text: [Themes: love & dating]
  
  Better to start now, then to wait forever.
  
  You get up from your seat and turn in your problems to your teacher who looks surprised to see you go so soon. Amber walks next to you as you make your way outside and towards the field.
  
  "You look like your good at soccer Web, Can't wait to see you play out there. Amber smiles as she walks towards her group of friends.
  
  You sigh as you make your way over to the group of guys who are huddled around getting ready to play. You see surprised looks along with smiles and a few stares as everyone see's that your joining in.
  
  "Alright me and Ethan are captains." Tom announces as he holds the soccer ball.
  
  One by one guys are picked as they stand beside their captain. But to your surprise Ethan picked you first. It seemed as if everyone was cool with you playing which relived the weight in your stomach. But you thought again what would happen if you would look like a fool. You had to make sure that you played your best and put a spot for you to come back whenever you wanted to play.
  
  As the teams are picked everyone runs out to the field and gets into their positions. You are assigned defender as the offensive guys go to the middle. Most people would be upset to be stuck defending but you were glad as you wouldn't have much chance to fuck up as you could see your offensive looked more athletic than the other team. The game started with your side taking the ball and keeping it on the other teams side for quite some time.
  
  You could see the other defenders groan as they hadn't had the chance to get the ball and you could see the goalie on his phone leaning against the net. Maybe this wouldn't be so bad after all, coming out here everyday and just standing as a defender and always having someplace to be. You would seem as a sporty guy to everyone while all you did is just stand in one place and talk to the to the other defenders once in awhile.
  
  It was such a genius idea, no wonder all the other guys played, this was the alternative to be with people and not be alone along with showing you have some sports in you. You had to thank Amber when you had the chance as you glanced over at her and her friends. You saw her though look at you with a semi disappointed look with her other friends staring at you as well. Your smile dropped faster than your old friends as you continued to look at the guys playing soccer.
  
  Fuck me.
  
  Why didn't you remember her saying that she was looking forward to seeing you play. To think you would have a chance to impress her. You should have insisted you be on offense when you had the chance. Maybe you could ask to be on offense tomorrow. Then you realize that would probably be to late by then. You had to do something ballsy (haha) to get her attention back. But as a defender you really couldn't do much.
  
  But then you saw Ethan and Tom going against each other for the ball. Everyone nearby got out of the way to let the two battle it out. You bit your lip as you see what you must do to get Amber's Attention back. But should you, you had a golden opportunity where everyone liked you for playing and you could keep coming back instead of hiding in that bathroom stall every day. Did you really want to risk losing what you just had earned.
  
  You had to decide fast.
  
  > run for the ball
  You targeted the ball in between them and got ready to run. You would have the element of surprise as the two were to busy focused on each other to pay much attention to you. You started walking towards them a little bit but as you got closer your sprinted as fast as your legs could carry you towards the two. You smiled to yourself knowing how bad-ass you were going to be once you got the ball. You would get Amber's attention along with all the other players. Maybe you could become a captain tomorrow.
  
  You were getting closer and saw the two still battling for control of the soccer ball. Both had frustrated looks on their faces and didn't look the friendliest at this time. You should have realized your mistake as the two body slammed into you as you tried to tip toe the ball away. One of them had hit your forehead with his while the other hit his tooth on your shoulder. You lay on the floor grasping your head. you looked up to see Tom clutching his tooth while Ethan was on his hands and knees regaining his composure.
  
  You looked around to see everyone's eyes trained on the two along with you. If you had wanted attention you sure had it now. Tom got on his feet quickly and started walking towards you with his hands still at his teeth.
  
  "Are you fucking stupid!" You heard him try to say.
  
  As he closes in on you for a punch someone pulls him back. You could see him struggle to talk right as he tries to hide the noticeable blood seeping through his hands.
  
  "Take it easy Tom, it was a accident." You heard someone say. You could see other guys nod in agreement.
  
  But Tom had made up his mind about you. You see Ethan up from his knockdown and quickly shake it off as if nothing happened.
  
  "Try to be more careful will you Web." He said in a kindly manner.
  
  But you hated his reaction most off all. It was one of pity, something that damaged you more than one like Tom's reaction. The game stopped and for the last seven minutes everyone just started to do trick shots into the net. Someone took Tom to the nurse but as he walked away his menacing gaze towards you had pretty much said you would never be friends.
  
  You had stopped playing after the incident and sat out on the bleachers where you could hear whispers about you by the girls all huddled together. You were glad Amber was on the other side of the field as you couldn't bear to face her after what happened.
  
  The next day lunch comes again in the blink of a eye. You are left with the choice Amber gave you yesterday. Go on your usual business or go play Soccer.
  
  > Go play Soccer
  With balls of steel that you kept telling yourself you had, you slowly made you way once more to the field. Amber's friends were out there again, and again they looked at you, especially Amber who's eyes seemed to burn right through you. You didn't look back though, you just continued on with the other guys playing soccer. Some seemed surprised, while others were glad that you had come back.
  
  Tom looked puzzled at first but didn't say anything. Ethan who was glad that you were back picked you first on his team again which made the knot in your stomach lighten. "Let's just play for fun today, no positions." Ethan suggested to Tom who agreed as he nodded. Tom didn't seem to be angry at you from what happened yesterday.
  
  He justs nods at you when you pass by, that's good enough for you. The soccer game was better than you expected as all it is was everyone going for the ball trying to score a goal. You make sure to be careful this time as you let the bigger guys battle it out as they tackle each other for dominance of the ball.
  
  Tom even passes it to you when your close to the goal earning you a nice kick with a pat on the back from everyone else. How stupid it would have been if you hadn't had come back out here and instead just went to the stalls, not everyone holds grudges, and Tom probably realized it was a honest mistake. It doesn't even feel like ten minutes since break began when the bell rings for everyone to head back inside.
  
  You see Amber run up to you with a big grin on her face. "Didn't think i would see you back out here."
  
  "Please, I was just warming up yesterday." You joke as the two of you walk back into the building.
  
  "If that's what you called it, I can't wait to see more." Amber says flicking your nose before running off to her classroom.
  
  You felt a warm feeling in your stomach as the day lingered on. Things were changing for you, and they were changing for the better.
  
  As you continue to get better and better at soccer, Amber invites you to hang out with her friends and her at the bleachers. At first you were nervous, knowing they would probably be the stereotypical girls who talked shit about everyone they saw that was lower than them, but they were actually pretty cool. You even cracked a few jokes causing all of them to laugh.
  
  Every few days you would hang out with Amber's group, even sitting with them at lunch, and each day you felt yourself getting closer and closer to her. It dragged on like that for the entirety of the year, and you never felt happier....
  
  > Epilogue
  "You want to join the F.R.I.E.N.D club?" The girl asked confused.
  
  "Yea, why do you seem so surprised?" I asked, already knowing the answer.
  
  "It's just....I never thought you would be the kind of person to join." she says analyzing you.
  
  Even if you knew what she was going to say, you were a bit offended. "I can sign up or not." You say trying to sound rude.
  
  She's taken aback by your remark, but hands you the sign up sheet for the club. You start signing the form but get interrupted by her halfway through.
  
  "I know you didn't know me last year, but I knew you, I know that you always hid away from everyone else, but somehow you managed to befriend the most popular people at the school, you even managed to date the girl who all the nerdy guys dreamed about, that's why I'm surprised that your joining this club, you already seem to be everyone's friend.
  
  You stop signing for a moment and just stare at the clipboard, stunned that this girl knew so much about you. You continue filling out the form after a few seconds though and hand it back to her.
  
  "Well that's why I want to join, to fix the assumptions people make just by looking at someone for less than a minute and thinking they know what kind of person they are, because I want to know more about you to."
  
  You get up from your seat and leave the room. Now that you were in high school, you were done with sports, the new "thing" was to just spend time with your friends whether it be in the cafeteria, the library, or some random classroom with a cool teacher. It didn't even matter if you had a friend, there tons of things to do whether it be helping out or just joining a club. You wish it were this simple back in middle school, but everyone had to endure hell once in their life, you have served your sentence, and now you couldn't be happier with the people around you.
  
  Honestly, you didn't need anything else.
  
  "A single step leads to a great reward" ending