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"Oh, fuck," Joanna groaned. "Isn't this just fucking perfect."

Rosalie rose to her feet, slowly, horror seeping into her piece by piece as she watched Juliana run from where she had been blocked off by two of the Lions during the play. With the game on hold, though, Juliana broke away and ran to the goal where one of the referees was talking to an Adams girl—#5. The number alone was enough to fill Rosalie with dread when it had to do with Jade now on the ground.

Coach was at Jade's side when Juliana arrived, crouching low to where Jade blinked, squinting up at the field lights. "Oh, fuck me," Jade groaned, trying to heave herself up off of the ground.

"Easy there, Dalby," Coach said, hand to Jade's shoulder. One of the referees was there, pulling a flashlight from his pocket. He crouched down beside Jade and told Jade to keep her eyes open. Coach held open Jade's eyelid through it before at last shutting the flashlight off and giving Jade one of her dismal, solemn expressions.

Jade put a hand to the swelteringly red spot on her temple.

"It's a concussion?" Juliana said. "Not again..."

"Are your parents here?" the ref asked. Jade muttered something along the lines of affirmation, dropping her hand over her eyes.

"Juliana, help Jade off the field. We need to get her checked out," Coach said. Juliana nodded, and with the ref's help, they got Jade to her feet. A sizable bump began to swell on her head.

Adams had two points on them, and as Rosalie stood with her toes on the sideline's white paint, Coach returned, eyes ablaze and honed in on Joanna sitting on the bench beside Lu. Lu squeaked in terror, clasping onto Brynn as Coach came up to them with the intent of dragging Joanna onto the field whether she liked it or not.

"I'm not going out there without Rosalie," Joanna said.

"Tough shit, Spencer. Gloves on."

Joanna stood, eyes never leaving Coach's. Rosalie stared at her, silently begging that she comply, but the silence that followed lasted long enough for the referee to show up and demand to know what the issue was. She listened to the sound of the audience talking amongst themselves and staring in their direction when Joanna bent down, picked up her gloves, and silently agreed to be in the game.

Before Joanna could get past the sidelines, though, Rosalie caught her by the sleeve and tugged her back. "Don't ruin this," Rosalie said. Joanna blinked, and for a split second, Rosalie was convinced that Joanna hadn't heard her. "We can still get to State, at least. Seattle doesn't matter right now."

"Yes it does," Joanna said.

Rosalie sucked in a deep breath and shook her head. "Don't do this," she wanted to say, but couldn't. Joanna pulled away and went to the field with the referee behind her. The ref said something to her as they approached the penalty box, and Rosalie hoped Alyssa had the good sense to listen in, if only to tell Rosalie later. The look on Joanna's face said it was not what she wanted to hear.

The instant the game was back in motion, Rosalie's anxiety skyrocketed. She stood beside Brynn, who couldn't be contained to her seat either, and together they watched Alyssa square off against a Lion near the penalty box. Rosalie looked from the ball to Joanna, who was just past the goalpost. She knew Joanna's tricks by now, and being out of the goal in the free space of the penalty box was not how she played, especially not when the ball was far off near the sideline. At close quarters, Joanna risked stepping out of the goal, but not like this.

Ray broke away from her offender, who used her elbow to box Ray in, blocking her from the ball. They skirted around one another until Ray spun around them and raced to intercept the ball as the Lion kicked it back, intending to circle it around to her left foot. Ray skidded between the ball's destination and where it left the girl's cleats for a split second.

She deflected it, kicking it with the outside of her shoe towards the sideline. The Lion that was on her was back by then, though, and both of their cleats tagged the ball and sent it popping into the air. Alyssa flung forward, foot out, and kicked it midair out of the sideline. It arced towards the field and rolled down the sideline, away from their goal and in front of the Lion's benches.

The squabble ended there, though, because #18 hooked it away from the sideline and sent the ball jetting across the field to the opposite side of the goal where their teammate curved it towards the penalty box.

For a split second, Rosalie was convinced that Joanna was going to do something when a Lion geared up for the kick. Joanna moved as if to block, gloves out, but she dove for the wrong side.

As if she ever dove for the wrong side.

"Bullshit!" Brynn seethed, throwing her fists down. From down the line, Rosalie saw Jordan slap a hand to her face, and Coach clasp a hand to her mouth.

Rosalie stepped around Brynn and started for Coach Maguire. Jordan looked up as she approached and jabbed a finger in the goal's direction.

"You know she did that on purpose," Rosalie seethed. "Put me in."

"You know I—"

"You shouldn't, but you can," she insisted. She clenched her eyes shut, let out a frustrated groan before opening them once again. Begging it was. "You know I wouldn't have missed practice unless something bad happened. I've only missed practice once in the past three years."

Coach stared at her, shocked, and Rosalie only then thought to wonder if she ever would have talked to Coach like this if it weren't for the fact that Joanna was being a bratty shithead.

Jordan looked between them as Rosalie maintained eye contact and went so far as to clasp her hands in front of her. All she needed was to get down on her knees and ask for God's forgiveness, and an ounce of empathy in Coach.

"We're two points behind on Adams. It's gonna take the whole game even now to catch up," Rosalie insisted.

Coach narrowed her eyes. She looked out at the field, to where Joanna was the center of the team's collective stink-eye. Alyssa looked like she was about to have an aneurism, and she gestured in Coach's direction to do something with Joanna. At last, Coach sighed and waved the ref over before the next kickoff.

Rosalie dropped her hands, her jaw going with it. She let out a relieved sigh, but it just sent her entire body quaking with the thrill of going out there again. The worry, the anxiety of being under even more pressure now.

Coach pointed to Juliana, who all but hopped and skipped away from centerfield to meet with the ref and Rosalie on the sideline. Juliana beamed at Rosalie, bouncing on her feet as they readied for the swap. Rosalie smiled weakly, her nerves leading to a wary look in Joanna's direction. She wished she could tell whether or not Joanna was going to follow through with their original deal.

I never accepted her new one, she reminded herself, hoping that was enough to keep Joanna from playing like a regular goalie. She wanted Joanna to do her best, even if it cost her Seattle.

As she jogged to centerfield, she scanned the audience, grinning when she heard Sami's voice among the shouts accompanying her arrival to the field. She distinctly heard Dylan Cox screaming, "KICK THEIR ASSES, MASON!" from where he stood down the bench from Sami and Isaiah. Ashton elbowed him in the ribs to shut him up.

Rosalie high-fived Ray on her way, who muttered, "Thank God. I was about to kick Joanna's ass."

"I could tell," Rosalie laughed.

Rosalie squared up just outside of the ring, facing the Lions' center forward. After losing time with the switch, the game picked up again without further delay. Rosalie didn't have time to process any pregame anxiety before the ball was in motion.

In an instant Rosalie was checking the center forward Lion, their shoulders butting as Rosalie backed into them, blocking them from running to the goal. They danced around one another, cleats scraping against one another, each step within an inch of the other. Rosalie put her arms out to block as she watched the ball be picked up by Erin's Lion, who was being countered by both Alyssa and Erin.

They lost the ball to Alyssa, who dodged the Lion and sent it off to Erin, who ran with it over centerfield with the roar of the crowd behind her. Rosalie ducked away from the center forward and sprinted for it, leaping over the center line as the Lion's cleats threatened to trip her. They were neck-in-neck—there was no way Erin would pass her the ball with this girl on her tail.

She skirted forward, twisting around the Lion and doubling back. She curved around and was met with the Lion defender, intent on keeping the fight between Erin and the other defender just halfway from centerfield to the penalty box.

"Nice try," the girl said in mock pity. Rosalie sneered at her and the number 18 on her chest.

With Ray only dealing with one Lion, Erin sent the ball soaring across the field. It skidded in the grass, twisting down the field where Ray ran to meet it. She kicked it back, arms out to block her opponent, and went in for the kill. By this time, the defender on Rosalie abandoned her in favor of helping block the shot, so Rosalie sprinted to the open corner of the penalty box, closing in to the sideline for a narrow shot when Ray passed to her and she automatically ricochetted it into the goal.

The speed of the sequence was enough to baffle the goalie from initially waiting on Ray, and then realizing too late that the ball had completely missed the goal. At that point, the goalie had already dove for Ray's kick to Rosalie, so she had left the goal open for the taking.

Rosalie leapt in the air, fists up. Erin was on her in a second, clapping her on the back as they headed for center field.

As they walked, Rosalie gained a clear view of Joanna in the opposite goal, arms crossed.

Thankfully, though, Joanna was paying attention now more than before. However, she was left on edge for the majority of the play after Rosalie's kickoff, which spurred a volley from one end of the court to the other. Alyssa and a Lion collided near the sideline, and due to the long scuffle before then and the fact that they were away from the Lions' goal, one of the Lions kicked the ball out of bounds for a corner kick that Ray took.

Ray reeled back and tossed it to centerfield. Rosalie judged the height as she prepared for the pass, shoulder-to-shoulder with the Lions' center forward. They both leapt for it and it smacked into Rosalie's chest and bounced to her feet. She glided it backwards, kicking it away from the Lion's cleats. She turned and was tripped by their other teammate.

She staggered forward, arms out, but the ball was already gone. They were heading for Joanna now.

Joanna had her arms folded up to the very moment when the Lion realized that she wasn't dealing with the same goalie as before. The instant she went for the kick just before the penalty box, she gave Joanna more than enough time to gauge the direction of the kick, the force, and dove for it. It went to the top corner, but Joanna vaulted from the grass, cleats lifting several feet from the ground. Her gloves reached it, and as she pulled it to her chest, she collided with the net and bounced back in time to hear the crowd screaming.

Rosalie looked over at where Sami and Isaiah were, only to snort and laugh at the sight of a neon pink sign being held up by Dylan with Joanna's name on it.

Joanna's comeback stole them a few extra seconds upon her toss. She went for Erin, who gained several yards closer to the center line where Rosalie opened up for a pass. From there, she tore down the turf with the ball spinning in front of her, whistling through the grass. She juggled and weaved it around the Lions' defenders before swiping the outside of her cleat into the stitches of the ball, kicking it back to Erin, who immediately bounced to to Ray across the field.

Speed was of the essence, and with it, they scored another point on the Lions.

The circumstances warranted some level of suspicion from the Lions, though, so from that point onwards, all defenses were on lockdown. Scoring was impossible, and given Alyssa's built-up rage from dealing with Joanna before, she took it out on the Lions and wound up almost getting flagged on top of dealing bruises left and right. Rosalie didn't blame her, but it wasn't long before she was out of breath from running, and the sharp, cold autumn air felt like needles in her throat.

At halftime, they replenished themselves with water at the benches. Rosalie popped the cap on her bottle and squeezed water into her mouth as all of the girls gathered around. They were all circled up by the time Joanna made her way off of the field and to the bench.

Coach had her eyes on Joanna through all of it, and when Joanna got around to joining the group, her mouth to her water bottle, everyone was staring at her.

Joanna swallowed her water before saying, "What? Stop staring at me."

"You're such a little shit," Coach said, and the girls all giggled and covered their mouths. Rosalie rolled her eyes. Coach rubbed a hand down the side of her face. "Dalby's out for the rest of the game. Minor concussion, but we don't want to take any chances so her parents are taking her to get it checked out."

"Yikes, not again," Ray whispered to Rosalie, who grimaced. She couldn't imagine one concussion, let alone several.

"And might I remind you, Spencer," Coach went on. Just about everyone in the circle tensed up at the sound of Coach's harsher, scolding tone. "You're on this team to avoid suspension. It's one thing to go around punching people, but your place on this team is still up to me."

"We're at the end of the conference. Kicking me now isn't really a choice," Joanna said. Rosalie bristled, eyeing her sharply to keep her mouth shut, but the message didn't translate.

Coach narrowed her eyes at Joanna, who pursed her lips and looked out at the field. "Keep up the good work and we'll see if we can win this," Coach said.

* * *

Rosalie remembered the last concussion Jade Dalby had. It was a minor concussion, but it still sucked just as much as a full-blown one. The following day Rosalie and Sami went to visit and found her vomiting bile in her bathroom.

"Imma turn the light on," Sami said, slapping his hand against the switch.

The second the lights flashed on, Jade groaned, eyes squeezed shut, "No, no, turn them off. The light hurts."

"Sounds like a hangover to me," Sami muttered to Rosalie, who shoved him further into the bathroom and turned the lights off for her. "How're you feeling?"

Jade slumped against the wall beside the toilet paper holder and held the back of her hand to her mouth. "Like crap," she said, sniffing. She was pale as could be—not that either of them could tell since the lights were off and all they could really see was illuminated by the half-closed curtains in her bedroom.

"Sorry guys. Could you, um, could you hand me the mints on the counter?" she asked, pointing to the sink.

"Sure," Sami said, and while he picked them up, Rosalie passed Jade a towel and crouched in front of her.

Jade rubbed her mouth clean with a shaky sigh and thanked her. "Kinda feels like my head is clogged with sewage," Jade told her.

"I'm sorry."

"Yeah, well, I'd feel okay if we wound up winning anyways," she said. Rosalie offered a weak smile, but her battle scars from the Adam's game stung too much. If they had won, it would all be numb. But they didn't. Yet again.

"We'll get 'em back. We've got some time still," Rosalie said, looking down at her hands. She relayed what their captain asked Rosalie to say to Jade. Rosalie was co-captain until the seniors graduated.

As the captain and a senior, Rosalie managed to beat Adams once, and she swore to do it again. Only, Jade was out of the running for this go. They'd just have to win so that Jade could fight future battles. This wouldn't be the end of their soccer career together.

* * *

Controlling the field meant controlling the direction Adams took towards their goal, if they came that far. Considering the drills Joanna brought from Kaiserslautern, it gave the team extra footing in understanding the way Adams worked, and the way Joanna's success rate continued under the basics of scoring distance. Of course, her secrets were kept under wraps until late in the season when Kaiserslautern practices were implemented in preparation for dealing with Adams again. Their first run with Adams didn't exactly supply a reasonable timeline.

Rosalie recalled the thrill of beating Joanna at her game before she even understood the premise of Joanna's success. Her and the other forwards used speed when speed wasn't even the winning point with Joanna. It was never about speed, but it worked if the timing was right.

"It's just luck," Joanna told Ray from around her mouthguard. She popped it out the second Ray rose her eyebrows and opened her mouth to argue.

"Then tell us why we've scored on you twice now," Alyssa called out from centerfield.

Joanna swiped up the ball from where it was caught in the loose netting on the grass and turned to slam it into Ray's chest. Ray snickered. "Looks like someone's bitter about losing."

"Stop bothering her so we can get back to work," Rosalie said, gesturing sharply towards centerfield where Alyssa threw her arms up, looking every bit as argumentative as she wanted to be. She just looked pleased with being on the side of the field that scored on Joanna.

"Tell that to the two points we have on you," Joanna spat in Ray's direction. She shoved Ray back by the soccer ball again. "And you're breaking the form again. I thought we were supposed to be following my plan."

"That's right," Coach shouted from the sidelines. She clapped her hands at them all and said, "Everyone, places! We've only got time for two more."

Rosalie watched Ray turn on her heels and march off for the center. She tossed the ball at Erin, who was playing center for the opposing scrimmage team. Rosalie turned to Joanna, halfway to the penalty line. "Did you lie to Coach when you said you've been looking into the Adam's goalie?"

"Maybe," Joanna said. She clapped her gloved hands together and grinned, wide enough for her septum piercing to rest on her upper lip. She gave a nonchalant shrug. "Doesn't matter. You all need to practice close-quarters anyways."

"We all need to?" Rosalie said, smiling at Joanna's cheeky grin. Rosalie laughed. "Whatever. I doubt that's your kryptonite."

"You'd be surprised," Joanna said.

She was right, though. The speed became predictable then, and their own scrimmage defenders were on the ball the third time around and intercepted the quick, volleyed passes from one side of the goal to the other. They couldn't rely on speed, not with Adams. Their players would pick up on it within the first two attempts.

Getting up close and personal, though, that was a tactic that might get them somewhere. Joanna often confined herself to the goal, and when her defenders failed, it brought the opposing team into the penalty box as close to the goal post threshold as Joanna's