Chapter 38

Dan loved soccer. He’d played it his whole life. It was his go to sport. If not for Peter and Sophia, this field was where he would have ended up. Everywhere he went, he’d played soccer. He’d played on ever team he could, had competed on indoor and outdoor leagues, and practiced when he could. The greatest thing about soccer, was no matter where he went, he could practice.

Which was why he was surprised to realize this whole time, he hadn’t touched his soccer equipment at all. When he’d fished out his cleats and shin guards, after running home the day before, he’d been surprised to find they were already growing a layer of dust. As for his socks, the long kind that went all the way up the leg and then back over the shin guards, were buried in the very back of his sock drawer. And his soccer ball…he’d had to uncover it from the very back of his closet. He could have sworn he’d had it in an easier spot beforehand, considering how much he loved the sport.

Regardless of this fact, he was brimming with excitement as he looked out onto the field. The head coach of the soccer team happened to be one of his teachers, and he’d already gotten permission to take part in the practice. Granted, Dan had said he was trying out the different teams, in order to figure out where he best belonged. The lie stung, but he figured it was better than saying he’d been hazed by the tennis team and wasn’t allowed to practice with them all week. And luckily, his charisma seemed high enough that the coach bought it.

What he hadn’t expected though, once he got out to the soccer field, was a couple of things. First, the players, just like the tennis players, had been playing together for a long time. Dan could tell that just by watching how they interacted, and the looks they gave him as he walked up to the field. Judging by their matching gear, expensive professional style bags, and the such, they’d been playing club ball on the same time all their lives. Dan, on the other hand, had been forced to play on whatever team he could wherever they moved to. Meaning he’d had to play with different people constantly, which ensured Dan focused a lot on his individual skill, over building bonds with teammates he would eventually leave.

The other thing, as he walked up, was the fact that given they were already a month into the school semester, the teams had already been set, and the players were split into three teams. There was a varsity, for the best players, a Junior Varsity, and then a C squad. The head coach had agreed to let Dan practice with them…but he’d failed to mention one little thing. Dan was supposed to practice with the C squad, otherwise referred to as the Freshman team.

“Alright everyone, you know the drill. Ten laps around the field, and then we will move onto the next bit.” The C Squad coach, a young lady, perhaps in her mid-twenties, called out as she walked away from the other coaches. She had a whistle around her neck, and carried a binder full of who knew what. By the looks of it, she didn’t really seem the soccer sort.

“Dan Meadows I presume?” She asked as she walked towards him. The other freshman had already gotten up and begun jogging around the field. Ten laps seemed a bit excessive for a warmup, but it wasn’t terrible.

“That’s me.” Dan replied simply.

“Good. Coach Rand said you’ll be joining us for the week, as you try to figure out what sport best fits you,” she eyed him up and down. “I’m guessing you have at least played before?”

Dan nodded to her, grinning. He may be a bit rusty, but he was confident in his skills. “You could say that.”

“Alright. Well get your laps done, and we will see what you can do on the field. Freshman practice is mostly conditioning for the first hour or so, then we will work practical skills, and the last fifteen or twenty minutes will be a scratch game. Hopefully, you’re conditioned enough to keep up.”

“I’m sure I’ll be fine.” He said with a slight chuckle. His stamina was maxed, and his dexterity had been steadily increasing while practicing tennis. Honestly, he bet she would be surprised, as would the others, about just how much conditioning tennis actually involved.

“Get to it then.” She smiled at him, and motioned towards the field. Some of the players had already completed their first lap, and Dan took off. He really wanted to play soccer. There was an itch in him that just demanded he play, and part of him said playing on the Freshman Team for the week, wasn’t going to scratch that itch. As such, he figured he would go with the Peter approach. Show off enough, that they had no choice but to put him up with the next tier of players.

With that thought in mind, he took off with a pace that was most definitely not a jog…for most people. Considering his daily runs though, this pace was nothing. Besides, he had plenty of stamina to burn, and figured he wasn’t going to have to be too worried about the practice.

Grinning to himself as he raced past some of the players, gaining on the others, intent on making up lost ground, and preferably finishing in the front of the pack, he decided there was one last thing to do, while he ran. Without another thought, he mentally pulled up his commands, curious to see just who, and how good of a player, this Freshman Team coach was. After all, it would help to see her stats, so that once his skills unlocked, he would have a good match to compare himself to. Because he figured, even though these players seemed pampered and had money, that the freshman members weren’t going to be of the same caliber as him.

Self Esteem + 1 (55) Ambition +2 (69)