Mrunmayi Kamerkar-8IG-A-2018-19

 “Alex, pass the ball,” shouted Jayden for the third time, from across the field. Alex ignored her teammate as she drowned out everything around her. Whether it was an inter-school match or just a practice session, it always seemed like Alex Hastings had something to prove. Alex focused on three things, the ball at her feet, the goalpost and the defender in front of her: Audrey her best friend. “She’s not going to pass”, affirmed Audrey, and before she knew it, Alex was facing two more defenders. Alex was not phased as she formulated a way to get the ball in the goal. The logical thing to do would be to pass to Jaiden who was now unmarked and in the perfect position to score a goal. Alex looked straight ahead as she sprinted across the turf, moving the ball forward with perfectly controlled touches between her black laces and the ball. Two of the defenders charged at her, but she was ready. Feinting to the left, Alex got them away from the ball as she took a swift touch to the right and accelerated, leaving the two defenders in her dust. Now she just had to get past Audrey, which could prove to be a little more challenging. Audrey was now just four feet in front of her. Alex feinted to the left again, but Audrey didn’t fall for it. Alex took a touch to her right and Audrey moved her left leg towards the ball. Alex found her opening. She took a quick touch back to the left and pushed the ball through the middle of Audrey’s legs, which caught her by surprise and left her humiliated. Alex smirked. Now all she had to do was finish it. The goal was right in front of her. She slowed down, pulled back her right leg and struck the ball with her right foot, swinging her leg as she watched the ball soar…soar over the crossbar and miss the goal completely! Alex kicked the grass in frustration and stormed off the Pinewood High soccer field.

“Alicia unlock the door”, Alex demanded, pounding her fists on her sister’s yellow car. Alicia removed the headphones from her ears and rolled down the windows. “Ask politely Alexandra”, she taunted. Alex hated when her sister Alicia, or anyone for that matter, addressed her by her full name. “Unlock it or I’ll jump through the window”, threatened Alex. “You’ll get stuck”, replied Alicia, but opened the door nonetheless. “Start the car”, commanded Alex, as she got in. “Not so fast. You’re practice ends in twenty minutes. Why are you here?” questioned Alicia. “It ended early”, answered Alex. “You missed a goal again, didn’t you?” accused Alicia. Alex knew there was no point denying it. Her sister could see right through her. “Fine! I missed. Can we go now?” Alex confessed with a groan. “Five years on the team and I didn’t miss a single goal”, remarked Alicia with a smirk, as she started the car. “THAT’S CAUSE YOU WERE A GOALKEEPER!” Alex shouted over the noise of the engine. Her sister grinned as they headed home.

“MOM! DAD! We’re home”, announced Alicia, opening the large oak door of the Hastings’ home. “Twenty minutes early because Alex threw a tantrum”, she added softly so only Alex could hear. Alex ignored her sister and pushed past her, stalking into the expansive living room, where her mother was sitting. Her mother looked up from the laptop in her hand, “Did you get your report card?” she asked. There were papers sprawled all around her covering most of the gray couch. Both Alex’s parents were astrophysicists for NASA, her mother used to play competitive tennis, her father was the author of three bestselling novels and her sister had received scholarships from Stanford and Harvard. In short, the Hastings were high-achievers and no matter what Alex did, it never seemed to be enough. “My day was fine, thanks for asking”, Alex grumbled. “No it wasn’t, she missed a goal during practice”, added Alicia, walking into the room. Before Alex could retort, her mother replied, “No one asked you Alicia”. Her sister shrugged and walked up the stairs to her room. Alex’s mother turned to her and inquired, “Since when do you care about telling us about your day? Anyways, report card?” Alex got out her report card and handed it to her mom. “Straight A’s. Except for French”, Alex declared proudly. “95% in physics and 92% in French is unacceptable”, scolded her mom. “Our expectations are clear. Above 95% in every subject. EVEN French.” Alex widened her eyes in disbelief. Her parents had high expectations, but this was unreasonable. She knew there was no point arguing. Alex was about to storm off when her mother stopped her. “Alexandra wait. You missed a goal again? That’s not going to improve your chances of getting into the senior team.” “I don’t WANT to be on the senior team” Alex shouted “and don’t call me that”, she added as she stormed to her room and slammed the door.

“I heard your argument with mom yesterday”, confessed Alicia who was driving Alex to school early since she wanted to practice. Alex who was looking out the window at the dull blue sky replied, “No matter how hard I try, it’s never enough. I guess not being good enough is a side effect of being the sister of the great Alicia Hastings” she said, rolling her eyes, although it was true. “Not being good enough, is a side effect of being a Hastings”, Alicia countered. “I went through it too. You’re not the special one”, she promised. “I guess”, Alex heaved with a sigh as they entered the parking lot of Pinewood High. Alex grabbed her bag and got out of the car before it could come to a complete stop. Alicia watched her sister jog to the soccer field. Alex had always wanted to be like Alex Morgan, hence the nickname. Her room was covered in posters of the soccer player. Alicia knew her sister had the potential to make a career out of the sport. What she was worried about, was that Alex may crack under the pressure she was under. She knew from personal experience, if that happened, it would be hard to get the old Alex back.   

Alex heard the sound of the chatter of hundreds of students. She looked at her watch; it had been half an hour since she started. For the last thirty minutes, Alex had been practicing the same shot again and again and again. It was the same shot she had missed yesterday during practice. Alex had finally got it. She changed her shoes and walked towards her classroom.

“So, Alex. Ready for tomorrow’s match?” asked Alex’s dad. “It’s an important one”  “Yeah. I think so”, answered Alex. “I’m sure she’ll be fine”, assured Alex’s mom. ”Also we’re coming to watch the match”

‘Uh-oh’, Alex thought. ‘Her parents were coming to watch her match! This was not good. What if she didn’t play well? What if she missed again?

‘Uh-oh’, Alicia thought. ‘Her parents were coming to watch Alex’s match! This was not good.’ Alicia knew her sister would be under pressure and wouldn’t perform her best. Their presence would definitely impact Alex’s game. She looked at her sister. The panic was already settling in Alex’s mind, Alicia could tell. Her sister was shifting from one foot to another; something Alex did when nervous.

Both the sisters knew this was not going to end well.

“3, 2, 1…..PINEWOOD!” cheered the starting eleven of the Pinewood soccer team, before breaking out of their huddle and taking their positions. It was a pleasant day and the stands were swarming with parents and students. Alex scanned the stands and found her parents almost immediately, sitting next to Alicia. ‘They weren’t kidding’, she thought. Alex quickly looked away, this wasn’t about them. This was about her. She was going to do fine. ‘I’ve practiced enough’, Alex reminded herself and brought her focus back to the game.

The whistle for halftime blew. The score was 1-0, Pinewood was in the lead. Audrey, the team’s captain had scored a free-kick, putting them in front. Alex had got the ball a few times, but hesitated, and just ended up passing the ball back. She could practically feel the presence of her parents. She could feel their eyes on her, like lasers pointed at her, ready to make a hole through her for the slightest misstep. ‘They’re just my parents’, Alex reminded herself. ‘She was stressing out for no reason.’ Alex gulped down some water, jumped up and down and she was ready for the next twenty minutes. Or so she thought.

There were five minutes left in the match, the score still 1-0, when Alex received a perfect pass from Jayden. Alex was at the top right of the ‘D’. She had practiced shooting from here thousands of times. There were no defenders, just her, the goalkeeper and the goal. Alex took a deep breath. Time slowed down as Alex swung back her leg. Everyone in the stands seemed to be holding their breath, as Alex brought her foot to the center of the ball. She concentrated on the top left corner of the goal as she struck the ball with her inner foot. In the split second where the ball left her foot, she lost her focus, as she saw her parents from the corner of her eye. Thoughts began racing through her mind. ‘What if I miss?’ ‘What will mom and dad say?’ And just like her thoughts sped up, so did time, as Alex watched the keeper save her shot with ease.

Alex couldn’t bear to look at her parents the whole ride home. She knew there would be disappointment written all across their faces. No one said a word in the car and Alex was grateful. Once they reached home, Alex went straight to her room, shut the door, collapsed on her bed and broke into tears. She didn’t know how long she stayed like that. She heard some voices and footsteps at her door a couple of times, but no one came in to talk to her. Alex eventually fell asleep.

“And the award for MVP goes to… Alexandra Hastings”, Alex couldn’t believe it. She got up to go collect her trophy as her teammates started chanting her name. “Alex! Alex! Alex!....Alex! Wake up!” Alex opened her eyes and saw her sister’s face, instead of a gold trophy. She groaned, “What do you want?” “You have practice.” Alicia replied. How long had she been sleeping? Alex craned her neck towards the window and saw sunlight streaming in. Her sister was right. It was Saturday morning and she had practice. “I am not going”, Alex announced. “Yes, you are”, argued Alicia, pulling the blanket of her sister. Alex whined, “It’s cold, give it back”. Alicia ran out of the room and Alex followed trudging, still half asleep.

“Alex, hurry up or you’ll be late”, Alicia warned. “I told you I am not going.” Alex fought back, as she picked up the soccer ball from a shelf in Alicia’s room and started tossing it in the air and catching it. Alicia grabbed the ball with a quick swipe of her hand, and asked “Do you remember my first three years as goalkeeper?” Alex nodded, “You were unstoppable. You got the award for best goalkeeper, three times in a row, and conceded just seven goals in 36 matches.” “Exactly! But after that everyone expected so much of me. If I didn’t get the award for best keeper again, I had failed. In two years, I couldn’t take it anymore. I just quit.” Alicia recalled. “You can’t quit like me. Remember why you started playing. For fun. You play your best, when you forget about everyone watching you and just play for yourself and your team.” Alicia said as she put the ball back in Alex’s hands. “Great speech, but I am not going. I am not quitting, I am just taking a break until next season” Alex explained. “No Alex, you have one last match this season. If your team wins, you win the championship. You are going. If you don’t want to do this for yourself, at least do it for me.” Alicia begged. “Fine!” Alex gave in.

“Alex, what happened yesterday? You left right after the match ended. I wanted to talk to you” Audrey told Alex, as they jogged together around the field. “I'd rather not talk about yesterday” replied Alex speeding up. “You're upset because you missed, right? It's okay. Don't worry about it. Everyone misses.” Audrey stated, attempting to console Alex. “It's not okay. I wish that was true but it's not. I'm a Hastings”, Alex snapped. “Yeah you're a Hastings and everything is easy for you. Did you even have try out for the team?” muttered Emma, another girl on the team. Alex noticed that the whole team had gathered around Audrey and her and were talking amongst each other. “Of course-”Alex started, annoyed Emma even had that thought. “Everything is not about you Alex. We get that you missed and it's alright. We still won the match. All of us have off days. But we compensate for each other’s mistakes. That's what a team is for” Audrey explained. Alex wanted to argue, but she understood that Audrey was trying to keep the team together. If they had a falling out now, they had no chance of winning the championship. Audrey was right. It was not just about her. In the end, Pinewood had to win. “You're right. I'm sorry”, Alex apologized.

Alex’s fingers were violently shaking, as she barely managed to tie the laces of her soccer shoes. Her heartbeat was growing faster with every step, as she made her way across the turf, moist with dew, to join her team. It was the final match of the season: Pinewood vs Red River High, a rivalry so bitter, their matches were like the El Clasico. Raising the stakes even higher, was the fact that this match would determine which school won the championship? Which team was the best? “If we lose or tie the match, Red River High goes back with the trophy. Winning is our only option”, Audrey reminded the team, although they were all aware that Red River had scored one goal more than them in the league. Alex had had sleepless nights because of it. They had to emerge victorious.

“Audrey shoot!” shouted Alex. It was three minutes into the game when Audrey was about to score for Pinewood. Audrey pulled back her leg to shoot. Suddenly, one of Red River’s defenders charged at her. In a split second, both Audrey and the defender were on the ground. “FOUL!!!” roared all of Pinewood. The referee blew his whistle and held up a yellow card. Pinewood had won a penalty in the third minute! Alex was ecstatic, but her joy immediately faded when she noticed something was terribly wrong. Audrey was not getting up. Alex sprinted towards her captain. Audrey was grasping her leg in pain. She tried to get up, but it just made things worse. “Audrey-”, Alex started. “I’m fine”, said Audrey with a grimace, but her expression showed otherwise. Audrey could barely walk, yet it took, what seemed like an eternity, to convince Audrey to sit out of the game. She took off the captain’s band from her arm and handed it to Alex. “You’ve got this”, she assured Alex.

Confidence surged through Alex as she stepped up to take the penalty. She converted the penalty to a goal with graceful ease. Alex knew this was it. She was going to prove her worth to her parents, her teammates and most importantly, to herself.

The referee blew the final whistle. Alex collapsed on the spot with exhaustion, shock and sorrow. Alex had given these forty minutes everything she had. The final score was three all. The match was tied. Red River High had won the championship. Nothing else mattered. Any other day, Alex would have been on top of the world for scoring three stunning goals. Alex had scored a hattrick. This was by far, the best game of soccer she had ever played.  Alex hadn’t thought about anything or anyone during the match. She looked to the stands, and caught her parent’s eyes. They were beaming with pride. Pride, an expression Alex hadn’t seen on their faces in a long time. There would be next season to beat Red River High.  Alex managed to get out the slightest smile.