As the ball reached her, she heard Avery shout “Let!” to tell her he was open behind her in the same direction the ball was already traveling. He’d have an easy shot. As the ball reached her, she put the ball of her foot on it and then dragged it behind her to keep it rolling toward Avery. She didn’t even turn around to see him, but the ball sailing past the goalie’s hands told her he got the open shot.
When you play with the same people for years, you get this sixth sense about where they’re going to be on the field, what they’re going to do with the ball and how best to help them. Since they’ve played off and on together since high school, it was like second nature to know each other’s moves.
Hailey ran over to Avery to high-five him for his goal and he gave her the look that meant he was going for a double. She slapped his right hand above their heads and then kept the force of it moving around in a circle, their hands meeting again down low.
As Abby ran by, she lowered her voice and said, “Get a room,” with a devilish grin on her face. Hailey turned toward Avery but he had already ran back to his spot at left forward and didn’t hear. At least Hailey could blame her red face on running around.
The game was a blowout and Hailey’s team left the field with a 10-2 win and big smiles on their faces. It was an early game so the night was still young. It was just a matter of time before Cole—
“Victory drinks at the pub!”
And there it was. He couldn’t help but want to celebrate every win. The team would get drinks after some losses, but it really depended on Cole’s mood after a game. They all looked to him as their leader so they usually went with it.
They got to their go-to pub and took overtwo small tables, pushing them together and making that grating sound against the floor that had Hailey shivering.
It was only seven of them so she grabbed a seat next to Avery with Cole on her other side.
Hailey wasn’t sure she was ready for alcohol after what happened last week, so she stuck with soda.
It drew a raised eyebrow from Cole and he leaned in to ask if she was okay. Hailey nodded and just muttered that she wasn’t up for it. He seemed to accept that answer and they both went back to the conversation at the table.
Why was it weird when someonedidn’torder alcohol?
They all spent some time rehashing the game and going over their schedule for the rest of the season. They had a few tough games coming up and Hailey was looking forward to the challenge after tonight’s game. Blowouts were never fun for her. She always felt like it was rubbing it in the other team’s faces. She’d be extra nice and let the other team know how good that shot was for them, or say how fast they were. It made her feel a little better when it got a smile from them.
Sipping her soda, she started thinking about that feeling, the one where you were helpless to fix a situation and you were on the losing side of a blowout. It sucked, and she never wished it on anyone, despite being uber competitive. Marley would say that she was trying to make other people happy because Hailey couldn’tmake herself happy and she didn’t want anyone else to feel that way. She didn't want people to feel the way she did all the time.
It made sense, but doing it still made her feel some kind of joy, feeling useful.
“Ahem, earth to Hailey,” Abby said from across the table. “You okay? You’re zoning out a bit.”
“Oh, yeah, sorry,” she said, suddenly flustered that everyone was staring at her. Who knows what conversation was happening while she was off in space.
“Let me guess, trouble with the boyfriend again?” Cole rolled his eyes. “When are you going to take care of that?”
Hailey stole a quick glance at Avery and he gave her a reassuring nod.
“Um, well, actually…” She took a deep breath and looked around the table at the worried looks she was getting. This team really liked to be in each other’s business. “Actually, I ended it with him. It’s over.”
A lot of things happened at once. Riley and Josh pumped their fists in the air and shouted “Yes” repeatedly, Cole started banging his fists on the table, yelling, “Oh thank the lord, the day has come!” Then he gave Hailey a giant bear hug that actually pulled her a little out of her chair. Abby sat there squealing and clapping her hands like she just won the lottery and Elena seemed to be thanking someone above with herhands folded in front of her.
She jumped at the outbursts, and when Cole released her she bumped shoulders with Avery. She looked his way when he leaned in and said so close to her ear that she could feel his breath, “I think they’re excited.”
Hailey tensed realizing her body just responded to his whispers, a shiver running up her spine, her hands suddenly clammy and her hand shaking when she reached for her drink.
The cacophony continued around the table until Cole got everyone’s attention again. “Wait, wait, wait. Was this because of the intervention? Did we help?”
She felt Avery’s eyes still on her while she looked straight ahead at Abby, trying to keep her eyes off him so it didn’t look like it was because of him. Instead, she rolled her eyes.
“Well, it didn’t hurt I guess.”
“Yes! I’m so happy for you!” Yeah, she picked up on that already. “Let’s raise our glasses to new beginnings for Hailey!”
Everyone humored Cole and clinked their glasses together. She stole another look at Avery who reached over to her and gave her shoulder a squeeze. It was one thing to tell Avery what happened when no one else was listening, but she wasn’t up for telling a table full of people what led to Hailey finally pulling the plug on that disaster.
The conversation moved back to soccer for a while. Apparently, Manchester United was doing well and Riley was obsessed with them.
Hailey jumped in every once in a while but she was mostly keeping a low profile, just enjoying watching her friends enjoy themselves. She did feel bad for the nearby tables though. There was no way all of them together didn’t smell from the game.
