For Fair Love

“Do you think my lips look bigger when I put this lippie on?”
My vain best friend, Lily, always asks me the same thing every time she’s purchased a new lippie.
“If that’s what they advertised, then no,” I answer truthfully.
She purses her lips together, “Well, they look bigger to me.”
“Why are you even worried about that? It’s the last day of school!” I squeeze the joy out of me, “Plus, the football finals are coming up soon. You know coach is now going to be on our backs for us to win.”
“Coach Season is always on our backs. Even when there are no finals,” Lily says, adding another coasting of gloss.
“I’m glad we at least got through the semi-finals. It means I can apply for scholarships,” I say, clasping my hands.
“Although everyone says to apply to Manchester because it’s closer to home, I’m going to London no matter what,” Lily snaps her fingers.
I nod, “Yeah, London’s got way more to offer.”
My mind crosses to Zayn.
“Um,” I quickly change the subject, “Did you see our new uniforms? I heard their blue instead of yellow.”
Lily shrugs, “Frankly, I like them the way they were. I just hope the shorts aren’t as short as last year.”
The bell rings letting us free into the summer’s fairness.

Zayn didn’t come to visit for a whole week. It was a sudden and long wait. All I did was sit alongside the pavement, waiting for him to appear. But, the night always overtook me. I couldn’t even settle my mind to practise. I finally did on a Friday afternoon, which was the last day of school. I kick the ball around as it skids in the grass.

Saturday morning rises bright and early. I scurry to get ready for practise. I pick up my bag and take one of Grans home baked muffins and hop out the door. I know today’s practice is going to be tough because coach wants us to beat Preston. We beat Blackpool, which is a hard team to beat. So, hopefully, coach has faith in us. I walk to Civil Field Park, where we are supposed to practice this year. I see all my teammates arriving and settling in the freshly cut grass. I join the girls sitting down, warming up their ankles.
“Where’s coach?” I chime.
Just before anyone can answer, a young man in a black Nike pullover that only covers a bit of his stencil like tattoos comes towards us. I don’t believe I’ve ever seen him before…
“I’ll be coaching you,” he says.
I feel my face frown in confusion. No one seems very bothered.
“What happen to coach Season?” Lily asks.
“He’s dealing with some family issues. But, don’t worry, you will be seeing him at the finals,” he speaks up to the team, “Coach Season has put me in charge of training you girls for the finals.”
The girls on my right aimlessly giggle at his built body and good looks. Judging from his smooth accent, I suppose he’s from the south.
“I’m Jack Wilshere. If you don’t already know, I play for the Arsenal club and England national team.”
If my eyes couldn’t pop out my head any more… A national superstar is going to coach us? No way! I suddenly get a boost of energy.

Our new coach doesn’t waste any time. He lets us warm up and run around the field. He makes us hop over balls and do push-ups. We finally play a few matches. I let the pulses in my body carry me. The ball comes my way and I swiftly steal it from my opponent. I prepare to kick the ball into the net before time slips away. But then my leg and the defender’s foot smashes together, striking sever pain in my leg. A shriek escape my lungs and we both fall in the grass. A whistle is blown and I find my face in the ground. All the girls pause in their spots. I try to quickly get up to resume the game, but I was too slow for Jack’s liking. My leg was killing me.
“Are you okay?” Kelly asks, the girl who accidently kicked my leg instead of the ball.
I nod and give her a smile. She holds her hand and helps me to my feet. I feel Jack’s eyes on me, so I pretend I’m perfectly fine and attempt to walk normally. I suck in the pain. I’m used to getting injured. I just shake it off. Jack, still standing on the outskirts of the terrace, blows back into his whistle, letting me get back into my game mode. I run around a bit, chasing the ball. The pain didn’t go away or reduced. I’m practically limping and sweating. I can’t keep up with the other girls. When the ball comes near me, I push myself harder to capture it and run to the goal. Half way there, my body lets up and I fall flat again in the ground, letting the ball slip away to the other team. I groan and clench my fists. At this point, I can’t get up. Jack whistles three times, indicating that practise is over. Lily comes over to me.
“Is it your leg?” she asks, hearing me groaning. “You hurt it pretty bad.”
“I’m fine,” I breathe through my mouth.
Lily calls, “Coach Jack!”
“No,” I plead, tensing up. “Don’t call him.”
I’d hate to look weak.
“Oh, Chas, don’t be ridiculous.”
She calls him to see about me. I lay still, my elbows planted in the grass.
“What’s wrong?” I hear Coach Jack’s voice.
“She’s hurt her leg. She can’t get up.”
“Yes, I can,” I assure them.
“If you could, you would of gotten up by now,” Jack says.
I sigh, dropping my head down. Suddenly, I feel a pair of hands picking me up from the ground. I can’t help but squeal at the realization that I’m far from the ground. I look up and I can see Coach Jack’s face. It’s too close. I’m not used to this treatment. He brings me to the sports centre’s locker rooms. Lily follows behind, carrying the bags with the footballs in them. When I look over to her she does this big wink. I look elsewhere.

Coach Jack settles me on a bench and leaves to get some ice. An exasperated Lily drops the bags in the office and comes sit next to me.
“I’d give anything to be you right now,” Lily whispers.
I frown, “Surely. You’d enjoy being in so much pain.”
“I’m talking about being carried by Jack Wilshere. What’s his muscles feel like?” Lily does a squeezing motion with her hands.
I don’t answer.
Lily eyes me, “Come on. I know you liked it.”
“Lily!” I scowl.
She giggles and escapes my punch swings.
“Get better soon,” she leaves through the door.
Two seconds later, she pokes her head back in.
“And tell me if things get steamy with Jack, eh!” Lily teases.
I grab a hold of something near me and throw it across the room at her. It simply bounces of the door and Lily disappears.

I stare at the clock hanging on the wall. It’s after 10. Grans is going to get worried. I sigh another time and Coach Jack appears with loads of ice.
“How are you feeling?” he asks me.
“Actually, I feel a lot better now—”
“Is that so?”
He places a bag of ice over my leg, sending a shock to my head.
“Ah! Ow-ow,” I yelp.
“Not so much, huh?”
I shake my head, holding my breath.
He lifts away the ice and sits facing from me. I watch his hands touch down my knee. I try to endure the contact more than the pain.
“You definitely sprain your ankle. No doubt about that,” he says, “But you probably fractured your knee. Let’s just hope you didn’t tear any ligaments. But we’d have to make sure. I’ll take you to a hospital.”
I gasp, “No, it’s fine. I’m sure it’s not that bad. I’ll be as good as new by tomorrow. Nothing a little ice can’t fix.
I pull the cold ice back over my leg.
He sighs.
“Listen, injuries shouldn’t be taken lightly. No matter how small. I was stubborn just like you. All I had was a sprained ankle. Or at least that’s what I passed it as. You know what it cost me? I kept playing and made it worse. I barely took care of it and didn’t listen to doctors’ warnings. Now, I can’t play at the Crystal Palace games. I’m not fit enough. They gave me this job to keep busy though.”
I can imagine how hard that it for someone like him. He’s a professional player.
“I hope I’m not keeping you too busy,” I say.
“If I were you, I would listen to me.”
I give him the best smile I can muster, despite my paining foot. I’m not keen on worrying my Grans to death. But I know she will go crazy if she sees me come home with crutches.