Chapter 1: Chapter 1

The Good Keeper

For young children and early teens

The benchwarmer

“And we are live here folks, with a thrilling game of football between Aberdeen High and Pittsburg high. And it looks like a penalty shoot-out will decide this one between the two sides!” said a commentator high up in the stands as the two teams were getting ready for a penalty shoot-out.

The crowd roared with anticipation at the prospect of witnessing their respective high school teams go head to head in a football penalty shoot-out.

“This is thrilling, I hope Aberdeen High wins this one!” said a blonde, blue-eyed, tall and pretty girl named Marissa Walker who was on the cheerleading team; cheering Aberdeen High on.

“I hope so too!” said her not as tall, brunette friend Sam Lawless in agreement as they were looking on to witness the first penalty being taken.

“And it looks like Aberdeen High is taking the first penalty kick with Pittsburg High to try and save this one.” said the commentator up in the stands watching the run-up to the penalty kick.

“And it’s gone in, Aberdeen High have hit this one in!” said the commentator in excitement as Aberdeen High had struck first successfully.

The crowd along with the players on the pitch looked on in anticipation at the run up which a Pittsburg player was taking. He kicked the ball with a lot of force with his outer left foot only to be guessed right by the Aberdeen High goalkeeper Marcus who managed to block the shot away with his fists.

The supporters of Aberdeen High were ecstatic! Their team was leading one-nil on penalties.

“And Aberdeen High, have the lead! They are one-nil up on penalties, all thanks to their goalkeeper Marcus whose strong save gives them the lead!” said the commentator enthused at the spectacle he had just witnessed.

Then another player from Aberdeen High stepped up to take the second penalty. His shot went straight into the middle of the goal with the goalkeeper from Pittsburg High guessing the wrong way and diving to his right side instead of staying still.

“And Aberdeen High go two-nil up folks!” said the commentator who was analyzing the penalty shootout as it was progressing.

“I hope we win, it’ll be so awesome if we win!” said Marissa, excited by the spectacle at hand.

“I hope so too, that we win.” agreed Sam

A teammate from Pittsburg High went forward to take his penalty kick. He hit the ball hard, beating Marcus and curling beautifully into the top right corner. It was game on at two-one!

“And the score is now two-one to Aberdeen High folks.” said the commentator, commentating in the stands in his commentary box.

Aberdeen High’s supporters were now a bit nervous, as could be seen by their facial expressions.

Another footballer from Aberdeen High’s team made his way forward to take the spot-kick. He placed the ball down and, with a lot of concentration, took the spot-kick nailing it straight into the bottom right corner. It was three-two to Aberdeen High’s favor!

“And it’s three-two to Aberdeen High’s favor folks…it looks like these young lads came practicing their spot kicks for today’s game.” said the commentator remarks on the performance of the whole Aberdeen High team.

Subsequently, the Aberdeen High team supporters were cheering their team on to a ferocious level.

A Pittsburg High player made his way forward, carrying on his shoulders the job of successfully converting from the penalty spot. He struck the ball high, straight into the roof of the net. The score was three-two.

“And the score is now three-two Ladies and Gentleman. It looks like Pittsburg High is not going down without a fight.” remarked the commentator on the performance of the whole Pittsburg team.

Then stepped up Marcus himself, to try and take the penalty kick for Aberdeen High. He stepped up with a lot of confidence in the face of the goal. His big muscular frame and his long curly hair were making a run for their money as Marcus confidently looked into the opposing goalkeeper’s eyes and shot straight into the top left corner. He had hit it with a lot of power and accuracy to make the score four-two to his team’s favor!

“And Marcus, the goalkeeper for Aberdeen, has almost sealed qualification into the next round for his team after his powerful shot went in. No chance whatsoever of stopping that one!” said the commentator impressed by the young goalkeeper’s performance.

The next and possibly last penalty kick taker for Pittsburg High came forward. His shirt had Anderson written on the back, and he had nervousness written all over his face, and why wouldn’t he be nervous, after all his team needed him to put one into the back of the net to still keep their hopes of qualification alive. If he missed this one, then they had lost the match and been knocked out of the tournament.

He made his run-up slowly to take the spot-kick. In front of him was Marcus, the Aberdeen High goalkeeper who was taunting him “Come forward already and miss your shot!” he jeered.

Anderson hit his shot with so much power hoping to shut Marcus up that his shot went high and wide just above the crossbar towards the right side of the post. It seemed that Marcus had aggravated him so much that to shut Marcus up and try to secure progression to the next round, he hit the ball so hard and high that he missed it completely! Which therefore meant that Aberdeen High had won this match four-two on penalties!

“And he has missed it! He misses it, ladies and gentlemen! It goes over the crossbar and wide off of the target. Which means Aberdeen High have won four-two on penalties and are going through to the next round of the inter-state High School tournament. While Pittsburg has played their last match of this campaign, we can wish em better luck next time!” said the commentator reviewing the game after Aberdeen High had come out victorious after their encounter with Aberdeen High.

The Aberdeen High supporters went ecstatic! After witnessing a thrilling penalty shootout, their team had progressed to the next round of the Inter-state High School Football Tournament. Their supporters were chanting “Aberdeen High…Aberdeen High….Aberdeen High” as loud as they possibly could.

“Yay, I just knew we were gonna win!” said Marissa Walker excited and thrilled as her team had progressed. “Indeed, it was a thrilling encounter, and Marcus has an exceptional presence on the pitch,” said Sam noticing.

Sam was right, Marcus did have an empowering influence on the pitch as his muscular framework gave him an advantage and made him seem bigger when coming forward to face him. He also seemed to taunt and jeer the opposition team players so as to have a psychological advantage over them during a game like in this case. He made Anderson miss his penalty by getting into his head and aggravating him. Marcus would do similar psychological actions in almost every game he played.

Nevertheless, it got him cheers from his supporters and from his teammates who would chant his name “Marcus…Marcus…Marcus,” in gratitude for his performances on the pitch.

As soon as the match was over and the Pittsburg High players had come forward to shake hands and congratulate Aberdeen High for their victory, Marcus had refused to shake hands with them arrogantly saying “I don’t shake hands with losers, especially those that can’t even take a decent penalty!”

“He is an arrogant one, isn’t he!” remarked the captain of Pittsburg High while shaking the hands of Oliver Peabody, the captain of Aberdeen High.

“Never mind him, he’s always like this! We tell him to play fair and clean and not to aggravate and taunt the opposing players, but he just replies, “Hey, I’m just doing my thing, playing football!” said Oliver Peabody, comforting the captain of Pittsburg High.

As the players made their ways towards the dressing rooms ready to hit the showers, there was a young lad who was sitting on the corner right-hand side of the substitute bench of Aberdeen High. He still had his football training bib on as he was an unused substitute for his team. He looked on as his team won four-two on penalties and how the scoreline was nil-nil during the entire game. He felt unused and underutilized throughout. His name was Shane Foster, and he was an average height brown-haired, faintly handsome young man, and he was the second choice goalkeeper for Aberdeen High.

It wasn’t a lot of fun being the second choice goalkeeper for a football team thought Shane as he didn’t get to play a single minute in this ‘Inter-State High School Football Tournament’. He could only come on the pitch if he were ever used as a replacement for Marcus, were he ever to get injured or ever receive a red card. Marcus was not known for getting himself injured very quickly, and he would only aggravate the opposing players the right amount, just about enough to get a telling off, never just about enough to get a sending off or even a booking for that matter. What’s more, Marcus was known to act very mean towards Shane since he used to consider himself superior over him since he was the first choice goalkeeper and used to do a pretty good job between the sticks, whereas Shane was just the second choice goalkeeper. Shane was just the backup. Marcus used to pride himself on having the no one on the back of his team jersey as compared to Shane’s no 13.

While Shane stood there pondering over the game and maybe how differently it could have ended for himself were he to have started the match and played all the way up to the final whistle of the game. Would they still have won? Or would they have lost? Or would they have conceded? Pondered Shane.

He was ‘the bench warmer,’ he thought to himself.

Just then, his friend Kevin came forward with his training bib still on him and pulled him out of his chain of thoughts.

“You coming already? We did win, you know! Cmon, let’s go hit the dressing room, we may not have played a single minute of the game, but at least we’re a part of the winning team!” said Kevin trying to console Shane.

You see, Shane and Kevin had been best buddies ever since. They spent their childhood together and their high school years together and spent whatever free time they had with each other. Whenever one was upset or in a state of melancholy, the other could immediately realize and guess what state of mind their friend was in.

Kevin, like his best buddy Shane, had also not played a single minute of the game as he too was an unused sub on the bench.

“You’re lucky you at least got to make your first appearance for Aberdeen High. I haven’t even got a single cap for my High School this whole tournament.” wailed Shane.

“I got my first cap several matches ago and haven’t made an appearance since I know it’s difficult for you now, but trust me, things will improve.” cheered Kevin up.

“I hope so!” said Shane in a low voice, as they hit the dressing room and the showers.

“I mean, what’s the point of taking a shower when we didn’t even get ourselves sweaty and dirty?!” questioned Shane.

“It’s part of being in a team, you gotta take a shower after every game!” replied Kevin.

“Oof…watch it dweeb!” said Marcus as Shane had accidentally bumped into him.

“Sorry,” said Shane in a lowtimid voice, apologizing.

“Watch where you’re going next time, and maybe if your vision were a little clearer, you could have a little more chance of getting some playing time on the field!” jeered Marcus making fun of him and sticking his tongue out.

Shane and Kevin walked away.

“Grrrr…he makes me so angry sometimes….sometimes, I just wish I could give him a piece of my mind and my fists!” said Shane to Kevin, clinching his fists as soon as they were about to each enter their respective showers.

“Let’s not forget; he is bigger than you, which also means he can cream you if he likes!” reminded Kevin.

Shane groaned in annoyance after being reminded. He did not understand Marcus’s arrogance and bad attitude.

After taking their showers and making their way home, Kevin told Shane, “Awww keep your chin up, so you’re a bench warmer…big deal! A lot of great athletes were first bench warmers only to go on to achieve great things later in life.”

“Sigh, I just hope you’re right,” said Shane with a sigh as they came to the intersection where they would each go their separate ways. They waved to each other and walked off separately, looking at the sunset towards their different destinations hoping for a better turn of events that the near future was to bring.

As soon as Shane had reached home, his Mum Gertrude had come forward to greet him. She was a kind, sweet and good-natured woman who took sole responsibility for raising and supporting Shane on her own.

You see, Shane had lost his father when he was just a mere infant. Since then, his mum had taken full responsibility on her hands of upbringing Shane in the best possible environment and the best possible manner. By teaching him the differences between right and wrong and trying and make him as well mannered and humble as possible. She bore all this responsibility on her lone self.

As soon as Shane entered, she asked, “How was your game, dear? Did your team win?”

Shane replied, “Game was fine, it ended four-two on penalties with us winning the penalty shootout. No one was able to score a single goal throughout the match.”

“Well, I’m happy that your team won! Did you enjoy yourself during the game sweetie?” she asked

“Game was fine, I guess, we won that’s the more important thing,” replied Shane in a soft voice, which gave the assumption that he was hiding something.

“Is everything alright, dear?” asked his Mum, earnestly.

“Everything’s fine, Mum, the important thing is that we won,” said Shane, quickly seating himself on the kitchen table, getting ready for his supper. He just didn’t want to continue the conversation anymore because he felt embarrassed to let his mum know that her son hadn’t played a single minute of football during this entire Inter-State High School tournament and he didn’t know either as to when he would ever get a chance to shine on a football pitch.

His mum took out his supper. It was broccoli and spinach stew with a hint of beef. Shane looked at it and didn’t feel hungry anymore. Nonetheless, he started eating it and didn’t once complain about it since he knew the trouble his mum had gone to prepare it. You see, Shane’s mum Gertrude was the single breadwinner for herself and Shane, which meant that she used to have four part-time jobs during the week to fully support herself and her son. As a result, she hardly got any time for herself and Shane and also her pocket and budget used to stay tight almost all the time. Whatever she would prepare for supper would be the best they could afford and whatever she could muster up, given the little time for cooking.

Their house was also tiny and cramped, with not much space between the living room and the kitchen. Shane’s place upstairs used to serve the purpose of both a bedroom for Shane and an attic for their old belongings. They couldn’t afford new cups and pans and saucers and unique things for that matter. Whatever they had, they made the most of it and tried to prolong them as much as possible.

That night after supper, Shane went to bed early and thought to himself in bed, “What must I do to finally get out there on the pitch and finally prove myself?”

The Dream Girl

The next day, Shane got up early to go to his high school. He was in senior year, and he was looking for a college scholarship to support himself during his college years. He was hoping for a sports scholarship that could, of course, only come through extraordinary performances on the football field. Something that was seeming like a mere fantasy to Shane who now began to think realistically, “Do I have any chance at all of playing even a single minute in this whole Inter-State High School Tournament?”

Did he sit down on the breakfast table eating eggs while his mum Gertrude asked him about his college plans?

“What plans have you thought of for college, sweetie?”

“I haven’t decided yet,” said Shane in a low voice

“Haven’t decided yet? What do you mean by haven’t decided yet! It’s senior year, and you have to think about how you’re going to support yourself in college, or even go to college for that matter! I can’t continue supporting us like this forever, you know! Either get a job and save up some money for community college or try and get a sports scholarship as you’ve always dreamed of and get into a better college then as compared to a community college!” snapped his mum Gertrude at the lack of direction and action displayed by her son.

“Ugh, I know mum; you’re right,” said Shane with a groan.

“Getting into a college is very important, you know, it’s the only way you can properly support yourself and live comfortably; otherwise, you’ll just be doing odd jobs like me!”

“Ugh, you’re right mum, I’ll go and look for something and find something out,” said Shane finishing up his eggs and heading for Aberdeen High.

He reached class and seated himself next to Kevin, where he greeted him. While in class, he saw that Marcus was still boasting about his performance yesterday.

“And did you see the way I saved that penalty, ooh-ooh, and how I made that Anderson guy miss that penalty, oh, and I also kept a clean sheet yesterday…” Marcus went on and on bragging about his performance against Pittsburg High the other day.

Just as Shane thought he couldn’t take any more of it, in walked Marissa Walker and her friend Sam Lawless.

Shane went quiet as a mouse and just froze in his chair.

He had a crush on her for as long as he could remember. When she walked in, it was like he forgot about the rest of the world and all that was going on around him. He never meant to stare at her too long or even let her notice that he had a crush on her; he was just too shy to approach her or ask her out or also just to go forward and say hello. He just couldn’t overcome his shyness.

He thought to himself as he saw her blonde ponytail and her beautiful face that he could just stare at forever, and he saw how well she carried herself. “She’s the perfect girl, the dream girl!”

Marissa, on the other hand, never really took notice of Shane, and it never occurred to her that Shane could ever have a thing for her. He never spoke to her, or even tried talking to her, that was just how shy he was.

“Sit down, Marcus! We’re all tired of you jabbering about how awesome you think you are!” said Marissa, who didn’t want to hear Marcus going on and on about himself.

“Hmpf, I think you’re just jealous!” said Marcus folding his arms and looking the other way.

“Of what? How would I be jealous of you?” questioned Marissa, who by now was beginning to wonder his sense of proper reasoning.

“Well, I…uh…um…uh… Of being in the cheerleaders' section and watching me win the game for Aberdeen High!” said Marcus in a desperate attempt.

“Raaaiiighht, like I’d be jealous of you being on the football pitch, and me being in the cheerleaders stands!” said Marissa sarcastically while making Marcus look stupid in front of the whole class.

“I was a man of the match in yesterday’s game!” said Marcus in one final desperate attempt to defend his statement.

“Whatever!” said Marissa, seating herself on her chair with Sam sitting right next to her.

“You’re just as much of a loser as this wimp, Shane, here, he doesn’t have it in him to be a proper member of the football team. He and his loser friend have, positively, without a shadow of a doubt, no chance of making it into the football team this entire tournament!” jeered Marcus.

“Hey, who are you calling a loser!” said Kevin, who stood up feeling insulted by all of this.

“I’m calling you a loser along with your friend Shane here! Poor guys don’t even get a single minute of playing time!” said Marcus talking back shamelessly.

“Leave these guys alone! Just do everybody a favor and seat yourself quietly!” said Marissa intruding into all of this feeling she should do something to help those two out.

“What do you care!?” asked Marcus aggressively.

“Marissa is right Marcus, please do everyone a favor and kindly seat yourself in your chair,” said Oliver Peabody, the Aberdeen High football team captain folding his arms.

“Hmpf …losers!” said Marcus seating himself down.

Everyone settled down and got ready for class afterward. Their teacher Mr. Crawford came in and took their course.

Oliver used to feel he was responsible for his teammates and their attitudes on and off the pitch. He never wanted any sort of hostility or ill intentions to creep in within his teammates.

Marissa, on the other hand, wasn’t fond of Marcus at all. She found him to be boastful and arrogant and mean, especially towards Shane. She never really used to take notice of Shane in any way but used to feel sorry for him whenever he used to get picked on by Marcus.

Kevin didn’t use to take Marcus’s words too kindly; in fact, he would always talk back whenever Marcus would try to belittle him or Shane. He didn’t use to get intimidated by Marcus’s muscular and powerful physique.

On the other hand, his friend Shane would never even try and talk back to Marcus as he either felt below him to put Marcus in his place or, rather, he would get intimidated by his muscular physique. Whichever used to be the case in whichever scenario, he would never talk back to Marcus whenever he was picked on by him.

After regular school hours had ended at Aberdeen High, it was football practice for the football team and cheerleading practice for the cheerleading team.

“I hope we get some playing time for the next match, they say there’s a college scout who’s monitoring the matches to give a college scholarship to the next breakout athlete participating in these matches,” said Kevin excitedly to Shane.

“What do you mean?” inquired Shane, who suddenly became keen to find out what Kevin was saying.

Kevin answered, “What I mean is, is that a college Scout from Manchester University is going to start going to all of the matches in this tournament from the next round while monitoring the performances of all the players performing.”

“Wow, that does sound neat!” said Shane, thrilled all of a sudden.

Kevin went on, “The criteria lies on individual performances…how many times he has been voted man of the match, …how much leadership he displays and how much he helps his team, his presence on the pitch and how much his team benefits from having him, how well he gets on with rival players and for fair conduct and following the rules in every single match.”

“Wow, that’s a lot of criteria there,” said Shane, stunned.

He continued, “By the way, where do you find out about all this?”

Kevin replied, “The internet… I’ve been finding out about all this stuff there, on the Inter-State High School Tournament website.”

Just then, while they had been walking and making their way towards the football field, they came across the bleachers, and while they were passing by, they heard Sam Lawless’s voice all of a sudden. “And which college are you going to?”

“The University of Manchester, of course!” said a familiar voice.

Shane and Kevin slowly peeked to see who was behind the bleachers and, to their pleasant surprise, saw Marissa Walker talking to her friend Sam Lawless. They were in their cheerleading outfits, getting ready for cheerleading practice.

Shane got excited all of a sudden when he found out that it was Marissa’s voice that said, “The University of Manchester, of course!” He had always dreamed of spending a lifetime with her or at the very least four years of college! And now he finally had a way of doing just that, but all that was coming in his way was the scholarship he needed to avail that opportunity.

“I’m probably just going to stay here and try my college options locally,” said Sam talking to Marissa.

She continued, “And you’ve also got the grades for it… it looks like you’ll be perfect for Manchester University!”

“Let’s hope so, I’m hoping to have a good four years of my life there, but I just wish someone I know from here would accompany me there. It’s going to get lonesome all by my lone self there,” said Marissa informing Sam about her college plans.

“You’ll make new friends there and who knows…maybe even get a chance to meet some cute boys!” said Sam snickering.

“I hope so too, but I still wish that someone from Aberdeen High was also coming along with me,” concluded Marissa snickering.

Shane and Kevin, without getting noticed, slowly and quietly tip-toed their way to the football field for practice.

“She is so beautiful, it’s like the world stops moving and time stops ticking when I look at her! I just wish I could look at her forever!” said Shane as they were walking by. He began to see stars whenever he saw Marissa in her pretty cheerleading outfit.

“Dude, then just go and ask her out!” said Kevin, who never understood why his friend never did just that.

“Are you crazy!? She would never go out with me, besides I’d hardly have the money to take her out on a proper date!” explained Shane.

“Dude, you’re counting yourself out before even trying! You should justify yourself and go and ask her out before somebody else does! And besides, you can go out on a date without spending money, like take her out to the park or something; that won’t cost you anything! Chicks love going to the park to see some butterflies and other stuff like that!” snapped Kevin at the lack of confidence displayed by Shane.

“I know…you’re right, it’s just that….” but before Shane could complete his sentence, the football team coach called those two.

“Come on out here, already you two! Training began five minutes ago…get in gear and get on that field and give me everything you got!” instructed the coach, giving them their marching orders.

“We’ll talk about this later,” said Kevin as he and Shane marched for training. Kevin would just never understand the reason for Shane’s shyness.

During training, Shane was busy practicing saves from the penalty area, and he was busy training to save headers during corner kicks and to take goal kicks.

After a string of excellent saves and an overall decent performance, suddenly, Shane managed to pull off a complete howler! He got the ball served at him to save from the penalty spot and managed to hold onto it for a split-second as it came straight at his hands, but there was no moment of glory for him as he accidentally let it loose from his grasp and it went slowly bouncing into the net.

Almost everyone except for Kevin burst into laughter at the sight of what they had just witnessed. Kevin was holding himself back from bursting into laughter because he didn’t want Shane to feel even worse than what he was already feeling at that very moment.

It was a comical scene for everyone to witness as he let the ball go into the back of the net after failing to grasp onto the ball properly.

Even everyone from the cheerleading team started laughing at him as they had watched him performing a sensational blooper from a nearby distance. Even Marissa Walker and Sam Lawless were giggling.

Shane felt especially embarrassed after seeing that Marissa, the girl he had a crush on for so long; even she was laughing at his moment of sheer embarrassment.

“Okay, that’s enough, everyone, get back to training!” said the coach getting his players back to training while he was controlling his laughter.

As Shane’s teammates were slowly getting back to their football training and the cheerleading team back to their Cheerleading practice, Marcus came forward and taunted, “Ha! No wonder you haven’t played a single minute this entire tournament! With bloopers like that, you’ve yourself proven why you’re such a benchwarmer!”

Meanwhile, Marissa was overhearing this entire scenario with Sam in the near distance.

Shane slowly lowered his head due to embarrassment as he didn’t take Marcus’s words very kindly and, as a result, started feeling disheartened by them.

“That’s enough, Marcus,” said Kevin interfering.

“Oh, so you’re going to stick with your pal, huh? Well, no wonder you’re such benchwarmer buddies! Proving time and again why you’re rightful places are on the bench while I make the saves for Aberdeen High!” said Marcus boasting.

With this, both Shane and Kevin were silenced. He had hurt them where it seemed to hurt the most. The fact that Kevin used to get very little game time and Shane hadn’t gotten any at all during the entire tournament had seemed to silence them, for even Kevin didn’t know how he could possibly come up with a reply to Marcus’s statement. This had left a feeling of melancholy within both of them who had just been hit where it hurt the most.