Greya's POV...

"Earth to Grey!" I look up and Ari has one brow raised at me. "We have a game in thirty minutes and your head's up in the clouds," she points out.

"I know, I'm sorry." I finish tying my cleats. "I have a lot on my mind."

"Girl, the only thing that should be on your mind is how you're going to wow the UCLA scout, whether you already have an offer or not."

"You're right," I give her a believable smile when that's literally the furthest thing from my mind.

I throw on my warm-up and grab a ball. If I didn't have a 90- year-old grandmother to take care of and a ten-year-old brother to raise, then yes, I'd be accepting that offer in a heartbeat.. Life has decided to throw me rotten lemons instead.

I love my grams and my brother, and I don't regret my responsibilities for even one minute. They're everything I have, and I'll do anything to make sure they're safe and happy. I could never leave my brother or uproot him so that I can play a sport. I'm sure it would be any soccer player's dream; it was mine once upon a time too. Circumstances change though and there are more important things to dream about now. Only, I haven't figured out what those are yet.

Ari's only looking out for me. She knows about my circumstances yet it's still hard for her to imagine herself in my shoes. She's a very talented player too and I wish the UCLA coach was here to see her. Who knows, I could help her look amazing on the field today and the coach might notice her talent and forget about me.

" Finish up getting ready girls, coach wants us on the field ready for warm-ups in five," Ari shouts out to everyone in the locker room.

She has stepped up as team captain this year, since I declined the opportunity. I didn't want to take on any more responsibility, plus I'm not the type to tell other players what to do. Playing soccer is like escaping into a fantasy world for me. As soon as I step onto the pitch and have a ball at my feet, I forget about losing my parents, I forget about school, work, worrying about my grandmother and brother...I feel free. For ninety minutes, I'm happy.

Of course, my teammates rely on me to help us win. We've only lost a total of 3 games in the last three years, which is impressive. Coach says it's all because of me. I don't feel that way though, my teammates work just as hard to get me the ball, without them I wouldn't have scored the number of goals I have up to now.

Don't get me wrong, it's great that we've won so many matches. But it's not the wins that make me most happy, it's the feeling of leaving all the doubts I have about my life on the sideline and being able to have control of this one thing. I'm able to shut out everything around me when I have the ball at my feet. Manipulating the ball anyway I want and scoring effortlessly is a "gift" my coach tells me. Maybe it is, though I'd like to think I've earned it rather than it was just given to me. I practice on my own every chance I have. If I don't improve my skills, that's on me alone and no one can take that away from me.

The stadium bleachers are completely full of fans, everyone knows the scout's here watching and it's an important game for the school. The guy's team plays after us, so they're all here watching our team first, while we stay after for their game. Like one big supportive family, cheering each other on. Usually, I can't stay and watch because I need to get Chase to bed, and Grams squared away for the night. Also, the reason why I don't make it to the soccer parties afterwards. Everyone tells me I'm missing out, but I've never been to a party so I wouldn't know. I'd keep it that way too if it wasn't for the fact that tonight's will be at Becker's house.

"Greya! Greya!" I hear a familiar little voice shout from the stands. I look up and see Chase jumping up and down waving towards my general direction.

I jog over to him. "What are you doing here?" I ask, mostly towards Fynn who obviously brought him here.

" I wanted to come to your game Grey, I like listening to you score goals, can I stay? Please Grey!!" His little innocent voice pleads.

I look at Fynn who just shrugs his shoulders smiling. " I couldn't turn the little man down," he says.

"Fine, give me a good luck hug first," I say to Chase before he wraps his arms around my neck. "Good luck Greya, you've got this," he encourages me with a big smile. "Tell Ari I said good luck to her too," he adds.

"Ari!" I yell over to the field where she's practicing. She looks towards us and waves then blows kisses towards Chase.

"Ari just waved and blew you a kiss Chase," I let him know and watch him blow kisses back to her. This kid is the other reason why I love this game so much. He doesn't need his sight to enjoy it, he can hear and feel how exciting it is. Which only proves that what we can see on the outside isn't nearly as important as what it's made of.

Our coach calls us in for the huddle. She goes on about strategy and team chemistry, all important aspects. I hear her refer to me as she addresses the group but I've closed my eyes and focus on clearing my head of everything. We shout our team cheer after and take the field.

We're down 1-0 in the first ten minutes of the game. Our defender slide tackled the ball away but not before their striker dramatically dove onto the ground earning her a PK. The guy's team have been showing their disapproval of the Referee, which isn't such a good idea seeing as they will have him for aa an official for their game after.

Ari brings the ball up to me for the restart. I can see the determined look in her eyes, and I know she's ready to turn on "beast mode". "Give me the ball Greya, and then be ready, I'm getting it up there to you," her tone is very optimistic and I immediately spot the scout watching and I smile knowing this is the play.

As soon as the whistle blows, I pass the ball back to Ari. The opponents are coming onto her fast, but she does a swift move around one and then fakes another before sending a perfect pass my way, splitting the defense so that I can run onto it. Once the ball is at my feet, I sprint with it towards the 18-yard box and see the goalie coming at me. It's only the goalie and I, one on one with an open net behind her. For a split second I imagine myself in an empty stadium, only myself, a ball, and the green surface under my feet...I'm free to do anything I want.

Just as the goalie reaches to tackle the ball from me, I roll the ball back with my toe and flick it up over my head with my heel. The goalie had no idea that was coming, she was already sliding on the ground when I leaped over her and caught the ball again with the top of my foot before sending it into the net.

The stadium is stunned silent momentarily until all my teammates bombard me with cheering and hugging. Soon the entire place is fired up.

"The scout is definitely begging you to take the offer after watching that goal," Ari beams at me.

"It was your fancy footwork and your pass that got me the ball in the first place," I high five her. I hope the scout saw what she did as well.

The guy's soccer team are still applauding and slapping each other on the back like they themselves just scored.

I look up in the stands and point my finger at Chase, letting him know that goal was for him. He's jumping up and down and clapping his hands. Knowing Fynn, he described to Chase what just happened in every detail.

I notice Becker in his usual spot, sitting off to the side of his teammates. He's not jumping up and down cheering like everyone else, yet when our eyes meet, he smiles at me and claps his hands together a few times. I return his smile hoping he'll be able to top that in his game so he's able to impress the scout as well. I think he needs the opportunity more than I do.

We ended up winning 3-1 in the end. I scored our first two goals and then Ari scored the third. This was one of Ari's best played games and I think it's because of her dream to play for UCLA and she wanted to make an impression today, which she surely did. I'm so proud of her.

I stayed on the bench a few minutes after the game ended. Chase comes running onto the field towards me yelling my name. I jump up from the bench and pick him up into a hug before he runs into the ball bag.

" You girls were awesome!" He blurts out. "Can I take a ball and shoot at the net?" He asks. Yes , please, get rid of some of that energy bedsore we get home.

I give him a ball and he dribbles onto the field. I direct him towards the 6-yard box and tell him the goal is in front of him. He places the ball precisely where he wants it. He then backs away from it slowly, I can see he's counting his steps. When he's ready, he steps towards the ball and strikes it perfectly into the net. He walks over to the net after and feels around for the ball.

Surprisingly, Becker is the one who retrieves the ball out of the net for him. "Nice shot kid." He says to my brother before passing the ball back to him. Somehow Chase is able to trap it at his feet. Becker watches my brother with curiosity. Chase isn't looking at the ball while he dribbled it around, so to an outsider, he doesn't appear blind, only good at keeping the ball at his feet. I wonder what Becker is thinking about as he watches him.

"I'm over here Chase," I yell to him, knowing he'll be able to follow my voice. It's time for him to go home and time for me to face the scout.

Fynn walks towards the bench where I am and congratulates me on a good game. "You ready for me to take you home little man?" Fynn asks Chase.

"Thanks for bringing him and keeping an eye on him, I know he loves coming to the games," I thank Fynn and give him a quick hug.

"I'll drop him off at home then swing by again later to pick you up for the party," Fynn reminds me. I nearly forgot about the party.

"Okay, well thanks again for Chase, I'll be home as soon as I can get there."

"Hey!" Ari runs up to me. "The scout just spoke with me; I might have a chance!" She can hardly contain her excitement.

"That's amazing, Ari. I'm so happy for you!"

"He wants to talk to you now, he's waiting by the locker room," Ari informs me.

"Okay, thanks," I tell her. "I'm going to go home after and get Chase to bed then shower and get ready for the party, I'll see you there?"

She gets all excited again and hugs me. " See you there! I still can't believe you're going!" Her voice is giddy.

"I can't believe it either," I laugh." I guess this is really happening. I can't back down now can I?"

" No you can't! Go talk to the scout," she urges me.

My ninety minutes of freedom and happiness is over. Time to face reality again and listen to the scout offer me an opportunity that isn't possible for me... not in my world.

" Hi Greya. That was a great performance, You've exceeded my expectations again," he says to me. I'm beginning to think I shouldn't score any more goals this season, but I can't let my team down. So now I'm stuck fantasizing about what my future could be knowing it can't.

"Thank you," is all I respond with. I am grateful that he's taken the time to watch me. It just sucks knowing in the end I'll probably turn him down.

"We're prepared to help you in any way. We want you on the team Greya. You'll have a full scholarship. And if you need to take a GAP year in order to sort things out, we will wait, your offer will still stand."

A GAP year. I haven't thought of that. That would give me another year to figure things out. Or another year to realize my job is taking care of my brother and what he needs comes first.

"Thank you. I appreciate everything you're offering."

"I'd still like you to attend our over night prospect ID camp. Maybe it will help you with the decision process as well."

" Okay. Thank you," I sound like I'm on repeat.

" I'll be seeing you soon then! Great game today! I need to get to the boys game now," he tells me as we shake hands and part ways.

Too many things to think about and now I have a party to get ready for.

I take a few extra minutes to watch the guys play. Becker's just scored the first goal and I'm happy for him. He's genuinely smiling which is rare for him, until he looks up into the bleachers and doesn't find who he's looking for. The smile he had instantly fades and I'm left wondering who from his family is supposed to be here supporting him.

A few seconds later, he returns to the middle of the pitch like everything's normal, everything's fine. Like me, nothings normal and nothings fine, but the game still goes on.