Chapter 1 The Red Titans

"Yo, Chase. Chase Jackson?"

A voice called out, but I didn't respond.

The words barely reached me. My eyes stayed fixed on the floor of the locker room while the noise around me faded into the background.

"Sis."

The voice came again, followed by a light tap on my shoulder.

I snapped back to reality and blinked a few times.

I couldn't believe I had zoned out again.

For weeks, I had barely slept. Every night was spent training until my muscles burned, replaying strategies in my head, and imagining this exact match. Today wasn't just another game. It was the game that could change my life forever.

Professional scouts would be watching.

Big sports influencers would be watching. Most importantly, my mother would be there.

My mother had dominated women's lacrosse for years, turning our family name into a legacy. Since I was a child, everyone had expected me to carry it forward. I wasn't just Chase Jackson on that field. I was her daughter.

"What?" I replied, turning to Ella.

"You zoning out again."

"No, I'm not," I replied, lying.

Ella frowned. Her smile disappeared as she studied my face.

"Sis, if anything is wrong, you can talk to me about it. Your hands have been shaking since we got into the bus."

Ella always knew when I was lying. She had been beside me long enough to recognize the difference between my confident smile and the one I used when I was falling apart.

I frowned before lowering my eyes.

Only then did I notice it.

My fingers were trembling so badly that I struggled to keep them still.

I quickly clenched them into fists.

"I'm fine, Ella," I replied, forcing a smile that even I knew looked fake.

Ella sighed.

"Coach wants to see you."

I nodded and stood up.

The moment I stepped out of the locker room, I found Coach already waiting by the door.

My heart skipped a beat and I swallowed hard.

"Are you prepared?" she asked me.

I nodded.

"I trust you. Do not let anyone down. We are all counting on you. Show them what you've got. Remember your mother would be watching."

Her words settled heavily on my shoulders and the pressure suddenly felt twice as heavy.

"Yes, Coach," I replied.

A second later, the rest of the team rushed out of the locker room.

"Gather round," Coach said.

Everyone formed a tight circle. I joined them, gripping my shaking hands together.

"Go, Team Titans!"

We all shouted together, throwing our hands into the air.

"Get your asses on that field right now!" Coach screamed.

We all yelled back before sprinting out. Ella caught up to me and handed me my lacrosse stick and helmet.

"You've got this," she said quietly.

I gave her a small nod before putting on my helmet.

No one could know how terrified I really was.

I had to hide the fear, the pressure, the doubt and most importantly, I had to win.

No matter what.

Within seconds, we ran onto the field.

The stadium exploded with cheers.

Thousands of people filled the seats, their voices blending into one loud roar. Some held banners with our team name painted across them. Others chanted our names as cameras flashed from every direction.

I tightened my grip around my stick. This was the biggest game of my life.

My eyes slowly scanned the crowd and I saw my Mom.

She stood near the front row, wearing the same Team Red Titans hoodie she'd worn to every one of my matches since I got to college.

She didn't say a word. She raised both hands and gave me a thumbs-up.

I smiled back before taking a deep breath.

This was for the legacy.

The referee walked to the center of the field and the crowd slowly went quiet as soon as she lifted the whistle.

Tweet!

The game began.

The ball shot into the air.

Players from both teams charged forward.

Sticks clashed against each other as bodies bumped and shoved across the field. I darted between two defenders and caught the pass cleanly.

"Nice one, Chase!" Ella shouted.

I rolled the ball inside my stick's pocket before sprinting down the field. One defender rushed toward me.

I sidestepped her. Another tried to block my path, but I spun past her.

The crowd screamed.

"Let's go, Chase!"

"Keep going!"

I could hear Coach yelling from the sideline. "That's it! Keep pushing!"

For a brief moment, everything felt perfect.

This was my game. This was what I had trained for every single day.

Then another defender slammed into my shoulder.

I stumbled but refused to fall. The ball remained in my stick.

I kept running. My heartbeat matched the pounding of my feet against the grass.

One more pass...

One more opening...

We could score.

"Move your ass, Chase!" Coach screamed.

I quickly passed the ball to Ella before another defender reached me.

Ella caught it and fired it back almost immediately. I caught it again without breaking my stride.

The crowd cheered even louder.

For the first time since the match began, I felt at ease. I was simply playing the sport I loved.

Then everything changed.

An opponent ran toward me. Her stick struck mine and the ball flew free.

"No!" I shouted.

The opponent snatched it before anyone else could react.

"Shit," I muttered under my breath.

She turned and sprinted toward our goal and the scoreboard caught my attention.

Tie game.

One goal.

That was all it would take.

If she scored, our season was over and our dream of reaching the finals would disappear.

I looked toward the stands one last time.

Mom was still seated like a statue, not moving or speaking, just quietly watching the game and hoping I would not disappoint.

"Chase, take the ball!" Coach screamed again, panic filling her voice.

I didn't think. I ran faster than I ever had before.

Every step pounded against the turf.

The cheers faded until all I could hear was my own breathing. The opponent was only a few feet away.

Just one tackle and one clean steal.

I stretched out my stick.

My right foot planted hard against the turf as I reached for the ball.

At that exact moment, our shoulders collided with terrifying force.

Her shoulder crashed into mine and my upper body twisted violently while my right foot stayed planted.

For one second, my knee held.

Then it buckled inward.

A sharp crack shot through my leg.

CRACK!

I didn't feel the pain immediately.

I hit the ground hard, my body still trying to understand what had just happened.

The stadium seemed to disappear.

I stared at my right leg, but my mind refused to make sense of it.

My shoe was pointing in a direction it shouldn't.

My knee looked wrong.

So wrong.

Then the pain arrived.

It tore through my leg so suddenly that my stomach lurched. My breath caught in my throat and the world blurred around me.

"AAAAAAHHHH!"

My scream echoed through the stadium.

I couldn't move. I couldn't even think.

A deep, crushing pain burned through my knee, spreading down my leg and up into my thigh. My body began shaking as nausea rolled through my stomach.

The sounds around me became strange and distant.

"Oh my God!"

"Don't look!"

"Someone call the medics!"

I heard the words, but they seemed to come from far away.

I tried to focus on the field, but everything kept swimming in and out of focus. My leg wasn't supposed to look like that.

I wanted to look away, but I couldn't. I tried to move my right leg. The smallest movement sent another violent wave of pain through my knee.

I stopped immediately.

My eyes squeezed shut as I fought for air.

I wanted it to stop. I wanted to wake up and find out this was a nightmare.

From somewhere beyond the ringing in my ears, I heard people shouting, then I heard my mother's voice.

"Chase!"

My eyes opened slightly.

My mother was shoving people aside, trying to get onto the field.

Her voice cracked so badly that it barely sounded like her own. After spending all those years with her, I had no idea she could care about me this way. Maybe she was only doing this because I was the next sports star in the family, nothing else.

"Please let me in! My daughter is out there!"

She fought against the officials holding her back.

"Ma'am, you can't go onto the field!"

"That's my daughter!" she screamed, tears streaming down her face. "Please... please let me go!"

She kept struggling. She didn't care about the rules anymore. She only wanted to reach me.

"Mother..." I cried.

The word came out broken.

"It hurts..."

I had never cried like this before. Not when I broke my wrist at thirteen or when I dislocated my shoulder, but this pain was different. It felt like my entire leg had been ripped away from my body.

"It hurts!" I cried again.

My mother broke down completely. She covered her mouth with both hands as she sobbed. I still couldn't believe she could shed those crocodile tears, but that wasn't the most important thing right now.

"Chase!" Mother screamed from behind, desperately calling for someone to help.

By then, the paramedics had already raced onto the field carrying a stretcher and emergency bags.

The moment they reached me, they froze. Their expressions changed instantly. One look at my leg was enough.

"Oh God..." one of them whispered under his breath.

"Severe knee injury. Possible fracture."

"We need to stabilize her now."

One medic knelt beside me.

"Can you hear me?"

I nodded weakly.

"Good. Stay with us."

"I'm scared..." I whispered, my voice shaking.

"You're going to be okay."

Even he didn't sound convinced.

Another medic carefully reached toward my injured leg. The second his gloved hands touched it, pain ripped through me again.

"AAAAAAHHHH!"

My entire body jerked.

"I'm sorry," he said quickly. "I know. I know."

Tears blurred my vision.

I couldn't focus on their faces anymore. The lights above me seemed too bright, and the voices around me kept fading in and out.

The crowd had gone strangely quiet.

Coach stood a few feet away, frozen, her face pale.

She looked at me, then at my leg and quickly looked away.

Ella stood beside her. Her eyes were swollen with tears. Her lacrosse stick slipped from her hand and hit the grass with a dull thud.

"This... this can't be happening," she whispered.

None of my teammates moved. Even the opposing team stood there in complete shock.

The game was over.

Everything was over.

The paramedics carefully cut open the lower part of my uniform to expose the injury.

One of them wrapped thick bandages around my leg while another prepared a splint.

"On three," one of them said.

"We need to stabilize it in place."

Fear rushed through me.

"No..." I shook my head weakly.

"No... please..."

One... Two... Three.

They secured my leg as carefully as they could. Even with the splint in place, the slightest movement sent another wave of pain through my body.

I clenched my fists so tightly my nails dug into my palms. As they lifted me onto the stretcher, I felt sick all over again.

The stadium lights blurred above me.

I could barely hear the crowd anymore.

As they wheeled me across the field, the crowd slowly parted. My eyes drifted toward the giant scoreboard.

The clock was still running and the score remained tied.

Only a few minutes ago, I had dreamed of winning the match. Now, I wasn't even sure if I'd ever stand on a lacrosse field again.

Lacrosse wasn't just a sport to me. It was everything I knew. It was the reason I'd spent my entir

e life chasing my mother's approval.

If I couldn't play anymore, then what was I supposed to be?

The ambulance doors came into view.

Just before they lifted me inside, I heard two medics speaking quietly behind me.

"It looks like a severe fracture..."

"I've never seen injuries like this before."

A heavy silence followed, then one of them sighed.

"This is serious. She may never play again."