Ding Ding!!

The school bell screeched as I dashed outside for recess heading for the playground. I sprinted to the play structure, and struggled to throw myself up above the steel red monkey bars. Once I was sat comfortably, I patiently waited for the soccer players. I did this everyday, it had become my daily school routine. I would sprint to the monkey bars before anyone else could even get a hand on them, worried that someone might take the best seat in the house. The soccer boys would finally come out and I would watch with excitement as the captains picked their teams and began to play the lovely game. The boys game was full of energy, shoving and tackling for the ball, roaring words that should not be roared, and chanting as one when the ball hit the back of the net. It was great to watch them play, but it would be even greater to play with them.

Day after day, I continued my daily routine, sprinting to my favorite spot, watching the boys play soccer, repeat.  This continued for another week, until I decided I wanted to switch things up a bit.

Ding Ding!!

Once again, I sprinted outside, although this time I did not head for the monkey bars. I headed straight toward the field. I was not sure where the confidence boost came from that day, but I knew I was eager to play. After what felt like many decades, the boys finally came out. They all chatted with one another, that is until they saw me on their field. It felt like everything froze in time, no one moved, no one breathed. Twenty pairs of eyes stared at me while a pair of eyes stared back. The silence was broken as the tallest player wove through the soccer players.

“Who do you think you are?” The boy scoffed with a scowl on his face. He looked like your typical “bully” kind-of-guy. The one with the buzz cut hair with daring dreadful eyes that pierce right through your skin. He had to be at least two heads taller than me, and twice my size. At the time, you probably could have mistaken me as a mouse, and him as a giant venomous snake. Behind him were the walking boulders with smirks plastered on their faces. All of their arms were crossed and they stood proudly, giving the appearance of a phalanx army. So there I stood, the dwarf with the giants towering over me. I mimicked their position, looked up, and smiled cheekily.

“The new player on this team, and you are?” The Bully's ears turned bright red.

“The captain of this team, and you better get off my field before I make you.” The Bully smirked, one side of his lip curling up into a snarl. Now, I was not going to be that “tattle tale little sissy,” but at the same time, I was not budging.

“No thanks, I want to play and I’m going to play, and you can’t tell me what to do.” The Bully's face turned a dark shade of red like the devils. I could have sworn I saw steam come out of his ears, and it looked like his eyes were going to bulge out of his head.

“You little-”

“Bro,” the guy next to him said, holding him back before he could spring into action. He was a foot shorter than Bully and had jet black hair. He had a baby face, but was dead serious. “Leave it, it doesn’t even matter. What could she possibly do? She’s just a girl.” The other boys nodded in agreement while some roared with laughter. My smile instantly turned into a scowl.

“What did Baby Face just say?” I thought to myself.  “Oh these cowards were gonna get it.” If I wanted to, I could have wiped their smug smirks off right there and then, they did not know what they were in for.

“Okay. You can play with us, but don’t run off crying like a little girl. Oh wait, you are one.” The soccer boys hollered and laughed at his insult. Bully stood tall with his arms crossed, proud of what he started.

“Are you going to keep jabbering about nothing, or are we going to be productive and play?” I stated, staring right back at him. Silence took over the field once again except for some gasps from the boys.

“Ooh, you got dissed!”A strawberry-blonde boy hollered out, then immediately shut up when he realized no one else was talking. The boy to his right glared at him, and hit him in the head for his stupidity. Everyone turned their attention from the boys to me, staring at me like I was absolutely insane. I guess Bully has never been talked back to. Ha, give yourself a pat on the back. I was expecting him to become the devil once again, but instead he held his signature smirk and stance, then nodded.

“You’re on.”

“Angelo!”

“Dylan!”

“Mario! Wait no, Sam!” Names were being called out left and right. I almost got whiplash from turning my head so fast. Bully and Baby Face stood on opposite sides of each other with the rest of us in the middle, calling names out one by one. The boys in the middle acted like puppies up for adoption. They could not keep their bodies still, and wanted to be picked closest to first. If they were not picked, their excitement would turn into worryness and uncertainty.

“Max!”

“José!”

“Dude, I wanted José!”

“Too bad, hurry up and pick your man, we don’t got all day!!” Every time someone was picked on Bully’s team, their faces immediately lit up like Christmas lights, bright and lively.

“Andrew!”

“Jesus!”

“Ahh, Steven.” Stevens sulken head immediately popped up, and he skipped over to Bully with a toothy grin plastered on his face. The only person left to choose was me. Every pair of eyes stared at me blankly while one fierce pair glared. Baby Face scratched the back of his neck, slumping his posture.

“You.” He mumbled looking at the ground. I began to walk towards my team when all of a sudden, everyone sprinted in different directions. My eyes popped out of my head as I stood still, not able to comprehend what just happened. The soccer boys were already playing soccer.

Dribble dribble, tap tap, whoosh. The walking boulders suddenly became sprinting boulders as they dashed after the ball like their lives depended on it. Cut, croif, scissors, dribble dribble, cut back, step over, trip! The ball was stuck under the boy's foot as he fell to the ground, eating grass. Bully took this advantage to steal the ball. He weaved through every player as if it was the easiest thing he’d ever done. There was no effort in each of his steps, yet he still managed to break player after players ankles. Once he got past the last defender, he took a shot at goal, top right corner. The ball had to be traveling at least 50 miles per hour, if you were to blink, you would have missed it. Baby face was our goalie. He flew towards the ball, arms extended all the way out, body horizontal in the air, but everyone knew he was a goner. Swish, the ball hit the inside of the post and hit the back of net on the opposite side of where the ball came from. GOAL! Bully turned around, smirking like he won the nobel prize. Although, his smirk soon disappeared when he looked at me.  

“What are you doing just standing there! Can’t you tell we’ve already started?!” My eyes widened as I realize my feet were still planted where I was when the game had begun. It was my turn to turn beet red, I thought I was going to have a heat flash. I sprinted into action as the ball was placed in the center circle. I glanced around to see the condition of the field and what I would have to work with. It was a very crappy field; yellow grass patches left and right, dirt holes that could definitely injure someone, faded white lines, and a rusty goal that looked like it could collapse with one gust of wind. Great. As the ball was placed down, everyone got down into their ready stance, many positioned as if they were about to run a track and field race. I glanced around at every player, and my eyes instantly locked on Bully.

“You’re going down.” He mouthed pointing straight at me. Haha, vice versa my friend. TWEET!!! The ball was played back to José who took a graceful first touch, passing it into space. Dribble dribble, pull back, pass. The ball swiftly moved to another boy who tried to pass the ball one touch, but the ball soared into the air with no control. This was my chance. I ran towards the ball and the boy directly underneath it. Before he could get a touch on the falling ball, I jumped and got the header, keeping it in my possession. Turn-over.

I looked up from the ball, looking for a teammate to pass to, although every single player on my team stood still with eager eyes waiting for me to take it up field. Oh yeah, I forgot. They were boys. Boys always played by themselves, never passing to their teammates unless they had to. Glancing back down at the ball, I decided I had to take the ball up by myself. Tap tap, scissors, cut, POW! My body flew backward as I hit the ground hard on my tailbone.

“What the-” I grunt, slowly standing up rubbing my butt, only to be welcomed by the one and only Bully staring at me with his hands on his hips. Bully had a look on his face like he knew my deepest darkest secret, then laughed to himself.

“I told you guys, we can’t let girls play with us. They’re weak and can’t pick a fight! Are you surprised? She’s just a girl.” Bully looks back down at me and snarls. The soccer boys laugh and yell insults at me as Bully continues to hover over me, looking me up and down.

“Just a girl huh?” I laugh to myself looking around at every single boy before looking back at Bully, no longer giggling, but bitch staring at bully. It looked as if I could kill someone right then and there. I stood on my tip toes so I was more even with Bullies height. I swear I saw Bully’s eyes go wide for a split second.

“This girl is going to show you how to play real soccer, and she’s not backing down now.” With that, I turned around and marched off to space on the field. No one said a single word which was absolutely fine, more playing time for me. A boy picked up the ball and put it back into the center circle to restart the game.

TWEET!! The same action occurred as the ball was passed back to José, who did all of his little fancy tricks. Scissors, croif, roll over, BAM! Jose hit the floor hard with a loud thud as I slide tackled him, winning the ball easily. I had dirt all up and down my shorts, but I did not care, I was going to win this game. I dribbled the ball towards my first opponent, staring straight at him without looking down at the ball between my feet. As I came closer to the boy, he attempted to lunge for the ball, but failed miserably. As he was lunging, I quickly cut the ball to my other foot, pushing it with the outside of my foot as I continued to dribble past the boy who fell over, almost doing the splits.

“Ooohhh!” The boys chanted as they watched his friend painfully stand up, grabbing his crotch and wincing in pain. The next opponent was bigger than the last, tall and skinny. As I approached him, I sprinted with the ball past him. He soon followed and was right besides me again, both of us running side by side.

“Gotcha now.” He huffed out, still sprinting besides me. He was definitely faster than me, but I was smarter with him. Within a second after he said that, I put my foot over the ball and stopped it. The boy did not get the memo at first as he ran past me, having to stutter his steps to slow down, almost falling backwards. Once he was slowed down enough, he whipped around so we were facing each other again. Taking in a breath of air, I speed dribbled at him doing a double scissors. The tall skinny boy had no idea which direction I was going, my feet moving too fast to process. I fake shifted my body one way, then went the other way. The boy fell for the simple fake, shifting his weight one way, then trying to change directions, but tripping over his own feet like basketball players crossing opponents. There was one more defender to get past before I could shoot, and that player was Bully.

“Show me what you got.” Bully snarled, arms extended like he was going to give me a hug, yet I doubt that’s what he had in mind. Bully was quick, strong, and fast. I knew I could not get past him with a move, not even with the soccer move, the maradona. I knew what I had to do as Bully began to sprint towards me. I dribbled straight at him, holding my breath, waiting for the perfect timing. Just mere centimeters apart from each other, Bully launched himself at me. I took this perfect opportunity to slot the ball right in between his legs as he tried to grab me, but I ducked right out of his grasp. I guess being short has its advantages. Bully looked for me in his arms, yet realized he missed. He searched frantically for me, yet little did he know I was already making my way towards the goal.

“MEG!!” The soccer boys hollered at Bully, whose face was pale and stared at me with disbelief. Tap tap, dribble dribble. I made my way towards the goalie. At this point, the goalie did not look very confident knowing what I was now capable of. At the 18 yard box, I did the “cha-cha”, stuttering my steps, then taking two long strides. My laces crashed with the ball, making perfect contact swinging my leg. The force and power from the kick swinging my whole body around, landing on my shooting foot. It was a bullet, right over the goalies head. The ball was so fast that the goalie had no time to react. Swish.

“GOAL!!!!” Everyone screamed rushing towards me. I was swarmed by sweaty boys, all astonished.

“How did you do that?”

“You megged Bully! That was insane!”

“But you’re a girl!”

“A girl with some badass skills.” Bully made his way through the boys to the front of the crowd, just like he did when I first encountered him. He looked at me sternly, not saying a word, arms still crossed. Bully looked me up and down, and smirked. Although, it was not the snarly, cocky smirk. It was a pleased, welcoming one, almost a smile. “My name’s Diego, What’s your name?”

I beamed up at him, and grinned.

“I’m Sierra. And I’m not just a girl.”