CT Story

                                                                                                                                                                                    Taylor Greene

Mrs. Boyle

Honors Lit&Comp 2

Canterbury Tales Story

11-16-11

            "She's blinking!"  My eyes twitch, a fluorescent light shines in my eyes, making it hard to see clearly. My chair gets tilted up, and I see a few faces, some familiar and some unknown. Obviously my parents are here, but why? My teammates are here, as well as my coach. He's pacing around the room, mumbling to himself. It's weird; he only does that when he's nervous, but again, why? A referee is here too. I do not believe that I have ever met her before. All I want to know is why are all of these people here? Wait a minute…

            "Where am I?" I ask. Nobody responds for a second. I look at the setting of the room. There is a curtain; the curtain divides the room in two. There's a television, a table, a bunch of little and big machines all around the room, but when I turn my head and see a table filled with flowers, chocolates and get well soon posters, I finally hit me. I am in the hospital. I see a woman in a white doctor's jacket. I'm assuming she is my doctor.

"Doc, what did I do?" I ask

"Lizzy i you're not going to like this news, I think it is best if you here all of this from your parents" says the doctor. Now I am worried. Usually doctors just straight up tell you what is going on but this time is different. The doctor motioned for my parents to step closer, while at the same time she shushed everyone else standing in the background.

"Hey Sweetie, how are you feeling?" Dad asks as he grabs my hand, "you've been out for a couple of hours" Mom just sits there stroking my hair smiling with a look of relief. It is easy to see by the look in her eyes when she is looking at me.

"What happened?" Alright, I'll admit I am a little freaked out right now, but I am ready to take it.

"Alright Liz, here is what happened…..

***

            November 17, 2011. An important day for many, but this day is the most important for Senior Captain Lizzy Malone. Today is probably the most important day of her life. Her last time wearing that green and black jersey, her last time ever wearing the number four, her last ever high school soccer game. This is not just any game; this is the championship game, the division one conference finals.

            This game is equally important for her other teammates. Take Brittany Morris for example. Junior goalie and a very good one to be exact. One of the best in the country, a scout from Stanford, the college of her dreams is coming to this game. She knows she cannot screw up, she is ready for this game just as much as and good friend, Lizzy.

            A Wilson bus pulls up in front of their locker room. As the team loads their bus, they look through the windows and see all of their friends piling into regular yellow school buses, their faces painted green and black, the football guys painted their chests too. Also there were fans in green bodysuits already getting their peers hyped up about the game. They were ready to see the team do what they do best.

            The buses, both the teams and the fans get rolling. The game is played at a neutral gym because in a finals game, there is no home team advantage. Now for girl's high school soccer, this was going to be a game for the books. Lizzy and Heather's team the Culver Cougars, versus the Bedford Bandits. Both teams are undefeated, both teams are equally as talented and matched. The only statistic that makes the Bandits in first place and the Cougars in second is the amount of goals scored on their opponents. The Bandits have scored one more goal than the Cougars.

            Coach Ginwell does a roll call. Everyone is all checked in and accounted for. Coach is new this year; new to the school, new to the country. He is here on a visa from the United Kingdom, and like most young men in their 20's from the United Kingdom come to coach soccer here in the States. He is an unbelievable coach. He studies the way his players personalities correspond into their soccer playing and he uses that to his and their advantage. He knows how to act appropriately at games, unless one of his players is majorly slacking off during the game, then he will get a little mad, but he never holds a grudge. Just overall he is a good coach.

            Meanwhile, Tess Jones, a sophomore that goes to a private high school far away, happens to be refereeing this game. Unlike the rest of the town, is nervous for the game. She is only an assistant referee, but she still has a lot of responsibility with this game. She hates reffing, she honestly does it for the pay because it helps her help her parents by contributing a little to her tuition at school. Her mom is driving her, and they got stuck behind the buses.

            Both teams and Tess arrive at the game. The mood is set as Lizzy leads her team onto the astro-turf field, as Tess goes to her fellow referee's. The teams start their pre-game. The warm-up lap first, then onto trapping, dribbling and passing. After that there are small scrimmages. Finally, the last warm up drills they do are shooting and crossing. After that they have their pregame talk.

            "ladies," Coach Ginwell says, "For some of you, it is your last game playing soccer, for some, it is your last time playing high school soccer, and for you underclassmen, this may be the first of many finals to come for you. Don't let being here get to you, don't let them get to you. They are good, but the thing is, is that you believe you can do this. Yes, they have beaten us in a scrimmage before, they think they have this game in the bag, but you guys have a job to do. Your job is more than winning; your job is proving to everyone that you deserve to wear those metals, your job is to prove to them that we can bounce back, and lastly, your job is to prove to yourself that you can do this. We came here on a mission, so go out and complete it" The girls knew that this is go-time, and unlike any game they have ever played before, they are for this game.

            "Ok Tess, you know what to do. Watch for offsides, and on throw-ins I'll watch the hands, you watch the feet. I can tell your nervous but you'll be alright," the center ref, a more experienced referee said. He could tell that Tess was nervous, she was very timid and quiet. Tess nodded and walked on to the coaches side of the field. She was happy that she did not get the fan's side because she could tell that they were going to be rowdy.

            The ref's shook hands and the checked to see if the goalies were ready. Heather checked the stands. She could see the Stanford scout, and a wave of excitement moved all around her body. She, along with the rest of the team were ready for this. The center ref blew the whistle. The game has started.

            The first half started and is underway. The teams look extremely evenly matched. Whenever the Bandits got a shot off, Heather always saved the shot, and came up with the ball; she was having one of her best games yet, and so was Lizzy. Lizzy, the star striker, committed to Boston College, was taking shots left and right, but her biggest threat interfering between her and her goal was the Bandit's goalie. She was good, real good. She was playing just as good as Heather.  Though going through Lizzy's mind, she knows she can crack the defense, but she just needs to find the goalie's weak spot.

            Tweet! Tweet! Halftime, the score, nil, nil. Both teams are playing so spectacular that even the refs, including Tess were enjoying watching the game. Both teams give their halftime talks and they are anxious to get back on the field and bring back a victory to their schools. The second half starts.

            Both teams come out hard, yet each team still cannot find the back of the net. Then  20, minutes into the second half, Lizzy gets the perfect breakaway. She is running, gun's blazing to the goal. She tuned out everything, she cannot hear her teammates, her coach, fans, nothing. She is in her own little world. As she gets into the other teams 18 yard box, the unthinkable happens. Blindsided Lizzy gets slide tackled in the box, and everything goes black.

***

            "and now we ended up here at the hospital, waiting for the results on your injuries," Dad finishes. I do not know what to say. It's a lot to process. I look down at my body. I see my right leg covered in bandages and medical gauze. I stay speechless for a couple of minutes. I do not know what to say. I look up at my parents, they understand that I just need some time to process all of this. Heather and some girl, I think she was one of the referees or something walks in the door.

            "So…?" I ask. I want to know what happened.

            "Well funny turn of events actually, after you got demolished in the box, you were shooting and when the girl got you, you shot the ball, and it bounced off the other goalies head and went in the goal. Liz you scored the winning goal! We are the state champions, and also Stanford loved me!" Heather started jumping up and down. She does this when she gets excited.

            The biggest smile went on my face. I scored the winning goal! I can't believe it! That ref that came in with Tess started to speak. "Hi, I'm Tess I reffed your game, and I wanted to present this MVP trophy to you personally. You really deserved it, you literally look one for your team and I again congratulate you for this win, but I have to go, my mom is waiting in the car. I just wanted to make sure that you were alright".

            "That's so sweet of you Tess! I couldn't thank you enough for the great job you did today too, and it was very nice to meet you, hope to see you sometime in the future!" Tess smiled and nodded and left the hospital, and hopped back in the car with her mom.

            I stare at this beautiful piece of metal, resting between my palms. This trophy symbolizes a dream come true. I have been dreaming to hold this trophy ever since I was a little girl. Now that I have it, I am going to cherish it and love it and know that in the end of the day, even though I am sitting in a hospital all wrapped up in bandages and gauze, that I worked for something so hard, and the work payed off, and at the end of the day, I made my own, and I do not regret one bit of it.