“Declan! Keep going!” Marcos Sanchez yelled while dribbling down the middle of the football pitch. His curly black hair was slick with sweat as he kicked the ball to the left. Declan Buckley was ready, bumping the ball on his chest before letting it drop at his feet. Everyone started running down the field, and I raised my hand as I cut through the box.

“Here!” I shouted.

Declan didn’t hesitate as he passed the ball to me. I dived forward, the ball bouncing off my head right passed the goalkeeper’s gloves. I landed on the turf as I heard the ref blow his whistle.

I was surrounded by my teammates in a matter of seconds, cheering as my goal tied the game. Declan and Marcos pulled me up, patting me on my back as we went back to our positions.

“Marble Hill University goal scored by number 13, Alexander White!” the announcer exclaimed. “He was assisted by number 19, Declan Buckley!”

I could hear the crowd cheering, but wiped the sweat off my forehead with my arm.

“Score another, Alex!” our goalkeeper Tyler Murphy yelled, clapping his gloves. His shaggy blond hair was pulled back with a thin headband. I gave him a thumbs up and he cheered loudly.

The other team restarted the ball, immediately running towards us, putting the pressure on our defense.

Nine minutes left.

Aidan Fisherman was able to steal the ball, but he didn’t have a lot of space to dribble around. The other team managed to steal the ball back, continuing towards the goal.

“AJ!” I called. “Your right! Your right!”

Aidan turned to his right, but the player was already dribbling past him.

Eight minutes left.

The other team managed to get it in the box, but our two defenders, Charlie McCarthy and Liam Markle, were able to gain possession of the ball. Charlie kicked it up into the air, the ball falling a little too close to the sideline. I ran after it, twisting my body to kick it back towards the middle of the field. I fell backwards, hearing people shouting. I didn’t know what they were shouting until I collided with someone else, both of us ending up on the ground.

There was mild cursing under the sound of the ref’s whistle. As I tried to push myself up, my arm made contact with something else.

“OWW!”

My head turned and I saw my elbow was crushing another person’s wrist.

“Sorry, sorry!” I responded, quickly getting to my feet to help the person up. The guy was shorter than me, probably around 5’3”, wearing light jeans and a hoodie under a blue T-shirt with the words “Event Staff” on the back. His chocolate brown hair was a little long, and he brushed his bangs aside to glare at me.

The longer we held eye contact, the longer I felt like I knew those dark brown eyes.

“Alex!” Assistant Head Coach Stephen Roche called. “Get back into position!”

I glanced once more at the shorter male before jogging back onto the field and into position.

“You good?” Declan asked, patting my back. “You didn’t injure yourself, right?”

“I’m fine,” I responded. “Come on. We still have a game to finish.”

Declan and I jogged back to our positions as the other team prepared for their penalty kick. They kicked, and it got dangerously close to the top left corner. Tyler Murphy punched it away with his hand as one of the twin defenders was able to stop the ball from going out of bounds. He kicked it all the way to Damian Wheeler.

“Nice pass, Kevin!” Damian called, immediately turning around and dribbling down the field.

“Damian!” I called, noticing Declan in the box. Damian glanced both ways, and raised his leg to pass left. When he made contact with the ball, however, it went to the right side of the field. I looked over and saw the defender going after Aidan lagging behind.

Aidan was completely free.

He kicked the ball, and it flew right into the bottom left corner. The goalie dived for it, but the ball was already in the back of the net.

The crowd cheered loudly as I ran over to hug Aidan with the rest of the team. They were all cheering and hugging Aidan, rubbing his fluffy brown hair and patting his back.

“Marble Hill goal by number 7, Aidan Fisherman,” the announcer called.

We went back into position with only two minutes left. The other team restart, all of their forwards running within shooting range.

“Watch your backs!” Marcos called.

“Stop it, Kyle!” Liam called to the twin defender that didn’t clear the ball.

While the scoreboard ticked down the final seconds, we just kept the ball in our possession. The other team tried to steal it, but we passed it back and forth to prevent them from gaining possession. The buzzer echoed across the field, but our teammates on the bench were already crossing the field towards us.

“The Panthers have won with a score of 3-2!” the announcer called.

We all started clapping, going over to the fence in front of the bleachers. Friends and family greeted us, telling us what an amazing job we did. A few minutes later, we all started walking back across the pitch towards the bench.

“That was a great shot,” Declan said, ruffling Aidan’s hair.

“How did you manage to shake the defender?” Amara Sharma asked.

Aidan and the others began chatting, but a certain Event Staff Athletic Helper caught my attention near the bench.

“Hey,” I said, walking over to the male I crashed into. “I’m sorry for running into you. I didn’t realize I was going so far towards the side. Or that you were even there. My mind is always focused on the game and I—”

“Really, it’s fine,” the other male interjected. “Please don’t worry about it.”

“Alex!” Declan called as the others were heading inside. “Hurry up! Coach wants to end the meeting early today for his wedding anniversary.”

I looked back at the male, but he was already gone. I jogged over to Declan and the two of us walked after our teammates.

When I filed into the locker room last, I could hear the cheers and clapping from everyone.

Head Coach MacCarthy stepped forward, waving his hands to subdue the cheering. His gray hairs were showing, but that never stopped him from doing what he loved.

“All right,” he said. “Settle down. Tonight’s game was very close. I know we’re coming back from summer break, but we have to get our head in the game if we want to be the conference champions two years in a row. Damian, you’re better than tonight’s performance.”

“I know,” Damian said. “My foot didn’t hit the ball correctly, but I’ll work on it, Coach.”

“Kevin, Kyle,” Coach MacCarthy started, “great defense out there, but listen to Charlie and Liam. They are there to guide you as upperclassmen.” The twins nodded, both of them ruffling each other’s dark brown hair at the same time. “Nico and Casper, I know you two weren’t in for a while, but the pressure you two gave the defense during the first half-” Coach Roche exhaled and put his hands up. “Have mercy on me!”

There were some light chuckles in the room.

Coach MacCarthy smiled at everyone. “Good job tonight. We’ll do a light practice tomorrow and normal weight training.” He paused. “Captains have anything to add?”

“Dinner tonight at Atlas,” Aidan said, scanning the locker room. “Everyone needs to be there. You too, Adrik.”

A tall bench defender clicked his tongue. “But what about beautiful ladies waiting for me?”

“Gonna have to wait,” Charlie said. “First game of the semester, first team dinner of the semester. You know the rules.”

Adrik muttered something in Russian, and despite not knowing exactly what he said, I knew it was something along the lines of ‘what a pain,’ or ‘pain in the ass.’

The only team dinners that were mandatory were after the first and last games of the season and the last game of the entire school year. The dinners were always fun, even if we just had take-out from somewhere or made something at one of the houses off campus. There wasn’t always alcohol, but sometimes the seniors got their hands on a six pack if it was a weekend. Even so, none of the older members forced younger ones to drink.

“Alright, hands in,” Aidan said, standing and walking into the middle of the locker room. “Let’s shower and refuel at Atlas!”

There were cheers as the rest of us got up and joined the circle.

“Panthers on three!” Charlie shouted. “One two three-”

“Panthers!!”

The locker room was filled with chatter as everyone started breaking off into smaller groups.

“The Freshmen Five did well tonight,” Casper Winzer said to one of the other older players. His German accent wasn’t as thick as when he first started playing at Marble Hill four years ago, but he still preferred to be on the quieter side.

“I think they’ll be getting more and more game time,” Joshua Baker, a senior bench member, said to Casper.

I stepped away, wrapping a towel around my waist to head into the shower room. The warm water washed away my fatigue, but I couldn’t help but think about the guy from earlier again.

“Why’re you so lost in thought?” Declan asked as we were walking out of the locker room. I was looking at my phone, scrolling through the Marble Hill University followers tying to find the guy I crashed into.

“Remember that guy I ran into during the game?” I asked.

“The guy you trampled? Yeah.” I hit Declan’s arm and he chuckled. “Why?”

“I feel like I know him from somewhere.”

“Last year at Freshman Welcome Week?”

“I don’t know.”

“What was familiar about him?”

“I don’t know.”

“Alex! Come on, dude! It’s like you have a memory problem—” Declan cut himself off, his body tensing as soon as the words left his mouth.

“Whoa,” I said, my hand flinching as I was about to push the building door open. Declan and I knew each other since our first year at boarding school. I had been in a car accident in middle school and had partial memory loss. Most of my childhood memories were gone and I was just left with photos. Talking about my memory was always a triggering conversation topic.

“That was too far,” he admitted. “Sorry, man.”

“It’s ok,” I said. I knew Declan didn’t mean any harm, and he rarely slipped up about the topic, but it still stung.

I pushed the door open, the humid August air hitting me like a truck. Street lamps illuminated the sidewalks and parking lot with a faint LED glow.

“Back to the guy, I’m pretty sure he also works at Atlas,” Declan said, throwing his soccer bag into the trunk of his 2012 Honda Civic. “He might even be working tonight.”

“He was wearing a Event Staff t-shirt,” I said, throwing my soccer bag on top of Declans’. “Do you think he’d work both jobs tonight?”

Declan chuckled, closing his trunk. “I don’t know, man. I’m not the one suspiciously interested in him.”

“That’s not—I’m not—” I tried to form a sentence as I got into the passenger side of the car, but that just made Declan laugh.

“I’m kidding. Don’t get so uptight.”

I frowned at his teasing, but was soon distracted by the sound the car made when Declan turned the ignition on. I glanced at him suspiciously.

“Didn’t you say you were going to get that looked at?”

“I did! I mean, I will. You know how busy the beginning of the season can be! We’re only sophomores! We have to focus if we want to keep our starting spots!”

I just sighed. As much as Declan had a point, I just hoped and prayed that his car wouldn’t break down on our way to the restaurant.