Jaided Read online

  JAIDED

  by

  ASHLEY ROSE

  OTHER BOOKS

  nondescript

  full court press

  brothers & Best friends

  Jaided

  Copyright 2013 Ashley Rose

  All Rights Reserved

  This story is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, incidents and events are either products of the author's imagination or used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual persons living or dead, places, events or locations is entirely coincidental.

  No part of this eBook may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the author/publisher, except in the case of brief quotations for the purpose of writing critical articles or reviews.

  Table of Contents

  Chapter 1

  Chapter 2

  Chapter 3

  Chapter 4

  Chapter 5

  Chapter 6

  Chapter 7

  Chapter 8

  Chapter 9

  Chapter 10

  Chapter 11

  Chapter 12

  Chapter 13

  Chapter 14

  Chapter 15

  Chapter 16

  Chapter 17

  Chapter 18

  Chapter 19

  Chapter 20

  Chapter 21

  Chapter 22

  Other Books

  Author's Note

  Newsletter

  Chapter 1

  Jaide knew her life depended on getting along with boys in this all-boy school, the one where she had suddenly become the only girl. That wouldn’t be easy. Most of the boys she had known smelled bad, had bad manners, and were rude and generally beastly. Despite the logistics of one girl living in a sea of testosterone, her father had made it happen. They both knew that this was the safest place for her. Here, she would receive a good education. Here, she would feel shielded from her past. At least, she hoped she would. She just hoped nobody would ask too many questions. After all, a female in a boys’ school was bound to raise eyebrows. As she approached her assigned room along the dormitory hall, Jaide felt her beauty could become a survival weapon. Boys were suckers for good looks.

  She knocked gently on the heavy mahogany door adorned with a brass number 12, anticipating a scrawny roommate the proctor said was named Ablaiza.

  No answer. It was mid-afternoon. Maybe he’d gone out.

  Jaide adjusted her backpack and withdrew a key from a zippered side pocket. The small sound of the zipper echoed down the hall, amplified many times over by her heightened sense of dread. Suppose he doesn’t like me, she thought, suppose I say the wrong thing?

  She knocked again - nothing.

  Jaide inserted the key and turned it noiselessly. The door swung open. There, on one of the twin beds covered with brown Army blankets, sat Ablaiza with his back to her. He was facing a mirror on the wall behind the bed, seated in a contorted Lotus position, huge earphones engulfing his ears. His hands patted out a rhythm on the bed. He wasn’t scrawny, and he even looked kind of normal. That is, until he spotted her in the mirror.

  Ablaiza jumped about six inches and spun around to face Jaide with a shout. “Gran madre de Dios! Who the heck are you?”

  Jaide stepped sideways, startled, and blurted, “I’m Jaide. I’m your new roommate.”

  “You’re a girl!”

  “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to scare you.”

  Ablaiza yanked off his earphones. Jaide could hear the faint beat of Green Tree doing Do You Believe Me across the room. "Didn't you read the letter they sent you?"

  “Who are they?”

  “The school.” She bit her lip. “I’m a special student.”

  “You sure as hell are! Jesus, you’re a girl!”

  Jaide shut the door and dropped her pack on the otherbed, and then extended her hand for what she hoped would be a handshake. She watched the shocked Ablaiza struggle out of his music-listening position and plant both feet firmly on the floor. She perceived no handshake would be forthcoming. He had a square, tan face, and what looked like a scraggly attempt to grow a mustache. He was “hot,” that was for sure. Under his bed, she spotted a pair of soccer shoes all tangled in a bundle of laces and cleats.

  “You play soccer?”

  “Yeah, and I’m due at tryouts right now.”

  “You better undo that mess,” she said, pointing to his shoes.

  “God, you’re bossy. And here I’m called Blaize, get it?”

  “Look,” she said, pulling a paper from her pack, “here’re my admittance credentials.” She smiled. “I’m legitimate, really.”

  “You are a girl in a boys’ school.”

  “Yes, and a very exclusive school at that, wouldn’t you agree? Exeter Creek School in Yakima, Washington.”

  “It was exclusive ‘til now.” He started struggling with his tangled shoes. “Shit.”

  “Oh, run along. I can undo that mess in no time. Girls are good at that. I’ll bring your shoes in a minute.”

  “Huh?”

  “You heard me.” She smiled again, this time a little sweeter. “I play soccer, too.”

  “It’s a boys’ team.”

  “We’ll see about that. Run along, roomie.”

  He rose, rather bewildered but tall, she thought, and on leaving, stuck his head back in the door. “Why couldn’t they give you your own room, you know, just for a girl?”

  “Rules. Gotta have a roommate,” she said. “Run along. I’ll be right there.”

  Jaide changed into her soccer gear and jogged down the hall, working on his cleats as she went. She had them unknotted by the time she reached the field.

  Boys were already there and stretching. She wasn't too late. A few boys were still gathering. She spotted Ablaiza in a group with some other boys, still getting their gear on.

  She strode up to them, dropped his cleats beside him and sat down.

  "Thanks ... what are you doing?"

  "What do you mean?"

  "Why do you have soccer stuff on?"

  "I'm trying out, remember? It is open try outs, right?"

  She smiled at the other boys. There were six of them, all looking at her. "So it's true, there is a girl going here."

  "Yep." She beamed.

  "Blaize, aren't you going to introduce us to your friend?"

  He just shook his head.

  "I'm Jaide, his roomie. Who are you guys?"

  "We're all his friends. I'm Alex, that's Chance and Garret, over there is Matt and Leith, and that's Bhrade. We all play on a summer team together."

  "Ohh, I see. Did you guys all play on this team last year?"

  "All except me," said Bhrade. "I just moved here this summer."

  "Cool."

  The coach, clipboard in hand, looked like a tanned but wrinkled version of Robert Redford with a hangover, his shaggy hair struggling out from under his baseball cap, his paunch distended over the rope belt of his gray sweats. "Ok boys!” he shouted, “Get off your assess! I want organized groups! Forwards, here! Mids, over there! Defenders go over there, and goalies inside the goal!"

  Everyone scattered to their groups and Jaide headed for midfielder with Matt and Leith. Chance and Alex headed for the defender group, Blaize and Garret went to the forwards and Bhrade headed for the goal.

  The coach interrupted her jog toward the Mids, raising his hand like a traffic cop. "So you're the girl who thinks she can play soccer with the boys, eh?"

  "I'm gonna try."

  "You won't get any special consideration."

  "I don't want any."

  "Good. You will get equal opportunities as the boys but not special treatment. That includes no girls’ locker room. There isn't one anyway. That is, if you make the t
eam." She nodded. She heard a few snickers.

  "Ok everyone, in case you didn't know, I am Coach Thacker. Coach Matthew Robinson is my assistant this year. I am going to spare you all the pep talk in the interest of time. Now, according to the new Athletic Code of Conduct, players from last year who made the team must go through tryouts as well." A few grumbles came from the boys. "If you ask me, it's a great idea." The grumbles disappeared. "I want a couple laps and then stretches. I don't want any pulled muscles today. Matthew, get them started."

  Matthew led the two laps at a brisk jog and Jaide kept pace easily. Most of the boys did too, though some were winded after the first lap. Jaide suppressed a laugh.

  Jaide glided along the second lap, taking in the scenery. The athletic fields spread out like endless carpets of green seascapes without any waves, just a few white chalked lines to show her boundaries. The rounded mountains crested to the West, beyond the white and brown brick classroom buildings, and over toward Seattle, where her banker father held court in a mansion almost as large as the entire Exeter Creek campus. But the boundaries, those demarking white lines, she thought as they completed the laps, boundaries were what the doctors said she needed to help her forget.

  As Matthew led stretches, she noticed a few boys just sitting, as if they thought they didn't need to stretch. She stood for partner stretches and looked about. Everyone in the circle was taken. Coach Matthew approached her a little sheepishly.

  "Need a partner?"

  She smiled and nodded. Unlike Coach Thacker, this Matthew fellow was a specimen of athleticism. He reminded her of her brother Tremaine, who was in his first year at nearby Central Washington University in Ellensburg.

  Mathew held her ankle while she stretched her hamstring. "You going out for midfielder?"

  "Yeah, I was gonna try for center but it sounds like it's already taken." She smiled a little.

  He grinned and dropped her leg, then held his arm out for the other one. "You're pretty flexible."

  "Yeah, it helps when slide tackling." She winked.

  They finished the stretches and Coach Thacker came over.

  "Ok boys and girl, everyone line up on the end line on each side of the goal and I'll tell you how this works."

  Everyone lined up quickly. Jaide knew it would be some sort of sprints. "First, I need a goalie. Ours graduated last year. You’ll have to run and be keeper so you'll have a disadvantage, but you better not be last. Who wants to do it?"

  Only Bhrade stepped out, but Jaide knew there had been more boys going out for goalie.

  "You new this year, boy?"

  "Yes, sir."

  "Experience?"

  "Starting varsity all three years at my old school, and on summer league."

  "I saw you play this summer."

  "Yes, sir."

  "Ok, anyone else? No? All right, everyone who might go for goalie step forward."

  Three boys shuffled forward. Jaide noticed they were the same ones who had looked like they didn’t need to stretch.

  "All right. Thank you for your time, gentlemen. You can leave now."

  The boys looked at the coach, dumbstruck.

  "You heard me. Leave. You didn't make the team."

  Looking highly pissed off, the outcasts strolled away toward the locker room, heads bowed.

  “Goalies must make sacrifices for their team. Those boys couldn't even handle a little one. How are they going to dive head first into an oncoming kick to save the game?"

  Everyone mumbled agreement with the coach.

  "You're the goalie, Bhrade. You better be good."

  "Ok, everyone will get a shot, no matter the position, at a penalty kick. You get two tries. If you miss the first shot, the team sprints two down and back and you don't shoot again. If you make it, the team doesn't run and you shoot again. If you miss this one, the team runs one down and back. If you make it, the team doesn't run at all. The person who misses doesn't get to run. They have to sit and watch their teammates run without them because of their failure. And if you, boy," he addressed Bhrade, "don’t give it 110 percent, I will know, and the team will run for the next two hours while you watch."

  Jaide gulped along with everyone else.

  “So you all make sure Bhrade keeps trying, boys and, uh, girl. I will be keeping track of makes and misses, which is most important for mids and forwards. I will also be watching for speed, endurance, skill and effort. I'll take everything I see into account when I choose the team." He raised his clipboard. "Let's get started,” he said, and pointing to Bhrade, “there's some gloves in the equipment bag."

  "I have my own, if that's ok."

  The first boy grabbed a ball and placed it on the penalty mark 12 yards in front of the goal. He kicked and the ball went sailing, slowly, into Bhrade's arms. He didn't even have to move. Everyone snickered. Bhrade dropped the ball. Coach Thacker blew his whistle and they ran to the end of the field and back, and then back again. It felt good for Jaide. She liked running. She knew it would soon be hell though, as this goalie was good. A few more boys kicked, but with no one making it, they ran more. Many boys were very tired. No balls were getting past Bhrade.

  Jaide was starting to tire but loved to stretch her legs. She glanced at Matt. He was breathing a little hard, too. She always ran right in the front of the pack, with Matt, Blaize and Garret.

  Up next was Chance. Thank God he was the last of the defenders to shoot, Jaide thought. Oddly, Bhrade, who was brand new at Exeter, taunted him. "Come on, Chance. You think you can handle this?"

  Chance grinned as he took a couple steps back. He stared right at the top left corner, a dead giveaway for the goalie, but Jaide suspected it was a fake. There was no way he was really going for the corner. And he didn't. Chance shot it with a curve, one of the best kicks she'd seen yet. It was a hard, fast kick and it did something unexpected. It curved right for Bhrade, who definitely wasn't expecting it from a seasoned soccer player.

  The ball got him hard in the stomach and he fell back into the goal. Chance had scored. Bhrade rolled over, coughing, trying to get the wind back in his lungs.

  Coach Thacker shook his head.

  "That's a nice trick, boy, but it won't work more than once. Let's try not to cause our only goalie internal bleeding, ok?"

  Chance nodded with a grin and set up his next shot. This one, he did aim for a corner but Bhrade caught it. They only had to run one down and back. A few mids shot, no one making it. Jaide felt she was starting to get really tired. She sensed that Matt was tired, too. They had gone all out on every sprint, but they had remained at the head of the pack.

  Matt was up. He placed the ball and shot quickly. It sailed right through the bottom right corner, almost skimming the post. Bhrade dove but just barely missed it. He cursed. Matt grinned and took his time with his second shot. Bhrade barely stopped it this time and they had to run a down and back.

  Jaide was finally up. A couple jeers came from a few of the boys. She kicked the ball smoothly. It sailed into the net. Bhrade was frowning. Jaide knew it was a shot that no goalie could stop.

  She kicked her second ball, this time to a corner. It brushed Bhrade's fingertips and went in. Bhrade was downright scowling now. He didn't let any balls past him again until the forwards began shooting. Garret, Blaize and one other boy each got one past him but no one else. It was impressive, but a lot of running for everyone.

  The rest of the practice consisted of more running, a timed mile and a skills-per-position workout. The coach was wandering throughout, observing and taking notes. Everyone was dead tired as the practice came to a close. Surprisingly, when Coach Thacker called everyone to him, he said, "Nice practice. I'm impressed. I think we will be even better than last year. The results will be posted tomorrow morning. Don’t bother me sooner than that because I won't tell you. I suggest you stretch a little before you leave so you don't get too sore for tomorrow's practice. It will be harder than today and I will expect even more out of you." He smiled and turned his back
on the group, sauntering away while whistling "How Can I Leave Thee," a Washington University song of sentimental proportions.

  Everyone remained after Coach Thacker left. They sat on the field in groups to talk and stretch, lazily removing their sweaty gear.

  Jaide sat with the same boys that she had stretched with earlier. They all looked as tired as she felt.

  "Hey, you have a nice shot, Jaide. Where did you learn to play soccer?" Bhrade asked her as he pulled off his cleats to examine his blisters.

  "My brother taught me. I've never played on a team like this before, though."

  "Well, I think you're going to make the team," Garret said, stretching his back.

  "Oh, for sure. She’s better then you are," Alex said jokingly, taking off his shirt and flopping backwards into the grass.

  Leith grinned at her. "Sweet kicks," he said.

  She looked down at her cleats and laughed. They were pink. Her brother had gotten them for her. "Yeah, I like them."

  Then she heard the sarcastic voice of Ablaiza from the edge of the group. “Coach Matthew Robinson seemed to like her sweet cleats, too.”

  “Fuck that shit!” she snapped. Everyone laughed.

  "We better head in, guys,” Bhrade said. “They stop serving dinner in ten minutes, and I am fucking starving."

  Chance smacked him on the back of the head. "Don't cuss in front of girls."

  Jaide laughed. "Nah, its fine. I cuss all the time. I just said, ‘fuck that shit,’ so don't pull that motherfuckin’ chauvinistic pig shit on me, big boy."