The bus ride home from Northbridge was quiet, but this silence felt different. The icy tension was gone, replaced by a heavy, thoughtful atmosphere. After about twenty minutes, Callum stood up and walked down the aisle, stopping at Ethan's row. "Is this seat taken?" he asked quietly. Ethan shook his head, and Callum slid in next to him.
For a long moment, they just looked out at the darkening landscape. "I was an idiot," Callum said finally, his voice barely a whisper. "You were right. You've been right the whole time." "We were both feeling the pressure," Ethan replied, trying not to assign blame. "Yeah, but I let it make me a bad teammate," Callum admitted, staring at his hands. "When I saw Mason making that run, it was like a switch flipped. Scoring that goal myself wouldn't have felt as good as winning. Or, in this case, not losing. I get it now. I think I was scared. Scared of you and Mason moving on to bigger things and me getting left behind if I wasn't the top scorer." "That would never happen," Ethan said firmly, turning to look at him. "We're a team. You, me, and Mason. That's how this all started." Callum finally met his gaze, relief shining in his eyes. "So, we good?" "We're good," Ethan confirmed, a real smile returning to his face for the first time in weeks.
At the next training session, the change was obvious. The fluidity and joy were back in their play. The understanding between Ethan and Callum had returned, sharper and more mature than before.
Coach Shaw gathered them in the center circle before the session began. His expression was as stern as ever, but his words carried more weight. "One point from that game is a point we did not deserve for eighty-five minutes," he stated bluntly. "But that final goal was not a fluke. That was a choice. Reid made the unselfish pass. Mason made the supporting run. The team came before the individual. That is the standard. Let that be the only lesson you take from last weekend."
The session that followed was one of their best. The ball zipped across the pitch with purpose, and the understanding between the players, both old and new, was seamless.
That evening, a sense of balance returned to Ethan's life. He sat at his desk, the dread of his schoolwork replaced by a calm focus. His mum poked her head into his room. "You seem lighter tonight," she said with a smile. "I feel it," Ethan admitted. "Things are back to normal."
As the week came to an end, the team prepared for their next match against Harrington, a team struggling at the bottom of the table. In the past, this might have been a game they took for granted. But after the humbling draw against Northbridge, they knew better. The challenge wasn't just to win; it was to show that they had learned the lesson. They faced a fracture within their ranks and came out stronger and more united than ever before.