Page 32 of Love and Other Goals

“Beef! It’s not a love letter. It was just…a nice letter,” I tell her, poking her in the side. “And sorry, but you’re not guilting me into reading it. Now let’s go make some popcorn before the girls wonder what’s taking so long.”

“Eh, they’re in a reality TV trance, they’re oblivious to reality right now,” Teegan says as she does a happy dance up the stairs.

CHAPTER FOURTEEN

The Townsend soccer match isn’t until 4:00 p.m., which means I have all day Saturday to build up equal parts nervous and excited energy. The anticipation of seeing Mateo, plus finally watching soccer again after so long, has me proverbially bouncing off the walls. I don’t know if I’ll have any sort of interaction with Mateo, but I’m entirely too eager to watch him play. It’s killing me to wait all day.

There are several other girls from the sorority going to the match—because we don’t have a football team, soccer is the sporting event to attend at Townsend. While a lot of DII teams struggle to fill their stands with spectators, Townsend never lacks for fans.

I tell Teegan I want to go on our own and sit separately. It’s too much pressure to think about watching Mateo and reliving a soccer match for the first time in forever, while also sitting amidst all my sorority sisters.

We arrive at the soccer field and show our student IDs to get in. There’s a whole section of the stands taken up by students, and Teegan and I find a place on the bleachers a few rows up from the front but across the aisle from the main student section.

The teams are clearing the field after warmups to stand on the sidelines for the national anthem. The announcer welcomes the opposing team, which is met with loud boos from the Townsend stands, then announces the Townsend Bobcats starting lineup one by one.

“And last but certainly not least, our Bobcats team captain and midfielder, Mateo Alvarez!” The crowd goes wild (particularly all the female voices) as Mateo runs through the tunnel of Townsend players, high fiving them as he goes. He turns toward the stands, and I realize he’s scanning the crowd looking for me.

I know the exact instant his eyes find mine. A huge grin breaks out on his face, popping out that dimple that makes my heart skip a beat every time I see it now. I smile back and give him a small wave with just my fingers, trying not to draw attention to myself.

Teegan elbows me hard in the ribs. “Oh my gosh, Lana, how are you not in a constant state of swooning? That very fine-looking man is positively smitten with you.” I’m blushing hard now, but can’t stop smiling nonetheless. The teams take their positions on the field, and I feel adrenaline coursing through my veins as we wait for the whistle to begin play.

Mateo warned me that the opposing team was some of their toughest competition in the league last year. It’s evident as the opponents take the ball on their first offensive run. Mateo falls back to help the defenders, and Chris eventually steals the ball and kicks it upfield to one of our other midfielders.

It’s nearing halftime with the score still 0-0. We’ve had some great shots on goal that have been saved by their keeper, including one beautiful cross from Mateo that looked like it was going to go in but was just tipped out. I’ve been sitting on my hands the whole time to contain myself from screaming like a crazy person.

During halftime, I try to explain some of the key rules and strategies of soccer to Teegan. “I don’t get why they don’t just all run to fight for the ball. And why would they kick it back toward their own goal sometimes?” she asks.

“They try to spread out across the field to keep their options open since it can change from offense to defense and back so quickly. Each position has a loose area of the field where they’re playing, but they aren’t required to stay there,” I explain to Teegan’s furrowed brow. “Sometimes when we get control of the ball, our players need a second to reset positions and get on the same page for their next attack. That’s why they kick it backwards, sometimes even to our own goalie.”

Play resumes with Townsend getting the offensive start of the half. We put together a good attack on the goal again, but just can’t seem to score. The back and forth continues, and I can only imagine how tired Mateo is from covering so much of the field.

There are only two minutes left of regulation before stoppage time kicks in, and our guys are passing well on a great offensive run. I’m on the edge of my seat as Mateo fends off a defender to keep control of the ball heading toward the center of the field. He crosses to Andrès, who’s in perfect scoring position, but an opponent is all up in his space. Andrès manages to get a high pass back over to the corner of the box where Mateo is waiting.

I hold my breath with my hands over my mouth as I watch the ball sail toward Mateo, as if in slow motion. He and the guy guarding him both jump for the ball, but Mateo gets the better position and heads the ball toward the goal. The keeper just misses the timing of his dive, and the ball sails over his body into the back of the net.

The Townsend stands erupt as everyone jumps to their feet cheering. Teegan and I bounce up and down as we scream along with the crowd. Mateo and the team come running and celebrating across the field.

After receiving several slaps on the back from teammates, Mateo turns to the stands and finds my eyes. With a one-sided smile, he holds up his hands and shoots an air arrow toward me with a wink before running back out for the kickoff. Teegan is clutching my arm and ruining her vocal cords squealing.

The roar of the crowd has died down, and female voices can be clearly heard from the student section speculating about Mateo’s celebration.

“How do you know he’s never done that goal celebration before?”

“Trust me, I watch Mateo Alvarez closely every game.”

“Well, he obviously aimed it at the crowd. Who was he shooting the arrow to?”

The voices are clamoring over each other, and I can feel Teegan’s energy winding up next to me. There’s no time to contain her before the proud excitement she’s been bottling up the past few weeks boils over and she’s yelling, “Right here! Mateo was shooting the arrow to this girl right here!” She’s wildly flailing her arm overhead and pointing at me.

I can feel the Christmas red color heating my face again as the crowd of girls turns to look at me, daggers in their eyes. I grab Teegan’s arm and hip check her. “Quit it, Teegs!” I command through gritted teeth. I’m certainly not ashamed to be associated with Mateo, but I wasn’t mentally prepared for that onslaught of attention.

The flush of embarrassment doesn’t leave my cheeks for the remainder of the match, but I still jump and cheer loudly when the final whistle sounds and we’ve won 1-0. The team celebrates in the middle of the field, and Teegan leans over to say, “Well, I never knew a sports event that ends with a score of 1-0 could be so exciting.”

I give her an evil eye, but it loses its effect since I’m smiling. The vocal girls across from us shoot parting glares at me as they leave the stands, and I elbow Teegan. “Thanks a lot for that very public outing.”

Teegan flips her hair with one hand. “Whatever. You just needed a little nudge out of the nest. I’m nothing if not a good mama eagle.”

I laugh and step into the aisle. Mateo catches my eye and winks again, and I grin back at him. When I glance up into the stands, I notice Aaron standing there with some other OGs, looking right at me. I quickly look away and whisper to Teegan, “I think I just saw Aaron.”

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