Lucky I'm In Love With My Best Friend

Megan's POV

The high-energy rap music blared through my headphones as I sat in the locker room of Robertson Stadium in Houston. My teammates and I stretched out, preparing ourselves for a friendly match against Brazil. It may be called a “friendly” match, but whenever we play Brazil, the game is anything but friendly. The women of Brazil play dirty against us. They are our biggest rivals and they strongly dislike us, especially since we took gold at the Olympics, leaving them with the silver.

The Brazilian women especially do not like me. Apparently the reason for that is because I scored the game winning goal against them in the Olympics. Coach says they are probably unhappy with the fact that I play the game just as well as they do, yet I am significantly younger. I’m not going to lie. I am intimidated by them, but intimidation fires me up inside.

It’s been two long, slow, painful months since I last saw Nick and his family. There have been multiple times where I have gone into my bedroom, put on the Jonas Brothers CD, and just cried. It’s always weird turning on the TV and seeing your boyfriend’s face. A face that you haven’t looked at in person in two months.

The Jonas clan is a very busy bunch. Whenever Nick has more than fifteen minutes of free time, he calls me. Tonight, they are in Omaha and the timing of my game and Nick’s performance allows him to watch the second half of the game live on TV.

We headed out to the field and did the rest of our warm ups. The ref blew the whistle and the game was underway. As predicted, there was rough play from the very beginning. This is going to be a long game.

Nick’s POV

As the Cheetah Girls took the stage, my family and I gathered in the dressing room to watch Megan's game. I haven’t seen Megan in two months and it has been painfully tough on both of us. I talk to her whenever I get the opportunity. Sometimes the first chance I get is after midnight, but I call anyway. She always picks up, even if she is half asleep.

“These Brazilian women play dirty,” Joe stated, as a United States woman was brought to the ground. There were ten minutes left in the game and the United States was up 2-1. Megan was playing a great game and scored the second goal for the lead.

Heather was setting up a corner kick. Corner kicks are Megan’s specialty. She has a tendency to run around the box, cause a lot of commotion, and eventually shake off the defender marking her, which leaves her open for a shot. As usual, Megan was running around the box with a defender following and pushing her.

"That lady is pushing Meg like crazy,” Kevin observed.

“Yeah and she’s probably twice Meg’s age,” Joe said, laughing.

Heather raised her right hand in the air. Megan told me that meant the ball was going to go to the far post. Heather’s foot connected with the ball and sure enough, the ball was headed right to the far post. Megan sprinted towards the goal and dove. Her head was about the meet the ball when the defender pushed Megan with her hip.

Crash.

Instead of hitting the ball, Megan hit the goal post head first. I watched my girlfriend fall to the ground. The announcers gasped. Joe and Kevin’s jaws dropped. Dad’s eyes bulged out of his head. Mom’s hand covered her mouth. Frankie stood up from the couch. I couldn’t move. I just stared at the TV.

“Is she…” I stopped and gulped hard. “Is she…” I tried again. I couldn’t get the words out. The last word kept tripping me up. I swallowed the lump in my throat and tried again. “Is she…moving?” Mom came over to the couch and sat next to me. She put her arm around me and held me.

You could see on the faces of the players that this was not good. My heart started pounding like a drum. They kept showing the replay. Every time I saw it, my stomach dropped like I was on a roller coaster. After five minutes of Megan lying motionless on the field, paramedics strapped her to a stretcher.

“She is going to be okay, Nicholas,” Mom said.

“My girlfriend is unconscious and motionless on a stretcher with a head injury. And you’re telling me she’s okay? Don’t tell me things like that unless you know it’s true, which you don’t!” I shouted. I ran out of the room and slammed the door shut. I paced back and forth for a minute. I didn’t mean to snap at Mom like that, but I can’t explain anything right now.

I put my back up against the wall and slowly slid down until my I hit the floor. I brought my knees to my chest and broke down in tears. I heard the door open but I didn’t look up. Joe and Kevin sat down on each side of me and put their arms around my back.

“We’re here for you, bro. We’re here,” Joe said. A stream of tears poured out of my eyes and down my face.

Is she okay? She has to be okay. What am I going to do if she’s not okay?