Summer Slam -- Lady Lucia

[*Lady Lucia*]

‘Away Game Dares.’

When Kaylee first said the phrase, I remember internally scoffing at it. Not because I didn’t believe her, or because I didn’t want to be included, but simply because it had a terrible ring to it. When she called them ‘AGDs’ a few seconds later, I was relieved. That sounded better.

Let me back up.

At the beginning of my sophomore year, I joined our school’s varsity soccer team. Being back on the field felt amazing, as my parents more or less banned me from sports my freshman year. The private high school had a reputation for being academically tough, a reputation that it very much lived up to. But after a year of focusing on my studies, and maintaining a 4.0 GPA throughout both semesters, my parents relented and signed the required permission form for my single extracurricular interest.

Soccer. I had played all throughout elementary school and middle school and, not too brag, but I was pretty good. Not the best, mind you, but also rarely on the bench. The year off didn’t help, and Conditioning kicked my ass, but I still ended up slotted to start as one of the forwards for the first game of the season. Honestly, I was pretty surprised. I figured the upperclassmen girls would have that line-up locked down, and the rest of us would be phased in as we proved ourselves throughout the season. But no, my slightly out-of-practice self was named on the whiteboard.

Enter Kaylee.

She’s sixteen, like me, and was apparently pissed off that I ‘stole’ her spot. Of course, I had to piece that together. When she huffed and stormed off, dark hair practically whipping one of the other girls from her swivel, I just assumed she was bitter that her name wasn’t up there. But after a few dirty looks from Kaylee, I finally put it together when another girl offhandedly mentioned that Kaylee started most of the games at the end of the previous year.

And I understood. Kaylee put in the work as a freshman, and ended up starting games at just fifteen years old despite playing with most of the team being older than her. Then I came swooping in and took what was hers. If possible, I would happily let her start in my place; I could always sub in later. But I also literally just joined the team. The coaches and I had no rapport whatsoever, and it’s not like I could just ask to swap without seeming ungrateful and insecure. At the end of the day, we both ended up a little bit petty. She was making a team sport about herself, and I was protecting my image.

Over the next few days, however, Kaylee seemed to cool off. She’d high-five me after a goal in practice, give me a playful nudge on the way off the field, and smile at me in the halls at school. It was the same between her and other teammates, so it also didn’t seem like she was going out of her way to be friendly with me. On the surface, everything was good between us, and her little outburst on the last day of Conditioning had long passed.

Or so I thought.

The day of our first game, Kaylee pulled me aside at lunch and told me about AGDs. Away Game Dares. Basically, the team’s co-captains slip a blue index card with a dare on it into every girl’s locker before the end of the school day. Only for away games, as not many classmates at our school will commute to watch soccer unless our team starts doing well and advancing. According to Kaylee, they’re usually simple and harmless, if not a little embarrassing. For example, she had to use bright orange laces for her cleats one time. Not only does she personally hate orange, but it also clashed pretty hard with our soccer uniform. One girl last year ended up having to use a My Little Pony water bottle for the whole game. Said laces and water bottle were tucked away somewhere near the locker rooms, and the index card would have that information too.

Simple. Harmless. Those were the words Kaylee used. And I believed her.

After school was over, I headed down to the locker room to get changed before the bus ride across the county. Sure enough, there was a blue card half folded with my name on it that one captain must have slipped through the metal slits. According to Kaylee, you’re only allowed to know your own dare. No one else’s. That would ruin the fun, obviously.

So, stepping forward to use my body and the locker door as cover, I unfolded the card to privately read my dare . . .

[ely]

Lady Lucia, it is always a pleasure to read your stories that seem real or maybe they really are. I prefer not to know and enjoy it all. I hope the challenge is what I think. xD

[Humilatron]

Posting to bump