Chapter 2

I’m not sure why I wrote what I did earlier, but I’ve decided to keep writing, making this a journal. I’ll keep it hidden. Perhaps after what I’ve become afraid of happening happens, my recorded thoughts will help put away the guy I’m afraid will rape me.

Tuesday, 03 July 2018

Oh, my fucking Goddess! I scored a goal today!

Most of the team members have goals and I got to thinking that I could make runs, too. Perhaps I could at least get an assist. I chose my timing carefully. We had the ball just short of midfield on the left side. Kanda (the left half) was being harried, and Haven (center half) had fallen. Rather than send the ball backward to Emma P, she looked for her best friend and switched the play by sending the ball to Dakota. As soon as Kanda began her windup for the long pass, I headed upfield near the sideline at speed.

Unfortunately, due to the long pass, their left midfielder was almost on Dakota’s butt, which was facing the way we needed to go, when the ball arrived. I was only 20 feet downfield of her and heading upfield, so she chested it out while she yelled, “Go,” then, with her right foot, popped the ball over her head and her defender. It was perfect. I ran onto it, trapping it by tapping it forward just as it hit the turf.

I grabbed a peek over my left shoulder when I heard Dakota yell, “I’m with you!”

Oh! She wanted us to work together, and I had no problem with that, as she’s become one of Argon’s...

Oh. I haven’t written what Argon is, which is one of the lineups. Even though they’re named Krypton and Argon (I wonder if all the team members know that they’re both noble gases), everyone knows that they’re really the A and B lineups, with all the best players at each position being members of Krypton and everyone else on Argon. Of course, with a roster limit of 23, there’s only one sub, Emma C, but she has gone into games for either lineup. She started as a right back, like me, but when Padme had to go into hiding...

Oh. Hmm. Should I write about that? No. I’m already on a digression. No sense getting lost in the weeds. Suffice it to say that Padme was unavailable for practice or games for a while, which meant that Dakota got moved from right half to right wing and Crewe filled Dakota’s right half slot and did surprisingly well at it.

Back to Dakota wanting us to work together to get the ball upfield. She’s become one of Argon’s most dynamic players and has been the main reason Argon is now consistently doing nearly as well as Krypton in games. I’ve become a bit in awe of her for how much better she’s become, not just at play, but in leading the lineup.

With their left half behind us, but their D responding by shifting fullbacks and midfielders to their left, our right, I thought we’d have to deal with only two defenders, mainly because Tonda at center forward is fast and crafty, and Lissa at sweeper is simply uber crafty and a very skilled dribbler. I began angling toward the goal, but slowing a bit to let Dakota catch up a bit in case I needed her. Since she’s slightly faster than I am and because she had the inside track to the goal, I didn’t have to slow down for very long.

I need to digress.

Earlier in the year, our team captain, Beth, gave us all a lesson on the hand signals she and her best friend had made up a couple years ago so they could give instruction without the opponents hearing them.

As Dakota and I approached Baskerville’s center half, she gave me the sign for ‘switch.’ I was confused at first, but as she began crossing my path in front of me, I could see what she intended, so once she had enough separation from the center half, I sent the ball with pace on the ground to her upfield and outside of me, then turned on the afterburners to run onto the go pass behind the center half. As soon as she’d sent that pass, she headed field left, cutting off their center half and then turned on her own afterburners slightly angling toward the goal to my right. Next up: Baskerville’s left center back.