Being a linesman for a youth soccer game on a random Friday evening was something I never imagined I would be doing. Yet, here I was, cold, wet, and running along the white-painted line to keep up with a bunch of hyperactive six-year-old kids. Having a final game in early December had to be either poor scheduling or a cruelty that I wouldn’t wish on my worst enemy. The only saving grace was that the weather was warm for what was typical of the season.
None of the kids cared, and many of them wore t-shirts drenched in mud from the rain that had started in the latter half of the first period. What they lacked in common sense and motor skills, they certainly made up for in enthusiasm. And reckless plays, I had to keep reminding myself as I dodged a sliding kick that resulted in a dog pile and the ball rolling out of bounds.
Again.
I sighed beneath the shrill shriek of the whistle, running after it and kicking up the faint scent of mildew from the grass as I sloshed through the mud. Apparently, no lightning meant that the match wouldn’t be called. That also meant that the Volunteers Club had the distinct pleasure of being soaked while officiating the game. My striped, long-sleeve uniform had become basically see-through, the white cloth shirt sticking tight to my skin. The girls would have had the same problem had Miss Halsey not provided them with raincoats that gave them better protection from the elements. That same kindness was not extended to me since, according to her, she only had four raincoats.
Grabbing the wet soccer ball–more brown than black and white–I glared at my teacher. She didn’t notice; she never did. Why would she when she was dry beneath an umbrella, wrapped in a warm coat that was meant for an official, and busy watching her niece run around like a pinball that had lost control? My own misery aside, I gave the ball to Aubrey.
“Thanks.” She accepted the ball in her open hand and placed it before one of the tykes. “Now please be careful. You can’t all slide into downed players like that or the instigators are going to have to sit out for a little bit.”
The kids regarded her with wide eyes, some nodding their heads in understanding and others looking as though she wasn’t speaking the same language. Pushing down another sigh that was desperate to escape, I glanced over at Nicole. She was busy picking at her clothing, entirely uninterested in what was happening on this side of the field. That was the luck of the draw, I guess, but I really did wish that the kids would be a little more consistent and make her work a little harder.
Even after switching sides, I was making constant judgments and making sure that the plays remained within the field–lest an angry parent make it known that their darling was certainly in. Nicole, on the other hand, let out an occasional bored ‘out’ and then let Aubrey set them up for a goal kick, corner kick, or whatever the hell else was happening out here.
The damn scoreboard probably would have been less of a pain. Serena would take cues from Aubrey on when to start or stop the timer and flip the scorecard repeatedly. It was a much less physical job since she didn’t have to run up and down the field. In the end, I suppose it was fine as long as I didn’t have to do Aubrey’s job. Being the head ref had enough pressure as it was, compounded by the fact that I only understood the basics of the rules, and I didn’t want to touch that responsibility with a ten-foot pole. Miss Halsey must have known that Aubrey used to play soccer, otherwise, I dreaded what would have happened to this game. At least I hope she knew and wasn’t simply offloading her duty onto us without any care.
There wasn’t much time to consider everyone else. The play had started up again, and I was forced to run to the halfway line, only for the opposing team to gain control of the ball again and bring it toward my side. One of the kids, who was a little taller and more athletic than the others, dribbled the ball downfield. He brought his leg back in an entirely telegraphed kick that the goalie might have blocked if she wasn’t busy making mud balls. The ball careened into the net, spinning against the rope until the friction ground it to an eventual halt. It plopped onto the mud balls she had been crafting for about a quarter of the game now. Her cries of sorrow were drowned out by the animated hollering of Miss Halsey and her damn cowbell. The annoying ringing seemed to come from every direction, and I groaned in a muted protest.
Such an action was futile. The tears continued, the bell rang, and my patience drained.
This was the worst.
“See, that wasn’t so bad,” Miss Halsey said, clearly amused. She was bending over close to me, pulling her slick raincoat over the curves of her body.
Normally, that would have interested me more than I would freely admit. Right now, though, I was more concerned with how much she had indulged herself throughout the game. The dark water bottle jangled in her loose grip, and the liquid, which I was certain was not water, sloshed around. Aubrey and the others were chatting with the coaches and her sister, leaving me to deal with our mess of a teacher. Her breath stank of stale booze, a smell I knew all too well.
“Miss Halsey,” I started, finding it hard to be nervous in her presence when she was laughing over something random, “is your sister taking you home?”
“Home?” Her eyelashes fluttered while she put a finger to her chin. “The party’s just starting, though?”
Pinching the bridge of my nose, I released the sigh that I had been forcing down. “It’s really not. Now answer the question.”
“Jeez, you’re a spoilsport. Yes, she’s taking me home. Happy?”
“Thrilled.”
She giggled, an honest-to-goodness giggle, and now I had to resist the urge to face-palm. Sadly, the rest of them didn’t seem any closer to wrapping up their chat, meaning my babysitting duties were going to continue. If she wasn’t as bad as she was, I would have left her alone, but who knew where she would have ended up.
“Wasn’t there something you wanted to give to me? You mentioned it right before the game started.”
“Oh, yeah. That.” She slurred so badly on that final word that I had to hazard a guess as to what she actually said. A pair of tickets was held out to me in a grasp that was so loose that I worried that they were going to drop onto the wet grass. “These are for all of you. Good job!”
Accepting the tickets, I turned them over and studied the backs. They were for a water park a few cities over. It was honestly a nice gesture, and something I hadn’t expected would happen. Refereeing this game was supposed to be part of our punishment for getting into a fight, after all.
“Are you sure we can have these?”
She waved me off, lurching to the side and slowly righting herself. “Of course, of course. This could be a great opportunity for you. You’ll get to see all those pretty girls in swimsuits. Doesn’t that get your blood pumping?”
Trying to ignore how many lines this conversation was crossing between educator and student, I replied. “You sound like a pervy old man.”
“And you’re just pretending not to be a pervert.”
I shrugged, knowing she wasn’t wrong. At least I tended to keep my thoughts to myself, however.
“Now get out of here and go spread the good news. Praise my name to all who will listen to my greatness!”
“I’ll get right on that.”
“As for me, I’m going to be hitting up the–”
“All the assignments you put off grading, I imagine.” Her sister put her hands on her hips, eyebrows narrowed. “Thank you, Grant. You did great with the game, and I’m sorry I left you with this pathetic excuse for an educator.”
“It was no problem.”
I laughed at how my teacher caved to her older sister’s whims. She was a little shorter than Miss Halsey and had a slimmer frame, yet her frosty glare was more than effective. I had to walk away when her daughter scampered up. “You’re a good-for-nothing, Aunt Tara.”
There was no way I was going to maintain my composure after hearing that, so I walked over to where the girls were. The three of them were still huddled around the center circle, and with their black hoods pulled up, they could have almost been mistaken for some strange cult.
Serena noticed me approaching first. “Grant, you survived!”
I blinked in confusion. “I did.”
“It looked like you were dead on your feet, so I just assumed you were going to pass out. Nicole and I even bet on it.” Her bottom lip jutted out, and she kicked at the soft ground. “I lost thanks to you.”
“Sorry to hear that.”
Nicole stood taller, smirking. “Don’t forget to pay up tomorrow.”
She began to whine and plead with an unrelenting Nicole about letting bygones be bygones and how financial burdens tore friendships apart. The whole scene was making me lose brain cells, so I turned to Aubrey. She smiled, face flushed from the cold and how much running around she had done.
“What do you have there?” she asked.
Thank god there was somebody here to get this conversation back on track.
“Miss Halsey gave us tickets for the water park. Are you interested?”
She nodded, a damp piece of hair falling down the middle of her face. “Mind if I see them?”
I gave them to her and she turned them over in her palm a few times, her face scrunching up. “These expire tomorrow.”
“Then we better make plans now,” Serena said, flawlessly inserting herself back into the conversation. “Winter break starts on Monday, anyway, so no refusals.”
A cool breeze rippled across the field, and I rubbed my arms. It didn’t do any good, and I let out a loud sneeze.
“Bless you.”
“Thanks.”
“We better postpone this until tomorrow, or Grant might actually die.” There was an audible gasp from Serena. “But if he did pass on, would I technically win the bet?”
I didn’t appreciate how much my hardiness was being brought into question today, or how she was willing to sacrifice me over chump change, but I did begrudgingly agree. There was nothing more I wanted to do than rush to my car and crank the heat to the max.
Nicole crossed her arms. “Let’s meet up at school at one o'clock. I can drive us all over.”
Serena’s eyes nearly bulged out of her head. “Nicole, have you been abducted and replaced by someone slightly more agreeable?”
“Oh, shut up. It’s not like I’m going to turn down a free trip to a water park. Not when the hot tub is calling my name.”
That did sound amazing, but Serena must not have agreed. “You must be crazy. The water slides are where it’s at!”
“We can argue about this later. Everyone, get going for now, and don't forget to be in the parking lot at one.”
Aubrey shooed everyone away, and I was more than happy to oblige her, racing to my car like my life actually depended on it. Jumping into the driver’s seat, I cranked on the heat and the radio, then peeled out of the parking lot. As the bass reverberated through my body, I couldn’t deny the little thrill of excitement I felt for tomorrow.