The well-placed pass from Matilda rolled behind Victoria, who was once again in the wrong place at the wrong time. She was definitely not having her best day this game, which was still, a bit past halftime, tied at 0-0. Pulling her hand through her pink hair, Victoria groaned in frustration.

"Cunningham!" Coach Torres bellowed. "Keep your eyes on the ball!"

The coach turned toward the bench, where the subs waited for their time to shine. "Mendoza, start warming up!" she called. "I need you in there instead of Cunningham. We need someone with their head in the game to win this for us. You think you can do that?"

"Yes, mam," Sarah replied immediately. Because she knew she could win this for her team. Even if everything else in her life seemed to be a mess like her shaky friendship with Des and complicated feelings for Victoria, she could rely on her skills on the field. Obliging the coach's order, she started to jog down the sideline to prepare for her entrance into the game.

Despite her own excitement about finally getting to prove herself, Sarah couldn't help but notice the disappointment in Victoria's eyes when she was called on by the coach. As was the custom, Victoria slapped Sarah's hand when crossing the sideline, signaling the change of duties.

"You go, Mendoza!" she said. The encouraging words were accompanied by a wink only Sarah could see, making her insides wobble. A slight scent of cherries haunted her while she ran onto the green turf, causing her thoughts to wander from feet running across rough grass toward hands clambering across soft skin.

Reaching her position on the field, right in mid-circle, Sarah inhaled to focus herself. Victoria couldn't ruin this. While waiting for the goalie to kick the ball into play, her eyes gazed across the bleachers. The women's soccer team didn't usually attract a huge crowd, but there was a decent crop of spectators. Students, school staff, and family members all were there to cheer them on.

And Hernan was there. Sarah smiled as she saw her brother, joined by Tyler, who used to be a soccer prodigy before his leg injury, and his boyfriend Robin, whose attention was not directed on the field but on the textbook in his lap. Sports weren't really his thing but he could never say no to any of Tyler's suggestions.

A supporting nod from her brother put Sarah's mind back into the game. This was it. This was her time.

The ball was kicked into play and Sarah ran. She tackled. She dribbled. She fought.

Still, with five minutes left of the game, the score was still tied. Running toward the corner flag with the defender close behind, Sarah pulled a move familiar to most center forwards: she stopped, guarding the ball as the defender snuck up behind her, then, she turned, kicking the ball against the legs of the opponent to win a corner kick.

Preparing for the ball to get kicked toward the goal, Sarah positioned herself in front of the goalie. While her lack of height prevented her from obstructing the goalie's view, she could still disrupt and distract.

Soon, the ball came flying in a perfect trajectory, almost parallel to the goal line. Everyone rushed toward the ball but Sarah stayed back, waiting for her opportunity. A moment of chaos ensued, where the ball bounced first off the goalie's outstretched fist and then against the forehead of one of the players on Sarah's team--Joanna, a tall defender who almost always won duels in the air. Finally, the ball hurtled toward Sarah, who stood in the exact right place to put her foot out toward the projectile and steer it toward the net.

In the chaos in front of the goal, Sarah couldn't see where the ball went. But she could hear the net rattle and feel the arms of her teammates around her. This was where she belonged; in the middle of the huddle, being celebrated for her match-winning skills.

After the embrace ended, Sarah ran to the sideline, high-fiving the coach and receiving accolades from the teammates on the bench. But Victoria was nowhere to be seen. Had she left already? Surely, the coach wouldn't be pleased with that, seeing her stern words to Sarah for leaving after the game.

"Sarah!" Hernan's call brought Sarah back to the moment. This was her time in the limelight and Victoria couldn't steal it from her. She jogged to the fence that separated the field from the bleachers, letting her brother wrap his arms around her back which surrounded her with a smell of alpaca fur and grass. It smelled like home.

"Way to go!" Tyler chimed in, patting her enthusiastically on the back. "I couldn't have done it better myself." His gaze fell to his prosthetic leg. "I mean, I literally couldn't right now, but even when I was in my prime, I mean."

"You're still in your prime," Sarah objected, releasing her brother to wrap her arms around Tyler. To think that she once thought she was in love with him. But dipping her nose into his luscious blonde curls, smelling of boyish sweat and manly soap, caused no internal flutters, while she knew the same closes with pink strands would cause a storm of butterflies to rise within her belly. "Thank you for coming. Both you and Robin."

"Poor thing may have fallen asleep up there..." Tyler nodded toward the bleachers, where Robin lay splayed out over several seats, seemingly sound asleep. "He was up all night cramming for some test. Have to take him out to do something fun this weekend."

The coach called Sarah's name, reminding her the game wasn't over. "I'll catch up with you later." Sarah waved goodbye to her brother and friend as she ran back onto the field for the kickoff.

No more goals were scored during the remaining minutes of the game, which meant Sarah had won the game for her team. She couldn't stop smiling as she walked toward the locker room, receiving back pats and encouraging words on the way. She smiled until she got to the locker room and was met by an empty locker with the name Cunningham on it.

Victoria had indeed already left. Not just the game but the premises altogether.

Sarah knew she shouldn't care. But she couldn't help but feel that Victoria was upset at her for taking her rightful spot on the field and she really didn't want Victoria to be upset with her.

A buzz on her phone drew her attention away from the empty locker. A happy jolt reverberated through her chest when she realized Des had sent her a text.

It read: "Your brother called me and he thinks we should talk. I'm at a pool party at the Kappa sorority. If you come there after the game we can catch up."

Once again her brother had pulled through for her. Sarah guessed that Hernan and Des and even made a plan for him to drive her to the party since he was her ride home.

Sarah replied: "Of course. I'll be there as soon as I've changed!"

About forty-five minutes later, Sarah jumped out of her brother's truck outside the sorority in question. Since she didn't keep party attire in her locker, she was dressed in a pair of worn jeans shorts and a white t-shirt, which she had tied in a knot at the waist to make it a bit fancier. Underneath, she wore her least favorite bikini--cream-colored with an aqua-leaf pattern--which luckily had been left behind in the locker room after she and Des went swimming at the student center a few weeks before. It was her least-favored choice since it, while pretty, went half-translucent when swimming, which she hadn't realized until the last time she used it.

Hopefully, she wouldn't do much swimming.

For a moment, Sarah stared in awe at the building in front of her. Palm trees, which certainly weren't indigenous in this northern part of the world, peaked out from over the fence, columns framed the grand entrance, and the facade gleamed in pale pink. It was like a Beverly Hills mansion in the middle of Canada.

"Should we go make out under the palm trees?" Tyler asked Robin as they disembarked the vehicle. The couple had both decided to tag along as well, reasoning that a party was a good change of pace from studying.

"Eh... yeah," Robin replied with a blush on his cheeks.

"Come on then!" Tyler pulled his boyfriend along through the gates to the backyard of the mansion.

"I better follow to make sure they don't get arrested for public indecency." Hernan sighed but on his lips was an amused smile.

Sarah followed her brother toward the backyard, suddenly finding herself in an oasis of lush greenery. Palm fronds cascaded overhead and water features trickled along the path to the pool. Tropical flowers in orange and yellow adorned the ground. In the middle of everything, the pool lay like a glistening gemstone, oblong in shape and illuminated by lights that gave it a surreal blue sheen.

While she took in the sights, Sarah scanned the grounds for a hint of Des' red hair because that's why she was here, after all, to talk things out with her best friend.

No red streaks could be found. But another color stood out against the background—pink short bangs.

Victoria was here.