that happened!

  It all started after halftime. I'd only been in the game a little but was doing okay working with Maggie and Torri like we practiced yesterday. Well, after Maggie scored we were setting back up for kickoff. I looked up in the stands while I waited for the other team to start and, of course, tried to get a peek of Jordan and Ross. Well, when I looked Jordan was looking at me, or maybe just the game. I don’t really know. But, either way it was a distraction for sure! I almost forgot I was playing in the game for a minute there!

  Well, when I came back to reality only a few seconds had gone by, so I got ready to dive into action. Brianna saw I was open and passed the ball to me so I actually started to dribble it down the field. I was doing okay until I saw a really scary looking girl on the other team coming my way. There was no way I was going to get around her, so when I saw Torri across the field, I immediately decided to pass it to her. Or at least, that was my plan. Instead when I kicked the ball, it went right to the girl that had clearly anticipated my move. She swung her foot out at just the right time and the ball went flying back to me. Only instead of being down at my feet, the ball was flying right for my face and was moving way too fast for me to even thinking about moving. So, before I could move a muscle, the ball flew forward and hit me right in the face!

  When the ball hit, I knew right away that something was wrong. My nose made this loud “pop” sound and the momentum of the ball made me slam into the ground. I didn’t know what to do then, just that I was in a lot of pain. I didn’t cry though, probably because I was in so much shock. Instead, I sat up then just reached my hands up to my nose. That was when I realized I was bleeding. A lot! I was staring at my bloody fingers without even moving when all of a sudden I realized that my coach and the refs and some of my teammates were all standing around me talking to me. I didn't know how long they'd been standing there, so I just kind of looked at them all in a daze.

  Most of the shock wore off as finally put some ice wrapped in a towel on my face. I focus a little more and realized everyone was asking me if I was okay. I mumbled something about my facing hurting a lot, and then had the sense to run my tongue across my teeth. Thankfully they were all there. I didn’t care about my nose anymore but instead was just happy I didn’t look like all the hockey players I always saw on TV when my dad was watching playoff games.

  Coach Gary and Coach Heather were there right away to help me. Once everyone felt I was okay to be moved, Coach Gary picked me up and carried me to the sidelines. He sat me on the bench while the refs got my team set up for a penalty kick. I knew the girl didn't hurt me on purpose, but I guess when someone kicks the ball into someone else's face the refs don’t generally like it. Out of the corner of my eye, I watched as the white rag surrounding the ice was suddenly turning bright red from all of my blood. The sight had my stomach churning so I closed my eyes to try to calm down a bit. It was then that I heard a familiar voice that made my eyes instantly flutter open.

  “Fi? Are you okay?”

  It was Ross, squatting down in front of me to get a look at my face. He can be super annoying and all, but every now and then he really is a great brother. I could tell right away he was really worried about me and was glad he was there to help take care of me. Only then I remembered that Jordan was there too. I was just about to look over at him when Ross reached up and moved the ice for a second to see my nose. As soon as he saw it he swore! He actually swore!

  Now, this may not be a big deal to most people, but when we were little, my parents made it very clear we were never allowed to say bad words. Since my mom is a writer, she said people only say swear words because they're not smart enough to come up with an intelligent word to describe things. One time a few years ago Ross swore, and to make up for it he had to come up with 100 other words or phrases he could have used instead. He had to type it up and print it out and read it to my mom and dad in the living room before they let him play with any of his toys or watch TV. They really took it seriously, so when he swore after seeing my nose, I kind of forgot about Jordan and just stared at Ross in total shock.

  “You swore,” I said to him. It was really lame to say this, especially considering I was bleeding a lot, but I didn’t know what else to do and I was totally surprised.

  “Yeah, our little secret, okay?”

  I just nodded as Ross put the cloth pack back on my face and turned to ask Coach Gary if he thought my nose was broken. And coach actually nodded! It wasn’t until then that I realized that the pop I heard on the field could be a bone breaking or something. I'd been so happy my teeth were all in place I didn't even stop to think that I might have other issues going on with my face at the moment.

  For some reason, and I’m going to blame the blood loss on this one, I moved the ice away and reached up a hand to touch my nose. In my mind if I could just feel it and see if it was really broken then it would be okay. This was really dumb, since as soon as I touched it even a little it hurt ten times worse! I kind of yelped, and didn’t know what to do, but someone grabbed my hand and pulled it away from my face, then took the ice from me and put it back on my nose.

  Turning to see who it was, I was totally mortified to see it was Jordan. He was sitting next to me, holding the ice to my nose while Ross talked to my coach about who knows what. Part of me was kind of glad he was sitting there next to me since he looked really concerned and all, but the bigger part of me wanted to just cry. Here I was, trying to impress Jordan with my soccer skills, and I got my nose smashed in.

  “How are you feeling?” he asked me, still holding the ice in place for me.

  I didn’t know how to respond, so I just shook my head no. All things considered, I felt pretty okay. I mean, I still wasn't crying and other than my nose nothing seemed to really hurt. But, I felt completely awful that Jordan was seeing me like this. I just felt like such an idiot, and when I opened my mouth to tell Jordan this, Ross came over and interrupted me.

  “Okay, where's your stuff? We’re going to take you to the hospital.”

  “But the game,” I reminded him. I don’t know why it was suddenly important, but at that moment I really felt like I needed to be there for my team.

  “It’s almost over,” Ross told me before walking over to grab my soccer bag and water bottle.

  “It looks like you're going to win too,” Jordan added with a grin.

  Now, I know right it seems really great that Jordan was helping me and all. But, all I could think about was how stupid I was. I mean, I hit the ball with my nose instead of my head, and more than likely looked like a total loser. I was just hoping at this point I would be able to get away from Jordan soon so he wouldn't have too many memories of the day clouding over how cute I looked Friday at school. Sadly, luck was not on my side and when I went to stand up and follow Ross to the car I realized I was really dizzy. I guess I was losing more blood that I thought, and when I stood up I had to sit back down again right away.

  “Are you okay?” Ross asked as both he and my coach rushed over to make sure I was okay.

  “I feel light headed,” I explained.

  “Here, hold the ice and I'll carry you,” Jordan said immediately. I don’t know if his words registered all the way, but I reached up and held onto the ice like he told me to. He then wrapped one arm around my waste and used his other to reach under my knees and pick me up like it was no big deal.

  “I’ll go get the car,” Ross told us before racing off to the parking lot while Jordan began carrying me out of the stadium.

  At this point, I've got to admit I was kind of enjoying Jordan taking care of me. He didn't even seem to struggle while
carrying me, which was enough to make any girl feel happy. In fact, he carried me all the way to the curb outside the stadium and then just held me in his arms while we waited for Ross. I was enjoying this moment along with Jordan, but then some of the girls from my team came running out to give us my bag. Apparently Ross forgot it when he took off to go get his car.

  “Fiona, your bag!” Hayley announced, setting it down next to us since neither of us had a free hand at the moment.

  “Are you doing okay?” I looked over and saw Skyler was the one who asked. She was standing there with Hayley and Olivia, another girl on JV.

  “I guess,” I said with a shrug. Being carried by Jordan was kind of making everything else not too bad at the moment.

  “Good thing you have Jordan to take care of you,” Skyler added with this weird look on her face. “Are you two dating?”

  I’m pretty sure at this moment my brain about exploded. Someone actually thought I was dating Jordan? Just because he was at my game? Or maybe people thought we looked good together? Well, before I could even open my mouth Jordan answered.

  “Me dating Fi? That’d be crazy. She’s like my little sister.”

  I tried to nod in agreement and play along, but at that moment all I wanted to do was cry. While Hayley, Olivia, and Skyler said goodbye and headed back in to watch the rest of the game I prayed Ross would arrive with the car soon. I was so excited that Jordan had chatted with me about soccer last Saturday and that he came to my side when I got hurt, but it was clear he was doing it all because he saw me as a little sister! He was treating me the same way he would treat his sisters if they were in my situation!

  Jordan looked down and could tell that I looked upset, but I guess he thought I was just in pain. He told me he could see Ross’s car now, and that we'd be at the hospital soon. I just looked away and closed my eyes, tears springing up finally. It was weird that I could break my nose and not really even tear up, but just three short sentences from Jordan had me ready to bawl like a baby.