Chapter 57

Ivan and I walked to the soccer field together, and when we arrived at his group's location, I said my goodbyes and began looking for Aly. As Aly and I had a VIP ticket, I was able to see her soon because our seat was right in front of the stage.
As I approached her seat, I smiled. I didn't mind that anything had happened to me earlier, and I had no intention of telling her about it. She's my best friend, and I'm sure she'll be concerned about me. I'm not sure what she'll do, but I shouldn't simply say it. I'm perfectly all right, and I'm not going to remember what occurred. Others may find it difficult to forget, and others may develop depression or trauma as a result of their experiences. I don't blame them for feeling that way; such an experience is terrifying, especially if you are unable to oppose the person who has taken advantage of you. But I was different from them, I was scared at first, but I was able to defend myself so I didn't have to feed on fear.
I scanned the entire field before sitting alongside her, and the soccer field was crowded, exactly as I had expected. I'm quite sure the ticket was sold out because there were no empty seats. They are already cheering for their biases, even though the game hasn't started yet. Our seat was based on what school we will support. All of the people in the area where Aly and I were seated had maroon t-shirts, whereas the team green was on the other side of the field. Just now it occurred to me that we, like the players, wear maroon as it is the color of our school uniform.
The field seat is up so even you are sitting, you can still see the game. Aly and I were sitting in the second row so we could clearly see the players later. This is my first time to watch a live tournament and even though it hasn't started yet, I'm nervous about the result. Hopefully, our team wins and if they don't prosper, I will still congratulate them. No one can match their effort and sacrifice to represent our school so they deserve to be congratulated.
"El, where the snack you bought? Let's eat since the game hasn't started yet," Aly stated and I nodded at her. I handed her what I had bought and we ate first. We have 5 more minutes to wait before the game starts.
The two groups are already in the field and they are already wearing uniforms. The respective coaches are talking to them and I can see in the eyes of some players facing our position the seriousness on their face. I know both teams aspire to get the trophy and be recognized as the great soccer player in the entire country so I"m sure their match will be fiery later.
It looks like the fight is about to start because the players are already stretching. From where I was sitting, I saw Ivan looking in my direction so I immediately gave him a smile. I"m not forcing myself on this time because I really want to cheer him on because he"s my friend. Hopefully, he"ll like the banner I made that is currently in Aly"s hand because we haven"t open it yet. Our banner was still rolled and we discussed that we would open it later when the fight started.
We have no courage to compete with other audiences using our banner because I can't deny the beauty and creativity of what they did. They have big banners and they are not made of colored paper only because they made an effort to print and they used fabric while ours was just Carolina paper.
"GOOD MORNING EVERYONE!" the host greeted which further intensified the shouting and yelling throughout the soccer field. With so many people on the field, you"ll be deafened to the noise they"re making because of the overwhelming excitement they feel at the start of the game. When the host spoke again, the noise subsided.
"Relax, everyone. The fight hasn't started yet, but your energy is to the max," the host added reason for the audience roar loudly. Aly and I covered our ears with our hands because we were surrounded by people who could barely get their esophagus out because of shouting. "Because you are so energetic and excited, raise your voice when I call the names of the two teams that will face off in the championship." All of them agreed and the host started mentioning the name of the other group.
"When our team is called, let's also shout, El," Aly stated while smiling. We still had our palms on our ears so I didn"t hear her much.
I removed the cover on my ear and she did the same when I bring closer my mouth to her ear. "I didn't hear what you said, Aly. Can you repeat it?" I asked and she chuckle as she nod.
As the opposing group's supporters roared, she repeated what she had said previously, which I had not heard. "When our team was named, we joined in the cheering as well," she explained, and I nodded in agreement.
"Sure," I said as I averted my gaze from her. When I looked around for the host, he was already looking in our direction. I heard the other team's yell, but I wasn't sure if we'd win based on how loud we shouted because I was chatting to Aly at the moment.
"The cheers of the supporters of black king arthur are loud, but will you be able to face it or surpass it, team maroon?" the host asked and all us said that we can. Aly had already opened her rolled banner and we held it on both sides. Meanwhile, I will open the banner I made later because I'm sure Ivan is looking at me now to watch my banner. I"ll just open the banner I made later when he"s in the game so he doesn"t see how weak I am in creativity.
"I want to hear the loudest student screams from Canard University!" said the host, and we all roared at the same moment, Aly and I even getting up from our chairs and waving the banner she had made the night before.
"I don't know who's more energetic!" With a chuckle, the host stated, "I can't choose a louder cheer as I heard the same louder. So,c an we start now that I've heard the two audience groups' loud yells?"
The shouts of the two groups were mixed in volume, but Aly and I ignored it since we were yelling as well. This is how it feels to be a fan of a group; you may temporarily forget about your problems because you have to join in with the audience's cheers so that your ears don't hurt from the loudness. To enjoy the game, you must also participate in the making noise.
The host said that the match would begin, and the players should proceed to their assigned positions. Baki and Ivan were right next to one other, so I immediately recognized them. They were both staring at me, and I couldn't help but feel uneasy while Ivan was speaking since I was trying to figure out how to reply now that Baki was staring at me as well. I was having trouble even with smile, and Baki appeared to notice my look and averted her sight.
I'm not sure why she's staring at me. Is there nobody else here she knows? Also, we just know each other's names and aren't friends, so she can't look for support. I couldn't help but wonder whether Jas had given Baki the banner he'd made.
I took a deep breath and shook my head. I don't want to overthink things at this point as I need to concentrate on their game. Another one, Ivan was looking at me and I didn"t want him to start playing while this was my expression so I smiled at him. He also smile at me and even though I couldn"t hear his voice, I understood what he said.
"Where"s you banner for me?" he asked while smiling.
"Later," I response and I don"t know if he heard me. I know he understood because he gave me a thumbs up. I also reciprocated before the play begin. I could clearly see the swift of his expression that went from happy to serious. All players are serious and the ball will start with Baki.
The game began when the referee blew the whistle to signify the start of the game. Baki was only a few meters away when she passed the ball to Ivan. The students behind me were cheering loudly, but I couldn't keep up since I was concentrating on the ball as he was managing his stroke and a player from the other team was chasing him. Teren continued to go closer to the goal as Ivan passed the ball to him and his friend received it. One of the Black King Arthur players followed him, and the ball was surprisingly stolen from Teren, and I'm not sure how it happened because the other group swiftly passed it on.
Each group is moving fast, and the green teams' yells are particularly loud. We maroon teams are even more overwhelmed by the thrill and suspense as the player dribbles the ball closer to the goal. As what's going on, we can't seem to breathe. As no one stole the ball, the other group attempted to score, but Carew, our soccer team's goalkeeper, prevented them.
As the opposing team didn't score, we cheered, and now that we had the ball in our team, our energy and cheer returned. Baki had the ball in her feet, and the shout became louder as she managed to get past the three guards attempting to steal it from her. She was near to the goal and he gave the ball to Raf because she was worried that four guards would take the ball from her and give it to Raf while no one was looking. Raf began dribbling and he passed the two defenders as soon as he had the ball and took possession of it. He handed the ball to Baki again, and she attempted to put the ball in the goal, and when the referee signaled that the ball had entered, we all cheered loudly and rose up in our seats.
The score was 1-0 in ten minutes and they still had five minutes before their break. The game resumed and until five minutes later, no one got a score from them. They kept their score and the happiness to our school team was traced when they had break time. Their captain spoke to them and they simultaneously nodded while listening to its instruction.
While they were at break time, I heard the two women in front of my seat talking. I couldn"t help, but swallow when I heard what they were talking about because of what I really did.
"The team captain of Black King Arthur is said to be missing. He allegedly went to the canteen earlier, but has not returned until now," one of the girls stated.
"Oh, really? Why he didn"t come back? Maybe he were just afraid to fight so they hid in a somewhere," replied her friend and they laughed at the same time.
Blank King Arthur fans were clearly perplexed and concerned by the team captain's absence. Even the CU students were intrigued, and they believed captain couldn't compete, so he fled. No one knows what happened to Blank King Arthur's team captain in the middle of the competition; no one knows what it did, thus he isn't here now. My kick in his private area seemed to have been intensified, and he was unable to participate. He deserved it, after all. Despite the fact that there are many students here, he decided to take advantage of me, thus it fits him no matter where he is now. I don't feel any guilt for what I did even if he can't play today.
I looked at Aly as she placed her palm on my thigh. "Is it true that the team captain of Black King Arthur is missing?" she asked.
I shrug and response to her, "I don"t know. I don't know him so how do I know if he is here or not?"
She didn"t reply immediately and she seems thinking something. "If he is missing, why would that happen? That is impossible. The reason he got lost or when he left the canteen is not acceptable, so I think he is afraid to fight because he is under pressure to become a team captain. Or," she stated. "Or something went wrong with him so he couldn't come back here to fight in the tournament," she added.
I'd want to compliment Aly on figuring out why that creature isn't here. He was able to figure out what was actually going on because of her reading of science fiction and mystery literature. I give her my highest compliment.