The second day of school arrives and with it come the soccer trials. The trials began during third period but I had a class then so the minute class ends, I head outdoors to the soccer field. Ben wants to encourage junior classes to participate in school teams by the time they get to high school so he got permission to let middle school students watch the trials during their lunch break.

More than fifty people signed up for the trials and Ben only needs 15. Eleven for the actual team and the rest as substitutes.

The bleachers are filled with middle school and high school students alike. Soccer is one of the most popular and best sports that Rushmore Academy offers, second to swimming because of my titles.

Ben is standing to one side of the field, tallying something on papers with the soccer coach as I spot people taking off their practice vests.

"What's going on?" I ask Angelina as I sit down next to her on the bottom bleacher

"They've split the pool of players into four teams and they're playing twenty minute matches. The two winning teams will compete in a final match from which the final fifteen will be chosen." She explains as I look out at the field.

I spot Adam taking off a green vest and sitting down on the benches that line the field while the boys who had been wearing orange vests head off. Adam's team must have won the first match.

Upon further scanning of the crowd I spot Sebastian picking up an orange vest from the pile on the ground and he puts it on. It is his turn to play. I watch him confidently take his place as an attacker. It's been a while since I watched Seb play and when the match begins I'm amazed at how strong his game is.

He scores the first goal for his team in the first three minutes and Angelina informs me that the other winning team, Adam's, was only able to score one goal in the entire twenty minutes.

The twenty minutes end with Seb's team winning by three-nil. I clap and cheer with everyone else as the team is given a few minutes to regroup before they face the other winning team.

Adam is a defender and since he'll be playing against Sebastian, they'll be neck to neck. My breath catches as soon as the match begins. Adam tackles Seb and sends him rolling into the ground but he's up in a flash and soon the ball is passed back to him and he scores the first goal again.

I don't realize that I've jumped up from the bleachers and clapping with the crowd. The match ends one-nil and I watch Seb's teammates thump him on the back in appreciation. By now lunch break has ended for everyone so a lot of the crowd has dispersed for classes but since I have a free period I wander down to where Ben is standing.

"Well, trials were a success." I say as he walks to me.

"Seb was on fire!" He exclaims.

"It's been so long since I last watched him play and it was breathtaking." I smile as I watch Sebastian talk to some of the people who were on his team.

"I have to go tally up my remarks with the coach and then present the final names to the principal by the end of school day. Talk to you later?" Ben asks.

"Call me when you're free." I tell him and then he walks off.

Adam spots me and waves me over.

"You played great." I say, hugging him.

"Thanks but Sebastian was the real deal. He truly deserves to be on the team." Adam smiles at me.

"He was really good." I say as Sebastian joins us.

"Well played Adam." He says as he slaps Adam's fist with his. I roll my eyes. Boys.

"I was just telling Hazel how well you played." Adam praises him.

"Thanks." Sebastian nods at him before turning to me, "I'm going to the cafeteria to get something cool to drink. Are you free?"

"Yeah, I have this period free. Adam want to join us?" I ask my boyfriend.

He looks sad as he shakes his head, "I've already missed half of my World History class. I better catch the end of it since the teacher is really strict about attendance. I'm already going to get an ear full for missing half the class for soccer trials."

I laugh at his predicament, "Good luck!" I call after him as he turns around and waves from the doors that will lead him indoors.

Sebastian and I go to the cafeteria. He gets an ice cold water of bottle and I get an apple juice box. The cafeteria is empty except two boys sitting at a table in one corner. We sit down at a table too and then I insert the straw into the juice box just as Sebastian's phone begins to vibrate on the table.

He shows me the screen. Dad.

"Hey dad." He says, answering the call and then says, "Yeah, just got done with the trials."

Dad must have asked how they went because he says, "They went well. Hazel came out to watch."

"Dad's asking if you know when the team names will be released." Sebastian asks me.

I shrug, "I'm Ben's best friend, not Ben."

Laughing Sebastian passes the comment on to dad, "Dad's saying he's sorry for the mix up."

I shake my head with a smile on my face as Sebastian finishes the call and sets the phone down on the table. Soon the bell rings marking the end of the period and Seb's friends arrive at the cafeteria with questions about the trials. I excuse myself from the table and head to my class.

It's Chemistry, Ash arrives a few minutes after I get to class but Ben arrives late and gets a cold glare from the teacher who doesn't say anything since everyone knows Ben's the soccer captain and that the trials were today. That's how big a deal soccer is at Rushmore Academy.

"Darling, you've been so busy today." Ash says in a mock high pitched voice as he reaches across me and blatantly kisses Ben's cheek.

"Eww!" Ben whispers loudly as he wipes his cheeks with his blazer's sleeve and I snicker, making the teacher look at us but we quickly compose ourselves and look down at our notebooks.

"Mr. Ben, can you please tell me how we'll balance out this equation." The teacher asks, pointing at the board where he's written the chemical equation.

"Add a 2 to Carbon dioxide." I whisper as Ben gets up from his seat and walks to the board. He confidently picks up the board marker and puts a 2 next to the right compound.

"Thank you." The teacher nods, clearly displeased that he didn't get a chance to scold Ben.

When Ben sits back down he bumps my shoulder with his as we look straight ahead at the board. Shoulder bumps have become our classroom thank you over the school years.

Okay, I did this on Cool Mom and got a good response. Comment "me" below so that I know who's reading the story :) Plus, some feedback would greatly be appreciated  ❤️

-T