a girl of almost 18 years stood on the field, lacrosse stick in hand, pullin at her uniform because of the unsightly bulges the kilt and the spandex shirt created and amplified. She was playin defense for the first time since 7th grade and had no idea what to do. Looking through a caged vision (due to the cage goggles), she spied her mom standin on the hill along with a few other parents and students rooting for the team. Her mom didnt cheer or show any emotion. She stood off to the side, hands clasped in front of her, just watching the game through her black sunglasses.
part way through the game, the girl looks up and watches her mom turn her back and walk away from the game to her shiny silver mercedes benz. something her mom said earlier came back to her; "your sister has a game at 4, i'll stop there and then go to yours". the girl's shoulder slumped visibly as she watched her mom's car pull away, betting she was going to her little sister's lacrosse game.
it was bad enough her dad joined the coaching part of her sister's new school's lacrosse team, but now the girl felt abandoned. what did she have to do to get her parents to wacth her?! the year before, she had made her first goal - it had taken her 5 years - and neither one of them had been there...she kept asking herself "what do i have to do???"
halftime came and went. the teams switched sides of the field. the girl looked over towards the hill where the loyal fans were and she saw her dad. she was happy and tried to play her hardest throughout the 2nd half. the other team won and the girl was mad at herself for a few of the goals that she should've been able to stop.
"good game" her dad comments, taking her sports bag from her. something snapped and the girl thought "don't you DARE tell me good game! you werent even THERE for the first half!!" she got quiet and mumbled a thank you telling her dad to bring the car up to the building since she left her backpack there along with the presents from her secret psyche.
her dad drags her back to her little sister's lacrosse game and the girl sits in the car listenin to the radio for 15 minutes noticing her mom standing on the sidelines of the field. it hit her...her mother had left her game to go to her little sister's game. how could she? the girl's sister was more athletic and played more sports but lacrosse was the only team sport the giel played. how was this fair?
the girl opened the mirror above her in the car. she stared at her reflection and remembered the unsightly bulges she had tried to hide with her uniform. she thought one thing "this is me".
this is me
