Leah looked around her baby blue room and sighed before she picked up her carry-on. A few pictures of people smiling and laughing remained in their frames around her room. Her bed was made, but most of the nick-knacks and decorations were gone, packed in a suitcase, ready to go to a boarding school, all the way in London. Leah wasn't that sure about going to a boarding school, , even though it revolved around her passion; soccer. The only thing that excited Leah, was knowing that she'd be training with a professional soccer player..


Leah knew that while she was gone, she would miss the comfort of her own house. She would miss her dog, Mookie, and her younger sister, Rachel. She would miss her parents, but they could definitely be controlling. Leah clenched the bag, and stepped quietly down the oak stairs.

When she reached the kitchen, her sister and her parents were putting on their coats. They each picked up one of Leah's suitcases, then looked at her warmly.

'Time to go honey, we don't want to miss your plane, and we sure don't want you to arrive late at Evanpoint.' her mom said with a hint of sadness in her voice.

'Yeah, I hear that place gets pretty upset if you don't arrive in time.' her father added..

Leah followed her parents to the mini van, and then got in. She looked sadly out of her window at her two-story craftsman style house. It looked so cheery and inviting, that she didn't want to leave it for twelve weeks. Her mom and dad said that it would be an interesting experience for her to have, but Leah new that she had just gotten a really good deal on her tuition.

♦♦♦

Emma stepped out of the shower, and then threw on her favorite top, and her Silver Jeans. She double checked to make sure that she had all of her favorite pieces of clothing. If she was going to a boarding school, she had better look good. She blow dried her hair, and then straightened it with her new Chi flat iron. After all makeup was applied, and perfume was on her skin, she checked herself in the mirror. Perfect.

She picked up her calico cat Theo, and kissed him atop of his angelic head. She was mad that the new boarding school she was going to did not allow pets. Apple Ridge Academy, and Krisworth even let you have pets. Emma then packed up her soccer bag and tossed into the hallway.

Emma had been going to boarding school since she was eight, and had started going to ones with soccer programs when she was eleven. Seven years later, It was still as fun as ever. She loved meeting new people and staying in the lavish rooms, not to mention the great food. Emma knew that Evanpoint would be the best one yet. She had heard from her friends who used to go there, that it was like a five-star hotel. Evanpoint sounded so amazing the first time she had heard of it. She never really did got to enjoy having money or having her own mansion, because her parents were always busy attending important galas or something or other. She hardly ever spent any time with them. If she wanted to go somewhere, their driver would drive her, but if she ever wanted anything to eat, she had to make it herself, since the chefs only worked to fit her parents' schedule.

Emma picked up her Carson&Lamberg designer suitcases and matching carry-on, and flew out the door, and into the new Mercedes.

♦♦♦

'Alright, everybody out, we're her,' Leah's father said as they pulled up at the entrance of the airport.

Leah was flying out of the Toronto airport, about two hours from her house. She had only been on a plane once, five years ago when they went to Disney World.

Leah's mom picked up her ratty navy blue suitcase while her father picked up the large red one. Leah struggled to carry her neck rest, and purple and green striped carry-on. Her sister just trailed along behind them carrying only her her Sprite from the gas station.

'Honey, when you get on the plane, make sure that you turn off the cell phone that we got you. I hear that it has something to do with radio waves or something. I'm pretty sure that it causes the plane to blow up!' Leah's mom told her this as they walked toward the ticket counter.

'Oh, and don't forget to drink your water bottle, and eat your apple,' her father added.

This was a typical over controlling parent moment. Even though Leah had never flown by her self, she knew that she would be fine.



Minutes later, her parents had bought her ticket, and handed over her two suitcases.

'Alright honey, lets head to terminal...ah let me see....oh yes, terminal F,' Leah's mom said as she looked over the ticket.

Once Leah and her family were in the terminal, her parents and sister slouched into the leather seats.

'Are you really waiting with me?' Leah directed in a particularly snotty tone.

'Why of course. You don't thing that we'd leave you here in an airport terminal with a bunch of strangers do you?' Leah's mom fired back. Her eyes looked droopy and her hair was frazzled. Leah had better not mess with her.

'Apparently not.'

♦♦♦

Emma followed her driver, Oliver through the San Fransisco airport as he struggled to push the cart with her four suitcases. Emma had her carry-on crossed over her shoulder. She carried her Chai Latte that she got at Starbucks on the way to the airport. After getting up at eight thirty in the morning, she was in desperate need of major caffeine.

Oliver was also carrying her plane ticket in his coat pocket. Since it had been purchased in advance, Emma got to skip the ticket lines.

Emma sat in on a brown metal bench outside of the restrooms,listening to her hot pink custom made iPod Touch, Oliver stuck the stickers to the luggage. The short, and rather old looking woman asked him if he could set them on the metal scale, that was a foot below the counter. Oliver set each on up one at time, before the woman set them on the conveyor belt behind her.

'Well Miss Nethrow, I am afraid that it is time to make our way to the terminal,' Oliver said as he approached Emma.

Without taking her headphones out, Emma followed Oliver.

A high-pitched frequency blared over the airport speakers as Emma and oliver neared the terminal. A man with a nasally and high voice preceded to say,'We will now be boarding for flight 784, San Fransisco to London, England.'

After the man finished speaking, oliver gave Emma a quick hug and handed her her passport. With that Emma was off to England.
♦♦♦

The white mansion sat comfortably in the countryside of London. With rolling hills, a farm, and an extraordinary view of the city, Evanpoint looked just like a page out of a magazine. It was a large white building with dark green shutters. Two chimneys stood stiff on each end of the house, that gave out a gray smoke that spotted the gray September sky.


Gardeners were busy tending to the bushes and plants that decorated the yard. Maids were busy in each room, hurrying to finishing cleaning them all.

Hannah Fare stood on the front porch of the 4- story 18thcentury mansion, that was converted into a boarding academy, waiting for the new group of girls to arrive. Running a place like this was definitely difficult at times.

Just before turning to go back inside, Hannah spotted two black limos driving up the long driveway. In just moments, they pulled up on the gravel in front of where she stood. The doors of the limos were being opened, and out stepped about twenty girls from ages six to sixteen.

Most of the girls were dressed in designer pencil skirts or trousers, and nice tops, although a few were dressed in casual airplane riding clothes such as sweats. Of course Emma fell into the first category, while Leah fell somewhere in between the two.

'Welcome everyone to Evanpoint Soccer Boarding Academy for Girls. I am the owner and headmaster, Hannah Fare. If you would please follow me inside to the living area, and then we can chat a bit. Don't worry about the luggage, the butlers will deliver them to your rooms,'Hannah announced to the girls, as a group of men in tuxedos opened the trunks.

Emma and Leah stood together as they listened, then followed the mob into the academy. Even though the two girls didn't know each other, they just happened to be standing together.

The moment you stepped into the house, it felt like you were in a castle. Fifty- foot vaulted ceilings towered above. Cream paint was on the walls, along with the columns that surrounded the rectangular room. A large fireplace was nestled into the wall, east of the door. three light pink couches formed a partial square in front of it. A glass coffee table was in the middle with a vase of white roses, and a neat stack of magazines. A large painting of a group of girls was hung on the wall straight ahead of the door.

'Well, girls, we are very glad to have you here,' Hannah said as she led the girls to sit on the couches.

'As you all know, Evanpoint is one of the top-rated soccer boarding schools in the world. Here, are purpose is to teach you girls things that you will need to know later on in life. We will instill academics, manners, and communication skills,' Ms. Fare lectured to the group. She stood in front of the fireplace, pacing back and forth as she spoke.

'But most of all, we will be making you incredibly fast, trained and focused soccer players.'

Emma sat quietly, packed in between Leah and a rather old looking 15 year-old. At the sound of heels clicking down stairs, all of the girls turned to see six middle-aged women, and one man stepping down the marble, cascading staircase.

'Ah, and here are your teachers,' Hannah said in a slow tone.

Two thin women stepped forward from the line of teachers. The first woman that caught Leah's attention. She had bright red hair, just like her mom, and shocking blue eyes. The other had gray hair that was pulled tight into a low bun. Both were wearing black trousers with dull colored blouses.

'Mrs. Bright is our math teacher. You will be working with her Monday through Thursday, Hannah announced nodding to the one with the gray hair.

'And this is Ms. Nior, our English teacher. You will work with her Mondays through Thursdays. She will also teach you a foreign language course this semester,' Hannah exclaimed.

The next ten minutes Hannah went about introducing the rest of the teachers. There was Mrs. Hinfer, the history teacher, Miss Ulbrion, the Spanish teacher, Mr. Conell, the science teacher, and the best of them all, Miss. Kinters the head soccer coach. She was known everywhere in the soccer world. All of the girls knew that training with her and having her as their coach would be a huge honor.

After Hannah finished, she stepped over to a table that was sitting against a wall at the other end of the room. She then picked up a hot pink clipboard, and then draped a bunch of keys over her wrist.

'Now, we will be assigning rooms and roommates. You will each have one roommate, and be living on the 5th floor. Now listen carefully, because I will not repeat myself.' As soon as Hannah said that, everyone sat up straighter and scooted towards the edge of their seats.

'Alright, in room 201 will be Amy Crasner and Julia Bird.' The two girls got up and was given their own key.

'Your luggage is in your room, so go and get unpacked. Dinner will be served at six o'clock sharp.'

'Next, we will place, um let me see.... Leah Turner, you will be rooming with Emma Johnson.' The two girls that were sitting together seemed to be shocked that they were now roommates. Emma lead the way to Hannah while Leah followed along, smoothing her nineteen dollar JcPenny skirt.

Hannah's voice continued to drone on as the two girls walked in silence up the stairs. Leah was thinking that she should say something, but was cut off by Emma.

'I'm assuming that this is the first boarding school that you have been to?'

'Ah, yes, Leah answered nervously as she tucked her bangs behind he ears. ' Why, does it show or something?' Leah said back.

'Well, sort of, but I can definitely fix that.' Emma was now shoving the key into the lock of their mahogany door.

When the door opened it showed a room much larger than Leah's. The walls were painted a light purple, with white swirls at the ceiling. Another door was immediately to the left which showed a green bathroom with white tiled floors. Hard wood floors, spread throughout the bedroom, until meeting with the window seat. A white cushion sat there, with a purple pillow in the corner. Outside of the window were a group of six cows, grazing and chewing their cud on the green countryside. The sun was out know, and a light breeze made the trees in the distance sway.

Since the room was hot, Leah opened the window, and breathed in the cool, crisp air, before sitting on the window seat. Even though she was a long way from home, she was starting to think that this couldn't possibly be that bad.

Leah got up and saw that Emma was spreading out her PB Teen comforter on the left bed. Both of the beds had a white picket fence headboard and a white side table with an alarm clock on it.

Leah set her green suitcase on its side, and then preceded to un-zip it. She set her two sheet sets, bath towels, pillow, green and blue comforter,stuffed sheep, and sweatpants and a sweatshirt out on her bed. She would unpack her clothes into her dresser after making her bed.

Once she put the clothes away, Leah put her toiletries in the bathroom. Just as she was going to change into her sweats and take a nap, she glanced at the clock reading 4:30 pm, and sighed, before looking at Emma, who was zonked out on her bead with a Cosmo Girl magazine beside her. Her suitcase sat in the place it was when they arrived, untouched.

'Um Emma, do you want to get ready? Dinner is in like and hour and a half,' Leah said to the sleeping girl.

Emma rolled over to face Leah, and squinted her eyes. She sat up, but looked like she was still sleeping. Leah didn't really know what to do, so she picked up what she was going to wear to dinner, and went in the bathroom to take a shower, and get ready.

When Leah came out of the bathroom, she saw Emma at her desk, applying her eyeliner. She was surprised that someone could look that good after riding a plane, and driving in a car for two hours without taking a shower.

'Oh hey there,' Emma said as she got up from the desk. She was wearing a strapless black cocktail dress with a great pair of heels. Leah felt slightly undressed in her brown corduroys and her pink sweater from Macy's.

'Are you going to wear that?' Emma said as she glanced up and down at Leah's outfit.

'Well, I was thinking about it, is it too casual?' Leah responded.

'Just a bit,' Emma said as she made her way to the closet

' What size are you?' she said as she rummaged through the colorful clothing.

'Um, a size six, I think.'

'Really? So am I!' Emma exclaimed as she took out a red halter dress with sparkles on it.

'This will be perfect!' Emma said as she handed over the dress to Leah, who took it hesitantly before heading into the bathroom to change once more.

When Leah came out of the bathroom, she did a full spin in front of the large mirror over her dresser. The red fabric hung gloriously on her delicate frame, and swooshed with every step that she made. The cocktail dress was rather short, hitting Leah two inches above the knee, but with her thin, toned thighs, she had nothing to be self conscious about.

'It looks wonderful on you!' Emma exclaimed as she got up from the window seat and walked toward Leah.

'Thank you so much for letting me borrow it. I had a feeling that I would have been a bit undressed. My family could never have afford-'

'Never mind that, the dress looks great, and that's that,' And don't even think about giving it back, it's all yours,' Emma said to Leah, as she fastened a diamond necklace around her elongated neck.

Leah responded with a warm smile, before slipping on her DSW kitten heels.

When the two girls reached the unbelievable dining room, they were surprised to be the first ones there.

'Are we early?' Leah asked Emma, who was already sipping her water from the glass at the large round table.

'No, they said dinner was at six sharp, and it's only five forty nine,' Emma said as she glanced at her Cartier watch.

A few minutes passed, until more of the girls arrived. They all had seemed situated, and giddy, as they all chatted around the table.

And so, dinner went just like that. All of the girls talking and introducing themselves over a six course meal of soup, turkey, salad, sorbet, and crembrule. By the end of the night, the girls all had some what of a bond with one another. Leah was starting to think that this would be an experience of a lifetime.
♦♦♦



The following Monday was when classes started. Emma and Leah both had the same schedule: First period; Spanish, second; science, third; math, fourth; English, Fifth; history, and sixth period; soccer.

The first practice with Coach Kinters wasn't intense at all. Most of the time, the girls talked about what kind of teams and leagues they had been on at home, and introducing themselves to Coach. The second practice wasn't nearly as easy as the first. Practiced started with a twenty minute sprint around campus, endless crunches, and exhausting push-ups. It got harder when they had to do juggling for fifteen minutes, heading for ten, and shooting for thirty.

At the end of practice, Leah and Emma through themselves on the ground by their water bottles, and stared up at the blue, cloudless sky. They panted in rhythm, as they tried to catch their breath. After an hour of silence, the girls ran inside, as the sky became dark, and the school's outdoor lights came on.

When they reached the living room, they had found out from a girl named Hannah, that they had missed dinner. Even though the girls weren't obligated to go, they still had felt like they had missed out.

'Oh well,' Emma said as they started up the staircase. ' We'll just have Lean Cuisines in my room,' she said as she reached into the mini fridge at the end of her bed.

'Jill and Kristen have a microwave in their room, so I'll go heat them up. Do you want chicken and linguine, or black bean burrito?' Emma asked Leah, who was getting undressed to take a shower.

'I'll have the burrito,' she yelled from the bathroom, as she turned the water on.

The rest of the night, the two girls at their burritos, and watched a movie. At midnight, Emma made Leah her own Facebook page, so they could communicate when they went home.

'You know, I am really glad that I came here,' Leah said as the girls flipped though the pages of People Magazine on her bed. 'I thought that this was going to be awful, and that I wouldn't make any friends,' she said as she lay back on her bed, staring at the smooth ceiling.

' I'm glad that you're here too,' Emma responded, summing it all up.

♦♦♦


The next day at practice, Coach Kinters told the girls about the annual soccer game against Gweneth Heights. They were Evainpoint's biggest rivalry and competition, especially when it came to soccer. At Evanpoint, this game was like the World Cup. Everyone knew that there were scouts at the game, watching, to see if their was a hidden talent in within the team.

'For the next two weeks, I will train you harder than you have ever been trained before,' Coach said to the group of girls who sat crossed-legged on the freshly groomed soccer field.

'In the past six years, Evanpoint has won the trophy. I am counting on you twenty girls to show them heck,' she directed.

'The game is next Friday, so I need one hundred percent from you all,' she said as she wiped the sweat of her perfect ivory complexion.

'...This week, you will all get the opportunity to call your family members, and invite them to the game.'

Leah smiled to herself as she eagerly imagined seeing her family. She couldn't wait to show them her around the campus. She snapped out of her fantasy, when Cara, a girl that she was sort of friends with, raised her hand.

'How long will they be able to say?' She questioned, as she looked up at Coach Kinters, who was blocking the bright sun from blinding the girl's eyes.

'They will only be able to stay for Friday and Saturday because on Sunday will be when the scouts will meet with you. Classes will start once more on Monday,' Coach Kinters answered.

'What scouts?' Leah asked as she looked up from picking the green, vibrant grass.

'There will be scouts from Gweneth Soccer Program. They will be watching you to see which four girls they pick to attend their summer camp in California,' Coach replied.

Emma and Leah smiled at each other, hoping that they would get picked.

Practice droned on as usual, preparing each one of the girls for the most important game of the season.

♦♦♦

On the day of the game, Leah rolled over in her bed. She looked at her alarm clock as it played the sound of the local radio station, displaying red numbers that read; 8:30 am. Leah got up, filled with a mix of nervous and anxious feelings for the day ahead.

'Hey! It's about time that you get up, I've been up since like seven!' Emma said to Leah, as she pulled her long, blond locks into a high ponytail.

'... Aren't you so excited for the game today?' She said to Leah who was changing into jeans and an Evanpoint sweatshirt, to go eat breakfast in.

Leah looked up from putting her contacts in at the mirror over her dresser. 'I'm more nervous than excited.'

'I think that we're perfectly ready,' Emma said as she applied her Adidas deodorant, then sprayed on her Victoria Secret, Lovespell perfume. She then flopped down on bed, closing her eyes.

'We'll do fine, as long as I'm playing forward, and you're playing defense. Together, we will make our usual Dynamic Duo,' Emma said with a playful smile forming on her face.

'Let's hope so,' Leah replied as they left for breakfast.


♦♦♦



At quarter to three, the Evanpoint stadium was filling with people. The concession stands were buzzing as hungry people stood in line waiting for their pop and hot dogs.

The girls were on the field in a circle, doing their stretches.

'And to the right. One, two, three, four...' Leah said as she led them in lunges.

Apple Ridge was on the opposite side of the field, taking hard and fast shots on the goalie. Their red and white jerseys looked clean and shiny, as they sparkled in the September sunshine. The temperature outside was about sixty-five degrees, and there wasn't a single cloud in the sky.

'Alright, let's move into two lines and start passing, then shots at Amy,' Coach Kinters yelled as she pointed to the five foot nine brunette in the goal.

Emma and Leah were first, and took their time getting each one of the movements precise, before Emma booted the ball into the upper right corner of the net. Goal!

Leah turned to see her mom, dad and sister in the fifth row of the stadium, decked from head to toe in Evanpoint apparel. Rachel had her green and yellow pom-poms, and shook them in the air, whenever the girls scored.

A short, stocky referee called both teams to the center of the field to make sure that all of the girls were free of jewelery, had their shinguards on, and didn't have metal spikes on the cleats. He then called Leah Amy, and Apple Ridge's goalie forward for the coin toss.

As the man flipped the coin into the air, Leah shouted, 'Heads.' The bright piece of metal fell into the referee's palm as he flipped it onto the other hand.

'Head's it is. Would you like to keep this side,' he said as he pointed to their warm-up side.

'Yeah, and we would like to start with possession of the ball also,' Leah directed, getting one step ahead of the ref.

'Let's do this girls. Get out their and make me proud,' Coach said to the girls at their bench, after she had given possisions. Emma and Leah were both in the first quarter. Emma at forward, Leah at mid-field.

At the starting whistle, Caitlin lightly passed the ball to Emma, who weaved through Apple Ridge's forwards, before passing it back to Caitlin. An Apple Ridge mid-fielder stole the ball from her before kicking it out of bounds. Evanpoint's throw-in.

A short, but fast girl on Evanpoint threw the ball in fast and hard to Leah, who passed it back to Emma. Emma prepared for the kick. All of the muscles in her legs popped out as she drew her right foot back. The ball soared through the air before making it in the net.

The crowd roared and cheered as Emma made her way back to her position at the center line.

As the next two quarters went on, Evanpoint was down six to nine. Two of the goals were Leah's, and three were Emma's. The rest were made various team members.

'Okay girls, you can do this. Emma, I want you to pass more often, and position yourself before you shoot. Caitlin, you need more accuracy, less power. Leah, keep on going. Your doing great,' Coach Kinters said to the team during half time. The Evanpoint Emu's staff was introducing themselves to the parents on the field.

'Good job Emma, you're doing good. We can do this,' Leah said to Emma as she made her way onto the field for the third quarter. Leah was out, sitting on the bench. She needed a break. Emma nodded, and jogged back into her forward position.

During the third quarter, Emma had made one goal, and one assist. She looked tired, and worn out, as she blocked members on the opposing team, during the penalty kick. She weaved around a large girl, gaining possession of the ball, as she tried to turn it around. She was sprinting, keeping the ball at a comfortable distance ahead of her feet. Her ponytail bobbed up and down, flying with her in the wind. All of a sudden, Emma tripped. It was just like a scene from a movie. She fell down hard, the ball slipping out from under her. A grimacing look glided over her face, and her eyes got big, as she slammed the ground at full force. She let out a noise of pain, as the referee blew his whistle. Time seemed to stop, as soon as Emma did. All of the girls on the field took a knee, watching with anticipation.

The girls on the bench including Leah had their eyes glued to Emma, as Coach ran to her on the field. Emma was lying about seven meters away from Apple Ridge's goal box.

Tears streamed down Emma's face as a female paramedic studied her leg. Leah couldn't read Emma's lips as she explained what happened to the woman.

Ten minutes later, Emma got up slowly with the help of Coach Kinters and the paramedic, and was making her way to the bench. The crowd applauded as she slowly dissapeared to the bench.

'Oh my gosh, Emma! Are you alright? What happened?' Leah spat out at Emma who was seated beside her.

Her face looked sticky because of the mixture of sweat and dried tears. 'I was running, and I tripped on something. I think that it was just a piece of the field that was uneven. It's like a freak accident.' She took a deep breath, and swallowed. '...My ankle, it really hurts. I was running, and I when it tripped, I heard a snap.'
]
'Leah, I need your help. Do you think that you could fill in for Emma at forward? We need you,' Coach Kinters begged Leah.

A nervous look crossed over Leah's face as she glanced at Emma.

'But I'm a defender. I can't run as much as her,' Leah pleaded.

'Go on Leah, you can do it.,' Emma said to reassure Leah who looked as if she was going to faint.


Leah jogged onto the field to line up for the fourth quarter kick-off. She told Caitlin, who was playing right forward that she would be in the whole quarter, playing for Emma.


Apple Ridge had the kick, and took their chance booting the silver ball down the field. Molly, Evainpoint's other goalie, caught the ball and drop kicked it to Caitlin. About six meters toward the goal, she passed it to Leah, who received it, and dribbled. A short Apple Ridge player wove past her, taking the ball, before turning it the other way.

'Crap,' Leah breathed as she took a deep breath and scooted towards center field.


Twenty minutes later, Leah glanced up at the scoreboard. There were three minutes left, and Evanpoint was down fourteen to fifteen. Leah needed to this.

She shuffled over to block a thin girl from apple ridge, who was waiting to receive the ball from her teammate, who was doing a throw-in.

As soon as the ball left the girls' hands, Leah became one with it. She trapped it with her chest, and rolled it down to her feet. She quickly stopped it, and then turned. Running, running. Her heart pounding out of her chest as she pushed forward.

Apple Ridges defense beefed up, preparing to charge. 'No way,' Leah thought to her self as she glided past the last mid-fielder. The three defenders seemed to part, as Leah made her way through. She lined up the ball with the net. She lifted her left foot at the perfect angle. Sweat dripped of her forehead as the ball moved in slow motion toward the net.

The goalie dove toward the other side of the net, her gloved hands stretching to catch it, to roll it in, and make it safe. The ball rolled through the air, and whoosh, the silver Nike ball rolled of the inside of the net, and fell onto the hard ground.

The noise was deafening, as Leah looked around in disbelief. Apple Ridge's team simultaneously started crying, running to their coach on the bench.

'Did I really make that?' Leah whispered to herself. She turned to her coach, and Emma who were jumping in front of the bench. They then turned to hug each other, before mauling Leah on the field. Her team surrounded her, crying and jumping. Leah still couldn't believe it. She felt like the little kid at the fourth of July, who sat on his blanket, his eyes wide as he watched the fireworks, not knowing what to think of it.

Leah's disbelief turned into pure happiness, as all of the Evanpoint parents and staff cheered and screamed.

'Oh my!' Amy screamed. 'That was so amazing! Like World Cup worthy!' Emma said as she hugged her friend.

'Thank you so much for doing that Leah. I couldn't have even been that amazing!' Emma said as she looked at Leah who was grinning.

The team lined up at center field to receive the game trophy. Coach Kinters took it inside to place it in the glass container with various Evanpoint trophies.

'Good job Leah!' Rachel, Leah's sister said, as she kissed her cheek.

'Honey we are so proud of you! We are the champions parents!' Her dad said as her squeezed her tight.

'That was so amazing! You are doing so well here! Don't you like it?' Her mother questioned anxiously.

'I do. I didn't at first, but like I told you on the phone that I'm making lots of friends. Hannah, the headmaster said that we could hang out with you guys for a while. Since we did so well, she's having the chefs in the kitchen prepare us a special celebratory dinner,' Leah explained to her parents as they made their way to the dorms.

'Sounds terrific,' her father said.

When they arrived at Leah's room, her sister ran in, and looked around. She was so jealous that Leah got to live here.

'Hello, I'm Emma, Leah's friend and roommate,' Emma said as she got up from her laptop and introduced herself.

'Where are your parents, I thought you said that they were coming this weekend?' Leah asked to Emma who was standing in front of her.

'Yeah, well they had to cancel at the last minute, they had to fly to Maui for my a meeting for my dad's work,' Emma said.

'Oh I'm sorry honey. You are welcome to tag along with us this weekend,' Leah's mom said to Emma.

'No, that 's okay, I don't want to be rude,' Emma answered. Leah shot her a look, begging her to come with them.

'Seriously, we want you to come,' Leah said to Emma who looked nervous.

'Alright, I guess so,' Emma replied.


The rest of the evening, Leah's family and Emma trolled around campus, before heading to dinner in the dining room. It was the best dinner that the girls had had since they arrived. The tables in the dining room were surrounded by the girls and their families. Hannah talked to the parents about the school, while they ate desert. Leah's mom loved her, and talked for twenty minutes with her after dinner.


On Saturday, the girls played a scrimmage which the parents got to watch, and show cased their projects that they had been working on in each class. In the evening, there was a talent show that the girls performed in. (Leah doing cheesy magic tricks, while Emma did her 'beat boxing').


♦♦♦


When Leah's parents brought her and Emma back to the room that night, it was bittersweet.

'Well, honey, you did great yesterday. And so did you Emma,' Leah's father said as he stood by the bathroom door.

'We will be back two weeks to bring you home, so hang in there,' Her mother added.

'I'm so glad that you could come to the game, and see my new world. Don't worry about me. I'll be fine, as long as Emma is here. It's so nice to have her. We've become really close,' Leah replied as she smiled at Emma.

'Thank you so much for letting me tag along Mr. and Mrs. Turner,' Emma said politely to Leah's parents.

'You are very welcome, we are glad that we got to meet you. Hopefully on Spring Break, you can come visit us,' Leah's mom said. Emma nodded.

Leah hugged and kissed her parents, before they walked out the doorway to leave. She was going to miss them, after spending the whole weekend with them.

'You know, when I came to Evanpoint, I thought that it was going to be like all of the other boarding schools I've been to,' Emma said to Leah as they lay across the body pillow on the floor.

'I thought that I was going to love the food, the teachers, and most importantly, the soccer. But I've realized that that wasn't the best part about this school,' Emma explained to Leah, who was looking at her, listening.

'Well, then what was the best part?' Leah asked Emma who looked slightly confused.

'The best part,' Emma started. 'Was meeting you.'

Leah leaned over, and hugged her friend. Emma had made Leah feel comforted when she arrived at the school. She taught her the ropes of boarding school, and soccer. But she also taught her that friendship can make all the difference.