Tonight's the soccer final. The whole school will be there, parents and students, alike. That's why I love home games as opposed to away games. Over breakfast we decided that Sebastian and I would head over early to school and mom and dad can come closer to the game start time.

At three I head to my room to change. I put on a warm pair of jeans and a sweater that hugs my body. Before leaving my room, I grab my school varsity jacket that acts as a sort of uniform at matches and contests for the school's student council and since I'm the swim captain, it's mandatory for me to wear it.

"Ready Seb?" I ask when I see him in his soccer kit tying his shoelaces near the foot of the stairs.

"Yup. Let's go." He says.

I'm driving but there's a security car tailing us anyways. Since they're not allowed on school property, they park just outside the gates as I drive in. The parking lot is empty except for a few cars that must belong to the soccer team members or the few students who decided to come early like me.

Once the car is parked, Sebastian gets out and heads off towards the soccer field.

I put on my varsity jacket since the air is already beginning to feel chilly in my seater and then get out of the car too. I spot Liam and Ash standing off to one side.

"Hey!" I call out.

"Hi! Ready to watch Westbridge eat dirt?" Liam asks.

"Be nice. We're the hosts." I remind him. This makes the boys laugh. We talk about the match and reminisce all the home matches we've seen over our years at Rushmore Academy and now this is our last soccer match.

A few minutes later Ben breaks away from his team on the field and comes over to us.

"How's the team looking?" Liam asks.

"Really good actually." Ben replies as he wraps an arm around my waist and pulls me to his side, "Can I talk to you for a second?"

"Sure." I nod.

We excuse ourselves from Liam and Ash and then Ben leads me towards the building that houses the boy's locker rooms. Since everyone is outside, it's empty. Ben pulls me into an empty room lined with lockers and gently presses me against the wall before kissing me.

I hook a hand behind his neck and the other is cupped around his cheek as I kiss him back. I pull back slightly as ask, "So, what did you want to talk about?"

"Just wanted to get you away." He smiles at me as he kisses me again.

When we head outside again the Westbridge team has arrived. There are three school buses full of students unloading. By now Henry, Claire and the other student council members have also arrived so we head over together to greet the guests.

In no time the two schools are mingling and an excited buzz fills the air. As it gets darker, the school keeps filling up and the bleachers get more and more crowded. I'm talking to Angelina when I see mom and dad walking towards the field from the parking lot.

Mom is wearing a crisp white shirt and jeans under a beige coat that stops at her waist and dad is wearing a black jacket over jeans. They both look stylish as ever and I remember fuming over this fact over my years at Rushmore. My parents are easily the best dressed  parents. I smile at the memories as I walk towards them.

"Hi." I say as I walk up to meet them

"Hey." Mom says hugging me, "How's Sebastian?"

"Confident." I laugh and then point him out where's he's talking to some people from Westbridge. They leave to wish him good luck and I head back to Angelina.

"Hazel!" I hear Claire call out and look at the station that the cheerleaders have set up, "Support your team?"

She's holding up two pots of white and blue paint, the school's colors. I let her paint two stripes with the colors on both my cheeks and then encourage Angelina to do the same. The flood lights have been turned on by now and the match is due to start in thirty minutes.

"Hazel! Claire! We need a picture of the sports captains!" The head of the photography committee calls out to us.

We follow him through the crowd to the metal link gate that separates the field from the bleachers. All sports captains are issued passes to allow them access to the field, so we show these to the school security guard there and walk towards the rest of the captains. They're all dressed in identical varsity jackets as mine and are already lined up for the picture.

"Hazel I want you in the middle and Claire can you please go to Henry's right."

I take my place between the track captain and Ben. Ben places a hand on my back as we all smile for the picture. We've just approved the picture when the loud speakers come to life and I hear the commentator's voice fill the night air.

"Welcome to the final soccer match of the year between Rushmore Academy and Westbridge High School!" The voice shouts and we all cheer for our schools.

"Can the teams please line up for the match to begin?"

The players, Rushmore's in blue uniforms and Westbridge's in Red, begin walking onto the field. Before Ben can walk away, I grab his arm and give him a kiss, "Good luck."

"Thanks, Bunny." The use of my family's nickname for me makes me laugh as he kisses my cheek and runs off to join his team.

Some captains sit down at the benches that border the field but I head back towards the gate and then step out of the field. Liam, Ash and Angelina are huddled near the metal fence and I join them there.

The match kicks off and we watch the players run across the field. There are cheers and 'awws' from Westbridge's students as Rushmore's goalkeeper prevents a goal. Fifteen minutes into the match Sebastian scores the first goal for Rushmore. I know I'm smiling from ear to ear as I cheer for him with the rest of the crowd.

When halftime rolls around, the score is 1-nill and the teams disperse to their sides of the field.

~Emma's Perspective~

When halftime is announced, I look at Daniel and ask, "I'm going to get something to eat."

"Let's go." We get up from where we're sitting on the bleachers and head towards the refreshments trucks.

Daniel just gets a coffee while I get that and a corndog. We pay for the food and then stand to one side as I observe the crowd and eat my food.

"Sebastian is brilliant." Daniel says and I nod in agreement as I chew on my bite.

I can't explain how proud I am of Sebastian right now. He's the youngest player on the team and easily one of the best, no wonder he's Vice-Captain. Daniel and I are still talking when Hazel joins us.

"Is that a corndog?" She asks.

"Yes." I say, "Please don't get carried away."

She laughs at the memories of all the times she's eaten more corndogs than her stomach could handle. Her first time being at the country fair that we took her to.

"Nothing beats country fair corndogs." She sighs as she looks around and spots the food trucks then tells us that she's going to get something to eat and then chat with Ben and Seb before the match restarts.

"Tell them that they're playing very well." Daniel calls out after Hazel.

"Will do!" She calls back as she walks off.

Daniel walks away to disposes off our food wrappers when I hear Mia call out to me.

"Hi Mia!" I say as we embrace. "Long time, no see."

She sighs, "Work has been killing me. I was in fact just heading back. I have to take Charles to a doctor's appointment and then there's a meeting at the office."

"This late? It's nearly eight." I frown.

"Work is work." She shrugs and then begins to walk away when I brave it and call out after her, "Mia!"

"Yes?" She turns around.

"Don't you want to stay for the second half of the match? Ben's playing marvelously." I say, hoping to convince her to stay.

"Charles has a doctor's appointment." She replies.

"Can't Conley take him?" I ask.

She shakes her head, "Conley hates doctors. I have to take him."

She starts to walk away again but this time I'm close behind, "Mia, you've compete forgotten Ben!"

She stops in her tracks and turns around to look at me, "Excuse me?"

"You've completely forgotten Ben over the last few years. I thought it was just my head but ever since Charles, I've hardly seen you take any interest in him." I tell her.

Her eyes widen, "Are you blaming me for not looking out for my son?"

"Yes." I nod solemnly, "This past year especially. He seems so happy when he stays over for meals at our house and I can't help but think he's been neglected at home."

"He has not." She shakes her head.

"Hasn't he? I don't remember the last time Hazel told me that Ben was doing something with you." I confront her.

She gulps and looks down at her feet, "You have no clue what I've been through."

I sigh, "Mia, I of all people do know and you know that too."

"Ben was the reason I pushed myself to work as hard I did and that's what got me to where I am. I wanted to be his mother and his father. To make up for the non-existent excuse of a father that he has." There are tears in Mia's eyes, "I messed up, didn't I?"

"Oh Mia." I whisper as I pull her into a hug, "No child is ever too far gone to salvage. You can restart with Ben. Try do overs?"

"I don't think I can face him in this state, right now. Someday else?" She says more to herself than me.

"Okay." I say as she walks away towards the parking.

"Did you really just address the elephant in the room?" Daniel says from behind me.

I sigh, as I cross my arms over my coat, "It had to be done. Ben is going to start college soon and Mia would have regretted her decisions forever. I had to confront her as a friend."

"I'm glad to have you as my friend." Daniel nudges me with his arm and I smile at him.

~Hazel's Perspective~

I sit on the benches in the field with Claire for the end of the match and watch Ben score the final goal only seconds before time runs out. Rushmore Academy wins 3-1. The crowd bursts into cheers as the players run across the field, celebrating and shaking hands with the other team members.

"They played so well." Claire says and I nod, "They did."

The teams huddle for one last picture before they disperse. Sebastian is the first to reach me.

"You played so well!" I squeal as I hug him.

"Thanks." He laughs, accepting my hug.

"Are mom and dad here?"

"Yeah, they're somewhere in the crowd." I reply, motioning towards the bleachers.

I watch Sebastian walk through the gate that lets him into the crowd and people pat him on the back and shake his hand. I have a broad smile on my face when I feel a kiss on my cheek. I shy away and look behind me to find Ben.

I'm about to congratulate him but before I can he pulls me to him and kisses me. I press a hand to his cheek as I deepen the kiss, oblivious of the hundreds of people around us.

"I've been wanting to do this all match." He says, breathing heavily from the kiss.

I give him another quick kiss just before he's pulled away by one his teammates. I laugh and wave at him as he walks away.

I loved writing this chapter :) Let me know what you think!

-T