“Everyone gather around. There is a new member joining our team this year. Her name is…”
“What are they thinking in those sweaty little minds? I don’t want them to judge me. I just want to be accepted. They are staring at me. I can feel my face turning as red as a tomato.”
“Boys listen up and stop staring. Abby has just moved here from Oklahoma and is a little nervous. Just please don’t give her a hard time.”
“Coach, come on. She is a girl. She will never be able to keep up with these guys. We are like professional lacrosse players.”
“Well, we will have to wait and see, replied coach.  Now everyone get on the line for some Indian runs.”
“My head was spinning. I’m just a country girl that wants to play some lacrosse. It all started back when I was in Oklahoma.”
It was a warm, cozy spring day when I heard the news.
“Abby, come down stairs. We need to tell you something, yelled my mom”
“I’ll be right down; I am just combing my long brown hair.”
“Your father and I have some very bad news. We are getting divorced.”
“What a great day to tell me. It is my 15th birthday. You couldn’t have waited.”
“Sorry honey, my dad replied. You and your mom are going to move to Rhode Island. You guys are leaving tomorrow.”
“Why?”
“No excuses. You have today to say goodbye to everyone”
“I hate you guys. I am never going to talk to you again.”
It was that day that I had to say goodbye. I couldn’t even believe my parents. They did this to me on my birthday. That night I went into my room and sat on my bed for the very last time. Tomorrow I am going to be gone.
I packed up all of my bags the next morning.  I had a million things to do. My parents were downstairs in the small dark kitchen arguing like usual. There wasn’t a lot of privacy in my house considering it was a two bedroom apartment. I could tell that my mom was getting upset. My mom is usually stressed because she is a manager at the Dollar Tree. My dad on the other hand was just aggressive. He has been that way since he was fired from his construction job. I never liked to get involved. That’s why I am always so shy at school because I feel embarrassed by my parents. I feel like I am going to be made fun of by the girls in my grade. I only have one friend and he is a boy that accepts me for who I am a quiet, shy, tom boy. He gives me all of his old clothes because I never am allowed to buy new ones. They are a lot bigger considering he is a fat boy. The girls do judge me because of my clothes. I can’t help that I like boy’s attire more than girl’s fashion. I am going to miss Tony so much. He is the only true friend that I have and I feel safe around him. I ran downstairs and called to my mom.
“Are you ready yet? I just want to leave now.”
“Yes, I am ready. Let me just get the keys.”
I looked at my dad straight in the eyes. It looked as if he wasn’t even upset that I was leaving him. He tried to hug me, but I just walked away. I bet I will never regret doing this.
My mom and I rushed out of the house, slamming the door behind us. I grabbed a rock in our driveway so I will always have a piece of my past.  I threw my suitcases in the back of our old, worn down truck and closed the door.  I hopped into the rust bucket. My mom sped out of the driveway and that was the last time I would ever see my dad or my past. It was a long drive to Rhode Island. A whole 25 hours. I slept most of the way.  My mom and I barely talked.
“Wake up, wake up. We are here. Look the new house.”
“That’s it. It looks like a house a poor person lives in. Oh wait, we are poor.”
“Don’t say that. It will work.”
I walked up to the front porch of the old, worn down, white house and opened the door. I walked in with all of my things. I was so nervous to open the door. The key flew out of my hand like a bird leaving its nest. The door swung open. I wandered into the room where I would be staying. I placed my suitcases on my bed and opened the closet. There was a boy’s lacrosse stick in there. How wonderful. I always wanted to be on a boys’ team, but I didn’t want to get judged. Maybe since I moved to a completely new state I will be able to try it.
“Mom, mom, guess what I found.” I showed her the stick.
“Wow, do you want to play. I can try to get you on the team.”
“Yes please, as long as I don’t get in trouble.”
It was the next day when I attended my new school, Jefferson Memorial. I got many different types of looks on that day. I still wore all of Tony’s clothes.  I could tell the girls were judging me because I was a tom boy. The school was like the Palace that King James lived in, very large and covered with bricks. I went through the whole day getting stared at and judged but I was used to it by then. It wasn’t until that school day was ended when the principal came up to me very angry.
“What makes you think you can do that? That is a health issue.”
“Sorry, but I don’t know what you are talking about.”
“You are not allowed to play on the boy’s lacrosse team”
“How did you find out?”
“Your mom called.”
I thought in my head that I was going to do it anyway. My mom always gets me in trouble.  I looked him in the eyes and just nodded, but I didn’t agree. He then walked away more angry then before.  I knew the lacrosse meeting was after school today because I heard it over the announcements. I walked into the room where it was being held. I looked up to the front. It turns out that the principal was the junior high coach. That didn’t matter to me. I strut in with my head up and sat down. I may have got some dirty looks but I didn’t care at all. I received the paper to sign up and took it home to my mom. She signed that I was allowed to do it. We went to the store, bought my equipment with the little money that we had, and got ready for the first practice that was being held tomorrow.
“Honey, you almost die first year you come to school. Don’t let thou shut doors on you.”
“Thanks mom, don’t worry I will do my best and stand up for myself.”
The school day went by so slow. I ran downstairs and grabbed my equipment without even grabbing my homework. There were boys huddling in a huge circle. As soon as I walked up to them they all went silent and ignored me. I waited until coach got there and introduced myself. He thought it would be a great relief to finally have a girl on the team. I didn’t know what I was doing but I wanted to learn.
“Come in the gym boys, we have a lot of work to do before the season starts.”
They all stomped in, smelly, big, and annoying like usual. The boys in Rhode Island aren’t any different than the ones in Oklahoma.
“Everyone gather around. There is a new member joining our team this year. Her name is…”
“What are they thinking in those sweaty little minds? I don’t want them to judge me. I just want to be accepted. They are staring at me. I can feel my face turning as red as a tomato.”
“Boys listen up and stop staring. Abby has just moved here from Oklahoma and is a little nervous. Just please don’t give her a hard time.”
“Coach, come on. She is a girl. She will never be able to keep up with these guys. We are like professional lacrosse players.”
“Well, we will have to wait and see, replied coach.  Now everyone get on the line for some Indian runs.”
I kept my head held high and practiced my hardest. I completed tryouts and I actually made the team.  The first game I was a little nervous. The boys didn’t pass to me so I had to get the ball myself. I looked like a baby giraffe trying to stand up.  I lifted my stick and threw the ball and I scored. I actually scored! That was the first time that the boys acknowledged me. It was like a weight was lifted off of my shoulders. I improved on my stick skills. It turns out that I was the leading scorer on the team. We made it to the state finals. I grabbed the rock that was from Oklahoma and put it on my pads. It gave me support because it was like I had Tony and my dad there with me during this important game. There was a minute left on the clock and we were down by two goals. Zack, a bench warmer came in. I didn’t know what coach was thinking. We easily passed him the ball and he scored because it hit off of his stick and redirected into the net. 10 seconds left. Garret, my goalie, whipped the ball all the way up the field to me. I sprinted. 3, 2, 1 I shot. It trickled in. We won.
“Abby, you did it.”
The boys went crazy. We were all jumping and cheering. I did it. My past helped me. My friends and my dad were by my side the whole time. That evening I received a phone call form Providence College. They recruited me to play on the boy’s college team in three years. Of course I said yes. I couldn’t believe I got a full scholarship to a college. This would help my mom out so much.
I am now a college athlete and teach younger girls to pursue their dreams. I teach them to do what they want and be who they are no matter if they are quiet or don’t fit in. My life went from being a poor little country girl from Oklahoma with a bad life to one of the most and greatest experiences that I have ever had.