Page 30 of TJ Powar Has Something to Prove
TJ’s mom bids Simran a cheery goodbye, complete with “Say hello to your mom for me” and “You should come over for dinner sometime.” The door closes behind her. TJ watches her go, stomach roiling, until her mother huffs grumpily.
“NowI’m going to be late.”
EIGHT
***
Curse Rajan’s ability to worm his way into her brain, because on Thursday TJ’s still thinking about what he said. The timing couldn’t be worse—their group is headed to Provincials tomorrow, and with it, her shot at qualifying for Nationals. She’ll have to be at the top of her game.
During the school day, she tries to scroll through the national news on her phone. Impromptu topics usually have a correlation to current events, so it’s good to keep updated. But her mind keeps wandering back to the same thing.
In French class, she finds herself writing a resolution in the margin of her notebook.Be It Resolved That TJ should confront her boyfriend. The points supporting the resolution are simple:
1. Not knowing how Liam really feels is worse than finding out the truth.
2. Either way, having a weekend away to digest whatever Liam says is probably a good thing.
3. She’s way too impatient to wait for later.
And then there is the point against:
1. Ignorance is bliss. Depending on what he says, having this all out could screw her up evenmore.
∗
TJ meets Liam at Pineview after school for her soccer game. She can’t muster a proper smile or the energy to banter withhim, or feelanythingbut sliminess in her gut when he wishes her luck right before she jogs onto the field.
“Last first match ever,” Piper comments as they walk to their positions.
TJ hadn’t realized that until now. This is her last season with the teammates she’s known for years. She glances down the midfield line. Chandani’s the farthest away, staring straight ahead and stretching her quads.
TJ tears her gaze away and looks to the sidelines. Liam’s sitting in the grass with his legs outstretched, typing on his phone. It occurs to her that he didn’t give her his customary pre-match kiss.
So what? she scolds herself.Get a grip. That doesn’t mean anything.
Except it feels like it does.
The whistle blows. TJ startles. She hadn’t been paying attention.
Someone calls her name, and she has to take a second to orient herself before jerking into motion. The ball is sailing towards her, passed by one of Northridge’s forwards. She goes for it, but one of Pineview’s players gets her foot on it first and boots the ball down the field. TJ curses inwardly and tears down the turf to chase it down.Greatway to kick off the season.
But it doesn’t end there. She keeps missing passes, fumbling the ball, and at one point fails to block a shot on Northridge’s goal that normally would have been a piece of cake. TJ wipes the sweat off her face as Pineview cheers. What’s wrong with her?
Each mistake makes her more frustrated. The two teams trade the lead between them—the game’s tight. At halftime,Coach adds a fourth midfielder from the bench, a new tenth-grade recruit.
“Just for now, since the midfield line is pretty weak,” he says pointedly to the team. “Maybe ifsomeoneshowed up to more off-season practices...”
As if TJ wasn’t aware of how much she’s screwing up. But still, that’s just unfair. “I missedtwo.”
“Two too many, apparently.”
TJ bites her tongue. She missed those practices for debate. Meanwhile, the team is dead silent. Even Piper’s avoiding her eyes. Just perfect. On top of the whole team thinking she’s a freak, they’re annoyed with her now, too.
She finds herself getting into her head even more in the second half. They lose the game by one goal. Coach shakes his head from the bench, which pisses her off. And Liam’s not at the sideline to greet her post-game like he usually is.
This isn’t how it was supposed to go. Soccer is supposed to help her escape her problems, not add to them. She kicks her water bottle savagely. It tips over, loose lid falling off, and spills the rest of her water into the grass.
Great. Her throat is parched and she’s overheating. She yanks her jersey off, leaving only her thin cami, not even caring about her visible underarm hair. She needs one thing to go right. Just one.