[ Wow this chapter was a long time coming. Sorry for the wait! I wanted to get the chapter up before I went on vacation, but obviously that didn't happen, so here it is! I will promise the next chapter will be out either tomorrow or Friday! Enjoy! ]

They both sat on the beach around the huge bonfire pit, wrapped in a blanket sitting on the sand that was still hot from the sun beaming down the entire day. There was smore supplies stowed away in the pantry, as well as the beer in the fridge, and they took it all out with them by the bonfire. Casey leaned into him, listening to his heartbeat race every time she traced circles around his knee. She had been in love with Jackson since she first laid eyes on him years ago, and she could not believe she was sitting on a beach with him watching the flames dance in front of them. Music played from a speaker somewhere beside them, country music swaying through the air, Jackson moving back and forth with the beat.

"This is nice." He hummed in her ear, wrapping his arms around her. She felt warm in his arms, calm at his touch. She did not respond, but he knew how she felt. He was not sure how to process his feelings, though. He loved her as a friend, his best friend, of course, and he always thought she was a wonderful person, but he never would have thought she would be the one he would get into a relationship with. He never felt the butterflies he had right then when he was around her, and he never wanted that feeling to go away. Sure, he had suggested taking her out on a date, but now he knew that his decision to ask was the right one.

He just was not sure where things would go from right here.

They were going to move on to two separate lives in the coming months. He was now getting a bigger offer from Georgia State, and that was where he originally wanted to go. Sure, they had most of the summer, but he knew she was most likely going to get called into camp and head to the U-20s World Cup in the coming months, but he also knew she was hoping to get called up to the senior team in the coming month. It was only early May, so there were a few more friendlies before the roster is released, but she was hopeful for the Olympics, and she had expressed that to him numerous times.

It was nearing one in the morning, and the both of them were still fully awake and having enjoyable conversation with one another. They ended up drinking a couple beers each, so they were going to stay the night, but that had been the original plan. Jackson was a partier, so he was only buzzed by this time, but he knew she did not drink often, so she was quite tipsy by the time they decided to let the fire burn out and head inside. He helped her up the steps but she was fine otherwise, but she still latched on to him for the support. He lead her to one of the ground floor bedrooms and let her get settled.

"Hey Jackson?" She called out softly as he went to turn off the lamp before leaving the room.

"What's up?" He responded, standing in the doorway.

"Thank you for such a wonderful first date. I had a ton of fun." She cooed with a smile on her face. He gave a soft sigh and smiled.

"Of course. I'll see you in the morning."

--

It was finally their last week of high school, and every senior that walked through the halls of Jefferson High School knew that their time was coming to an end. Most were excited, some had cried daily, but high school would be missed to everyone. That also meant it was their last week of league games for high school, and Casey could not be more excited to be able to leave her last mark on the school.

"Happy game day!" Riley shouted in her ear once she got to fourth hour, their last class of the day before they left for their game. It was away, but it was an hour drive and their junior varsity team played at three-thirty. It was one of their earlier games, considering their school does not let out until quarter to three.

"It's our last away game." Casey said with a smile, knowing how much their both hated away games. Their last game on Wednesday, which was also their last day of school, but it was at home, and it would be their senior night since it was also the last home game of the season.

"Thank God, I'm tired of going back and forth on a bus. Why don't they just let us drive ourselves? We wouldn't have to sit there for two hours waiting to play. It's wasting my time." Riley went on and on, complaining about their away games as usual.

"Riley, chill. It's our last one. Plus, what kind of time would you be wasting? You never do anything unless you're with me." She chuckled, and that got her a slap to the arm. Casey raised her hand, even though their teacher was still taking attendance.

"Riley hit me!" She said, and Riley tore her hand from the air. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding. Can't take a joke now can ya." She laughed, and her face turned red.

"Okay, not cool." She slouched down in her chair, tossing her arms in front of her as their teacher passed out the last bit of their review before their final tomorrow. It was for AP biology, and since they both took the AP exam along with half of the class, they would only have to answer a questionnaire about their time in the class, sort of like a reflection of the year.

"I still can't believe it. We're gonna be done with high school in two days." Casey sighed as she got her earbuds out to listen to music for the rest of the class period. They still had thirty minutes left of class, and it was one of the longest half hours of her life. Luckily they were going to be able to leave after that class; she would not be able to make it through her last hour.

She picked her head up from her desk when the bell rang and stood up, grabbing her bag from the floor and pushing against Riley's shoulder to wake her up as well. She groaned, Casey laughed, and the two of them left the classroom.

"Is your bag in your car?" Riley asked as they started walking towards the locker room.

"Yeah, I'm gonna run out and move my car to the back. You comin'?" She responded, but it was a stupid question because it was a usual feat.

"Just let me grab my bag from my locker." She answered as they walked up upon it. Suddenly an arm wrapped around her neck and a kiss was planted on her cheek, and she knew it was Jackson.

"Good luck today, I'm not gonna be able to make it, we have a mandatory conditioning today after school. I'll be there Wednesday, though." He said to the both of them.

"I'll see you tomorrow." Casey responded, and he pecked her cheek again before heading off to his last class for the day.

"So, I see your date went well." Riley chuckled, and she felt her cheeks redden.

"Yeah, it did." She answered, pushing her hair back behind her ear as they started to walk towards the main doors to head out to the parking lot. Their doorman knew that they left on certain days, so when they walked into the common area, there was no question as to them leaving the school.

"What did you guys do? I know you said something about a picnic, ice cream, and a fair?" She pushed as they walked across the parking lot to Casey's Jeep, for she had woken up a few minutes late to where she did not get her usual spot near the front of the school.

"We went on the picnic and ice cream, but then we went to aunt and uncle's cabin instead, which was a ton of fun." She explained, then continued to tell her everything that happened over the weekend as they drove around the school to the back parking lot. Casey changed into her uniform shorts but left her soccer t-shirt on and got out of the driver's seat. She grabbed her bag from the backseat and the two of them met the bus as it pulled up to transport them to their game. Riley continued to squeal everytime she said something adorable they did, but she hushed her as soon as they got on the bus because it was all very new and she did not need the attention. She turned her speaker on and connected her phone and they all got hype for their game.

By the time it came time for them to play, Casey felt antsy and she did not know why. She had peeked at the crowd and saw some familiar faces of friends and family making the drive to come watch them play in their second to last season game before districts. They were finally about to get out on the field, Casey going and doing the captain coin toss and getting to switch sides of the field so the wind was against them. This way is they were losing, they would have an easier time getting shots on goal in the second half.

But she did not see that problem occurring.

The whistle blew and the first forty minutes of the game were underway as the Stallions came charging down the field, having possession for the most part during the first ten minutes until the Dragons got a feel for the way the game was going to be played - aggressive and dirty. Casey made some difficult saves the first twenty minutes to keep them in the game before they were finally able to put the pedal to the metal and take control over the game, getting a few shots on net themselves before going scoreless into the half. Coach Henderson got them motivated again after taking a beating in the first half, and after a ten minute pep talk and water break, they took the field for the second half. They had possession to start the half, and they listened for the whistle to blow before taking off. They were eager, more motivated this half, and the Dragons found themselves getting an early goal to start the half.

The Stallions continued to be aggressive against them, fouls being called in favor of the Dragons, for they were all trained to play an aggressive but clean game. The ref missed a lot of them though, and eventually, the game got out of hand. The Stallions got a breakaway in the last minute of play, and it was between one of their forwards and Casey. She felt her heart pounding in her chest as she came out slowly, making herself bigger than she appeared. She looked for that mistake touch or the touch that put the ball just a little further out to take a shot off of. She waited for it, and saw it incredibly early and outside the box, but she slid out anyhow, getting down quickly and sliding her legs in front of the ball. She looked as the forward tried to leap over her, but failed, going spikes down on the back of her leg. Casey let out a small scream as Riley cleared the ball, staying on the ground as the offending forward got to her feet and saw the damage that she had done. Luckily, the game only had about ten seconds left by the time someone from the Stallions came to take the throw, but the referee had blown the whistle to stop play anyhow. She got to her knees.

"Casey stay on the ground." Riley shouted at her, and she gave her a death glare.

"Just keep it away for ten seconds. I'll be okay." She barked, giving a thumbs up to the referee to continue play as she backed into her net, limping as she did so. She felt her blood seeping down her leg and through her sock, but there was only ten seconds left of the game. The whistle blew and the Stallions took their throw in, going right for a line runner. She got a cross in, and Casey knew she should not go out for it, but there was a runner in her blind spot, so she needed to go up for the ball. She mustered the last bit of strength she had and leapt up for the ball, getting it in her hands as the final whistle blew, and she collapsed on the ground, letting the ball fall from her hands and remaining on the turf and breathing hard. Riley ran towards her and crouched down beside her, looking up to her coach and waving him over.

"I told you to stay on the ground." Riley warned, worry in her eyes.

"Ten seconds, Ri." She countered, hissing in pain. She tore her gloves from her hands and laid back down on the field, shielding her eyes from the overhead lights.

"Casey, you alright?" Coach Henderson asked as he and the staff trainer came out to the field.

"No, I don't want to look either." She answered as the trainer started to peel her sock down slowly, seeing the blood clumping in the fabric, even though it was black. He took a peek at the top half of the quarter inch deep, three inch long gash on the back of her leg, and instantly put the sock back in its place.

"Okay, Casey, don't freak out but I can't take your sock off without you losing more blood than you already have. John, I need you to call an ambulance. Also, the key is in the golf cart. Can you bring it over along with my med bag?" The medical trainer asked, and he instantly got back on his feet and ran over to the sideline. Their team huddled on the sideline to try and see what was wrong, but Coach Henderson told them everything was going to be fine and urged them to get back to their families.

"How bad is it?" Riley asked for her, looking to the trainer.

"Casey, you're gonna be fine, but you're gonna need stitches. It's gonna hurt to walk, so I don't know if you're going to be able to play on Wednesday, but you should be fine for districts." He told her, and Casey felt tears come to her eyes.

"That's our last game, though." She said with sorrow in her voice as Coach Henderson came back over, tossing the duffel bag of medical supplies to the trainer.

"Ambulance is on the way, and I grabbed your guys' bags and stuff." He said as he got off the golf cart. "The hardest thing you'll have to do on Wednesday is stand there and look pretty, Casey. We've got Robinson, we're gonna mercy them in the first twenty minutes. Take it easy, alright? We need you for districts next week." Coach Henderson said as the trainer went back to focusing on her leg, slowly peeling away her sock and stuffing a ton of gauze in and around the wound very gingerly. He taped it off and pulled her sock back up as a precaution.

"Why can't I stand for twenty minutes? I'll be okay." Casey argued.

"We'll see how it's healing, alright? If it's not looking good on Wednesday, you are starting and allowed to play for a few seconds before I sub Avery in." He responded, his words final. "You just need to focus on healing up."

"Ambulance should be here any minute. Let's cart you over by the front gate, alright?" The trainer interrupted, and Casey nodded. Riley and Coach Henderson helped Casey off the ground and they all got on the cart, and they drove over to the front gate. Every bump made her wince in pain, and her heart broke when she saw her parents' faces.

"Casey are you alright?' Her mother asked as the golf cart parked and they heard the ambulance sirens get closer.

"She's going to be okay, but she's got to get stitches and close this wound up fast. We called an ambulance so she could get in and out of the ER as quickly as possible because she's lost a bit of blood already." The trainer explain to them as the ambulance pulled up, turning the sirens off as they pulled up.

"This is just what I need this week." Casey grumbled under her breath as everyone started to swarm her.

Just what I need.