Page 110 of Take Her On

She laughed at the nickname. She’d not heard her call her it in a while.

They gathered outside the box as Jamie stepped up. Robyn forced herself in next to Maya.

“She’s gonna miss this,” she said, loud enough for Jamie to hear. “She was never good at that side of scoring.”

The Harriers’ players laughed, and Maya prayed Jamie wouldn’t let it bother her. Seeing only the back of her head made it hard to judge.

Jamie exhaled, relaxing her shoulders, and took three steps back. Maya recognised her method from all the times they’d spent practising when she was in recovery with her ankle. She just hoped the kick ended the same way it always had in practice, with the ball in the back of the net.

“Don’t slip!” Robyn shouted and gave a snigger. “That would be embarrassing.”

The referee whipped around. “You, Captain, be quiet. Final warning.” She blew her whistle.

The crowd fell silent. Maya’s breathing filled her ears.

Jamie waited. Maya was entranced by the slight movement of her shoulders. She tried to steady her breaths with hers. Jamie slowly raised her head. Then she ran, connecting with the ball and sending it flying into the top right-hand corner of the net. The keeper had no chance.

They screamed and shouted, running over to jump on top of her. Electricity fired through Maya’s veins as she relived the net rippling over and over in her head. Her teammates separated themselves from the pile-on, and Maya pulled a very smiley Jamie to her feet.

Jamie grinned back at her, gave her a quick kiss on her sweaty forehead, and they took their places for the spot kick. Before the ref blew her whistle, Jamie’s eyes flicked to Maya’s, full of fire.

The game wasn’t over yet.

The more the minutes wore on, the more Maya’s nerves multiplied. The Harriers were getting desperate too, sending high balls over Millton’s defensive line which Maya cleaned up easily—much to their coach’s dismay. He was so red in the face, she was surprised he hadn’t collapsed.

She called to their line-up to avoid playing the Harriers onside.

Robyn paced angrily in front of her. “Hey, girls, why don’t you try stringing some fucking passes together?” she shouted, after yet another long ball over the top had gone out of play.

Maya caught the ref checking her watch. Surely, there couldn’t be long left. She willed her to put the whistle to her mouth.

“Keep going till the last minute, Millton!” she called, noticing Noodle placing their hands behind their head and panting. Everyone had worked so hard.

The ball bounced awkwardly in the midfield, and a Harriers’ head knocked it over Millton’s defensive line for their winger to chase. Tiny ran after her, but their winger managed to get an early cross in before she made her tackle, knocking them both to the floor.

Robyn pushed Maya away from her, trying to gain an edge as she sprinted towards the box. The ball floated into a dangerous area, too far out for Megan to come and collect it. Maya had to beat Robyn to that ball. If the Harriers got a goal back, it was game over.

She pushed herself forward, and they both jumped into the air. Maya knocked her off balance, but Robyn’s head connected with the ball, sending it high speed towards the net.

No. No, no, no.

A loud ping fired through Maya’s brain as the ball ricocheted off the post and out of play.

She sighed with relief, face down in the Astro, and pushed herself up off the floor. Robyn screamed, stomping her way over to the ref.

“She pushed me, ref. Didn’t you see that? I wouldn’t have missed if she hadn’t pushed me. It should be a penalty!”

The ref shooed her away, and Robyn stormed over to Maya, her eyes wild and wide. Maya just smiled, while Robyn raged to anyone who would listen.

Megan set up for a goal kick and played out to Tiny. Before the defender could do anything with the ball, the referee blew her whistle. A chorus of cheers and groans erupted over the field.

Maya didn’t know what to do. Everything that had been building to this moment suddenly burst, leaving her head silent.

Someone jumped on her back, then someone else, and she crumpled to her knees. Her brain and body struggled to compute.

“We did it!”

“We won!”