Edge of Nowhere
Chapter Four
The Midland Six, as they called themselves now, bonded quickly. Lindsey Calderon would make her season debut and get both assists in a 2-0 win against East Shore Primavera, and for the first time, all six of the top ranked prospects from the Midland Bluesox would be on the pitch together at one time. Renato Moleiro had continued playing as the anchor of the defense, as a strong but quick central defender who could chase down anyone and keep up with even the fastest of attackers. Vic Tanner was a good partner for Park Sang Chul up front, knowing when to keep the ball and when to pass it off to his shifty fellow striker, who always managed to find himself in good positions in the opposition’s third of the pitch.
Mylo Dietrich was dominating at the libero position and was intelligent enough to handle learning the roles of all of the midfield and wing positions, so he could fit into the role that Endrizzi was famous for employing. Nina Herrera was finally healthy, and after a tough preseason position battle during training camp, she was the starting keeper, and she was undoubtedly the best sweeper in the league. She was incredibly athletic for a keeper, able to keep up with the outfield players in strength and aerobics training, and it was the first time in her career that she was playing completely healthy and in peak form consistently. And then there was Park. Park was… Well, it was hard to describe him, because he fit more than one role. He’d become something of a leader to the Bluesox, but he was also the villain of the team that took the negative attention from the press to allow the others to keep a lower profile in the eyes of the media.
Even though there were more fitting players to be the league’s villain, including a few who played for Midland, Park’s match against Sporting had pissed off the fanbase of the nation’s second most popular team and caused the press to go in on him too, especially the media members that had ties to Sporting as players. Most coaches would condemn Park as a distraction, but not the staff at Midland. Fabien Endrizzi knew from much experience as a top level manager that sometimes, it was necessary to have someone who could take hate from the press and from rival teams, because that person would deflect attention from the others who might not handle it so well. In the case of Midland, Park was the one who was deflecting the attention, and he was doing a brilliant job of directing it all towards himselves and giving his teammates a break.
For a youth league, the Redvali Youth Championship was pretty competitive and well followed. It got media coverage just like the senior leagues. Everyone wanted to know who the next big stars would be, and while there were some flaws in the Midland team, they were largely skipped over because everyone and their mother had an opinion on if Park Sang Chul had a bad attitude or not. It was laughable, really, and that was the opinion of both Park and the staff members, as well as that of the Midland Six.
It was the Midland Six that had led the Bluesox to first place in the league at that point in the season, and they were also the closest players off of the pitch. On the day after they’d arrived back in Midland after the win against East Shore, they were all going out together, not into the city or to a club or to somewhere like that, but into the mountainous woods outside the city. They weren’t looking for the kind of attractions that could be found in a big city like Maris or Avgaria. No, the Six were close enough that they were content spending their off day in the middle of nowhere, enjoying the company of each other. They went hiking at least a couple of times a season, Renato had told Park. This was the first time that they were doing it with him and Lindsey, but the two newcomers fit in just fine. The conversation on the way up the trail started off as a combination of taking shots at their rivals and bantering with each other(Midlanders loved their banter, and no subject was off limits), and the newcomers had no problem replying with banter of their own.
“Hey, new boy, is this your first time hiking?” asked Vic, a grin spreading across his face. “I know you’re from Janford, there aren’t exactly forests up there. Unless you’re from the suburbs and not the center city, but I doubt that. The accent’s a giveaway, you know. You played in Avgaria too, but that’s almost as much of a concrete jungle as Janford is. Please tell me this isn’t your first time seeing a forest up close?”
“Hey, there’s forests in Janford. You just have to go to the park. It’s so big and green that you can almost forget that you’re surrounded by miles upon miles of steel and concrete,” Park said. “You might get jumped by the homeless while you’re there, and the trees don’t do anything to block out the noise, but that’s besides the point. And, for all of Avgaria’s faults, they actually put trees everywhere there. There’s a reason they wear green and call themselves Foresters-”
“No, I don’t mean the trees that they put on the sidewalk,” groaned Vic. “I’m talkin’ about real forests! Like this. Or the ones in Midvale. If you haven’t been into the woods in Midvale, you’re missing out, bruv. There’s trees as far as you can see, and no homeless people waiting to pickpocket you or cars making noise. In Midvale, we’ve got the type of forests that you can get lost in. It’s real tourism. Sometimes, people actually do get lost in em. Well, most of Midvale does, anyway. Glenham has more swamps than woods, but everyone should also experience swamp hiking in Glenham at least once.”
“Swamp… Hiking?” asked Park, not really knowing that much about Midvale as someone who had been born and raised in Janford. “Doesn’t sound like a fun time to me.”
“Didn’t say it was fun, but you sure as hell should try it at least once. Everyone should know what it’s like to wade through a waist high swamp to find your dinner,” Vic chuckled. “It’s right up there on the list of things that are part of the Midvale experience, right next to going to a Red Valley gridiron game and checking out the Markham arms factories. You know, if you’re ever in Markham, just tell me, man. I’ll give you a tour of the place I used to work.”
“Are you shitting me? That’s what you guys call tourism? I knew your economy is pretty martial, but damn,” Park said, and that was when all five of the other players burst out laughing.
“He’s yanking your chain cause you don’t know anything about the mainland,” Renato explained. “And he’s kind of taking the piss out of himself. Midvalis are known for self deprecation, you know. The running joke is that the only thing in Midvale is swamps, forests, and factories. And the joke behind that one is that Markham only has weapons factories. I wouldn’t expect you to know it, coming from central Janford.”
Park sighed, feeling a rare moment where he didn’t fit in. “Oh… Yeah, of course,” he said. “I know we’re joking around, but in all seriousness, sometimes I wish I wasn’t from Janford. I feel like I can’t relate with anyone. The people I know back home are the rich types who just care about cash and family prestige, and everyone here is… I don’t know. Different. Working class, I guess. Sometimes I feel like I’m posing as a working class Midlander, when I know that my parents are in the banking business and that’s what I was actually born into. You get what I’m saying, right?”
“Nobody cares, bruv,” Vic said, shrugging. “Plenty of people move to Midland from other places because the real estate is dirt cheap. You can do you here, and everyone is going to be fine with it. You don’t have to act working class or Midvali or whatever, because the truth is, there’s no such thing as a real Midland identity. Half our citizens are transplants from Maris, Red Valley, and Avgaria. A lot of them came here because of poverty, some for work, and some because they wanted a fresh start and thought that the middle of nowhere would be a good place to find one. You-”
Vic stopped speaking and turned his attention to Nina, who suddenly didn’t look like she felt very well. She had stopped walking, and she was holding her head with both hands and breathing a bit too sharply for comfort. “Oi, Nina, you feeling alright?” Vic asked, as the others stopped too. “You did take your meds, right? I don’t want any accidents happening out here. It’s not like we can quickly call for help or-”
“I’m fine,” Nina said, her voice low and pained. “Just give me a minute. Or two-”
“Hey, I really don’t want anything happening up here, so if you aren’t feeling well, we can head back down,” Vic said, cutting her off. “I saw a little hospital a few miles away from the start of the trail, we could head there and see if they have the-”
“No! I’m fine!” Nina snapped, standing straight and smacking Vic on the chest for the suggestion. Park and Lindsey exchanged a look, and the two newcomers knew that there was definitely something that everyone else knew that they didn’t. Mylo and Renato were both uncomfortable and shifty looking, and Mylo looked like he was looking for an excuse to leave.
“I can go down there myself and come back-” he started, but Nina glared at him and made him shut up quickly after he’d spoken.
“I said no, didn’t I? If I say I’m fine, I’m fine,” Nina said, her voice getting heated very fast. She was going to speak again, but she grabbed her head again and winced. “Damn… Um… Yeah, I’m fine. I could just use some time to sit down. Just a few minutes will do.”
Everyone was silent. Nobody wanted to say the wrong thing, and Park and Lindsey had no idea what was even going on, or what was wrong with Nina. Eventually, Renato spoke up as the most mature and trusted one of the group. “Nina, did you really take your meds?” he asked softly, quiet enough that Park had to strain to hear him. “That’s kind of an important detail… Just tell us the truth, it’s too late to go back and change things anyway.”
Nina didn’t answer, instead turning her back to the others and continuing down the trail. “If you want to head back, then do it. I said I’m fine, I’m going to keep going. I’m going to leave ya’ll to decide what you want to do,” she said, and she kept walking without looking back. Park looked between Lindsey and Renato and Vic, trying to decide what he was going to do.
“What the hell was that about? What’s Nina taking meds for?” he asked.
“It’s a long story for another day,” said Renato, folding his arms. “I think she’s lying, but we can’t just let her walk off by herself. We might as well keep going and act like this conversation didn’t just happen. But Vic, keep an eye on her. It’s like you said, we don’t want anything happening up here. There’s no help for miles, remember that.”
Vic sighed and nodded, and Park didn’t ask again about what was going on. He had a feeling that if it was indeed a problem, he would find out about it firsthand soon enough when they kept going.
=====
After the conversation, everybody was avoiding Nina, and Park didn’t really think it was fair. He made a point of walking with her, a few yards ahead of everyone else. And she appreciated that. She wasn’t the most open person despite her brash nature, but they found themselves in a deeper conversation than the banter that had been going on earlier, and they talked about each other’s families and roots. Nina was from a small town in the West Shore region, and her parents were poor farmers. She was trying to make it big to move out of her town for good and help her parents move out, too. Park also learned during their conversation that she was definitely smarter and more insightful than she seemed in the locker room. Yes, she could be brash and outspoken at times, but there was far more to her than that.
After she talked about herself, he explained that he was from Janford but that he’d spent the last couple of years grinding away in Avgaria only to have the team tell him directly that he would never make it into the senior squad unless he dropped his other sport, despite them saying the opposite earlier. Nina sympathized with him, and she believed that he was doing the right thing by leaving Sporting for Midland. She also related with his problems about not fitting in. After all, she was from West Shore, a place with a very different culture than the industrial one that was prevalent in Midland and the Midvale region in general. While she was being open with him, he didn’t dare ask about earlier. She seemed to want to ignore it, and so Park went along with it by not mentioning it.
The group walked for about twenty more minutes before stopping at a large clearing that had some logs that could be used as benches. They were going to take a break before starting up again and continuing towards the top of the trail, which they wanted to reach by dark. There was a great spot up there to get a good view of the surrounding area from above, and that spot was also good for taking pictures. Vic had been there before, and he had convinced the others to want to hike all the way up the mountainous forest to get to that spot. When everyone found a place to sit in the clearing, Park sat down next to Nina, who was by herself. “You know, it’s kind of unfair that everyone is avoiding you,” he said. “I guess there’s something they know that I don’t.”
“They do,” Nina shrugged, looking away. She grabbed her head again, though, and then looked up to see if the others had seen the move. “Truth is, I’m not feeling that great today. I didn’t take the medicine like I told the others. But I don’t want to go back, because I can handle it. I’m going to be fine. If I wasn’t, I would go back like the others suggested.”
“Yeah, but what’s wrong in the first place?” asked Park, wondering if he was pressing too far. “What do you take medicine for?”
“What’s it matter to you?” asked Nina, a bit defensively. “You don’t believe me when I say that I’m fine?”
Park shook his head. “Just curious,” he said. “I trust you. I just thought maybe I could help if I knew what was up-”
“You can help by not bothering me and acting like everyone else is acting,” Nina replied. “Sometimes it’s nice to just have someone like you around, who isn’t going to judge me or bother me or avoid me. Okay? Is that too much to ask for?”
“No,” replied Park. “I won’t bring it up again. I’m sorry… If you say you’re fine, I believe you,” he said, and while he wasn’t sure if he really meant that, he wanted to make Nina happy. After all, it was hard to come across a friend he could relate to. When he finally did, it was worth keeping them around.