Becker's POV...

I should've listened to Kyle last night and went to bed because I'm going to get my ass kicked today.

"Dude, you look like shit. Did you sleep at all?" Declan asks.

"I'll be fine," I mumble back.

We are currently sitting in the Mess hall gulping protein bars and Powerade. The team is all here, dressed and ready to play. The captain of the team discards his breakfast tray and yells, "On the field in five boys!" Then he walks out the door with a few players following behind him.

"This is it!" Declan stands up and grabs his bag. "You ready for this?" He asks me. He's clearly excited for today so I grab my bag and smile, "you bet!" I respond, walking with him towards the fields.

The athletic fields are immaculate. There are two perfectly manicured practice grass fields side by side each other, and a turf stadium field for games further down.

I perk up a little when I notice the girl's team is on the practice field next to us. It will be easy for me to see how Greya and Ari are doing.

"Did you make any bets with Grey this morning?" Declan jokes with me. He knows me too well, but not this time.

"She actually is the one who challenged me," I chuckle.

"That a girl," he smiles.

Session one nearly kills us. The coach was testing our physical limits to the point I was about to puke. But Dec and I made it through and some of the guys actually congratulated us for not ruining the nice grass with the remnants of our breakfast.

We had two hours until lunch and I was so tired, I passed out in the dorm room while my roommate went out with some friends.

We saw the girls briefly at lunch. They both looked happy, smiling and talking with the other girls on the team. I didn't have a chance to talk with them, but seeing them happy was good enough for me.

Session two was another two hours. This time we did passing skills and drills. I was feeling much better this session than the last one.

"Water break!" The coach yells to us.

"Oh, thank God! This is tough! You're doing great though Becker," Declan says to me while gulping down some water.

"Whoa! Did you see what that chic just did?" One of the guy's on the team shouts to all of us in general. "Who is that girl? She has some mad skills," he adds.

"That's Greya Matthews, she came with us and yes she is amazing, wait til you see what else she can do?" Declan answers with a proud smile.

"I'm going to get her number later," another guy on the team blurts out and I feel my fists clench.

"Hey, let it go, you know Greya won't give him the time of day," Declan whispers to me.

The rest of the session brought out some unknown skills of mine as I watched the guys on the team awestruck over Greya's talent. Especially after I hear super star Freshman, Jasper Cane complement Greya, I begin to feel a little jealous. This Jasper guy is skilled, I barely have the skills to keep up with him. Him and Greya would be perfect together. He's not mentally screwed up either, so there's that too. Ugh, what I'd do to be worthy of her.

Again, we didn't have time to talk with the girls after session two because we were brought to a large theatre to analyze game film.

It wasn't until dinner when I finally caught Ari in the food line and asked her how the their sessions were going. She said they were both working hard and that everyone is wondering why Greya hasn't accepted her offers from UCLA or UNC yet.

"She has actual offers from them already? Why hasn't she taken them?" I ask Ari the same questions. I would accept those in a heartbeat. What is she doing?

"It's complicated," is all Ari states.

"What is so complicated?" I don't understand what can be so complicated to give up on those schools.

"You'll have to ask Greya yourself," Ari says before walking off to her table.

My mind is flustered as I make my way over to Declan and some of the other guys.

"Hey, did you know Greya already has offers from UCLA and UNC but she hasn't accepted them yet?" I ask Declan, curious to see if he knows about this.

"Ya, I knew about the UCLA offer, this is her second time at this ID. The last ID camp was only four hours long, so they asked her to come to this overnight one too," he shrugs.

"What? How?"

"I heard a small rumor about it so I asked her myself, and she confirmed."

"Why hasn't she accepted the offers then?" Hoping Declan will know the answer.

"I think it's complicated for her," Declan says and I chuckle.

"So I hear."

"Ari says that Greya doesn't want to leave her brother and grandmother, that she has to take care of them," Declan tries explaining.

"I don't understand. Where are her parents?" I ask him.

"Becker, her parents died like five years ago. She lives with her grandmother who's like ninety and her little brother who has some disability I think. How do you not know this? You're infatuated with her but you try very hard to avoid getting to know her."

"I'm messed up Dec, I can't get to know her because I won't be able to stay away from her and I need to keep her away from my fucked up life. She doesn't deserve for her life to be ruined because of me."

"I think you should let her decide what she deserves and what she doesn't," he shrugs at me again.

I'm stunned silent for a while, barely touching the food on my plate. I feel like such a selfish prick not knowing about her parents or that she's probably struggling at home. I don't like knowing that she's suffered too.

"You should really try talking to her more, get to know her better. It wouldn't be so bad to let her get to know you better too. I know you don't want to hear this, but that girl is someone who will make your life better if you let her," Declan tries to encourage me.

"I don't know if I can." Of course she would make my life better. I would like nothing more than to have her by my side everyday... that is if my life was normal. Would she even be able to handle my fucked up fear of being touched? Would she think I'm weak when she finds out I get the shit kicked out of me nearly everyday. Jack would scare her away, I would probably scare her away.

"I can't Dec, I can't let her know about or get near Jack, what if he were to hurt her just to punish me? He has screwed me up so much that I can't even let anyone touch me."

"I know, I'm sorry," Declan solemnly apologizes to me.

"It's fine. I'm just going to focus on getting a scholarship so I can get out of my house and try and make something of myself. I'll talk to Greya in my usual way, but that's all," I try to convince Declan who doesn't look convinced at all.

"I'll go talk to her right now," Declan starts laughing lightly as I make my way over to Greya's table. Declan's right, I'm drawn to her.

"Hey, Greya," my voice is embarrassingly choppy. I struggle to clear my throat like a nervous pre-pubescent teen trying to talk to a girl.

She looks up at me and I instantly smile when her emerald eyes meet mine. I'm just about to sit in the empty seat next to her when someone calls out Greya's name from the doorway. Instantly we both turn around to face the doorway and Fynn is walking into the dining hall holding Greya's little brother's hand.

I turn to Greya who is completely silent for a moment, her eyes glassy as she tries to contain her tears.

"Love?" I try and get her attention. She doesn't acknowledge me, instead she slowly gets up and walks over to Fynn with her soccer bag in hand. She exchanges a few words that no one can quite hear then wraps her arms around Fynn, hugging him. Seconds later she turns to her brother and embraces him, then takes his hand and all three of them walk out the door.

Ari gets up from her seat and hurries after them.

Declan makes his way over to me, looking nervous and concerned at the same time. "What just happened?" He asks me.

" I wish I knew, but it doesn't seem good," is all I can say.

"We'll see if Ari knows anything when she gets back in here."

Another five minutes pass before Ari returns. She walks over to our table with her head down, rubbing her eyes with her sleeve. She's been crying and I need to know why.

Declan is the first to speak. " Ari, are you alright? Is Greya alright?"

Ari wipes her eyes one more time before answering. " Greya's grandmother had a stroke and they don't know if she will pull through. Greya's gone home to be with her. I want to leave now too, but Greya told me I need to stay and make her proud," Ari slightly chuckles while saying that last part.

Declan immediately pulls Ari to his chest and rubs her back to comfort her. " She's lucky she has you and Fynn, she has us too, right Becker?"

"Becker?" He has to say my name twice to wake me from the trance I'm in. "Yeah... of course," I manage to spit out.

Ari pulls away from Declan to look at both of us. "When I told her I wanted to go with her for support, you know what she said?... She said Declan and I better play kick ass center midi's this weekend and earn those offers," she chuckles to herself again then looks at me. "And Becker, she told me to tell you that the bet is still on and even though she can't be here to beat you, you still better score a goal or two."

Smiling to myself, I sit back down to ponder, wondering how I can help Greya. This selfless girl who is worried about us while she is the one going through the pain.

"Alright then," I say while standing back up and grabbing my bag. Ari and Declan looking at me like I'm having some manic episode. "If that's what Greya wants from us, we are going to give it to her," I tell them before turning towards the door and walking to the fields.

Needless to say, I scored a total of five goals over the weekend. Each one I scored was for Greya, not for the bet. Hell, I'd buy her a coffee everyday of the year if that's what she wanted, bet or no bet.

Ari and Declan played their hearts out, impressing all the coaches with their skills. I could tell Ari was worried about Greya the entire time, yet on the field she was playing for Greya. We all were.