"No!" I lunged for the soccer ball. It curved, just out of my reach, and passed the goal line.
Coach blew his whistle. "Alright, pink shirts win!" Some of the girls wearing pink scrimmage jerseys cheered, while the orange shirt girls hung their heads in defeat.
"Let's clear out. The football team needs this field in about an hour."
Out of the corner of my eye, I saw Coach approach me. I sighed, already knowing what he was about to say. "You got to pull it together, Lia. Our team is only as good as the weakest link, and you're our goalkeeper, our last defense. We need to know we can depend on you."
"Yes, Coach. I'll do better," I said.
"You better. Tournament games start next week. We need to bring our A-game."
I stopped myself from rolling my eyes. Could he get more clichΓ©?
He left, and I started to walk over to my water bottle on the edge of the field. It was one of those high school stadiums with multiple purposes. The high school could use it as a football field, soccer field, or track. I sat down on one of the benches, pulled off the jersey, and started to untie my cleats.
"Coach chew you out, huh?" Kaylie asked, stepping up beside me. She was still wearing one of the pink shirts.
"Yeah. I really am trying my hardest, you know?"
My best friend nodded. "Yeah, I know. You just need practice," she said. Kaylie looked to the side, out of my vision. "Oh, hey, Todd!"
"Hey, guys!"
"Were you here to watch your girlfriend? Where did she go?"
"Yeah. Sarah had to get to a family thing right after practice and couldn't stick around, but I thought I'd just sit up in the stands for a little."
I kept my head down because I could feel myself blushing. Todd was on the boys' soccer team. Everyone on both teams went to all the games, and I found myself more than once mesmerized by Todd on the field. I never said anything to Sarah or made a move on Todd, but it was still a little dragon always lurking in my stomach.
"That's very sweet of you," Kaylie said. "Lia and I were just talking about how she should practice her goalkeeping skills more."
"It's not my skills that are the problem," I said. I just get nervous when the pressure is on. In practice I don't feel that pressure and I do fine, but during the real thing I choke up. I need to practice when real consequences at stake."
"I think I know of a way we could do that," Kaylie said.
"Oh, yeah? What's your idea?"
"Penalty kicks," Kaylie said. Except every time you get scored on, you lose a piece of clothing."
My jaw dropped. Okay, she came up with that idea way too fast. "Yeah, that's not going to happen." I tried to laugh it off like Kaylie was making a joke. I mean...she had to be joking...right?
Kaylie ignored me and looked at him. "Whatdya say, Todd? You in?"
I couldn't help myself. I glanced over at Todd who stood there, frozen and trying very hard not to look at me.
"Um..." It was his turn to blush. "Well...umm..."
My friend grinned, knowing that she had him trapped. "Great! We'll each kick two penalty kicks, and for each one Lia misses, then that's how many pieces she'll have to get rid of."
"Wait, I didn't-"
"If she blocks all four, then we'll stop."
"Kaylie!" I shouted. "I'm not doing that!"
My friend shrugged. "If that's what you want. Coach is always telling us to leave it out on the field."
"He didn't mean that literally!"
"But you don't want to let the team down, do you?"
I rolled my eyes, trying hard not to show that her words stung. She was right. I didn't want to let the team down. And I would love to prove Coach wrong. "Fine. Let's just get this over with."
"Great! Todd, can you grab us the balls?"
Soon, we were set. Me at the goalpost, and Kalie and Todd at the penalty line with their two balls.
Kaylie started with a hard, curved ball to the top right that was nearly impossible to block. As it struck the net, I felt my heart drop a little. Crap. This was happening. Even if I blocked every other goal, I would still lose something and have to go through another round.
With my mind preoccupied with thinking about what article of clothing I'd have to remove, I didn't see Todd's kick until it was too late, and it deposited itself next to Kaylie's in the net.
As Kaylie prepared her next shot, I realized my mistake. Kaylie was one of the best strikers in the whole region. Without defenders to impair her, her kicks would fast, sharp, and almost impossible to prevent. Her third shot went similarly to her first, sharp, high, and to the corner.
I knocked Todd's second kick and caught the ball, though it hardly felt like a victory. I had missed three out of four. Pretty awful.
"Hmm...What should we take off of her first?" Kaylie asked Todd,
"Waitwaitwait!" I yelled. "You can't be serious."
"C'mon, Lia. If you argue more, we'll have to take them off ourselves. We'll start slow. Take off your right shoe, sock, and shin guard."
I blushed. I hated people seeing my bare feet--I almost always wore shoes, even indoors. Even worse, I hated the feeling of my bare feet outside. I felt like bugs were crawling all over me, and it felt so exposed to anyone who might be watching. I knew that Kaylie was taking it "slow", and my shoes were probably the easiest things to lose, but the thought of taking even a single shoe off still filled me with dread.
Slowly, I lifted up my left leg and reached down to peel off my sock and threw it aside, followed quickly by the shin guard. I put the shoe down, untied it, and stepped out, shuddering a little as I put it down on the manicured grass of the field. Even though the stadium was enclosed with bleachers, it still felt so open and exposed. It felt like anyone could stumble on me and see me.
"Alright. Good! Onto Round 2!"
"Round 2" went even worse. My mind almost entirely focused on my foot, exacerbated by the feeling of having one foot covered and one not, I missed every single one. With each goal, Kaylie's grin grew wider and wider.
"Alright, Kaylie. You know what time it is."
I glared at her. "Shut it." Why was I letting her do this? And in front of Todd, too, who I had a secret, forbidden crush on?
Kaylie opened her mouth in mock horror. "Such attitude, Lia! I think we'll have to take off your clothes ourselves this time! Come on, Todd!"
I shrieked, trying to run away, but with my bare right foot and the lopsidedness in my gait, I was quickly pinned down by Kaylie who proceeded to peel off everything on my left foot. My stomach on the ground, she had my leg pulled up, making a 90-degree angle with my leg. I groaned as my bare foot came into view, exposed to the world. With a giggle, Kaylie grabbed my shin to keep my foot from moving, and then scraped the edge of her thumbnail across my heel very, very slowly. I screamed bloody murder, but all the thrashing in the world wasn't going to be enough to get Kaylie off of me.
"Let's see...we still need to take off one more piece. What do you think, Todd?"
I couldn't see his face. "Umm...I always thought she had a cute butt."
I felt myself blush hearing him saying that. Warmth creeped into my crotch as Kaylie grabbed the fabric of my shorts and practically ripped them off.
"Alright, Lia. Time to try again. Hopefully, you do a little better this time, or...you know..."
Crap, I thought. Kaylie really would keep going until either I blocked all four kicks, or until I was completely naked.
I stumbled to my feet, my legs starting to feel weak. Kaylie guided me to the goalpost while Todd hung back, admiring my very exposed tush and long legs. I tried to scuffle my feet somewhat to hide the soles of my feet.
"Give us a good view of your butt!" Lia said once I had gotten to the goalpost. "Turn around!"
"That wasn't the deal," I said.
"I'll give up one of my kicks if you do."
Crap, that was a tempting offer. Her kicks were wickedly difficult. Getting rid of one of them would really help.