A couple of defenders ran toward me, and I kicked the ball across to Katie. My lungs screamed for me to slow down and breathe, but I pushed myself to run faster and help Katie out. She maneuvered the ball this way and that, keeping it out of reach of the other team, but she couldn’t keep that up for much longer. She searched for someone to pass to.
“Katie!” I screamed. In the background, I was pretty sure everyone in the bleachers was screaming their heads off, but the sounds seemed far away. Even though I was sprinting like my life depended on it, everything happened in slow motion. My heart pounded in my ears, the rest of the world silent.
The ball at her feet, Katie eyed me for the tiniest fraction of a second. I knew what that meant. I glanced around, gauging how much room I had.
A second later, she faked one way then kicked the ball long and hard toward me. With defenders surrounding me, I knew I wouldn’t have long to take a shot.
It would be now or never because the game was almost over. Our team would not get another chance like this to shoot.
Across the field, Perry screamed at me for a pass, getting the other team’s attention long enough for me to get control of the ball and turn it around.
I kept my arms out, giving myself space. I could not lose the ball now.
I dribbled fast toward the goal, a defender behind me, just a couple away. She tried to kick the ball away. Just a touch would send the ball flying and ruin my chance at the goal.
Ahead of me, the goalie got in position, her stance low, her arms out. Ready to jump and block the ball.
This was it. The opposing player pushed against me, but I held my body firm. Kept running. Eyed the ball. Got it in position and…kicked it with everything I had, where it needed to go clear in my mind.
It flew, flew, flew…
The goalie jumped, reached…
I jogged to a stop…
Watched it go in right at the corner of the net!
Screams erupted from the stands, and I jumped up and down. Katie ran over and hugged me. We jumped together with the rest of the team, screaming because we had done it.
The referee blew the whistle, signaling for a new kickoff.
Coach yelled at us from the sidelines, “Two minutes left!”
The stands chanted at our defense, and slowly, the seconds counted down.
The other team had the ball now, dodged this way and that. Then, one of their forwards took a long shot at our goal. Missed the net completely.
Then the buzzer went off, and the crowd began screaming and jumping up and down. Adrenaline coursed through me. We had done it.
I ran toward the rest of the team and landed the perfect roundoff. We jumped and screamed together.
Katie squeezed me. “I knew we could do it!”
We enveloped our goalie, who’d easily blocked a handful of shots to our goal. “You were amazing,” I told her.
The entire team found Coach just off the field and in front of the stands. Mr. Green, acting as announcer tonight, held up our trophy, a gleaming gold soccer ball at the top of a pedestal, in his hand. He raised a microphone to his face with the other. Over the speakers, we heard the words I’d been waiting for all season: “Ladies and gentleman, I present to you the varsity girls soccer state champions… the Lady Eagles!”
He handed us the trophy, and Katie and I took it, holding it up for the world to see. Pretty sure there was a solid minute of screaming and jumping before we took the trophy to our Coach.
More screaming and clapping.
As the other team left the field, heads down, the boys came down to celebrate along with us.
I had to find Ian.
Spotting him just a few feet away, I ran to him and wrapped my arms around his neck.
He whispered in my ear, “You were incredible.”
I looked at him. “Thanks. And you’re up next.”
He already looked nervous.
I took his hands. “You’ve got this.” Then I got on my tip toes and reached up for him, closing my eyes as my lips pressed against his.
A familiar grunt brought me back down to Earth, and Ian’s gaze settled on someone behind us.
My dad, who could hardly meet my eyes. Much less Ian’s.
Ian shook his hand, muttered something about warming up with the rest of the team, and disappeared.
My dad put his arm around me, and we walked off the field with the rest of the girls’ team. Most of them headed to the stands to cheer on the boys. We had posters and chants ready, but I could tell my dad wanted to say something. On the sidelines, he stood in front of me, nodding slightly. “You did very good out there, mija,” he said quietly. “Very good.”
I gave him a hug, and it hit me that this would be our last major game of the season. We’d have an away tournament later on, but this was it. There wouldn’t be another season of soccer in high school. And my dad wouldn’t take on the same role of coaching me like before, not if I was away at college. I squeezed him harder. “Thanks, Dad. For everything.”
We pulled away, and all he did was nod again, hardly making eye contact, but it was more than enough for me.
Coach walked over then, Mr. Barry right behind him. He shook my dad’s hand then mine. “Congratulations, Ms. Martinez,” he said. “I definitely look forward to talking to you soon about your options for next year. I know you still have a few months left in your senior year, but you’ll definitely have some important decisions ahead of you.”
I beamed. “Thank you. I can’t wait.”
The three of them continued talking, and I exhaled, my hand to my chest. So my hard work had paid off after all.
Not too far away, the #BFFs waved to me, huddled together near the bleachers.
I ran over and screamed one more time for good measure.
After we exchanged hugs, Ella took my hands. “Lena, you were awesome out there!”
Tori nodded. “And that roundoff at the end? Not bad.” We laughed.
Rey looked a little confused. “This was definitely not like basketball,” she said.
Harper put her arm around her. “I didn’t understand what was going on half the time, but when you made that goal at the end, wow. You’re crazy talented, you know that?”
I glanced at Tori. She knew. “A little bit of talent. A lot of hard work, but thank you.” I bowed. “So you guys want to stay for the guy’s game? I can explain it to you, and we’re all going out to eat after—”
Ella said, “We’re in!”
I held up my finger. “Just one more thing. I’ll catch up to you guys on the bleachers.”
I turned and found Ian, already warming up at the goal. I ran toward him. He met me halfway. “What is it?” he asked.
I shrugged. “I just needed to wish you good luck and do this,” I said, practically jumping into this arms. He caught me, his arms around my waist, and I put my hands around his face, bringing him close.
The air was chilly, but being this close to Ian? It lit a fire inside me.
My mouth moved against his, letting him know just how much he meant to me.
We pulled apart, and he stared down at me. “Whoa,” he said.
I giggled. “Tell me about it.”
Then he turned around and jogged back to his post, glancing back at me one more time with those beautiful baby blue eyes and dazzling smile. I was pretty sure I was smiling like an idiot, biting my lip and savoring the kiss from just seconds ago.
But I didn’t care.
Kissing for funsies couldn’t compare to this.
Kissing someone for real.
Kissing someone who’d been my friend for ages and now meant so much more.
As I turned and headed for the bleachers, I couldn’t help but think that senior year couldn’t get better than this.
Epilogue
Thanks to Ian’s ninja goalkeeping skills—and our non-stop cheerleading of the crowd—, the boys won 3-1, winning a state title along with us. After it was all over, we found ourselves at the Shake Shack
.
The #BFFs along with Jesse, Emerson, and Noah joined us along with several other people from school.
The sole cook in the kitchen looked at the collective order of burgers and fries, and we thought he might pass out. But, holding his spatula steady, he got to work.
Meanwhile, the waitress appeased us with fries.
Ian sat next to me, his arm around me like that night so long ago.
In reality, it had been only about a month ago.
Maybe what made it feel so far away was that now we were in a completely different place.
No longer on a dare, for one.
Just a regular relationship, which it turned out, was the best kind.
Before, I might have thought of that as boring or not for me.
But it was way more fun and meant so much more than any other experience I’d had with a guy.
Being with Ian?
It felt right and completely natural.
From the corner of my eye, Tori caught my attention. She aimed her phone at us. “Don’t mind me,” she said. “You two are so cute. I had to take a picture.”
“In that case,” I said, turning to Ian and kissing him on the cheek.
He blushed a little, and Tori laughed, snapping another picture.
She handed me her phone. “We’re totally getting prints of these.”
I showed Ian the picture, his expression serious the longer he stared at us.
I smiled. “Are you okay?”
He bit his lip and looked at me with that same look. “Yeah, I just…feel like the luckiest guy in the world right now,” he said quietly, his eyes locked on mine.
I just wanted to wrap my arms around him again, but Harper’s voice made me turn back to the others. “We should totally do a group picture!”
I flagged down Katie and handed her my phone while the rest of us squeezed into the booth or kneeled on the seat of the booth behind ours. Putting my arm around Ian, I smiled for the picture.
Ella told Rey, “Get in here,” and Katie counted down and took the picture.
She gave me my phone back, and I pulled up the photo, falling in love with it immediately.
“You have to send that to everyone,” Ella said.
In the first row sat Ian, myself, Tori, and Noah. Behind us, stood Rey, Harper, Emerson, Ella, and Jesse. All of us grinning and with our arms around each other.
I pulled up Instagram. “I’m so posting this. I’ll tag you guys.”
Rey looked at the picture as I added the perfect filter. “Maybe Cupid will finally remember to find someone for me,” she teased.
I nudged her playfully with my hip. “I thought you already liked what’s his name?” I asked.
Her face turned pink. “That’s just a silly crush,” she replied, glancing away.
“I don’t know,” I said. “In the time we’ve known each other, that’s the one guy you’ve always had a thing for. Besides, you said that if I told Ian how I felt, that it would give you the courage to do the same with your crush.”
I looked at her expectantly, and she began backing away slowly like she might make a run for it. “I—I do not remember saying that…”
“Oh, I do,” I said, hitting post on my picture, sticking my phone in my back pocket, and taking a step toward her. “Tori, I have something to ask you!” I teased.
Panic filled her face. “Lena, no!” she whisper shouted.
I put my hands on my hips.
Her shoulders slumped, and we took a seat again. “I promise I’ll think about it, okay?”
I nudged her again. “Okay,” I said. “But don’t wait forever, okay? Don’t let fear hold you back. You never know what could happen.”
I turned to Ian, who was busy chatting with Noah, Jesse, and Emerson. It made me happy to see Ian hanging out with them, talking like they’d been friends forever.
Rey’s thoughts interrupted my own. “It’s weird to even think about having a boyfriend. It just doesn’t feel like it could ever happen for me, you know?”
I gave her a side hug. “Rey, of course, it’ll happen for you. And when you least expect it.”
She sighed. “I’m not sure it’ll be that easy…”
Tori, Harper, and Ella joined us in our booth while the guys continued chatting at the next table.
Ella sighed. “Can you guys believe how fast senior year is flying by? I just want time to stop.”
Harper leaned her head on Ella’s shoulder. “Me too. I’m going to miss this.”
Rey frowned. “I can’t even think about it. It makes me too sad.”
Tori took her hand. “I know, but it’s also exciting, don’t you think? We’ll be adulting and everything.”
I laughed. “Okay, don’t say adulting.”
We giggled.
Harper glanced at Emerson, and Tori did the same. “There’s so much to figure out,” she said.
“So we’ll figure it out,” I said. “And no matter what, I know we’ll stick together. We’ll always stay friends.” I put my hand in the middle of the table. Then Ella put hers on top. Then Tori. Harper. And finally, Rey. “Here’s to an amazing rest of senior year.” I put my other hand on top. “Not to mention graduating together. And remaining best friends.”
Tori smiled. “I completely agree.”
Ella said, “A year from now. Five years from now…”
Harper said, “Always.”
Rey finally gave us a smile. “Forever.”
Author’s Note
Hey :)
You made it! <3
I have so many feels about this story. Right from the start, Lena and her voice just grabbed me. Her story was a LOT of fun to write! Haha.
From the beginning, I knew that she was the extrovert of the group, the loud and crazy one. Kind of like Bridget from the Sisterhood of the Travelings Pants, and they also happen to share a love for soccer.
In fact, that was definitely one of my favorite things about this story: channeling my own love for soccer.
Fun fact: I played for many years, starting in high school, but the position I ended up in (and loving) was actually goalkeeper (same as Ian).
#TheBoyfriendDare had its share of ups and downs, though.
The book felt like it took me FOREVER to write. I wasn’t too far in when several things happened, and the story came to a halt for well over a month. Almost two.
- my kids and I got a horrible virus one right after another; I’m talking vomit non-stop…
- that next week, I traveled to Las Vegas for an epic writing conference; I also happened to get strep the day I had to leave!
- I got back, ready to dive back into writing then… I got a call one night from my older sister Ana that she had gone into labor. Ah! I grabbed my stuff and was out the door in about 5 minutes. Spent several days with her and the baby as they got adjusted.
- we hosted Thanksgiving; tons of family time; I took a few days off afterward to just REST after everything.
- By this time, I had been away from the story for such a long time that I felt completely lost. Unable to write, uninspired, full of self-doubt.
Slowly but surely, though—and after a wrong turn or two—I found Lena’s voice again :)
I can’t believe how much happened during the writing of it, but it’s just another reason her story is extra special for me.
Another part that meant a lot to me was Lena’s relationship with her dad. I would say that my dad is very similar in that he also very rarely shares his emotions. Other than that, he tends to be more like Lena: loud, extroverted, makes people laugh. But it was cool taking a small part of my own dad and using that as inspiration for Lena’s dad.
Right now, I’m more than halfway done with Rey’s story and the last book in the series! I’ll admit there’s some pressure that comes with getting this book right and making sure it ties up the story nicely, but I’m hoping it’ll work out in the end!
If you want to know when Rey’s book is available, make sure you sign up for m
y newsletter and become a VIP reader :)
In the meantime, I’d love to hear what you thought of #TheBoyfriendDare and which #BFF is your favorite.
Email me your thoughts and questions at [email protected]. You can count on me to reply!
Book 5 Coming Soon!
I’m already hard at work on Rey’s story! Are you as excited about that as I am? You should be :)
It’ll be available in early 2019.
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Once again, thank you for reading #TheBoyfriendDare!
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Yesenia
Acknowledgments
Thank you once again to all of these amazing people:
My husband, who is a huge help and one of my biggest supporters.
My two amazing little girls, whose kisses and hugs sustained me these past several months. They more than made up for the constant interruptions :)
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