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The Beautiful Game 01

By: JayDavid



A three part series that takes place in the same universe as The Lake House Rules, but which stands apart. More soccer than sex in the first chapter, so I hope you stay with me. All characters that engage in any sort of sexual behavior in this story are 18.

Tuesday

M.J. Tucker, her red jersey with its ram's head bearing the number 9, passed the ball back to the center midfielder, Samantha Tobin, and started to jog forward, drawing the defensive midfielder to her. She then shifted into another gear and blew by the bewildered girl in the blue No. 12 jersey, her long legs accelerating down the right wing. As the Falcons' center mid approached M.J. in support of her teammate, M.J. cut sharply toward the middle of the field. She knew, having played with Sam since their AYSO days, that there was a strong likelihood that a through ball was on its way, so she kept looking forward as she made her run. The pass was on target, and M.J. controlled it without breaking stride, passing the defensive midfielder and heading toward goal.

The only player on the field who was taller than M.J. was the Falcons' center back, No. 17, Alisa Johnson. M.J. knew, from years of playing against Alisa in club games and high school that she was fast, strong, smart, but vulnerable to being turned by good footwork. Which M.J. had. She dribbled at top speed directly at Alisa, then stepped over the ball and changed direction. Alisa's feet caught under her and she fell to the grass as M.J. flew by, leaving her 1v1 against the keeper, who had no chance against M.J.'s left footed blast into the upper right corner of the net. M.J. came to a stop and turned back toward the center circle, breathing hard.

The referee looked at his watch and blew the whistle. The North High Rams had beaten the Falcons 3-1. M.J. had two of the goals and an assist on the third, a fairly typical game for the top soccer player in the conference of small, suburban schools. But rather than call attention to herself, M.J. turned and pointed at Sam and gave her a thumbs up for the great pass. She jogged off the field, took a drink, poured some water over her light brown hair and used a towel to dry off as the team gathered on the sideline. 

Coach Benson gathered the team together in a circle. Most of the players towered over her, but she had played varsity at North Carolina, and knew her stuff. She was a tough coach, but fair, and the players, for the most part, adored her. When everyone was together, she said, "Ladies, another great victory for the team. I don't have to remind you that we continue to be undefeated, and the playoffs start next Monday. We will have a target on our backs and will have to play as a team if we want to go to State. Can you do that?"

"Yes, Coach!" they yelled, in unison.

"Put your hands in," Coach Benson demanded, and the team complied. 

As she had after each victory, Sam, the team captain, yelled, "One, Two, Three," and the team yelled "TEAMWORK!!"

After the yelling died down, Coach Benson said, "See you ladies tomorrow, 3:30. Be ready to work."

The victorious Rams walked to the locker room, talking and gossiping in groups, except for M.J. The acknowledged star of the team, she was always given space by her teammates after games, because they knew that she needed the time to unwind. No one resented this; rather, they respected her intensity and hard work. M.J. was also always the first player on the field at practice and the last to leave, was always willing to work with a teammate on a skill or play and never criticized her teammates. She had declined the captainship during junior year, because she believed that a senior should be captain, and deferred this season to Sam, because her personality was more suited to the role. M.J. simply led by example.

In the locker room, M.J. also kept slightly apart from the rest of the team. She removed her jersey and shorts and stood in her sports bra and compression shorts. As she removed her undergarments and got ready to shower, she looked at herself. She knew that she wasn't beautiful, like some of her teammates, but she was attractive, in the way that healthy, athletic young women are. Her face was pleasant and friendly, with a few freckles dotting her pale skin. She was slim, with strong shoulders and legs, flat muscular abs and small, well-shaped breasts, also sprinkled with a few freckles. She wrapped herself in a towel and walked to the shower, which felt great on her lithe body. 

Afterwards, she dried off, dressed in sweats and left the locker room waiting for Sam to come out and drive her home. The Tuckers could not afford to buy M.J. a car, and Sam, M.J.'s best friend and neighbor, had been driving her to and from school since they were 16 when Sam's parents gave her the Honda. Part of M.J.'s intensity was based on the fact that she needed an athletic scholarship to attend college, and she was not only the leading scorer on the soccer team, she was the leading scorer and rebounder on the basketball team and the centerfielder and a pitcher on the softball team—but only the second leading hitter. No one, not even M.J., was perfect.

M.J. only had to wait a few minutes before Sam came out of the locker room. Despite the fact that they had been best friends since they were little girls, they were very different. Sam was short, pretty, had dark hair and café au lait colored skin befitting her Caribbean ancestry, and breasts large enough to occasionally get in her way on the field. Where M.J. was reserved and intense, Sam was bubbly and appeared carefree, although she worked hard to try to keep up with her best friend, and was a natural leader. In 10th grade, there were rumors that M.J. and Sam were lesbian lovers, but that was not true, and thereafter, Sam had made a point to emphasize her heterosexuality. M.J., consistent with her personality, played her cards close to her vest, and no one other than Sam really knew that she very much liked boys.

As was their custom, while they drove, Sam filled M.J. in on the gossip of the school as of that afternoon, who was sleeping with whom, and who wasn't any more, and who liked who, and who didn't. M.J. listened, and engaged in the conversation, but rarely had any information that Sam didn't already know.

M.J. understood the hierarchy at North. For the girls, the cheerleaders were the top of the pyramid. The Danas, the Lisas, the Chloes of the class ran the show, and they generally dated the guys from the football, basketball and baseball teams. Some of the female athletes, if they were particularly hot, could crack the top level, but most were in a lower caste, usually matched up with athletes from the lesser sports, or even occasionally with non-athletes. Sam, for example, was pretty and vivacious enough that she dated mostly basketball players, which was funny considering her lack of height, and it didn't hurt her popularity that she was willing to have sex. The drama and music kids hung out together, and then there were the nerds, who did most of the work for the clubs and organizations, but were universally ignored, or even despised, by the elites.

Despite the fact that she was the best female athlete in the school, in fact, probably the best athlete in the school, period, because of her just above average looks and shy personality, M.J. was clearly slotted in the second level, at best. However, she hadn't dated anyone at North, in part because she simply didn't have time, with all of her training and practices and school work, and in part because she hadn't found any guy at the school who interested her. And because many of them still thought that she was gay, she wasn't really the object of any serious male attention.

M.J. was not, however, a virgin. The prior summer, she had attended a basketball camp a couple of states away. She was there on scholarship, and in addition to working on her game with the other high school girls, she helped out as a counselor with the younger kids. It was an exhausting summer, but she improved her play significantly, and thought that she had been seen by some college recruiters. Although soccer was probably her best sport, she would take the best scholarship offer she could get. 

Another benefit of the camp was that she met Josh, and they dated, as best as one could under the circumstances. He was a year older than M.J. and was heading off to play basketball at a small college in central Pennsylvania. Two weeks after M.J.'s 18th birthday, they were able to sneak away and have sex, which she found she enjoyed greatly. They were able to do it a few more times during the summer, and kept in touch through Facebook during Josh's first semester in college, but then the relationship faded away as he became more involved with his life at college.

Sam was the only one at North who knew about this relationship, and she constantly pushed M.J. to find a local guy to hook up with, but no one ever seemed right, and there never seemed to be time. But occasionally, if you watched M.J., she would smile a certain smile, and if you guessed that she was thinking of her nights together with Josh in the woods, or in the pitch black gym on the wrestling mats, you would be right.

Sam dropped M.J. off at her house, then drove a few houses down the street to her house. M.J. entered her house and saw her little sister Gwen sitting on the couch eating and watching TV. Her mother was washing dishes and cleaning up the kitchen.

"How'd you do, M.J.?" Gwen asked.

"Pretty good," she said, "we won again, 3-1."

"Didja score?"

"Yeah, peanut, 2 goals, one assist."

"Yay!" Gwen yelled, raising her little arms above her head. Her mother smiled.

M.J. went to the kitchen and took the plate of cold chicken and frozen peas that her mother left for her, sat down at the table and ate it without much enthusiasm. M.J. generally considered food nothing more that fuel necessary to maintain her physical activity, probably because her mother was not a good cook. Dropping her plate into the sink, M.J. hugged her mother, who worked hard at the grocery store and taking care of her and Gwen. Her mother, Annette, said, "I'm proud of you, M.J. Do you have homework?

M.J. said, "Yes," and went up to her room and began to work. She was only a middling student, but worked hard in the time she had to keep her grades to the point that she would still be attractive to colleges. She noticed that her mother had dropped a bunch of envelopes on her bed, from various colleges, most of which she had never heard of. After finishing her homework, she went through the envelopes, keeping only those that appeared interested in considering her for scholarships, and focusing on ones that were located far away from home, preferably in warm, beautiful locations. She would discuss them with her guidance counselor and with Sam the following day. Sam's parents, unlike M.J.'s, had been to college and offered to help her with her application process. 

After finishing her homework, she went onto the family's old computer and checked Facebook, posted a few things, then went back downstairs. Her mother was about to put Gwen to sleep, and her father was still working the late shift at the plant, so she would have a few quiet minutes to herself before she needed to get to sleep. She turned on the TV and flipped around, not able to find anything worth settling on, so she turned off the set, went upstairs, changed and went to sleep.

Wednesday

The next day M.J. negotiated her way through another dull physics class with Mr. Stone, a pretty interesting social studies class with Ms. O'Hara, an English class with Ms. Stevens, during which she spent most of her time being annoyed by the way that the bitchy cheerleader girls preened for the boys, and gym class, where she got to learn some cool self-defense moves and accidentally on purpose slammed some of the nastier girls to the mats harder than was probably considered appropriate.

Finally, it was time for soccer practice, and she almost ran to the locker room to change. Her teammates filtered in, and they laughed and chattered as they dressed. As always, M.J. led the way, and was already halfway around the track for her warmup jog before the rest of the team emerged from the locker room. As she finished, she noticed that the boys' team, as usual, was already on their half of the field, stretching and warming up. North didn't have enough fields for both soccer teams to have a full field for practice, so they made the best of it. The coaches did what they could to prevent the players from fraternizing, or even watching each other, but this effort was doomed to failure when faced with the teenagers' raging hormones.

As M.J. waited for her teammates to finish their warmup jog, she noticed a boy standing on the side of the field, watching the boys' team practice, and juggling a soccer ball. He had kept the ball in the air for a very long time, then started to do tricks, flipping it over his head, catching it on the back of his neck, doing step overs and rainbows, without letting the ball hit the ground. It was remarkable, and was far beyond what M.J., or anyone on either side of the field, could do. She noticed that he was average height, very skinny, with brown skin and short dark hair. She had never seen him before.

"Sam," M.J. called out, and her friend came to her. "Look at that," she continued, pointing at the boy, who continued to juggle the ball without ever losing control. Within a few minutes, the whole girls' team was watching the display of soccer skills that flabbergasted them.

Coach Benson started to call them out on the field, but stopped, and began to watch the boy juggle appreciatively. Although Coach Benson was a tough coach, she appreciated soccer skills.

"Anyone know who he is?" M.J. asked. 

Cindy Browne, a reserve defender, said, "That's Eduardo Something. He's from Ecuador, but he just moved here from New York."

"Those are some amazing skills," Sam observed. "I wonder why he isn't practicing—the boys could really use him."

"Maybe his paperwork isn't all in order," opined Lily Howard, a sophomore midfielder, who was very smart and had once mentioned that she wanted to be a lawyer like her mother.

Finally, the ball hit off of Eduardo's shoulder and bounced away, and the spell was broken. Coach Benson blew her whistle and the girls took the field to practice. M.J. found herself watching the boy, Eduardo, as he played by himself on the side of the field, impressed by his skills. Coach Benson actually, for the first time all season, had to admonish M.J. for a lack of focus, and M.J. felt guilty, because she knew that the team looked to her for leadership, and because the playoffs were approaching. Nevertheless, she kept stealing looks to see what the boy was doing.

Eduardo was bored. He wanted to play fútbol, not watch, but couldn't because his transcript hadn't fully transferred. Instead, he had to observe, and quickly realized that the North boys' soccer team was just not very good. The girls team, though, seemed to be better, especially the tall girl who kept looking at him. She had some skills, and toughness, that the boys, lacked, even though they played a rough, unsophisticated style. Still, he hoped to get in a few games before the season ended, then maybe find a good club team to play with over the winter and spring.

He started to watch the tall girl play, and realized both that she was probably the best female player he had seen, but also that she was kind of cute. Maybe things wouldn't be so bad here, he thought, still missing his friends from his old school, especially Elena, but realizing that his father needed to take the job here. 

Eduardo continued to play with the ball, and M.J. continued to try to focus on practice, with some success, when the ball rolled off the field and toward the boy. M.J., who always ran after stray balls despite her status as the team star, loped after it, but it reached Eduardo before she could get there. He deftly trapped the ball and with an economical motion, kicked it back toward M.J., who popped the ball in the air, then nodded it back to her foot and turned gracefully toward the practice field. Eduardo clapped his approval, and M.J. turned her head back and smiled before returning to practice. She noticed that he was quite handsome.

Afterwards, as the girls walked toward the locker room, Sam came over to M.J. and said, "Look, you know I want you to pay attention to guys, but on the field we need you to focus."

"Was it that obvious?" M.J. asked, blushing slightly.

Sam laughed and said, "Yeah, pretty fucking obvious. I think Coach was going to kill you, but I guess you've earned the right to one bad practice in four years. But we need you to get your head back in the game."

"Yes, my captain," M.J. said, laughing.

Thursday

The next morning at school, Sam texted M.J. to tell her that North would be seeded first in the playoffs, and therefore had what should be an easy game the next Monday. That was expected, but it was still nice to hear. Sitting in second period math, which was not one of M.J.'s best subjects, she looked up from her book to see Eduardo weaving his way through the desks to the back, where there was an empty desk. She again noticed that he was cute, skinny and appeared to have a bit of a mischievous look in his eye. He caught her gaze and smiled and nodded as if he recognized her; she smiled and nodded back. M.J. was impressed that he looked at her and ignored Dana Angelo, who was, as usual, showing off her large breasts.

Class was, as usual, confusing, and it was made worse by the fact that she kept thinking about Eduardo juggling, and not the equations that she was supposed to be learning. Luckily, Ms. Taylor didn't call on her and she escaped the class relatively unscathed. 


In the hallway, Sam grabbed her arm and said, "Oh my god, M.J., you looked like you were in space in there."

"Yeah, I know. I was lucky that Taylor didn't call on me."

"Look, you either need to do something about this Eduardo thing, or you need to get your shit together."

"What should I do?" she asked.

"Maybe start by actually talking to him," Sam suggested.

"I guess so," M.J. said, unenthusiastically. She turned into her third period art class, and Sam went off to econ. Luckily, Eduardo wasn't in art, so she was able to concentrate, and even answered a question correctly before immersing herself in her collage project.

Later that afternoon, as she jogged alone around the track before practice, she pledged to focus only on her team and practice and ignore Eduardo, if he was there. As she rounded the last turn before her jog was over, she saw him, standing on the sidelines, a ball at his feet, chatting with a few of the other boys on the team. He was smiling, and she noticed the way that his face lit up when he was joking with his teammates. Not surprisingly, M.J. knew the boys he was talking to from years of attending school together and playing soccer, so she thought she might try to get some information from them about the new guy.

M.J. was able to ignore Eduardo as her team worked hard to prepare for their next game, the first game of the playoffs. Coach Benson drilled into them that if they took their opponent for granted because they were the lowest seed, they would lose. In addition to working on set pieces and, as always, making sure that their defense was strong and coordinated, she discussed with the team strategic points based on how Kennedy had played them earlier that season, and from the information she had gotten from speaking to some of the other coaches in their conference.

As M.J. drank water before heading out on the field for their traditional 7v7 end of practice workout, she noticed that Eduardo was still on the sidelines, working alone on a move that seemed virtually impossible. He dribbled forward, then appeared to be moving right by using the outside of his right foot, but instead flicked the ball with the inside of his foot to his left foot. It happened so quickly that M.J. knew that defenders would be unable to stay ahead of him. She grabbed a ball and tried to figure out how to do it, but only succeeded in getting her feet tied up.


The Beautiful Game 01



During the 7v7, Coach Benson had asked them to focus on possession, and both teams passed the ball back and forth, without trying to press forward for a goal. The coach blew her whistle, which was unusual during this exercise and told the team that although they were trying to maintain possession, they still needed to be aggressive and take opportunities to score. She sent them back on the field, and M.J.'s red squad was doing a great job of keeping the ball from the blues, when M.J. found herself with only one defender to beat. Tara, who pretty much knew all of M.J.'s tricks, was an all-Conference defender and not easily beaten. As M.J. approached her, she decided to try Eduardo's move and shifted the ball to the outside of her right foot. Tara moved slightly right, and M.J. knew that she had her beat, so she tried to do the flick, but tripped, and found herself, embarrassed, flat on her ass in the damp grass. She hadn't fallen like that since her U-10 days, and she lay there, hoping that the ground would open and suck her in. Her teammates stopped playing, fearful that their star had hurt herself, and Sam ran over to check her out.

"You O.K.?" Sam asked, concerned.

"Yeah, just embarrassed," M.J. whispered.

"Then get your ass off the ground so that Benson doesn't have a heart attack."

M.J. stood up and jogged in place to show that she was fine. Which she was, until she noticed Eduardo watching her. She turned red and jogged back into position, saying, "Let's go. We have Kennedy to beat on Monday."

The scrimmage continued until the Coach blew her whistle again and the sweaty Rams walked off the field, grabbed their water bottles and gathered around the coach.

"Good practice, girls," she said. "Better focus today, for the most part. If we play our game, Kennedy won't have a chance, but if we don't, we could be disappointed. And you don't want to be disappointed, do you?"

"No Coach!" they yelled in unison.

"Remember, Kennedy likes to use three up front, which makes them dangerous, but also will give us the midfield advantage. Sam, you will have to control the pace, and distribute. The defense will need to mark tightly and communicate. And we need to just play our game, and stay within ourselves." She looked at M.J. as she said that, and M.J. again blushed.

The girls began to walk toward the locker room, but M.J. delayed, pretending to fix her cleats. As she walked toward the school, she noticed Eduardo dribbling his soccer ball right at her. It was not a coincidence, and he dribbled right up to her. M.J. could smell his sweat, and his body wash or cologne or whatever it was that teenage boys used. 

"Hey," he said. "I saw you try the Ronaldinho move." 

She was surprised that he had no accent because he was supposed to be from Ecuador. She replied, "That's what it's called? I didn't do it right, though."

"It is hard. It takes a long time to get it right," he said. M.J. noticed that his voice was friendly and higher pitched than she expected. He continued, "My name is Eduardo, I'm new. I've seen you practice, and you are very good."

M.J. blushed and said, "I'm M.J.—short for Mary Jane, which no one has called me since 3rd grade. Thanks. I've seen you, too. You have incredible footwork."

Eduardo smiled, and M.J. felt something that she hadn't since Josh and basketball camp. "Thanks," he said.

"Why aren't you practicing with the team?" she asked. "They could use a player with your skills."

"I wish," he said. "My paperwork has some problems, and if I'm not eligible by tomorrow, I can't play in the playoffs. But I come to practice to watch, just in case."

"That stinks," M.J. replied. 

There was a silence before Eduardo said, "Do you want me to help you with the Ronaldinho?"

"Sure," M.J. said, enthusiastically.

He demonstrated the move slowly, so she could see how she needed to move her right foot over the ball, and how to flick her ankle properly. He made it look easy, but M.J had trouble initially. But after about 15 tries, she started to get it right more often than not, and after 25 tries, she was getting it right almost every time.

"I've never seen a girl who could do that move," Eduardo said, with admiration.

M.J. blushed again, although she wasn't really sure why.

"How about I defend you, and you try to get around me," Eduardo offered.

M.J.'s competitive nature kicked in. She had never backed down from playing against the boys, and usually held her own, even when they were bigger and stronger than her. Eduardo was shorter than her, and wiry. She put the ball at her feet and attacked him. But he knew she was going to try the new move, so he stole the ball. He kicked it back to her, and she came at him again, but this time used a stutter step, which turned him the wrong way, and she blew past him. He looked at M.J. and clapped his hands softly. She kicked the ball to him, and he used more fancy footwork to get past M.J. The two of them played like this, alternating, for some time, until M.J. heard Sam yell, "Hey superstar, get in here and change, unless you want to walk home." 

M.J. had lost track of time, and she turned to Eduardo and said, "Thanks, that was fun. See you in school tomorrow," before jogging into the locker room. She skipped her shower and changed into her sweats and ran out of the locker room. Sam was waiting for her with a big grin on her face.

"Soccer flirting, huh?" Sam said, "Is that the only way you can talk to guys?"

M.J. realized that Sam might be right, but wouldn't admit it. "I don't know what you are talking about," she replied, unconvincingly. "He was helping me with a move," she protested.

Sam smiled again, "I hope he has some other moves to teach you."

M.J. realized that Sam wasn't talking about soccer and tried to turn the tables on her, saying, "Hey, captain, I thought we were supposed to only be thinking about soccer and beating Kennedy. What kind of example are you setting by talking about sex?"

Sam smiled back at her best friend and said, "I was talking about soccer—you're the one with sex on the brain. For once"

They laughed and got into Sam's car and began to drive home. After a few minutes, Sam said, "Seriously, M.J., if you like him, you should do something about it."

"I guess," she said, "but what about the playoffs?"

"M.J.," Sam said, "don't tell Coach that I said this, but there are more important things in life than the playoffs."

"Maybe," M.J. said, thinking to herself.

"One thing, though," Sam said, "remember when I went out with Carlos last year?"

"Yeah," M.J. said, "I remember the drama."

Sam paused and said, "So, luckily it was a false alarm, but what I wanted to say is that I think Spanish guys like to take the lead, so you need to get him to ask you out, or you may scare him away."

M.J. thought for a second and said, "Playing those games are not my strong point. What should I do?"

Sam sighed. "How is it possible for someone to be so skilled on the field and so lame off the field? Just talk to him. Be interested. Maybe touch his arm. Flirt, damn it."

"O.K.," M.J. replied, sounding unconvinced. "I guess I can try that."

Sam dropped M.J off at her house, and before entering the front door, she picked up a soccer ball that was sitting on the small lawn and practiced the Ronaldinho move a few times until it felt comfortable. She entered the house smiling.

Friday

M.J. couldn't wait until practice, and her classes were a blur, punctuated with two sightings of Eduardo, one in the hall, and the other in the cafeteria at lunch, where she noticed him sitting with a few of the male soccer players, talking, and laughing.

When she came out on the field to start her warmup jog, her stomach fell when she didn't see Eduardo dribbling alone on the sideline. Disappointed, she decided to focus on her jog, and as she rounded the turn so that she was facing the boys' team, her concentration was broken by the sound of laughing. She looked up and saw both Tommy Storman and Alex Fredericks, the best defenders on the boys' team lying on the ground, and Eduardo fishing the ball out of the goal behind Carlos Mejia, the goal keeper, and Sam's former boyfriend.

She smiled, because that must have meant that Eduardo's paperwork came through and he could practice with the team. As she continued her jogging, she noticed that the boys seemed to be practicing with more intensity, and their coach actually seemed happy. Their first playoff game was Tuesday, and being the 7th seed, they had to travel 40 minutes away to play the second seeded Wildcats. Maybe, if they won on Monday, she could convince Coach Benson to give them the day off from practice to go watch the boys' game. She decided to ask Sam to discuss that with the coach.

The girls' practice was spirited, and Coach Benson kept on them to focus and to play their game on Monday. Under Conference rules, they were not allowed to practice over the weekend during the playoffs, and although an unofficial "captain's practice" was a convenient way around the rule, Coach Benson told them not to have one, both because she wanted them to rest, and because she was worried that someone from a rival school would complain, risking some punishment that would tarnish their perfect season. So, after a last 7v7, and some more strategy talk, the girls were released until Monday afternoon.

As M.J. walked to the locker room, she sensed a boy coming up behind her. Her heart began to beat faster as she hoped it was Eduardo, and her hope was realized when he jogged up to her.

"Hey," he said, flashing her a smile that highlighted the way his white teeth contrasted with his brown skin. "I got to practice today and can play on Tuesday."

M.J. smiled back at him and said, "That's awesome. You'll be their secret weapon."

"Can I ask you a favor?" Eduardo asked.

"What?" M.J. replied.

"My little sister is 11 and has AYSO practice tomorrow morning, and I went to her practice last week, and the coach doesn't really know much about soccer. I offered to help him, but I think her team would like to see a great female player like you, too."

M.J. smiled. She was pleased that he thought that she was great, and she appreciated his thinking about the girls. And, she thought to herself, maybe this was his brand of soccer flirting. She responded, "What time, and where?"

Eduardo's face lit up. "10:00 at this field, tomorrow."

"That works out great," M.J. said. "My sister has her practice on the side field at 9, so I can come with her here, then stay with you after. See you then."

"See you then," Eduardo said, grinning.

Saturday

On Saturday morning, M.J. was up early and put on a pair of shorts that she correctly believed showed off her long athletic legs and a tight t-shirt that said "Girls Got Game", put her hair into a pony tail and grabbed her cleat bag. She made sure that Gwen had her shinguards and cleats and that her mother was awake and ready to drive Gwen to practice. As they drove to the field, M.J. told her mother that she was going to stay after Gwen's practice to help a friend's sister's team practice.

"What friend?" M.J.'s mother asked. "I didn't know you had a friend with a younger sister that practiced after Gwen."

M.J. was a little embarrassed, and said, "A new friend. His name is Eduardo and he just moved here from New York."

Annette smiled to herself. She had noticed that M.J. put herself together better than usual for Gwen's practice, and now she knew why. "Tell me about this Eduardo," she said, trying to sound stern, but really pleased that M.J. was showing interest in something other than sports. "You've never mentioned him before."

"He's from Ecuador, but just moved here from New York. He has the most incredible footwork that I have ever seen, and he just joined the boys' team. His sister just joined AYSO and Eduardo thinks that her coach needs help, and that I would be a good soccer role model for the girls," M.J. blurted out.

Annette again smiled to herself. That was maybe the longest speech that she had ever heard M.J. give. She must like this boy, she thought.

Gwen's practice was, as always, fun for M.J. Her coach was pretty good, and a nice guy who appreciated her help, although he sometimes seemed to look at her legs a little longer than might be necessary. Gwen was enthusiastic, but lacked her older sister's talent or focus. After the practice, M.J. said goodbye to her mother and sister and jogged off to the main field. Annette waited and watched her and could see her meet up with a boy. But from the distance, she could not see what he looked like. Annette and Gwen walked to the car and went home.

When M.J. arrived at the field, Eduardo was sitting on a small bicycle, watching some girls chatter before practice started. A skinny, dark haired, brown skinned girl stood shyly away from the group. M.J. assumed that this was Eduardo's sister, who was the new girl and didn't really know her teammates. She greeted Eduardo, who smiled broadly when he saw her and asked, "Is that your sister?"

"Yeah," he said, "her name is Veronica." 

Before they could do something to get her integrated with the team, the coach blew his whistle. He was a big guy, balding with dark hair and glasses. He called the girls over, chatted with them in a friendly way, then set up a fairly standard grid based activity that he probably learned from a coaching manual. While the girls played, he watched, and made reasonably useful comments. 

Eduardo approached him and said, "Coach, you remember me, I'm Eduardo, Veronica's brother? I helped out last week?"

"Yes, and thanks," he responded in a friendly way. "I appreciate your help—I can't demonstrate things the way you can." He then looked at M.J. "Aren't you M.J. Tucker?" 

"Yes," M.J. replied.

"I'm David Jordan. My older daughter Cindy is a freshman on the team. I've seen you play a couple of times, and I've read about you in the local paper. You're incredible."

M.J. blushed. "Thanks," she said, looking down. "I know Cindy. I think she could be a really good midfielder if she keeps working at it. And she is great to have on the team."

"Thanks," he said. "I'll tell her." "Laura," he yelled at the team, "focus on your positioning when you receive the ball."

Eduardo said, "Coach Jordan, we are here to help you today, so let us know what we can do."

"Wow," he said enthusiastically. "You can really be helpful. Next, I want to work on their 1v1 play. I want to have a player turn and shield the ball and have a defender try to take it from her. Can you demonstrate?"

"Sure," the teenagers both said.

The coach called in the girls and let them have water before discussing their performance in the activity they had completed, then explained shielding and defending against a player shielding the ball.

"Eduardo and M.J. have offered to demonstrate."

Eduardo kicked a ball out onto the field and said, "M.J., you come at me, I'll defend."

She nodded and ran out to the ball. Eduardo took a balanced defensive stance and waited as M.J. dribbled directly at him. Before she reached him, she spun so that her back faced Eduardo and she used her body to protect the ball. Eduardo moved behind her, and M.J. properly took the initiative and jammed her butt into him and tried to turn him. Eduardo pressed back against M.J.'s butt, looking to make her lose her balance and allow him to steal the ball, but she was strong, and kept pressing against him. Suddenly, M.J. realized that Eduardo's penis was getting hard from her rubbing against him, and she lost concentration long enough that he stole the ball and dribbled away.

"Good," said Coach Jordan.

"Your turn," yelled M.J. at Eduardo, who dribbled at her and turned. M.J. pressed her crotch against Eduardo's butt, and he tried to maneuver around her. Although she had played soccer forever, for the first time she was conscious of how good it could feel to have an offensive player rubbing against her. But her competitive instinct kicked in, and she gave Eduardo's shirt a small tug and used his loss of balance to steal the ball.

"Great," the coach said, and sent his team out in pairs to try the same. 

M.J. felt warm and a bit flushed, and Eduardo looked a little embarrassed. They watched the girls try to mimic their actions, and helped them improve. One pair, though, wasn't getting it at all, and M.J. took the ball to demonstrate. She pressed against Eduardo and demonstrated how she used her arms and body to shield the ball. Eduardo, this time, seemed content to let M.J. press against him, and she again felt him stiffen. But this time, she kept her focus, and kept pressing against him until she heard a small sigh, signaling that he was distracted, and she spun around him, laughing.

"Hey, that's not fair," Eduardo complained good naturedly as M.J. kicked the ball back to the players and told them to keep practicing.

M.J. couldn't stop thinking about the way that Eduardo's hard penis felt against her ass while Eduardo enjoyed the feeling, but was a little embarrassed by it. They separately worked with the girls until practice ended. Coach Jordan thanked them, and the girls began to disperse with their parents.

"M.J., we live pretty near the school. Do you want to walk back with us?" Eduardo asked.

"Sure," M.J. said. Eduardo walked his bicycle with M.J. and Veronica away from the school and down the street into a neighborhood that was mostly home to Spanish speaking recent immigrants. Although M.J. had lived in town her whole life, and had Hispanic friends at school, she rarely ventured into the residential neighborhood. After a while, they arrived at a multifamily house that had seen better days and entered. Eduardo's family lived on the first floor. They entered into what was supposed to be a living room, but had been turned into a bedroom. From the clothing and soccer paraphernalia, M.J. assumed that it was where Eduardo slept.

They walked through the room into a small kitchen, and Eduardo introduced M.J. to an older woman. "Mama, this is my friend M.J. She is an amazing fútbol player and helped out at Veronica's practice."

Eduardo's mother replied, in clear, but accented English. "Nice to meet you, M.J. I am Anita, and thank you for helping out. Can I get you something to drink?"

"Nice to meet you too," M.J. replied. "Some water would be great, thanks."

Anita poured three glasses of water and gave one each to M.J., Eduardo, and Veronica.

"M.J., would you like to go back to the field and work on some more moves?" Eduardo asked.

"Sure," she said.

He grabbed a ball, said goodbye to his mother and they started walking back to the field.

M.J. couldn't get the feeling she had when Eduardo pressed against her out of her mind, and she felt tingly and a little uneasy. Not being the most talkative person under usual circumstances, she kept silent. Eduardo, embarrassed about the way he had become aroused and that M.J. clearly felt his arousal, was also quiet. As they walked, occasionally their arms brushed against each other, and Eduardo almost took M.J.'s hand, but decided not to.

When they got back to the school, AYSO practices were still going on, and it was hard for them to find a place to practice. M.J. said that there was a small patch of grass near the football field that usually wasn't used by AYSO. She told Eduardo that she sometimes went there on the weekends to practice alone, and that it was also used by the students to sneak away for smoking or drinking. They climbed a small hill, then walked down a small path until they got to the field. It was empty, except for a few beer bottles and cigarette butts, so they started kicking the ball back and forth to warm up.

M.J. continued to practice the Ronaldinho move, and Eduardo showed her a couple more fancy things for her to add to her bag of tricks. At one point, Eduardo was demonstrating a fine point of one of his tricks, and he was facing M.J. and placed a hand on her hip. Being shorter than M.J., his eyes were looking at her neck, and he tried, unsuccessfully, not to look at her breasts. 




The Beautiful Game 01



"Hey," M.J. said, and Eduardo looked up at her face. M.J. bent her face down and pressed her lips against Eduardo's. M.J. was surprised by the saltiness of his taste, and the softness of his lips, and she began to kiss him harder, hoping that he would reciprocate. Eduardo did. He pulled her close to him and kissed her back, allowing his tongue to venture between her lips, feeling an almost electric shock when their tongues touched.

M.J. leaned back for a second and looked at Eduardo, smiling. She didn't care that she was sweating, or that he was, and she bent forward for another kiss. She started to rub his back, and Eduardo reached under her t-shirt and caressed her slick skin, feeling her strong muscles. He felt her small, firm breasts, encased in their sports bra, pressing against him. Overcome with passion, he slid his hands around from M.J.'s back and placed his hands on her bra, first rubbing her breasts, then gently squeezing them. M.J. loved the way his body felt and the way that he was rubbing her. She sighed with pleasure and pulled Eduardo's head into her chest. It was a new experience for M.J. to make out with a shorter guy—Josh was 6'4"—but she didn't care. 

They kissed and groped at each other for what seemed like hours before M.J. pushed him away gently and said, "I think we should stop for now."

Eduardo was both exhilarated and disappointed, but he clearly heard M.J. say "for now." "O.K., I guess," he said, panting. "We don't have to rush things."

M.J. smiled at him and said, "I'm not worried about rushing things, just that we are sweaty and gross, and it is broad daylight. Unfortunately, my mother and sister are home, or we could go there. What about your house?"

"The same," he replied, with disappointment.

"Damn," she said. "I really would like to keep doing this with you, but not here and now. Look," she continued, "I think I can get the car tonight and maybe we can go to the movies. Let me go home and I'll call you later." They exchanged cell numbers, and, holding hands, they walked out of the secluded field. When they reached the point that they needed to separate, they kissed briefly and went their separate ways. M.J. realized that she had ignored Sam's advice about setting it up so that Eduardo asked her out, but she didn't think he minded.

M.J. floated home, even though it was a fairly long walk from school to her house. She walked through the older neighborhoods that surrounded the school, past the small downtown area, occasionally waving to people that she knew, up the hill and down the street that led to her house. She was sweating from the walk but didn't care. When she entered the house, Gwen was watching TV and her mother was cleaning the kitchen. 

"How did it go?" her mother asked.

M.J. was surprised, but then she realized her mother was talking about the practice. "Fine. We helped Eduardo's sister's team, then we walked her home. Eduardo and I went back to the field and worked on some footwork, and then I walked home."

Annette smiled. She could tell that her shy daughter liked this boy, but feigned ignorance. "That's nice, dear. Why don't you go shower and change?"

M.J. nodded and ran up the stairs to her room. She grabbed her old iPod and went to the bathroom, put it into the speaker dock and started up the music. She turned on the water and stripped while she waited for the water to warm up. Looking in the mirror, she saw what she always saw—a pleasant, if not beautiful face, an athletic body, small but firm breasts and long, muscular legs. When the water warmed up, she entered the shower and closed the door. The warm water felt good over her body, and she soaped up and rinsed off. As she did so, she remembered the feel of Eduardo kissing her, pressing against her and rubbing her breasts. She fondled her own breasts, trying to recreate the delight, and as she stroked them and manipulated her small red nipples, she felt herself becoming wet with desire.

It had been a while since she had pleasured herself, but she knew that she needed to, and badly. M.J. reached down and stroked her pussy, sending shivers up her spine. Imagining that it was Eduardo in the shower with her, she inserted two fingers inside herself and finger fucked herself for a few seconds before using her thumb to rub her throbbing clit. She felt her knees buckling as she brought herself to a massive orgasm. M.J. smiled, washed herself again, shampooed and conditioned her hair and was about to leave the shower, happy, until she looked down at her unruly pubic bush.

Leaving the water running, she stepped out of the shower and grabbed a scissors, returned to the shower and gave her bush a trim, then used her razor to shape the hair a little. It wasn't anything dramatic, but it looked neater, and she believed, sexier.

After drying off, she put on comfortable clothing and returned to the kitchen to talk to her mother.

"Was everything O.K. up there?" Annette asked. "I heard the water running for a long time."

M.J. tried to prevent herself from blushing, but just said, "I'm a little sore, so it felt good."

Annette smiled at her. M.J. went to the refrigerator and pulled out fixings for a sandwich. While she prepared her lunch, she said, "Mom, Eduardo and I would like to go to a movie tonight. Can I use the car?"

"I don't see why not," Annette replied. "Your father should be home by 7 tonight and I can't imagine he will be interested in doing anything other than eating dinner and watching the game."

"Thanks, Mom," she said with a bit more enthusiasm than Annette expected, and gave her mother a big hug. 

After eating the sandwich, M.J. went up to her room and called Eduardo. "I have a car, and told my mother we were going to the movies. Let's see an early show and then find someplace private after, O.K?" she said, without any prefatory small talk.

Eduardo was thrilled. He knew that it wasn't considered right for the girl to ask out the guy, but he didn't care. "Great," was all he could say.

M.J. said, "I'll pick you up at 7 and we can figure out what to see."

After saying goodbye, she texted Sam and asked her to come over, with sufficient urgency that Sam was at her house in minutes.

"What's going on?" Sam asked.

M.J. told her about what had happened at the field with Eduardo, and her plans for the evening. Sam was happy for her best friend, and they spent the next hour combing through M.J.'s closet and drawers trying on clothing before settling on a red shirt that hugged her breasts and jeans that emphasized her long, slim legs. They agreed it was cute, sexy, and that M.J. would be comfortable in it. Sam was, however, dissatisfied with M.J.'s motley collection of underwear, and convinced her that they needed to make a run to the mall. After a quick, somewhat awkward visit to Victoria's Secret, Sam was almost satisfied that M.J. was ready. Before she left to go home, Sam reached into her purse and handed M.J. two condoms.

"Do you have any?" Sam asked, knowing that M.J. was not on the pill.

"No, but shouldn't Eduardo bring them?" M.J. asked.

"Theoretically, but do you want to be naked and ready, and find out that he didn't?"

"Good point," M.J. said, taking the rubbers and putting them in a purse that she rarely ever used. Sam left to go home to prepare for her own date, with the starting point guard on the basketball team, and M.J. pretended to do homework until it was time for her to get dressed.



The Beautiful Game 02



The second of a three part series that takes place in the same universe as The Lake House Rules, but which stands apart from the earlier series. You should read the first part of this one, though. Still a lot of soccer, but some other things, too....

And, to be clear, everyone who has sex in this story is at least 18 years old.

*

Later that day

M.J. stopped pretending to do homework and decided to get ready for her first date with Eduardo. She put on her new lingerie and her clothing, brushed out her hair and put on a small amount of makeup. When she looked at herself in the mirror, she saw something new, a pretty young woman, and she was a little excited by it. 

When she went downstairs, her mother looked away from the TV and said, "You look beautiful, M.J., have fun."

M.J. grabbed the car keys, got into the car and drove to Eduardo's house. She texted him that she was there, and he came out, dressed in jeans, a nice blue polo shirt, and his hair was slicked down. He got into the car, and she could smell his cologne. She leaned over and he gave her a quick kiss on the lips before he put his seatbelt on. They started to drive to the theater, and discussed their options. Eduardo put his hand gently on M.J.'s right leg and let it rest there. They agreed to see a comedy that had gotten pretty good reviews. Although Eduardo tried to buy both tickets, M.J. insisted on paying for hers. They held hands while waiting on line, and when they got seats, Eduardo put his arm around her, which was a little awkward because he was shorter than M.J., who slumped in her seat and rested her head on his shoulder, overcome a bit by his strong scent.

The movie was funny, and they both enjoyed it, kissing briefly a few times. After, they went to the car, holding hands, and M.J. drove them back toward home. They chatted idly about the movie and soccer, but it was clear that they were both nervous. She drove to the school and parked the car in a secluded area of the lot.

They got out, and M.J. opened the trunk and pulled out two fleece blankets that lived there all year round. Holding hands, they walked back to the field where they had been earlier in the day, hoping that it wasn't occupied by kids sneaking beers. When they got there, it was quiet, and lit only by the bright moonlight. Together, they laid the blankets on the ground and stood facing each other. Eduardo put his hands on M.J.'s hips and could feel her trembling slightly. Or maybe it was Eduardo's hands that were trembling. M.J. leaned her face down slightly, and Eduardo reached up and their lips touched gently. Their kisses increased in intensity and passion until they both dropped slowly to the blankets.

They sat, kissing and gently stroking each other and Eduardo tried to unbutton M.J.'s blouse, but was shaking so hard, he couldn't do it. M.J. looked at him, tenderly, and said, "Relax. You have done this before, right?"

Eduardo said, "Yes, but never with someone like you."

She smiled and kissed him hard, and he was able to unbutton and remove her shirt. He gasped with pleasure when he saw M.J.'s breasts and the new bra that she was wearing. M.J. gently pushed his head toward her, and he buried his nose in her cleavage, deeply breathing in her scent, before starting to kiss her breasts above the bra. M.J. lay back on the blankets and let Eduardo see her, and he placed his hands gently on her breasts and stroked them. She let out a sigh of pleasure and pulled him toward her until he was laying with his chest on hers, but his legs were on the blanket. 

They kissed, and M.J. reached her hands under Eduardo's shirt, feeling his skinny, wiry back and pushing the shirt up. He took the hint, and took off the shirt, exposing his bony, but still muscular chest. M.J. took the opportunity to remove her bra, and lay there, reveling in the hungry look that Eduardo gave her breasts before he gently began kissing her sensitive nipples. His touch was light, but insistent enough to cause her nipples to become hard. M.J. felt the warmth growing in her crotch, and she desperately wanted Eduardo inside her. She could feel his penis pressing against her leg and she wanted to see it, to touch it.

Eduardo reached down and gently stroked between M.J.'s leg, as if to gauge her interest; her moan told him exactly what he needed to know. He reached for the button on her jeans and said, "Is this O.K.?"

"Yes," M.J. whispered.

He opened her jeans and pulled down the zipper. She wriggled out of the jeans, and let him take off her shoes and pull them down, so that she was only wearing her panties. Eduardo smelled her and was aroused even more by the animal scent. He stroked her panties, feeling their dampness and causing M.J. to moan with desire. He was aching himself, as his erection was throbbing against his jeans. He slowly removed M.J.'s panties and stared at her beautiful athlete's body, her firm breasts, long legs and beautiful pussy. Eduardo was also not a virgin, but like M.J., he was not very experienced. She was, in so many ways, the opposite of Elena, who was short, curvy and dark, and rarely stopped talking. He and Elena had fooled around a little, and had sex a couple of times before he left New York.

Tonight, though, he wanted M.J., and he badly wanted to give her pleasure. He kissed her flat, toned stomach and kissed his way toward her trimmed pubic hair, breathing her odor deeply into his lungs. He flicked his tongue randomly around her engorged labia, and M.J. writhed and gasped when he accidentally brushed her very sensitive clit.

Eduardo stood and took off his pants and boxers and M.J. could see his penis, which was about 6 inches long, and skinny, fully erect and throbbing. She reached up for him, and he dropped to his knees next to her.

"I want to make love to you," he said.

"And I want to make love to you," M.J. responded. She reached over to her purse and pulled out one of the condoms, opened it and rolled it onto his penis. She lay back and spread her legs, welcoming him, and he climbed on top and slowly stuck his engorged cock into M.J., who gasped with surprise, then sighed with pleasure. When he was fully inside, he lost control, and came almost immediately. Embarrassed, he pulled out and rolled off of her.

"Don't worry," M.J. said. "I understand." She handed him the second condom and because of his youth and lust, he was able to become hard again. He rolled the condom on and repositioned himself, slowly entering her for a second time. This time, Eduardo was able to control himself, slowly thrusting into M.J's well lubricated pussy. She sighed with pleasure as he tenderly pumped into her, and her hips, seemingly of their own accord, rose and fell in rhythm. She wrapped her legs around him, allowing him to penetrate her deeper. M.J. gasped as Eduardo's pubic bone pressed against her clit, sending shivers of pleasure through her body. Eduardo increased his tempo, and M.J., the star athlete, kept pace, clutching him with her long, powerful legs and strong arms. They sped up and sped up until Eduardo was thrusting as fast as he could and M.J. felt small orgasms building up inside her until she crested and peaked, feeling pleasure beyond anything she had ever experienced with Josh, or alone. She screamed and threw her head back and Eduardo, feeling her delight, lost his control and came hard into his condom repeatedly until he collapsed, panting onto M.J.

Despite the fact that they were in excellent shape, both M.J. and Eduardo were spent, exhausted, satisfied, and they lay there, unable to speak, unable to move, just breathing and holding each other. Holding turned into stroking, which turned into kissing, and soon Eduardo was hard again, and pressing his erection against M.J.'s pussy. 

"We don't have any more condoms," she said, sadly, but then turned 180 degrees and began to kiss his throbbing member before gently inserting its head between her lips. Eduardo sighed, feeling the incredible pleasure of her mouth, lips and tongue on his penis. He smelled the odor of her desire, and was able to press his face into M.J.'s sweet pussy, tenderly licking her lips and plunging his tongue into her folds, causing her to writhe and become even wetter. They feasted on each other, trying to give as much pleasure as they were receiving, in an amazing competition of oral sex that only concluded when Eduardo shot another load into M.J.'s willing mouth and she reached yet another body shaking climax.

Eduardo turned so that his face was over M.J.'s and he kissed her, neither of them at all put off by the smell and taste of themselves on their lovers' mouth, and they kissed for what felt like days before they collapsed on their backs, holding hands and looking at the stars. Neither of them wanted the night to end, but M.J. knew that she needed to get home soon, and she reluctantly got dressed and watched Eduardo do the same. They folded the blankets and returned to the car, walking with their arms around each other, silently.

She drove to his house, and they kissed again. M.J. said, "I think we shouldn't see each other tomorrow. I have too much school work, and we have our playoff game on Monday."

Eduardo agreed, and they kissed again, and he left. M.J. drove home, smiling, still feeling tingling between her legs that might have been real or might have been imagined, but either way, felt wonderful. 

When she arrived home, she was surprised to see her mother, watching TV and drinking a cup of tea. M.J. realized that her hair was a mess and her clothing was a bit askew, because she expected to come home to a house of sleeping people. Her mother looked at her and smiled. She knew, or certainly suspected, what had happened and she scanned her daughter's face for some sign of something other than happiness, and saw none.

"How was the movie?" Annette asked, patting the couch as a signal for M.J. to sit next to her. Annette smelled Eduardo's cologne, and the unmistakable smell of sex on her daughter.

"It was fine, mom," M.J. replied.

"And afterwards?" Annette asked, and gave M.J. a pointed look, "did you have fun?"

M.J. was not sure what to do. She knew that her mother knew, but she didn't seem angry. And why should she be, M.J. thought, considering that she was 18 and thus could do what she wanted. "Afterwards was great," she blurted out, looking down at the carpet, thus confirming her mother's suspicions.

"Was that your first time?" her mother asked, quietly, skipping ahead to eliminate some of the awkwardness.

M.J. blushed. She realized her mother was, in fact, treating her like an adult, and she was proud, and decided to tell the truth. "No, Mom, it wasn't. My first times were with a boy at basketball camp, and it was fine, but tonight was amazing."

Annette hugged her daughter and said, "I'm glad. This may be uncomfortable for you to hear from your mother, but I don't care. Sex should be fun and it should be good and it should make you happy. Even though your father works crazy hours, we still enjoy it and always have. You were careful, right?"

"Yes, Mom, we were."

"Are you on the pill?

"No."

"Well, if you intend on doing this on a regular basis, you should consider making an appointment with Dr. Bolen and discuss your options with her—but I'd wait until after the season is over because it might affect you."

"Thanks, Mom, I love you," M.J. said, hugging her mother.

"But, I wouldn't make a big deal about this in front of your father," she said, smiling. "He sometimes still thinks of you as his little tomboy."

M.J. shook her head and smiled. She kissed her mother and went to her room, washed up and got into bed. She slept like a rock and awoke at 9 the next morning with a smile on her face.

True to her word, M.J. spent most of Sunday doing schoolwork. She also called Sam and gave her some details, and Sam almost broke M.J.'s eardrums by screaming into the phone. She also spoke with Eduardo twice, and they had sweet, tender conversations.

Monday

At school on Monday, she kissed Eduardo in the hall, and they walked hand in hand to some classes, declaring their relationship official in the eyes of the school. But M.J. turned her attention to the first playoff game and couldn't wait until the day was over.

As usual, the girls gave M.J. a wide berth before the game, although a few of them congratulated her on her new boyfriend. She put on her white home jersey with the red "RAMS" on the front and prepared herself for battle. M.J. got up and was out of the locker room and jogging around the track to warm up. The boys were getting in a short practice before the game, and M.J.'s face lit up when she saw Eduardo look at her, smile and wave. But she got her focus back and completed her jog before warming up with a ball, waiting for her teammates. The boys' team left the field and, to her surprise, most of them went into the bleachers to watch the game.

The Kennedy Lions ran onto the half field vacated by the boys and started to warm up, in their bright yellow shirts. They looked small and young, and a few of the players pointed at M.J. while they warmed up. They had played early in the season, and M.J. scored 3 goals and had 2 assists before Coach Benson took pity on their opponents and sat M.J. and most of her other starters on the bench. 

Finally, her teammates were all on the field, warming up, when Coach Benson called them over. She set the lineup and said, "Ladies, the season starts today. Our record is zero wins and zero losses. If we lose, we are done and no one will remember our undefeated season. Anyone here want to be done?" she asked. 

"NO COACH," the team yelled in unison.

"Good. Me neither. So, I suspect that their strategy is going to be to try to take M.J. out of the game. I expect that they will double and triple team her, and try to knock her around and foul her. M.J., you can't try to beat them alone. If you are double or triple teamed, pass it out to the open player and move to space. Eventually, we will wear them down. O.K.?"

M.J. nodded. She was a team first player, and winning was her objective.

"Ready, Rams?" Sam said.

"READY!" the girls yelled, and the starters ran onto the field.

The game went much as Coach Benson suggested. Kennedy was outmatched in skill, size and athleticism, and M.J. was double and triple teamed whenever she received the ball. In fact, the Kennedy coach had his fastest player shadow her throughout the game. So, M.J. made pinpoint passes, and set up three goals. The plan to foul M.J. backfired when she curled a free kick into the goal from just outside the penalty area. She looked into the stands and saw Eduardo cheering and high fiving his friends after she scored. M.J. spent the end of the game on the bench, cheering on her teammates as they won, 6-1.

After the game, Coach Benson told the team that she was proud of them, and M.J. took the opportunity to speak, which was unusual for her.

"Coach," she asked, "the boys' team watched us today. Do you think we could cancel practice tomorrow and go support the boys?"

Coach Benson was surprised.

"M.J.," she said, "I've never seen you ask for a day off, but I think that it would be a nice thing to do and I think they would appreciate it. So, if you promise to all go as a team, give me a good hard practice on Wednesday and be ready for Thursday's game, then, yes, we can take the day off tomorrow. I'll find out if you can go on the bus with the boys and I'll let Sam know and she can pass around the information."

The team promised, and then started to walk toward the locker room. A couple of the seniors were brave enough to tease M.J. gently about cancelling practice to watch her boyfriend play, but knew M.J. well enough that they didn't go too far. She ended up walking alone with Sam, who whispered, "Considering the way you played today, I'm going to make sure you get laid again before the next game."

M.J. knew that Sam was joking, but secretly wished that she could figure out a way to make it happen. At that moment, she heard running footsteps and looked up to see Eduardo sprinting toward her. He stopped and they hugged and kissed.

"Get a room, you two," Sam said, laughing and continued to the locker room.

"You played great," he said, kissing her again. "The way you passed out of the double and triple teams was great, and your free kick was unbelievable."

"Thanks," M.J., said, beaming. "The team played great," she continued, sincerely. "By the way, I convinced the coach to cancel practice and the team is going to watch you guys play tomorrow."

Eduardo was thrilled. He kissed M.J. again.

"I'm gross and I need to change," she said, reluctantly, and she turned and went into the locker room. Eduardo went to the boys' locker room, but when he came out, M.J. had already left with Sam.

Later that evening, Sam got a text from Coach Benson that their next game would be against the Easton Pirates, the 5th seed, who had slightly upset the Claremont Tigers 3-2. Sam forwarded the information to the team. The Rams had beaten the Pirates a few weeks before, 2-1. It was the only game during the season where M.J. didn't score, so Sam hoped that M.J. would want revenge.

Tuesday

The next day at school crawled again, until the final bell rang, and M.J. met with her team in the parking lot. They cheered for the boys as they got on the bus, then followed them on. M.J. caught Eduardo's eye and he motioned for her to sit with him, but she shook her head, not wanting to distract him, or cause problems with his coach. The few other girls who were dating boys on the team, or were hoping to, followed her lead, and sat with the girls. M.J. and Sam shared a seat. As usual on a road trip, it started quiet, but after a while, there was a quiet hum of chatter, punctuated by laughing. They boys' coach made sure that the boys and girls were separated, and when they were about 10 minutes away from the field, he gave them a little pep talk.

When the bus pulled into the lot, the girls, following Sam, got off the bus first, and made two lines for the boys to run though, which they did as the girls cheered. M.J. locked eyes with Eduardo and they smiled at each other as he ran by.

As the new player, Eduardo started on the bench, and during the first half, the second seeded Wildcats scored three goals. Luis Alvarez scored one for the Rams, and Eduardo played, but never seemed in sync with his new teammates. Either he mistimed runs, or didn't anticipate their actions, and M.J. could see his frustration. Once, he tried to dribble through the defense himself, and made it past two defenders, only to be stopped by a midfielder who had made a run at him from the blindside and stole the ball. 

After the half, Paul Barlow scored his first varsity goal, on a header off a corner, and M.J. could see that the Rams were beginning to believe that they might have a chance. With about 3 minutes left in the game, Eduardo received a pass in the center circle from Alex Fredericks, a center back who started forward in a desperation attempt to tie the score, and Eduardo put on a dribbling clinic. He went around one defender, caused a second to fall, and faked a pass to a cutting Luis before pulling the ball back and blasting a shot passed the helpless Wildcat keeper. 

M.J. was on her feet, screaming and asking Sam if it was the best goal she had ever seen. Sam agreed that it was amazing, and they could see Eduardo beaming on the field. The game ended tied, so the teams lined up for overtime. Unfortunately, the Wildcats scored on a pretty goal that left Carlos Mejia sprawled on the grass as the ball trickled passed his outstretched gloved hand. It was an awful way to lose, but they had given the second seeded team a real scare.

The bus ride home was subdued, and again, the girls and boys sat separately. It was not until they got off the bus in the North parking lot that M.J. was able to give Eduardo a hug and long kiss, feeling his sweaty body and smelling his strong athletic odor. 




The Beautiful Game 02



"That was the most amazing goal I have ever seen," she said.

Eduardo looked down and said, "Thanks. It was pretty sweet."

He turned to go to the locker room and said, "Can you wait for me to change?" 

M.J. looked at Sam, who nodded. Eduardo smiled and ran with his teammates to change. When Eduardo came out, he was showered and clean, and went right up to M.J. and kissed her. After a few seconds of kissing, Sam said, "I'm going to walk to the car now. M.J., please don't make me wait too long. I have a ton of homework." She headed to the parking lot without any acknowledgment from M.J.

They finally broke the kiss, and walked, holding hands toward the car, not needing to talk. Sam dropped Eduardo at his house and the two women headed home.

"I think he likes you," Sam said, smiling.

"Yeah, and the feeling is mutual," M.J. responded with a small sigh.

"That's great, and I'm so happy for you, but you will be able to concentrate on soccer, right?" Sam asked.

"Of course. And I think it is funny that it is you trying to focus me," M.J. noted.

"Well, this is kind of new for you, and I want to be there to help," Sam said.

"Trust me. I want to win the championship as much as you. I want us to do this together," M.J. stated.

"I know," Sam said, "But I also know how distracting guys and sex can be. And your captain needs you."

"I'm good. I'm happy. I'm going to kick those Pirates' asses on Thursday. I owe them for the way they fouled me during the last game and prevented me from scoring."

Sam was pleased that her friend and teammate's competitiveness was not tempered, and stopped worrying.

Wednesday

M.J. enjoyed seeing Eduardo at school on Wednesday, getting the chance to touch him and kiss him. She soldiered through her classes until she was able to go to practice. To M.J.'s surprise, Sam was in the locker room before her, and some of the other girls appeared early. Apparently they were taking their pledge to give Coach Benson a good practice seriously, and M.J. appreciated their commitment. She led out about half the team for a warmup jog, and the rest of the team followed shortly after. 

Because the boys' season was over, the girls could use the whole field, which pleased M.J., although she missed getting to see Eduardo. It was a spirited practice, and at the end, Coach Benson told the girls how proud she was of them for going to the boys' game as a team, and then practicing so well.

She said, "We know that Easton is going to play rough, and try to take us, especially M.J., out of our game. If we let them do that, or if we retaliate, they will have the advantage. So, we need to keep our heads. I will talk to the refs before the game, but I want you to play our game, and play positive soccer. And M.J., I know you feel you owe them a goal or seven, but if you are mobbed by defenders, you need to pass out, like you did against Kennedy, O.K.?"

M.J. nodded, and the team yelled, "YES, COACH," before breaking for the locker room. M.J. looked around, hoping to see Eduardo, but apparently he was not around. Disappointed, M.J. went into the locker room and changed. She could sense something in the team. The seniors already understood what the playoffs meant, but she felt that the younger players were really getting focused. M.J. smiled to herself because she knew that Easton had no idea what was about to hit them.

Thursday

M.J. was nearly vibrating with anticipation at school on Thursday. She so wanted to punish Easton for manhandling her in the last game and shutting her out. Sam subtly egged her on during the day, reminding her of particular plays during the last game that particularly galled M.J., or making comments about how sad it was that M.J. didn't score in only one game. 

Eduardo had never seen M.J. at her most competitive, but instinctively was able to be there with her, but not do anything to set her off. If M.J. had been able to observe Eduardo's behavior rationally, she would have realized what a good boyfriend he was being. As it was, she was happy to be with him, but could barely wait for the game to start.

After he last class, she bolted to the locker room, put on her uniform and got out to the field 15 minutes earlier than usual. She did her warmup jog, then sat in the stands about halfway up and just stared at the field, visualizing. M.J. barely noticed when Eduardo sat down next to her and silently held her hand while she mentally prepared. Nor did she notice when a bus pulled into the parking lot and the Pirates made their way to the field in their green uniforms and began to work out. Only when she saw Sam leading out the rest of the team, and Coach Benson walk to the sidelines staring at her clipboard did she lean over, give Eduardo a quick kiss on the lips and jog down to the field. She noticed Coach Benson and the Pirates' coach, a tall, skinny man, speaking with the referees and having a pretty heated discussion.

When warm-ups were done, Coach Benson read off the starting lineup and Sam, as usual, said, "Ready, Rams?"

The team, except for M.J., yelled out "READY!" 

M.J. didn't need to yell. 

Early in the game, M.J. got the ball and started to dribble down the right wing and was leveled by a Pirate midfielder. The referee, without hesitation, pulled a yellow card from her pocket. A few minutes later, another Pirate got a yellow card for knocking Cindy Jordan on her ass. It became clear that the referee was not going to allow the Pirates to play as physically as they hoped, and this opened space up for Sam's precise passing and M.J.'s speed. At halftime, the Rams led 3-0, with M.J. scoring the first and third goal, and Sam scoring the second. In the second half, M.J. completed her hat trick off the opening kickoff, and the Pirates deflated, falling back into a defensive shell, satisfied to stop the Rams from scoring.

The game ended 4-0, and when the whistle blew, M.J., uncharacteristically, dropped to her knees and screamed, as the pressure she had put upon herself finally released. Coach Benson beamed at her team, and told them there would be a light practice on Friday, followed by the weekend off, a serious practice on Monday and the Championship game on Tuesday.

M.J. was walking toward the locker room when she was stopped by a man she had never seen before. He introduced himself as the coach for a nearby college and told her that they were interested in having her visit the school when the season was over. M.J. thanked the coach, took his card and started jogging toward the locker room when Eduardo ran up and nearly tackled her. 

He hugged and kissed her and congratulated M.J. on the victory and hat trick. She smiled at her boyfriend and said, "That guy was a college coach, and he's interested in me."

"That's great," Eduardo said, "but there must be others, the way you have played this year."

"Yeah, I get a bunch of mail, but that is the first coach to actually introduce himself to me."

She kissed him again and ran into the locker room. Her teammates were excited, and congratulated her. M.J. accepted their praise, and gave it back to them, before showering and changing.

As had become custom, Eduardo waited outside, and Sam drove him home. Sam could see that M.J. was emotionally spent and kept silent. Sam knew that the finals would either be against Redville, which would be a good game, or South, their crosstown rival, which would be a war. Not only was South the second seed, but most of the girls on both teams knew each other, had played AYSO and club soccer together, and had become bitter high school rivals, even as some of them were friends off the field. She knew that Coach Benson would probably text her later that night. Although she figured that Redville would be easier to beat, she wanted to play South and beat South.

Sam pulled up in front of M.J.'s house and actually had to wake M.J. up and send her on her way.

Sam went home, ate dinner and did her homework. When Coach Benson texted her that evening, all she wrote was "South." Sam texted to the team, "BEAT SOUTH!!!!" then went to bed.

Friday

At practice, Coach Benson called the team together and said, quietly, "To win the championship, and keep the undefeated season alive, all we have to do is beat South. Do you think we can do that?

In unison, the girls screamed, "YES!" Then they chanted "BEAT SOUTH, BEAT SOUTH, BEAT SOUTH," until the coach calmed them down. She had them do some conditioning exercises then let them leave, knowing that they had the incentive, the talent and the leadership to win the championship. After that, the State tournament might be a little different, but she had set the league championship as their goal, and it was in their grasp.

After showering, Sam and M.J. walked to Sam's car, and Sam asked M.J. if she had plans to see Eduardo over the weekend. Sam felt tingling between her legs, but answered, honestly, that she hadn't made any plans.

"I think you need to make some plans," Sam said, as if she sensed M.J.'s desire.

"Yeah," M.J. replied. "I've been so focused on the team that I haven't been able to think. But I really want to."

Sam smiled. She knew her friend was happy and horny, and hoped that she would be able to enjoy her weekend before returning her attention to destroying their crosstown rivals. "Danny and I are going to the movies on Saturday—maybe you guys could join us. Then we are going back to my house—my parents are going to a party, so we will have the house to ourselves."

M.J.'s face lit up. "I'll check with Eduardo, but I can't imagine he would say no."

Sam stopped the car in front of M.J.'s house and said, "Let me know," with a big, shit eating grin on her face.

M.J.'s mother was in the kitchen, somehow making a disaster of spaghetti and jarred sauce, and smiled when she saw her daughter. Annette was happy that her team was doing well, and happy that she seemed to have found a boy that she liked. And she knew what she was about to say was going to make her daughter happy.

"Before you go upstairs," Annette began, "I need you to baby sit for Gwen tonight."

M.J.'s face betrayed some disappointment because she was hoping to see Eduardo.

Her mother continued, "Your father and I are going to dinner at the O'Brien's tonight at about 7, and dad and Mr. O'Brien want to watch the game together. You can invite Eduardo over to help you babysit, if you want. But we will be home at midnight, 12:30 at the latest, and I'm sure that we would like to meet Eduardo then." She smiled broadly.

M.J. also smiled as she realized exactly what her mother was telling her. That she would have the house alone with Eduardo as soon as she could get Gwen to bed. And that whatever happened, it needed to be over by midnight, and they needed to be able to have Eduardo meet her parents. It was a pretty good deal for a couple of hours of taking care of Gwen.

"That will be great—I mean fine," M.J. said, more enthusiastically that would normally be expected after getting dragooned into babysitting, but under the circumstances, it made sense. She ran upstairs and texted Eduardo, who was equally excited, and also was excited about the double date on Saturday. She texted Sam, who simply responded with a smiley face.

After eating her mother's awful spaghetti, M.J. went upstairs to shower and change. In the shower, she began to think about having sex with Eduardo again, and saw his naked body and penis, hard because of his desire for her, in her mind. She felt herself getting warm, and moist between her strong thighs. She could not help but to rub herself, imagining that it was Eduardo's hand pleasuring her, until she gasped, feeling a nice orgasm spread from her pussy to all of her nerve endings. Smiling, she left the shower, dried off and dressed in clothing that was comfortable, and, she expected, easy to remove. 

M.J.'s parents left for their dinner party, and she and Gwen watched TV until there was a knock at the door. M.J.'s heart raced as she walked to the door and opened it, seeing Eduardo, who was wearing shorts and a soccer jersey that M.J. assumed was from an Ecuadorian team. He stepped in and kissed M.J. lightly on her lips.

"Eeeew," shouted Gwen, who had followed M.J. to the door, and she ran back to the couch. 

M.J. blushed and turned toward her sister.

"He's your boyfriend, he's your boyfriend," Gwen chanted, jumping on the couch.

"I guess he is, peanut," M.J. said, and turned and kissed Eduardo harder.

She introduced Gwen to Eduardo, and was impressed when he squatted down to her level and began to talk to her. Within minutes, Gwen was smitten, and didn't resist when M.J. suggested that they go out in the yard and kick a soccer ball around.

As Gwen ran to get the ball, M.J. whispered into Eduardo's ear, smelling his body wash, "if we can tire her out, we can get her to bed sooner and have some time to ourselves."

Eduardo nodded and smiled, feeling warm inside and a rustling in his shorts. But his reverie was short-lived, as Gwen emerged from her room with a soccer ball. They went into the small yard and began to pass the ball around. Eduardo started doing tricks, and M.J. tried to match him, but she was just not as skilled in this aspect of soccer as he was. Gwen was enthusiastic, and ran after the ball, not realizing that her sister and Eduardo were making her run around to tire her out.

After a while, Gwen was exhausted, and wanted to go inside, have some ice cream and watch TV. M.J. took Gwen to her room and got her into pajamas, then gave her a vanilla cone from the freezer, and the three of them sat on the couch and watched cartoons. Gwen insisted on sitting between M.J. and Eduardo, and within minutes after finishing her cone, had fallen asleep with her head resting on Eduardo's arm. Although M.J. realized that Gwen needed to brush her teeth, she didn't want to wake her, and carried her sleeping body upstairs to her room, firmly closing the door behind her.

She returned to the couch, anticipating being with Eduardo, who was nervously sitting on the couch, waiting for M.J. to come downstairs. As she approached the couch, he stood and they hugged, which turned into a kiss. But M.J. pulled away and looked at Eduardo, feeling the color in her cheeks and the aching in her loins, but realizing that some discretion was needed.

"Let's watch a movie or something for a while until we can be sure that Gwen is out cold—I don't want her coming out for a glass of water and seeing us, you know..."

Eduardo replied, "I guess that makes sense."

They found a movie to watch and cuddled on the couch, M.J. slumped on the couch to be able to lean against her shorter boyfriend. Eduardo idly rubbed her shoulder with the arm that was around her, and M.J. gently stroked Eduardo's thigh, trying to avoid his obvious erection. It was agony for both of them, as they pretended to watch to movie, lusted for each other and listened for tiny footsteps from upstairs.

After about 20 minutes, M.J. couldn't take it anymore, and broadened the area of her stroking to include Eduardo's hard penis. He moaned with pleasure as she rubbed it over his pants and squeezed her broad shoulders tighter. But that was still not enough for M.J., who unzipped Eduardo's shorts and reached in to free his throbbing rod before lowering her head and kissing its tip. She was gratified by the sigh of pleasure that seemed to come from deep within Eduardo, and the moans that followed as she took more of his penis into her mouth and flicked her tongue around its head and shaft.

Soon, Eduardo's hips were bucking off the couch, and M.J. increased her pace until Eduardo gasped and shot a huge load of cum into her mouth, which M.J. swallowed before looking up and smiling at Eduardo's ecstatic face. She cleaned off his shrinking member with her mouth, turned on her side to face the TV and rested her head against his thigh, and smelled his body wash mixing with the scent of his cum, making her smile.

Eduardo began to rub M.J.'s side, from her hip to her shoulder, which, as he hoped, caused her t-shirt to ride up, exposing M.J.'s pale skin and flat abs. He reached his hand under the shirt and M.J. helped him to pull the shirt up. She rolled onto her back, and Eduardo got the hint and exposed her bra-clad breasts. He reached down and was able to caress each of her small, firm orbs, and felt her nipples harden under his attention. M.J. sat up briefly, reached behind herself and unclasped the bra and pulled the cups up over her breasts, exposing their pale beauty.

Eduardo began to gently stroke M.J.'s breasts, and she began to purr happily. Eduardo felt himself getting hard again and tried unsuccessfully to reach down to touch M.J.'s pussy, but his arm wasn't long enough. M.J., desperate for his touch, sat up and began to kiss Eduardo, who was now able to reach his hand down into her pants and touch her soaked panties, which he pushed aside before inserting his finger into her incredibly wet lips. M.J. gasped with pleasure and could feel Eduardo's cock pressing against her back. 

She couldn't take it anymore. She wanted him inside her, and now. M.J. stood up, reached into her pocket and tossed Eduardo a condom then pulled down her pants and panties. Eduardo quickly pulled down his shorts and put on the condom sitting on the couch. M.J. straddled him and lowered herself onto his pulsing cock, reveling in the feeling of it slowly filling her up. Eduardo's head flopped back onto the couch momentarily, before he lifted it, pushed M.J.'s shirt and bra up and buried his face into her breasts.

M.J. used her feet that were on the floor to bounce up and down, and Eduardo grabbed her tight ass cheeks to help. M.J. began to speed up and Eduardo's hips left the couch to meet her, thrusting deep. The two athletes were panting and thrusting and bouncing until, without any warning, M.J. screamed out, and felt a wave of pleasure that eddied from between her legs out to every part of her young body, and Eduardo gasped as he shot yet another load of cum. 

M.J. collapsed, resting her head on Eduardo's shoulder as he gently stroked her back with a feather light touch as they caught their breath. Luckily, their yelling did not wake up Gwen, who was exhausted and sleeping deeply in her bed. M.J. reluctantly rolled off of Eduardo, smiled, kissed him on his head, grabbed her clothing and awkwardly ran to the bathroom to clean off.

Eduardo allowed his head to loll back onto the couch and thought about how strongly he felt about M.J., even though they knew each other for such a short time. When she returned from the bathroom, he gave her a huge smile before heading to the bathroom himself.

The cuddled on the couch, watching a movie until M.J.'s parents came home. They seemed a little tipsy, and affectionate. M.J.'s mother asked, "Was everything O.K. here?" and gave M.J. a knowing look.

M.J. nodded and said, "All good, mom. All good. Gwen went to sleep easily, and we just hung out here and watched TV."

"Good," M.J.'s dad said, leading his wife upstairs. "We're tired. See you in the morning. Good night Eduardo."

"Good night, Mr. Tucker, Mrs. Tucker," he replied.

"Good night," M.J. said, "I'm going to drive Eduardo home now." But before she could finish her sentence, she heard the door to her parents' room slam shut, and her mother giggle.

M.J. drove Eduardo home, and they made out in the car a little before he left the car and walked toward the steps. M.J. watched his ass for a few seconds before driving home. She could hear noises coming from her parents' room, and smiled, happy that it seemed like a good night in the Tucker house, before going to bed. 



The Beautiful Game 03



The end of a three part series that takes place in the same universe as The Lake House Rules, but which stands apart. I had a tough time writing the ending.

Everybody who has sex is over 18. 

Saturday

Everyone in the Tucker house was happy. Gwen was happy that she had played with Eduardo, and M.J. was happy for a similar, but more adult reason. And the elder Tuckers also seemed pretty pleased with each other.

After breakfast, they took Gwen to soccer practice, and then M.J. stayed to see Eduardo and help out with Veronica's team. It was a great deal of fun for everyone, especially at the end when M.J., Eduardo and Coach Jordan teamed up to play against the girls. Once practice was over, M.J. went home to do homework, because she and Eduardo were having their double date with Sam and Danny.

M.J. did some homework, ran a couple of loads of laundry and watched some TV before she showered and dressed for her date. She actually put on a dress that her mother had bought her, but had sat, unworn, in the back of her closet, and when she looked at herself in the mirror, she was pleased with the way she looked. She hoped that Eduardo would be pleased, too.

Danny, Sam's current boyfriend, who was a basketball player, picked up M.J., and she got in the back seat. Sam, noticing that M.J. was in a dress, told her she looked great, and M.J. smiled. She didn't know Danny that well, but she knew he was tall, good looking, very smart, and had very dark skin and close cropped hair. Sam had shared a few other details about him with her, but she couldn't confirm them because Danny was wearing clothing.

He seemed like a nice guy, and M.J. directed him to Eduardo's house. He was waiting outside, wearing jeans and a short sleeved button down shirt, untucked. M.J. lit up when she saw him, and sat close to him when he slid into the seat next to her. Eduardo kissed her, and said, "You look great."

M.J. smiled and said, "Thanks. You do too."

The movie was fine, but they all knew that it was really just a prelude to being able to get back to Sam's empty house. When they arrived at the house, Danny pulled a six pack of beer out of a cooler in his trunk, and they went inside. Eduardo, who had never been to Sam's house, was a little shy, but soon the four of them were on the couch, drinking beers and talking. Sam was enveloped by the arm of her huge date, and Eduardo strained a bit to keep his arm around the taller M.J.

The couples began to make out on the couch, but before things could progress to the point where they would pair off in the bedrooms, they heard a car screech to a halt in front of the house. Danny jumped up and ran to the front of the house, almost taking off Sam's hand that was in his pants, and looked outside.

He threw open the door and screamed, "Get the fuck away from that car or I'll kill you."

By this point the other three had made it up to the door and could see a bunch of boys and girls, some of whom they recognized as South soccer players, spraying shaving cream on Danny's car. In fact, the word "BEAT" was already sprayed on. Seeing the very large and very angry Danny, the invaders began to retreat, but he ran out anyway, and M.J. and Sam followed, yelling. They chased them away, and turned back to see that the damage was slight. But they also saw that Eduardo never left the house.

"What the fuck, Eduardo?" Danny screamed. "Are you a fucking pussy?"

Eduardo put his head down and turned back into the house. Sam went to console her boyfriend, and M.J. went back to the house to figure out what had happened. She was surprised that Eduardo hung back, and hoped that he had a good reason. Because if he didn't, M.J. would be disappointed, and Danny would probably be furious. Which could lead to a fight, at worst, or the end of any more double dates, and tension between her and Sam.

Sam came into the house to get a bucket of water and some sponges to clean the car before the shaving cream could damage the finish, and went out.

"Why didn't you come out?" M.J. asked, gently.

"I can't," Eduardo said, sadly. "I wanted to, but I can't risk it."

"What do you mean? Risk what?" M.J. asked, putting her hand on Eduardo's arm. She was worried because he looked so sad.

"I can't risk getting arrested," he replied.

"None of us want to get arrested, and anyway, that never would happen," M.J. said.

"But if there was a fight, and the police came-" Eduardo began.

"Then we would tell them it was a high school rivalry prank and nothing would happen. It happens all the time between us and South," she said.

"But I didn't know that. And I can't get arrested because I will be deported back to Ecuador."

M.J. was stunned. "What do you mean, deported?"

"Please don't tell anyone, but my family is not legal. If I get arrested, they will deport me, and probably my parents. And we don't want to go back. We like it here." He began to sob.

M.J. held him tight and told him it would be O.K., but that they had to tell Danny and Sam, otherwise Danny would tell everyone at the school that he was a coward and wouldn't stand up for North, which could get ugly. He nodded his head, and went to the bathroom to try to freshen up before they came in from outside.

Danny and Sam returned. Danny was really angry and clearly was looking for Eduardo. "Where's that pussy ass boyfriend of yours, M.J.? He and I need to have a conversation, outside. Now."

"He's in the bathroom," M.J. said, "and he has a good explanation, but he needs to tell you."

"It better be good, or I'm going to kill him, and make sure that the whole fucking school knows that he wouldn't stand up for North, or me," Danny yelled.

At that point, Eduardo came out of the bathroom and faced the enraged hoopster.

"So, what's the story?" Danny spat out.

"Promise me you won't tell anyone. I need you to promise," Eduardo said.

M.J. looked at Sam, beseechingly, and Sam, trusting her best friend, said, "Danny, promise," in a tone that made it clear that Danny had to choose between his anger and his lust.

"Fine," he said, "I promise."

"It's pretty simple, Danny. I'm sorry I didn't run out with you guys. But I was afraid that there would be a fight and the cops would come. And I'm an illegal. If I get arrested, I'll be deported to Ecuador. And I barely even speak Spanish anymore," he blurted out.

"No shit?" Danny said, his anger visibly receding.

"No shit," Eduardo responded.

"O.K, man. I understand. Don't sweat it, and your secret is safe with me," Danny replied.

"Me, too," Sam said.

"I'm really sorry, but I think I need to go home," Eduardo said.

"Are you sure?" M.J. asked.

"Yeah."

"O.K., let's walk to my house, and I'll drive you," M.J. offered.

They said their goodbyes and walked, holding hands, from Sam's house to M.J.'s. She got the car keys from her mother, saying that Eduardo was feeling a little sick, and drove him home in silence, holding his hand.

She pulled the car in front of his house, and they kissed for a while.

"I'm sorry that I ruined the night," he said.

"Don't worry about it," M.J. replied. "I don't ever want you to do anything that means that I would never see you again. It would kill me," she said.

They kissed again, and Eduardo left, and walked to his house.

M.J. returned home, ignored her mother and went to bed, where she sat for a long time, awake and worrying.

Sunday

M.J.'s mother noticed that her daughter seemed preoccupied and unhappy, and hoped that everything had gone well with M.J. and Eduardo the night before. She didn't want to intrude, so she decided to keep an eye on her, and see if M.J. gave her an opening to make a gentle inquiry.

At about 11, M.J. got a text from Sam, asking her to go to the coffee shop, and, of course, she agreed. Sam picked her up and they drove into town. They found a table, and nodded to their classmates Gina, Fred and Jack, who were arguing about something before ordering their drinks.

"So, what's going on?" M.J. asked her best friend, knowing that Sam must have a reason for a trip to the coffee shop.

"It's about Eduardo, and you," she said.

"I figured," M.J. replied. "But what, specifically?"

"First," Sam said, "I want you to know that I talked to Danny, and he understands not to say anything, and not to think anything bad about Eduardo. He's a nice guy and far from an idiot, although he does have a bit of a temper, but I know he gets it. And I made it clear that if I found out otherwise, my body would be off limits, forever."

"I appreciate that," M.J. said, "but you didn't need to do that. Anyway, thanks. But there is more?"

"Yeah. M.J., we have been best friends for forever, and I'm worried about you. Eduardo seems like a great guy, but you seem to have fallen for him very fast and very hard. Are you sure about him?"

"I am," M.J. responded. "I know that it has been quick, but you know that I haven't been interested in anyone here, but when I saw him, it was, I don't know, but I knew. And it has only gotten stronger."

"That's really great," Sam replied. "But now that you know about, you know," she said, looking around the room to make sure no one was listening, "are you going to worry?"

"I think so," M.J. said, softly.

"As your friend, I understand, but as your captain, I need you to be fully focused and ready to fuck those South bitches. I can count on you, right? The team can count on you?"

"Sam, I appreciate your concern, but let me ask you—have I ever let you or the team down?"

Sam knew that she didn't have to answer the question. Instead, she reached across the table and squeezed M.J.'s hand, her mocha skin contrasting with M.J.'s paler flesh. "I'm here for you," she said.

M.J. nodded and said, "You always have been. I hate to think about next year, when we are away at college."

"Forget that. You have always been there for me, too, Remember? Keep your mind on one thing until Tuesday, O.K.?"

"O.K."

They drank their coffees and made small talk about everything other than the two issues that loomed over them.

Later that afternoon, M.J. texted Eduardo, but he didn't respond, worrying her. But she finished her homework and got ready to go back to school.

Monday

Eduardo was a little distant on Monday, but M.J. overwhelmed him with kindness, and by the end of the day, he was laughing again, and rubbing M.J. when he had the chance. They had made a silent agreement not to talk about it, and to just keep on getting to know each other better.

Practice was short, crisp and intense. Coach Benson knew her girls were primed and ready, and didn't want to risk injury or over thinking things. The girls were serious and the coach let them go early.

M.J. tried to do homework, but it was not working. Her mother sensed her intensity, and, like her teammates, knew enough to steer clear. Finally, M.J. went up to her room and went to sleep, fitfully.

Tuesday

If M.J. could have stayed home on Tuesday and still played in the game, she would have. As it was, she barely was able to concentrate in class, causing her to have an embarrassing moment in math class, when she had no idea what the teacher was saying. Eduardo again made his presence felt without intruding on M.J.'s focus.

She got to the locker room early, dressed, ran and sat in the stands. Again, Eduardo sat with her and quietly held her hand. As the South team passed by her, some of her former AYSO and club teammates said hello, but she gave them only a hard stare. After the game, she would talk to them, but now they stood between M.J. and the championship, and M.J wanted that to be an uncomfortable place.

Because both teams were from the same town, and because it was the final, the stands were pretty full. Before the game, M.J. scanned the stands and saw Eduardo sitting with some of the boys' team. She saw her mother and Gwen, and, surprisingly, her father. She was more excited, because her father rarely came to the games.

Coach Benson called the girls together and said, quietly but seriously, "I don't have much to say. You know those girls better than I do. You are the best team that I have ever coached. You have a chance today to do something special, something extraordinary. But to do that, you need to play to the best of your abilities and play as a team. Because if you do, they can't stop you. And if you don't, and you walk off the field having lost, you will always wonder if it would have ended differently if you had given your all. I love you girls, and I don't want to see you disappointed."

The girls were quiet and focused. Sam said, quietly, "Ready, Rams?" and instead of yelling, they all nodded and said, softly, "Ready."

Coach Benson read the starting lineup, and the girls ran out on the field. As billed, it was a close match. South actually scored first, but Sam fed M.J. for a tying goal, and Lydia Browne, a lanky sophomore midfielder with crazy hair, popped in a go ahead goal off a corner kick. 

It was still 2-1 North at halftime, and no one was feeling comfortable. After halftime, M.J. fed Sam to put North up 3-1, but South countered and closed the gap to 3-2. Then it looked like North's only weakness was about to put their perfect season in jeopardy. On a corner kick, North's goalkeeper, Alana Mayfield was knocked to the ground and could not continue due to what appeared to be a broken rib. While Alana writhed in pain, the ball trickled into the goal, and the game was tied. 

Unfortunately, North's only other keeper was a freshman, Marta Gonzalez, who had only played a few minutes in blowout games. 

While the trainer checked out Alana, and she was carried off the field, Sam and M.J. were arguing on the field, something which no one in attendance had ever seen happen. When Coach Benson tried to send Marta in, M.J. ran over and said, "Coach, I want to play goal."

Coach Benson looked at her, surprised, and said, "I don't think so, M.J. I have faith in Marta."

M.J. gave Coach Benson a hard look, and said, "Coach, I have never questioned your decisions. But if you really think that we have a better chance today of keeping South from scoring again with Marta than me, then I'll disagree, but I will do what you want."

Coach Benson thought for about a second, then reached into her bag and handed M.J. a scrimmage vest and a pair of goalkeeper gloves. "Don't make me regret this, M.J."

"I won't, Coach," she responded, and ran toward the goal. 

Coach Benson sent in Sarah O'Conner, another striker, and put her arm around the disappointed Marta and spoke to her softly.

The game continued tied, as neither team was able to break through the other's defense. M.J. made a few easy plays, but was not really tested. Until Jane Berman, the South's leading scorer and a former club teammate of M.J.'s, got fouled in the penalty area and the referee called for a penalty kick. There were only a few minutes left in the game, and the Rams realized the danger that they were in.

It was silent as Berman lined up the kick. M.J. stood tall on the goal line and waved her arms, like she had seen on TV, before shooting Berman a withering look. Berman approached the ball and shot toward the left corner. M.J. guessed correctly and dove, stretching her long body and arms toward the ball. Almost in slow motion, her left middle finger touched the flying ball and deflected it just wide.

The crowd screamed and the Rams defense cleared the ball. M.J. looked at Coach Benson and they nodded to each other.

Play stopped with about 2 minutes to go with a free kick for the Rams in their defensive zone. M.J. ran to the sidelines and threw off her scrimmage vest and gloves, yelling to Coach Benson to send Marta in. She ran toward the goal, and the coach called Sarah off the field. It was do or die.

Tara blasted the ball upfield, and Sam collected it, looked up and put it on the foot of the streaking M.J., who was approaching the penalty area when about 5 defenders closed on her. She used the Ronaldinho move to beat one of them, to gasps from the stands, then turned her back to the goal, allowing 4 defenders to converge. She stopped and flicked the ball over her head, and the heads of the defenders, turned, beat them to the ball and slammed it home past the sprawling goalkeeper.

There was stunned silence as M.J. picked the ball out of the net and handed it to the referee. Then there was screaming. Then the Rams mobbed M.J. The referee blew his whistle and set up South's kickoff. They got off a long range shot that Marta stopped easily and before she could distribute the ball upfield, the referee blew his whistle and motioned to the center circle. The Rams had won the championship and were undefeated.

The girls shook their opponents' hands, and hugged their friends from South, then ran to the sidelines and tackled Coach Benson and buried her under their sweaty bodies. Lacking Gatorade, someone dumped a cooler of water over the pile.

As they extricated themselves, Sam ran over to M.J. and screamed, "Seriously, motherfucker? What the fuck was that?"

M.J. was crying and smiling at the same time. She replied, softly, "I have no idea. No idea," she repeated.

By this time, Eduardo had made it down to the field, and hugged his crying, wet, sweaty girlfriend. "That was the most incredible thing I have ever seen," he yelled, and kissed her. When he stopped, he noticed M.J.'s parents standing there uncomfortably, so he stepped away from M.J. and said, "Hi, Mr. and Mrs. Tucker," shaking Mr. Tucker's hand firmly before squatting down before Gwen and saying, "That was amazing, wasn't it?"

Gwen nodded silently, overcome by all the activity. Eduardo stood up and noticed two men, wearing shirts with college logos come over and speak with M.J. and her parents. He decided to distract Gwen to allow them to speak, and he noticed the men, probably coaches, giving out their cards. Eduardo knew that M.J., would likely get a scholarship, and while he was happy for her, he also knew that his status would make that almost impossible.

When the coaches walked away, he brought Gwen back, and M.J.'s father was gushing over his daughter. He stated that they should all go out for dinner, and invited Eduardo to join them. M.J. wanted to shower first, then go home and change, which made sense, so they agreed to pick Eduardo up at his house in an hour or so.

As M.J. walked back to the locker room, she caught up to Sam, and put her arm around her shorter friend's shoulder. They were stopped by a reporter from the local paper, and another from the local website, and then their classmate Sal Puleo, who was the sports editor of the school paper, for quotes and comments. It was exhilarating, but they really wanted to get to the locker room.

When they finally entered the smelly, humid room, their teammates, in various states of undress, applauded for their captain and their star. Coach Benson was there, and said, sternly, "Nice of you ladies to join us," but she couldn't keep a straight face, breaking into a huge grin. "M.J., I want you to know that I have never seen a performance like that on the soccer field. Thank you."

The girls started screaming and banging on the lockers until Sam raised her hand, which ultimately resulted in the deafening racket petering out to silence. 

"Guys," the diminutive leader began, "this has been an incredible season, and you have been an incredible team. I have been honored to be your captain and teammate. We have a great coach, a great team, but, I have to say, Holy Shit, M.J. Just, Holy Shit." There was a moment when the girls thought that Coach Benson might be angry at the profanity, but then they all burst out laughing.

Then, Sam said one more thing. "State."

The banging began again, rhythmically, as the team chanted, "State, State, State." 

But Coach Benson was concerned. She knew that the State tournament would be much harder even than the South game, and she wasn't sure that even M.J. would be enough to overcome the talent, size and speed of some of the upstate schools. But that was for another day. She let the cheering go on, and when it ended she said, "Conference Champs get Wednesday off. Enjoy it, because on Thursday, we start preparing for State," and left the room, finally allowing herself to cry.




The Beautiful Game 03



M.J. went into the shower. It was just really dawning on her what had happened during the game. It struck her that if she had been watching the game, she would have been blown away. And she felt good about leading her team to the championship and an undefeated conference season. And about having a great boyfriend. She let the water flow over her naked body, satisfied and happy.

After the shower, she dressed, hugged the stragglers and headed out to her parents. Her father couldn't stop talking about the game, and it made M.J. proud. They got home, and M.J. changed into a pair of jeans and shirt, put on some makeup and came downstairs. Her parents were talking animatedly, it appeared, about the college coaches who had spoken to her, and they were beaming.

They picked up Eduardo, who had changed into jeans and a plaid shirt, and had bathed himself in body wash, or so it seemed. Normally, M.J. would have made Gwen sit in the middle, but instead, she squeezed in between her sister and Eduardo, and the rode to the restaurant holding hands, and chatting away with the Tuckers.

Her father pulled into the parking lot of The Main Street Grill, a restaurant a level fancier than they usually went to, and the group parked and walked in. The smell of cooking meat, and garlic were incredible, and M.J. realized exactly how hungry she was. The hostess showed them to a table and gave them big, fake leather covered menus. The table was set fully, and the restaurant was filled with wood trim and fabric covered walls. The food was good, and the portions plentiful.

After ordering, M.J.'s father asked Eduardo about coming to the U.S.

"It was really a long time ago," he said, "I was just 4, and all I remember was a long plane ride, and how different it was."

"Where did you grow up?" M.J.'s father asked.

"Outside of New York," he said, naming a town that none of them had ever heard of.

"So, why did you come here?" M.J.'s father asked, just making conversation.

Eduardo paused briefly before answering. "My dad is a handyman, a hard worker," he started. "His uncle, well not really an uncle, but sort of, moved here a few years ago and offered him a better job, and housing is a little cheaper here, so we moved."

Annette jumped in, "It must have been hard for you moving during senior year."

M.J. noticed something in Eduardo's eyes, but it passed.

"Yes," he began, "it was hard, but we needed to do this. And now that I have met M.J., it is O.K." He squeezed her leg under the table.

"That's very sweet," Annette said, sincerely. "And what about your mother? You have a little sister, right? Does she stay home or have a job?"

Eduardo looked a little sheepish. "Yes, I have a sister, but my mother works, cleaning houses, and doing some cooking on the side."

Annette noticed Eduardo's embarrassment, and didn't want to highlight it, and anyway, she didn't think there was anything wrong about what her mother did. All work had dignity. It wasn't like she or Tom had high powered jobs.

"That's great," she responded, and decided to change the subject back to soccer. "M.J., what do you know about State?"

Eduardo audibly exhaled with relief that the spotlight was off of him and his family situation.

M.J. responded, "Not much. I think it starts next week, but I don't know when, or who we play, or where."

Dinner was great, and they were stuffed when they left. Eduardo kissed M.J. lightly on the lips when he got out of the car in front of his house, and the family drove home, silent and tired. M.J. washed up, brushed her teeth and dropped into a deep sleep.

Wednesday

Never in a million years would M.J. have expected to see what she saw when she and Sam arrived at school. A huge sign hanging from the front of the school saying "Congratulations Champs" with a soccer ball. And the cheerleaders, in uniform, cheering as the students entered. When she and Sam approached the crowd, the cheerleaders began chants that included their names and everyone applauded. It was great, even if the cheerleaders' faces were mostly bored, or even hostile. As if they were unwilling to cede even one day of attention to other girls. M.J. reveled in seeing Dana Angelo being forced to chant her name, even if it was clearly insincere.

It was exhilarating, but not as much as when Eduardo ran up to her and gave her a huge kiss in front of everybody. When they disengaged, to the delight and whooping of the students entering the school, he said, "This is incredible, I'm so proud of you."

She smiled back and said, "Thanks, I never expected this. I wonder what would happen if we won—"

Sam must have been listening, because she interrupted—"M.J.," she said, sternly, "don't fucking jinx us."

M.J. smiled, knowing he captain was, as usual, right, so she clapped her hands to her mouth and shut up.

The rest of the day was filled with congratulations and dull classes. Without soccer practice, M.J. sought out Eduardo. M.J. knew that she had about an hour free before Gwen got home from her afterschool program, so she convinced M.J. to drive them, quickly, back to her house.

M.J. and Eduardo ran into the house, and after confirming that it was empty, kissed deeply and passionately at the bottom of the stairs, their tongues exploring and their hands groping before M.J. led Eduardo to her bedroom. Eduardo had never been in her room before, and it was, as he expected, not filled with too much girly stuff. She had a few soccer posters on the wall, of both male and female national team members, pictures of the many teams that M.J. had played on over the years, and some books.

While Eduardo was examining her room, M.J. knocked him onto the bed, which surprised Eduardo, and would probably have been worth at least a yellow card on the field, if not worse, and landed on top of him. As horny as Eduardo felt, with his beautiful girlfriend on top of him, he sensed an even more intense lust from M.J., who clamped her mouth over his and passionately kissed him, while rubbing her slim, muscular body over his. Predictably, Eduardo became aroused and grinded his erection into whatever part of M.J, was pressing against it. 

She shifted her body so that Eduardo's hard on was throbbing against her pussy.

When M.J. came up for air, and stopped kissing Eduardo, he panted, "Wow, what's gotten into you?"

M.J. looked at him with her eyes flashing. "Seeing everyone at school praising us and cheering for us was amazing. It made me feel good, in so many ways, but there was another way that I wanted to feel good—the way you make me feel, Eduardo."

He smiled and they began kissing again. As if without effort, clothing began to fly around the room until the young lovers were naked on the bed, clutching at each other and kissing. M.J rolled back on top of Eduardo and looked briefly at his handsome face, dark hair and skin, and enjoyed the contrast with her paler, if sun tanned arms and paler body and white breasts and pelvis. Normally, she would have reveled in foreplay, but today, now, she wanted to feel Eduardo's hard cock inside her. She reached into her drawer and gave Eduardo a condom, which he put on, demonstrating his increasing expertise.

M.J. positioned herself above Eduardo's twitching member and guided it into her slick pussy, slowly lowering herself onto it and feeling intense happiness. She hoped that the look on her face was mirrored by the look of ecstasy on Eduardo's face. His eyes were closed and he had an enormous smile on his face.

M.J. began to ride Eduardo, slowly lifting herself up and lowering herself down, as Eduardo sighed with pleasure. He opened his eyes and hungrily looked at M.J., reaching out to cup and fondle her breasts as they bounced in rhythm with her movements, which increased in speed until she was pistoning up and down at breakneck speed. Suddenly, M.J. threw her head back and screamed as her body shook. That was all it took for Eduardo to shoot his load into the rubber, and they began to laugh as M.J. collapsed onto his chest.

They laughed, then cuddled and began to stroke each other, continuing to explore and familiarize themselves with every part of their bodies. Eduardo's excitement began to become obvious, and M.J. turned and began to tenderly lick his growing cock. Eduardo was intoxicated with the aroma coming from between M.J.'s legs, and he pressed his face toward her swollen pink lips. He used his tongue to, he hoped, give M.J. as much pleasure as her mouth and tongue were giving him. He was rewarded with a moan, which caused his cock to twitch in her mouth.

M.J. continued to explore Eduardo's cock, feeling its textures, shapes, and learning its sensitive spots, and what made Eduardo sigh with pleasure. And his sighs caused sparks of delight to shoot from her pussy all through her body. She found herself on the verge of a second orgasm, which then crested with waves of bliss that took M.J.'s mind to another, better place, but her reverie was interrupted by Eduardo's own orgasm, and she happily swallowed his hot, thick cum before falling back onto the bed, spent.

Luckily, she was able to stir long enough to notice the clock, and realized that it was almost time for Gwen to arrive. She got Eduardo out of bed, and enjoyed the goofy smile on his face and the look in his eyes as he stared at her naked body. They cleaned up and went downstairs to watch TV and be there when Gwen came home. M.J. was completely happy.

The Following Thursday

M.J. was completely devastated. She had pretty much forgotten what it was like to lose a soccer game. Not that it should have been a surprise, if she looked at it objectively. The team they played, the Philmore Eagles, was the second seed and had a number of nationally ranked players, most of whom played together on the third ranked club team in the state. They were fast, strong, skilled and well coached. And the game was at their home field, in front of their friends and family, while the Rams had a 2 hour bus ride to get to the game. But M.J. had come to believe that the Rams were invincible, and that she could will them to win. Not that she would ever say that to anyone, but in her heart, she believed it.

She could tell that Coach Benson was worried about the game, but tried not to let on to the team. They had practiced hard, and the coach had worked her contacts and the Internet to find out as much as possible about the Eagles, but all that she learned made her worry more. At the end of the day, Coach Benson knew that all that she could do was get her team ready and hope for the best.

And, in fact, they played the game of their life. It was clear that the Eagles' coach was well aware of M.J., and had her marked closely. He also was able to send players to harass Sam, preventing her, for the most part, from playing her usual game. But the Rams' defense held early, Alana, whose ribs were only bruised and heroically had herself taped up before the game, made a couple of good saves in goal, and as the first half came to an end, Sam lofted a desperation pass upfield, toward a streaking, but double teamed M.J. The ball struck the shoulder of one of the Eagles' defenders, a tall, rugged girl who had played for the U.S. Under 17 team, and deflected toward the Eagles' goal. Everyone's eyes turned toward M.J., who was streaking toward the ball, and the Eagles' defense appeared not to notice Cindy Jordan, who beat everyone to the ball and shot it into the lower near corner of the goal as the whistle blew.

That was, unfortunately, the high point for the Rams. The Eagles' all-state striker, Janna Jenkins scored twice after halftime, and the Eagles scored a third at the end, when the Rams were pressing for the tying goal. 

M.J. sat on the turf, crying, as the Eagles players and fans celebrated the win, and the chance to move on to the next round. Eventually, Sam came over and extended her hand to help M.J. off the field, putting her arm around the taller girl to support her as they slowly walked toward the sidelines. 

Coach Benson gathered the girls for the last time and simply said, "Great job, ladies. You may have met a team that was more talented, but not one with more heart or character. I'm proud of you. Every one of you. O.K. We have a long trip home—let's get to the bus."

The ride home was silent, except for the occasional sniffle. Even when the team stopped for a quick dinner, there was little conversation. M.J. sat, silently, and could barely even order food. 

When they got back on the bus, Sam whispered, "I know you are angry. I'm angry. But it's over. Think about something else, for god's sake."

M.J. shook her head at her best friend, but, eventually, closed her eyes, thought about Eduardo and, actually, smiled.

The Next Evening

After moping around school the whole day, despite the supportive comments from many of her schoolmates, M.J. was actually excited, because her parents were out for the evening, Gwen was at a sleepover, and Eduardo was on his way. M.J. had showered, put on some new skimpy lingerie that Sam had helped her pick out, and was ready to order a pizza. Since Eduardo was going to come over at 8, at about 7:45 she called The Pizza Joint and placed an order for delivery. 

Eight o'clock came, but Eduardo hadn't shown up. M.J. wasn't concerned, because punctuality was not Eduardo's strong point, and she knew he was riding his bicycle to her house. At 8:20, the doorbell rang, and she ran to open it, only to find Gene Tedesco, a junior who delivered pizza standing there with a fragrant white cardboard box and an impatient look on his face. Disappointed, she paid Gene, including a tip, and put the pizza box on the kitchen counter, hoping that Eduardo would get there soon. Pizza always tastes better when it is fresh and hot, and M.J. wanted to see her boyfriend.

At 8:30, M.J. texted Eduardo, but he did not respond, and he didn't respond to the next 3 texts that she sent. M.J. began to worry about Eduardo, concerned that he had been hit by a car, his body lying on the side of the road, bleeding. She grabbed the car keys and ran out of the house, got into the car and screeched out of her driveway. Driving slowly and carefully scanning the sides of the road, she took the most likely route to Eduardo's house, her heart beating like she had just sprinted a quarter mile. She was worried that she wouldn't find him and worried that she would.

When she arrived, she sensed that something was wrong. It was quiet, and there were no lights on Eduardo's apartment. It didn't make sense to M.J. He had never ignored her before. But she wasn't angry, she was concerned. She rang the bell, and waited, but there was no response. She started to press the button over and over again, hearing the bell ring. Finally, after she rang it at least a dozen times, she heard the sound of someone walking down stairs. When the door opened, an older man, his dark skin creased from years of outdoor work, was standing in front of her.

"Do you know where Eduardo is?" M.J. asked, a little frantically. 

"Eduardo?" said the man, pointing at the door to his family's apartment.

"Yes, Eduardo," M.J. repeated.

"No está aquí," he said, looking furtively out the door and down the street.

M.J. knew enough Spanish to know what that meant.

"Do you know where he is?" she asked.

"La migra," he replied.

"Immigration," M.J. thought to herself. "Gone?" she said to the man.

"Sí. Gone."

Although he said it with a thick accent, M.J understood. Tears began to stream down her face.

"You his girlfriend?" the man asked, gently.

"Sí," M.J. replied. She could not move, and the tears kept spilling down her cheeks.

The man reached into the back pocket of his worn jeans and removed a clean bandana, offering it to her.

M.J. took it and wiped her face, smelling the scent of the laundry soap. After sobbing briefly, she handed back the handkerchief and said, "Thank you. Gracias."

She turned back to her car, got behind the wheel and before she could start the engine, she collapsed, sobbing, her head resting on the steering wheel, her body wracked with pain unlike any she had ever experienced on the field.

A Month Later

It had been another bad practice in a bad season. It had gotten so bad, in fact, that Coach Clark had been forced to take M.J. out of the starting lineup, and as a result the team was struggling. Every day, M.J. would robotically go through the motions at school, on the basketball court and home, without any focus, any joy, any interest.

Sam tried desperately to snap her friend out of it, but nothing worked. Luckily, her college offers had come through before her funk ruined her chances, and she accepted a soccer and softball scholarship at a local Division II school. Sam worked hard to make sure that M.J.'s grades kept up, and that she came to school each day. Sam figured that one day M.J. would begin to focus again, and wanted to make sure that the college offer was still there when M.J. was ready.

Sam even made sure that she picked M.J. up after basketball practice each evening. She waited outside the locker room for her friend, and brought her to the car, trying to engage in conversation. But it was nearly impossible. M.J. had withdrawn into herself. 

That evening, as M.J. came out of the locker room, her eyes flashed up to the soccer field, the scene of her triumphs, and now the source of her pain. Someone, maybe a kid, had left a beat up soccer ball on the edge of the field, and without saying a word, or acknowledging Sam, M.J. jogged up the small hill, paused in front of the ball, performed a perfect Ronaldinho, and kicked the ball as hard as she could. She stood there, watching its trajectory in the air, then watching it bounce, with decreasing hops, until the ball rolled to a stop, resting in the grass on the dark, empty field. 

When M.J. returned, Sam could see tears in her eyes. They silently walked to the car, and Sam put her arm around her friend's waist, both to comfort her and to show her support. 

Sam put on the radio, to fill the silence in the car as they rode home. Sam had stopped trying to engage M.J. with school gossip. And she knew not to broach any discussion of Eduardo, because the last time she did, M.J. broke down again.

The car pulled up in front of M.J.'s house. She thanked Sam, and walked up the path to the door. After listlessly greeting her mother, M.J. sat down and joylessly ate her dinner before heading upstairs to her room. She checked her phone, but still, there was nothing from Eduardo. There had been nothing since a text a couple of days after he disappeared from a strange phone number, simply saying, "We have to go back to Ecuador. Sorry." M.J. read that text every day.

She changed her clothing and, as she had every night since Eduardo disappeared, went to the family computer and checked her email. Her heart leapt when she saw an email from Eduardo. Her hand trembled on the mouse as she clicked to open the message.

"M.J.-I am so sorry not to write before this. It was terrible. They came for us and we had no choice but to return to Ecuador. I never told you why we left NY. My cousin Rita was raped by some white boy. But we were afraid to go to the police because we are all illegal. So, instead, some of the men beat up the rapist. My dad was one of the men, and when the police started to investigate, we came here to hide. But they found us. I had to go back with my family. I am sorry. It took me this long to get the courage to write you. I miss you so much. It is hard here. My Spanish is terrible, and I miss America. I have found some boys to play fútbol with, so that is fun, but school is hard. But we are safe, and OK. How are you? Maybe someday you can come to Ecuador and see me? Love, Eduardo."

M.J. sat staring at the screen, reading the message over and over. It finally sunk in that she would never see Eduardo again. Ever. She had about as much chance of going to Ecuador as she had going to Mars. After the third time reading the email, she couldn't make out the words through the tears, and she rested her forehead on her crossed arms, sobbing. She felt a pair of hands resting on her shoulders, and knew that her mother was there.




The Beautiful Game 03



"I'm so, sorry, M.J.," Annette said in a soothing tone, "I'm so sorry." Annette's tears dripped onto M.J.'s head, and she idly wiped them away, stroking her daughter's hair to comfort her.

"Thanks, Mom," M.J. whispered, letting her mother stroke her hair. After a few minutes, she raised her head. "Mom, I need to be alone."

Annette kissed her daughter's head, and silently walked out of the room, closing the door.

M.J. stared again at the screen, trying to figure out what to say, but the words never came. She went into her bedroom and lay on the bed, staring into the dark. There was a knock on the door, and M.J. said, "Mom, please leave me alone."

The door opened anyway, and Sam entered her room, shutting the door behind her.

"What are you—" M.J. started, but Sam interrupted her.

"Your mom called me. Said that you needed me."

"She was wrong. I'm fine," M.J. spat out.

"Bullshit. You haven't been fine since Eduardo left."

M.J. flinched hearing the name. "So? It is my problem. I'll deal with it."

"More bullshit," Sam responded, looking up at her taller friend. "You aren't dealing with it. And you don't need to do it alone."

"I do," M.J. responded, but with some doubt creeping into her voice.

Sam sat down on M.J.'s bed and M.J. followed. She turned to face her friend, tucking her muscular leg under her. "M.J.," she started in a soothing tone, "you were there for me when I thought I was pregnant, and I'm here for you now."

M.J. was silent, as Sam continued. "You always have to be the strong one, the silent fucking leader, the example, but you don't need to do this alone. You can't do everything yourself. This is life, not a fucking soccer game, where you can put the team on your back and carry us to victory. Let me help you. It's eating you up. And I hate seeing you like this."

The silence in the room was oppressive, and Sam could see M.J.'s face twitch and her lips quiver.

"He's gone," she whispered. "Gone forever."

"I know," Sam said, softly. "So what are you going to do?"

"I don't know. I just feel empty and hurt."

"He didn't do it to you. It just happened."

"I know," M.J. responded, "but it really hurts."

Sam paused, started talking, then stopped. She thought some more, and said, "Don't kill me for saying this, but you have to move on. You can't let this destroy you."

In a weak voice, M.J. started, "But what if no one else—"

Sam interrupted, "Are you serious? You are beautiful, an incredible athlete, and if you let people in, they would know what an incredible person you are. Boys—men—are going to line up to go out with you in college, and for the rest of your fucking life."

"But, I love him," M.J. whispered.

"Maybe you do. But you loved Josh, too. You never do anything half way, and that quality is going to help you go far, but it also means that you are going to get hurt."

"I can't help it. I'm not like you."

"Are you calling me a slut?" Sam said, chuckling in an attempt to break the tension.

"No, I mean, you are easygoing. Shit rolls off your back."

Sam nodded. "Maybe that's why we've been so good for each other."

"How am I going to make it at college without you?" M.J. asked.

"There you go again, thinking the worst. You will do fine. I know it."

The girls were silent. They could hear the sound of the TV playing downstairs.

"So what do I say to Eduardo?" M.J. asked plaintively.

"Tell him the truth. Tell him how you feel. Then, try to move on, or you will just drown in self-pity. I know you can do it."

M.J. swallowed hard, and wiped the tears that were streaming, unacknowledged, down her pale cheeks with the back of her hand. She nodded.

Sam stood and started toward the door. "You are stronger than you think. All of us have relied on that. But you know that I am always here for you. Always."

M.J. stood up and followed Sam out the door of her room. They hugged, and Sam headed down the stairs, while M.J. walked to the room where the family computer sat.

M.J. opened the email again, and forced herself to read it again. She thought about what Sam had said, and realized that she was right. She needed to move on, and try to get on with her life. A few times, she started to type, but it seemed wrong and she deleted the message. Finally, though, she wrote something that seemed to be right.

"Eduardo, I have been so sad since you left, but I understand that you needed to be with your family. I will always love you and remember our time. I hope that things become easier for you, but you did the right thing. I know that, even if it hurts. Say hi to Veronica and your parents. M.J."

She read it again, and pressed send. M.J. took a deep breath and for the first time in weeks, she smiled and wiped her eyes. Standing up, she felt steady and strong, and went to her room.

The Next Morning

The alarm on her phone went off, and M.J. rolled out of bed and headed to the shower. She let the water run over her athletic body, enjoying the way it felt, enjoying feeling clean. But she needed to get ready for school, so she reluctantly turned off the water, wrapped herself in her red towel and headed for her room. Reaching deep into her closet, M.J. chose a dress that she hadn't worn since Eduardo left. 

She returned to the bathroom, actually spent some time working on her hair and put on a touch of makeup. M.J. smiled as she looked at her reflection before turning away from the mirror and turning off the light. She thought to herself that maybe Sam was right. She knew she was no beauty, but she was attractive. M.J. realized that she was 18 and had already had two great boyfriends and lovers, and there was no reason why she wouldn't find another.

After her usual bowl of cereal, she grabbed her books and waited for Sam's car to pull up in front of the house. When she got in the car, Sam did a double take.

"Sooooo?" she asked her passenger.

"I did it. I wrote him back."

"Are you O.K.?"

"I think so. Yeah."

"So, I have to ask, what's with the dress?"

"I don't know. I just decided I needed to do something different. You were right, as usual. I know that people look up to me, and I can't let them down."

Sam smiled. "O.K. If that is what gets you through, that's fine. You look great, by the way."

M.J. paused for a second. "Thanks. And thanks."

Sam turned up the radio, and they drove to school without talking, but no longer in silence.