Chapter Text
Vi kicked at the loose rocks at the edge of the parking lot before stepping onto the grass of the middle school soccer field.
Whattta bummer.
To be spending the summer refereeing Pee Wee soccer as a means of community service to make up for getting caught defacing a stupid sign. “Could be worse,” Vi mused to herself under her breath as she watched the tiny horde of children swarm the ball they were practicing with. “Could be better; but could also be way worse.”
Two games today and two games next Saturday and so on and so forth for the next six weeks. Then she’d be done and she could figure out what to do with the rest of her measly dog days of summer before the gaping maw of ‘being a grownup’ stole every second. Vi pulled up her black and white refereeing socks as she adjusted the bag on her shoulder. She checked the clock on the stopwatch hanging around her neck.
‘ Game starts in 15. Plenty of time ,’ Vi thought. She trudged toward the only other person who wasn’t a parent or a coach. At least, this person’s bright yellow ref jersey gave her away as neither a parent nor a coach. She had to be the ref for the other games. The organizer said there’d be another ref. The gruff woman with the rich and deep voice had laid out the plan over the phone when Vi called as part of her agreement.
“There will be two of you. You’ll each handle your own game running sideways on the pitch. Do not keep score. The parents will want to. Do not let them. 5 on 5. One of those has to be a goalie. Twelve minute halves with a 6 minute halftime. Your job is to keep it moving, keep the time, and keep the parents in line. Think you can do that?”
And sure . Vi could handle that. Four years of Varsity soccer in the midfield meant it’d be easy to keep up with these little squirts. Directing traffic and making calls? A Cakewalk. Vi finished her online refereeing certification in the blink of an eye and before too long, she picked up her kit and her stupid little velcro patch and could call herself a certified Referee ready to handle what needed to be handled to avoid a fine and a weekend’s detention for a misdemeanor.
Vi huffed out a breath in the morning sun. “Here we go.” She approached her colleague who sat huddled on the bleachers. From first impression, she seemed hard and harsh. Cobalt blue hair and piercing blue eyes watching every move on the field like a hawk. She didn’t shift her gaze as Vi approached and before Vi could say anything, this statue of a girl straightened her spine and spoke up.
“You’re late.” This person said by way of greeting. In a tight clipped accent.
‘ Ah. she’s from Piltover… Fuck .’ Vi thought. But she schooled her features quickly, affecting pleasantries. ‘ It’s only six weeks, it’s only six weeks, it’s only six weeks ,’ echoed through her head as she tried to be pleasant, “Aaand you are?”
“On time.”
“Lemme try that again. Hi,” Vi grinned a grin that was all teeth and forced sincerity, “I’m Vi. I’m reffing the other games. We will be working together for the next six weeks and I think we may have gotten off on the wrong foot. What’s your name?”
“Caitlyn.” She looked at the stopwatch hanging around her neck and dug in her bag before pulling out a small finger grip whistle.
‘ This chick means business ,’ Vi thought before putting that away for another time. ‘ It’s only six weeks. It’s only six weeks ’. Vi repeated her mantra.
As if reading her mind, Caitlyn looked up from her stopwatch and hit Vi with an azure stare sharp enough to cut diamonds. “And it’s seven weeks. The season will end in seven weeks. Have a good game.”
The stranger hopped off the bleachers and made a beeline for the coaches of the Red and Orange teams.
Vi worked her jaw against several words that would’ve been inappropriate for the surrounding crowd of parents, siblings, and coaches.
“Yeah, no, no, no. You go ahead,” Vi shouted after her. “I’ve got Grey Vs. Green. No worries. Have a great game, Cupcake!” Vi kicked at the dirt with her cleats. “Shit.” she mumbled under her breath.
The first game went off without a hitch and soon enough, Vi was headed to her duffel bag on the bleachers right where she left it to snag some water in the half hour between games 1 and 2.
Vi plops herself down on the bleachers a healthy distance away from her new nemesis. She grabs her water bottle, takes a big slug of water warmed by the summer heat and huffs out a breath before starting. “So wait a minute,” She leans over to address Public Enemy Number 1, “you said it’s seven weeks?!”
Caitlyn nodded primly. “There is a final awards ceremony.” She grabbed her own water bottle - pulling back on the plastic tab to reveal the straw. She pursed her lips and looked away as she rehydrated. Vi didn’t mean to stare, but the way she affected disinterest was actively hilarious.
Avoiding eye contact, shifting her body language away - it was textbook classist bullshit. She even crossed her legs at her ankles setting her whole body in a prim line that was all squared shoulders and straight spine - like she was at some kind of cotillion - and it was that moment that Vi knew they would never really get along. Public Enemy Number 1 had finished her sip of water and finished her thought.
“The referees should be there. It’s a morale booster for the Children.”
“Ugh. Children.” Vi overplayed her chagrin as a joke and Caitlyn missed it by a mile.
"Pardon.” her nostrils flared and her gaze turned icy. “Do you even know what you're doing?"
"Relax, I watched a YouTube video before coming here."
“YOU WHAT?!”
“I’m kidding. I did the training. I have my whistle, my stopwatch, my patch and my stupid little socks. I’m here; I’m queer; I know the rules. We can move on. You coach your team and I’ll coach mine.”
“We are REFEREEING the games!?”
“Yeah. Yeah, I just said that to mess with you. You can chill out, buddy. It ain’t that serious.”
“Yes. Well. We are molding young minds. One might want to be an upstanding member of society or at least pretend to be.”
“This is community service, lady.” Vi said derisively.
“It is.” Caitlyn confirmed. “For you. So serve your community.”
“Wha- Wait a minute. You’re not doing this outta the goodness of your heart, are you?”
“I am. Commissioner Grayson warned me about you.” Caitlyn fixed her ponytail as she gazed out at the practicing teams of young’uns in tee shirts three times their size. “A word of advice?”
“I’m all ears.”
“Bring snacks. Bring water. Don’t fuck it up.”
They sit in silence as the sun beats down. Watching kiddos kick and miss and fall around with the grace of newborn puppies on stilts. The warm summer breeze drifted across the pitch and Caitlyn and Vi sat stilled in an icy silence.
Caitlyn checked her watch.
“Bout that time - huh, Cupcake?”
Caitlyn stood stiffly. She took in a deep breath before facing Vi. Cobalt defiance shining behind her eyes. “I’m sorry, Vi. We did get off on the wrong foot. It seems you and I are operating on different wavelengths. I volunteer my time in the summers to enrich lives. I will make no judgments about why you are here and instead, I will wish you a good second match.”
And with that she was off.
The second game in the summer sun went off without a hitch. In no time, the whistles were blown, the children ran back to their parents and Vi was left sitting on the little wall separating the playground mulch from the blacktop. She sat and fiddled with her stopwatch while waiting for her sister to pick her up in their shared beat-up pickup truck that Powder needed this Saturday for some reason.
Vi watched the families trickle past and thought nothing of it as she saw a flash of cobalt blue duck behind the wheel of a very fancy coup as it seemed to sneak out of the parking lot.
In no time, Vi heard the telltale screech of the breaks and the beat-up pickup truck rolled into the parking lot.
“Heya, Vi for Vandal, Hop in!” Powder hollered through the rolled down window as True Damage blasted through the speakers. “How was your first day of ,” Powder affected a voice to show her disdain, “Community Service?”
“Fine.” Vi grumbled as she kicked her muddied cleats to the floor of the car before lifting her feet onto the dashboard.
“EY! FATHANDS.” Powder slammed on the breaks, “THOSE STINK AIR EM OUT. NOW.”
Vi shifted in her seat to let the waft of her sweaty socks disappear out the window.
“Thank you.” Powder cranked the tunes a little higher before turning on her blinker to leave the parking lot.
‘This is going to be a looooong summer.’ Vi thought as they drove home in the hot afternoon sun.