That’s Whatcha Get When You Let Your Heart Win

-Part 1-

Going crazy, my heart is breaking. I can't sleep at all, trying to get through this, don't know how I'll do this.
The lyrics to the only song I listened to all night poured through my earbuds as silent tears fell down my cheeks. I didn’t know why I was crying, I had no reason. My family was alive and well, none of my friends stabbed me in the back, I was perfectly happy. Well, that’s what it looked like on the outside. On the inside, I was a confused mess.
It all started two weeks ago. I went to the high school boys’ soccer game with my sister, Arianna, and a few of her friends, Kayla, Alexis, and Darleen. We sat in the stands, not expecting much to happen. Arianna was telling a story about the cute checkout at the sporting goods store, when I heard the ref blow his whistle and angry parents yelling about the call.
“He kicked the ball!”
“His foot didn’t even touch the kid!”
“Someone needs to revoke your referee license!”
“Are you blind?”
I looked up to see number thirteen from our team tensely walking off the field and the center ref holding up a yellow card.
“Who’s that?” I asked to no one in particular.
“Nick Stevens,” Kayla answered.
“What grade is he in?” I asked.
“He’s a senior, but doesn’t act like it sometimes,” Arianna said.
How come I’ve never seen him before? I’ve been to all the home games before this and a few of the away, and this is the first time I’ve seen him. Why? “Just don’t talk to him,” she added when she saw the look on my face. I shook off all the thoughts running through my head and continued to watch the game, which they won in overtime.

Walking into school, I saw him, standing in his blue Hollister shirt, laughing and talking with his friends. Not wanting to seem like anything fazed me; I didn’t stop or stare, just pictured his appearance as I walked to my locker. His pink lips pulled up in the form of a breathtaking smile. His grey eyes shining with laughter. The dark brown growing stubble on his head, showing that he recently shaved his head.
Wait, why was I thinking about him? I didn’t even know who he was until last night. Was it because I was told to not talk to him that made me want to? Was it because he took off his shirt after the game last night, revealing a perfectly sculpted six pack that made me attracted to the rest of him? Whatever the answer, I couldn’t stop thinking about him.
“What are you thinking about?” Syler asked me when I closed my locker.
“Oh!” I jumped. I must’ve been so lost in thought, that I didn’t realize Syler was already at my locker, waiting for me to walk with her to first hour. “Uhh, nothing,” I stuttered out, shaking my head. She knew better than to question me further, so we walked in silence to geometry.
“Class begins now,” the monotonous recording of the principal sounded through the intercom as I sat in my desk.
Breathe in, breathe out. Don’t let him take over your mind like this, Holly. You don’t even know him. Breathe in, breathe out. I repeated in my mind as Mr. Lang started the lesson.
My day was going better than I had expected, considering the fact that I kept my mind on my work and kept Nick in the back of my psyche. But then lunch time rolled around and everything went downhill.
I walked into the cafeteria looking for my friends’ table, when I almost ran into Nick. I quickly muttered an apology and shuffled over to the table. Grabbing a chair, I silently sat down and pulled out my daily granola bar.
Elle, noticing my unusual silence, spoke up. “What’s wrong, Holly?”
Startled, I looked up from the table that I was staring at for the past ten minutes. “Huh? Oh, uh, nothing.” Syler gave me a semi-knowing look and I looked back down at the table, not saying a word the whole period.

After school, I descended the front stairs to the commons where everyone hung out after the final bell before they had to go home or to practice. I found my group of friends and a few feet away stood Nick and the soccer team. Making a snap decision, I made a beeline for the front entrance. Speed walking through the parking lot, I realized I was supposed to give Haylie a ride home. Sending her a quick text, I sat in the parking lot blasting my music until she came out.
Five minutes into my waiting, the soccer team came out of the school walking over to the practice field. They passed my silver BMW M3 and time felt to slow down when Nick walked passed. My friend, Dominic, was talking with Nick as they walked passed and waved at me.
Nick looked over at my car, and gave me one of his breathtaking smiles. I couldn’t help but smile back, and on the inside, my heart was racing and my stomach was doing flips.
Was he smiling at me just to be nice? Does this mean that he actually knows who I am? Did he know that he’s been on my mind since I saw him last night? Why was I over thinking all of this?
Haylie eventually found my car, and by then I had partially gotten over the fact that Nick actually noticed me.
“Hey, girl! Sorry I took so long, Nicole needed to borrow my gym clothes for practice,” Haylie said, explaining her situation.
“It’s alright, I was just dwelling in my thoughts,” I said with a smile, pulling out of the parking lot. Turning up the bass and the volume, Haylie and I rapped along to my playlist all the way to her house.

The week ended, and before I knew it, it was Tuesday night; soccer night. Syler and Chris tried to get me to join in with their conversation, but my eyes were glued on Nick, whether he was on the field or not.
“Who are you watching?” Syler jokingly nudged me.
“The players, because I actually came to watch the game instead of socializing,” I lightheartedly shot back. My attention was brought back to the field when I heard a roar of applause from stands. Dominic was running back to his position while high fiving and man hugging teammates. I looked up at the scoreboard: 2-2.
“Dominic tied the game!” I yelled, earning strange looks from the spectators around me. But I didn’t care, I was pumped. If the guys won, they’d be moving onto sectionals, where they haven’t been in years.
As hard as they played, no one seemed to be able to score. Michael wouldn’t let balls into the goal, and neither did the other goalie. The final buzzer went off signaling the end of the second half and the beginning of overtime. Everyone was tense and on edge as they waited for someone to score, or for the time to run out.
The ball was passed around the field beautifully on both sides, but it just wouldn’t sail into the net. Not a single person made a noise in the stands, not even Syler and Chris. Then the time ran out, letting everyone know that there was going to be double overtime.
“And now I know why I never came to one of these games before,” Chris said, folding his arms tighter around his body.
“Awh, is someone cold?” Syler teased, wrapping her blanket around Chris.
“Shh! It’s doubleover time!” I shushed the two as the ball was passed and the stands fell silent. I sat on the edge of the bleachers as I watched the ball sail around the field from player to player, never making it into the goal.
As the time ticked down to fifteen seconds, the ball was back in our control. Dominic took it down the field, passing it to a few teammates along the way. Four yards outside the goalie box, the ball was passed to Nick. Dribbling towards the goal, he easily dodged an oncoming defender using Stanley Matthews’ famous move, the Matthews Feint.
Setting everything up just right, Nick booted the ball into the net just as the time ran out for the last time that night. The crowd roared passionately with applause while the boys jumped all over Nick in excitement.
The crowd howled louder than before when the team jogged up the field toward the fans. When they reached the sideline, they waved, bowed, or pumped their fists and ran back to the bench. But Nick, Nick stood still. He looked up into the stands, looked into my eyes. A smile spread across his face, and what he did next surprised me.
He extended his arm, and pointed at me.