000: The Beginning Of The End

(Pilot)

***

(Then)

The taste of victory was in the air.

Ophelia could feel it, thrumming through her bones, tasting it on her tongue. A static charge, electrifying her as the crowd roared in her hearing and blood rushed in her ears, her heart pumping with the thrill that would be victory soon, joining the adrenaline of the game. Her teammates were running on the field, the ball zipping between them and the opposition, every single eye trained on it and the chance to take it, to score victory for them.

And Ophelia could see the chance.

She bolted, her cleats pounding the churned-up grass, racing for the ball. She ducked and dodged the opposition, seeing Taissa Turner and Liz Lawrence lurch for the ball as well. They took it, Liz more aggressively than her—in this sport, ruthlessness was a virtue rather than a vice—passing to her as Ophelia took command of the ball, playing keep-away with the opposition. Her ponytail thumped against her back, sweat dripped into her eyes, but Ophelia didn't care as she kept the ball away, racing for the goalpost, where the opposition's goalkeeper was shuffling along, desperate to keep the ball away, to keep the Yellowjackets from scoring this point.

Well, too bad. This goal was theirs. This goal was hers.

Ophelia gritted her teeth, aimed for the kick—and that was when she heard their captain, Jackie Taylor, scream, "Ophelia! I'm open!"

Ophelia turned, saw Jackie just metres from the goal. Changing trajectory, she slammed her foot into the ball, aiming a kick at Jackie.

Jackie caught the ball on her head and head-butted it into the goal...

And it sailed through, striking the net and earning the Yellowjackets their victory.

Jackie slammed her hands on her face as an ecstatic grin spread on Ophelia's face, the high of victory buzzing through her veins as she whooped and cheered, as the Yellowjackets rejoiced, Tatum Carson and Lottie Matthews clinging to each other like always as Shauna Shipman hugged her best friend, as Bree Morgans wore a rare smile as Liz shouted, "That's how you do it, Wisakoyk! That's how you fucking do it!" and pumping her fist into the sky. As suddenly hands grabbed Ophelia and she let out a startled gasp, lifting her onto the shoulders of Crystal and the goalkeeper, Van Palmer, the latter grinning and yelling, "You fucking did it, Hemmings! You fucking did it!" and Ophelia was grinning and shaking her fists at the sky as she cried out her victory, as she was lowered down and was slammed into by a girl with a shaggy blonde hair, Natalie Scatorccio grinning her wild grin and saying in her husky voice, "We won. We won and we're going to Nationals! We're going to motherfucking Nationals because of you!"

Ophelia grinned and hugged Natalie back, ignoring how her heart swooped funnily inside her chest, at the embrace of this virtual stranger she didn't talk to outside of games and practice.

Then they were all in a circle, jumping and yelling, "Buzz, buzz, buzz!", still riding the high as Jackie yelled, "We're going to Nationals!"

Ophelia grinned and cheered until her throat grew hoarse, but she didn't even care—the victorious high was enough to keep her going for days.

They had won. They'd won States and were champions. But if they won Nationals as well... then they would be legends.

If only they knew what would happen after this.

That Ophelia's kick hadn't won them Nationals, like they believed.

Instead, it had doomed them all to nineteen months in hell.

***

I couldn't resist, so here you have a chapter!

Yeah, short, I know, but I promise the next one will be longer! But I had a lot of fun writing this, so I hope you like it and Ophelia! And trust me, Liz, Bree and Tatum will get their moments to shine

Also, here are the links to the Pinterest board for Game Of Survival and to the playlist on Spotify:

https://pin.it/3fUP0BF

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6fZrgDHIDjJlRPpTG8qeGp?si=oOqp_rEFSyqKtHeJfQroqQ

Next chapter will come as soon as I've finished my Stranger Things fics and dedicate my time to this!

Please read, comment and vote!

GhostWriterGirl out!