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.
