Page 39 of Love and Other Goals

“I’d love to,” I reply. “Where should I meet you after the match?”

Mateo instructs me where to wait with the other players’ girlfriends outside the direct entrance to the locker room. He gets back into his truck, and I lean against the open window to tell him goodbye. Mateo reaches up to tuck a stray hair behind my ear with a soft smile, and I feel my cheeks heat up, which only makes him smile bigger. “I’ll see you tonight, Lana.”

I turn back to the AOPi house and notice an open-mouthed Bailey up the sidewalk, apparently heading out on a run. She startles when she sees me notice her, clamping her mouth shut. She shoves her ear buds in as she takes off jogging down the street without so much as a hello.

Determined to shake her snootiness off, I go inside and head up to our room, where Amaya is out of bed and Teegan is beginning to stir. When I walk in holding a Raelynn’s cup, Amaya immediately scolds me. “Are you telling me you got up and went out for coffee without bringing me anything back?”

I give her a little shove and say, “No, I did not go to Raelynn’s. This was delivered to me by Mateo, along with his old jersey from last year that he wants me to wear to the match tonight.”

Teegan bolts upright in bed. “He what now? You’re wearing his name to the soccer game tonight?” I nod and hold it up for her to see. “Ughhh, unfair. I can’t come tonight because I have stupid showcase rehearsal! I want to be there to see the look on their huffy little faces when the girls watching the game realize Mateo Alvarez is officially claimed.”

I say, “Teegs, don’t be ridiculous,” at the same time that Amaya says, “I’ll take a video.”

I roll my eyes at both of them.

Amaya made me promise to do extra hours of pomping on the homecoming float with her today in exchange for accompanying me to the soccer match, so we have plenty of time to catch up just the two of us as we stick squares of tissue paper through chicken wire. She fills me in how her mom is doing, and what companies have caught her eye to apply with after graduation. Amaya’s innate drive to succeed has elevated AOPi to the next level, and I have zero doubts that she’ll do the same in whatever company has the good sense to snatch her up.

Amaya asks a lot of questions about my family, especially Dean. She knows what it’s like to be mixed up with the wrong crowd, so she takes to heart the struggles we’re having getting through to him. Seeing where she is now gives me hope for Dean.

My back and my hands are starting to cramp after spending so much time pomping, but I’m grateful for the chance to hang out and talk with Amaya. She’s so busy running the world, it can be hard for us to have quality time together.

After dinner, I’m getting dressed in jeans and Mateo’s jersey over a long-sleeve shirt when Teegan comes up behind me in the mirror. “Lana, you are drowning in that jersey,” she says with disapproval.

“Well, Beef, not sure if you’ve noticed this, but Mateo is a good six inches taller than me and has significantly larger upper body muscles,” I counter sarcastically.

“I have, in fact, noticed these things,” Teegan says with a teasing smile, and I elbow her in the ribs. She pulls the jersey tighter around my waist and secures a knot at the base of my back. “Don’t worry, you can still see the name and number clearly.”

I know it’s killing Teegan not to come tonight, so I let her re-curl the waves into my hair and style it in a half-up bun. She adds a little shimmery eyeshadow to my eyes and a small cat eye before humming her approval. “Please take some pictures. Promise me.”

Laughing, I pull her into a tight hug. “I promise. Now go do awesome at showcase rehearsal so AOPi can embarrass TriAlpha with how good we are this year.”

“Now that’s a mission I can get behind.”

Amaya and I arrive early, but so have a large crowd of students already, probably since the team we’re playing tonight beat us last year. We take our seats in the same place that Teegan and I sat last time. The teams are still out on the field doing warm-up drills, so Amaya and I sit and chat while we wait. “I promised Teegan to send her a couple of photos, so let’s get a selfie or two before the match starts,” I tell Amaya, who pulls out her phone in response.

“Hold on, let me pull your hair to the front of your shoulders so Teegan can admire her handiwork,” Amaya says. I smile into the phone as Amaya holds it above our heads, angling down at us.

“Okay, sassy faces,” she says as she holds the phone down, angled up at us. Amaya makes a kissy face and I give an open-mouthed smile with my hands framing my chin while looking up away from the screen. “Perfection,” Amaya comments as she zooms in on the photo. “Teegan will love this one.”

I tilt her phone toward me after she sends the picture to Teegan to examine the photos. In our “sassy” pose, Amaya positioned the camera to get us in the bottom corner with a clear view of a group of girls behind us in the background. A group of girls scowling at the back of my head, or more accurately, my shirt.

“Teegan is having too much of an influence on you,” I tell Amaya, giving her major side eye.

“Hey, I’m just following through on my promises,” Amaya quips. “Loyalty is a valuable quality in a best friend.”

I can’t help but laugh as I look back out at the field. The teams are headed to the sidelines, and Mateo finds me quickly in the crowd with a wide grin. I give him a bigger wave this time and settle into the undercurrent of excitement rolling through the crowd. Because of AOPi chapter meetings, I can never attend the Wednesday soccer matches, so I have extra energy built up for this one. Even though Wednesday’s match ended in a tie, we’re still technically undefeated.

Play begins, and I can tell it’s going to be a physical game. Opponents are practically body-checking our guys, but we’re not backing down. A few questionable no-calls hint that the refs are going to let a lot of things go, which only ups the physicality of the match.

One of our defenders disrupts the opponents’ pass and kicks the ball up field to Mateo, increasing the volume of the Townsend stands. I can already feel my voice starting to go hoarse. The defender on Mateo is shoving like crazy, which makes me want to run out there and kick him. Mateo, however, keeps his cool and control of the ball. He pushes off the defender enough to kick a beautifully arced cross to the box, where one of our forwards is waiting to boot it into the goal.

Amaya and I are on our feet screaming our hearts out along with the rest of the Townsend fans. “That’s a goal for Jamar Brown after a perfect assist from Mateo Alvarez!” the announcer yells as the team celebrates together on the field.

At two minutes left till halftime, the opponents are passing down the field toward our goal. I’m jittery with nerves as they get closer and closer to the box, effectively passing around our defenders. Our keeper is poised and ready, but this offensive run is looking too smooth for comfort.

One of their forwards passes to another striker, who sends the ball sailing past our keeper into the net. The student section groans with disappointment, but I’m on my feet yelling in a frustrated voice. “OFFSIDE! He was offside by a mile!!”

The line judge raises the offside flag, and the point is taken off the board for the other team. I clap and cheer along with the crowd as the time runs out for the first half.

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