The game was at the halfway point, and your team, the Queens, was behind by five points. The star player of the other team, the Syrens, Ava Michaels, was doing wonderfully. As you race across the field, you perform a sliding tackle and knock her off her feet. She flashes a look of wrath. All you had wanted to do was impress the cute striker, but you've made her mad. The second she gets back up, she steals the ball from you and scores. She flashes a triumphant grin and sticks her tongue out.

That’s your Ava. You’ve known Avien (Ava) Michaels since you were practically born. You two lived next door to each other and were practically attached at the hip. You never wanted to see a world where you couldn’t run next door to Ava when you were frustrated or upset about something. And when the two of you were playing soccer it was like you spoke a secret language.

Everything changed in sixth grade though. Her mom died that year. Her dad, drowning in grief, picked up what was left of his family and moved from your small town of West Lake to the even smaller town of Aqua Oaks. Gone were the days of seeing Ava every day. Gone were the weekly sleepovers and weekends spent playing FIFA till you couldn’t move your fingers. Gone was the girl who your life circled around.

But once you made it to your school’s varsity soccer team it was like the universe had finally heard you. You were able to get back in touch with Ava through games and it didn’t matter that she didn’t live next door anymore because you were older and could meet up easier. Once you connected again those old feelings were finally able to bloom. The girl you had always adored loved you too.

So here you are, playing a game of soccer, the Syrens versus the Queens. On the field you’ve always been rivals but now you’re on different teams and it’s a whole new level of rivalry. You look at Ava, still sticking out her tongue, and grin. You flip around and go to slide the ball out from under her as Ava let’s out a shriek and calls out, “Watch number nine!”