After 2 months of thinking and waiting for football to start again she made up her mind and joined it or at least tried out for football. She tried out and saw she made the team.

Their first game was against one of the top ranked schools in their league. She knew it was gonna be a tough first week and game. But after some very difficult training she was sure she’d be ready for the game

“Daniela all ready for the first game of the year tomorrow, let's make it a good game for the fans because the games is gonna be played at our home stadium”

“huh its at home?”

Now that she knew there was gonna be more people from her school then the other, she felt this pressure because everyone expected so much from her because of her winning the tournament and getting a big celebration for it.

It was finally time to play her first game. It started off like any other of her games, they were winning and having a big lead, but Daniela seemed off; she wasn't as concentrated as she usually was. After the game -which they won- they asked her if she was good. 

“Oh yea just thinking of that test for Mr. G’s class I heard it was gonna be hard and I haven't studied although I rarely do and still get a good grade. Why? ” 

“Oh because you seemed off today and also don’t worry about the test you're like one of the smartest people on this team, you probably will pass without doubt.” said her friend as she changed back to her normal clothes

Their team continued to play excellent and winning games over and over. They were already one of the best teams and people thought they were gonna win again. 

It was their fourth game and they started off really good but Daniela wasn't paying attention again and was going full speed, jumped up to catch the ball but landed badly on her leg.

“son of a b*tch.., that hurts so much!” said Daniela while she layed on the floor holding her foot.

“Oh my god, are you good daniela, want the medical team to come help?” 

“No sh*t sherlock!” said daniela while holding her leg

Her teammates were just looking at her on the ground while they waited for their coach and medical team to come help.

***

After some x-rays and tests, the doctor said that she wouldn’t be able to play football for a few months, and that she should find a new hobby while she recovers.

Daniela is taken home to her parents. After some time she comes downstairs to eat after spending most of her time crying in her room.

“So Daniela, how are you feeling?”

“A little better than before,” Daniela says as she sniffs

“Ok, have you thought of any new hobbies you wanna try or play later at school.”

“I don’t wanna talk abt it right now mom” and takes her first bite after just poking at it.

Daniela goes back to her room where she cries a little bit more but realizes maybe it was time to try a new hobby, after all she might as well do something so she wouldn’t be bored.

“time to see what interest there is at school: Chess? No, Outdoors club? -eww I hate the dirt– no, Travel –that cost way too much– no, Swimming… nah.”  

“I guess the only one that doesn't involve my leg is chess, but I've heard it's boring , ehh I'll give it a shot.”

She studies chess and learns it after a few practice games against a bot. She thinks she’ll be the best chess player there but was completely wrong and underestimated the other players.

She makes her way through the crowds of highschool kids trying to get out of the place they call hell or prison. She finally finds the room for chess and walks in all confident. She introduces herself and the teacher assigned someone to play her. 

“this is gonna be so easy”

But was checkmated real quick. She looked at the board and the kid back and forth trying to figure out how he did that in 2 moves 

“Wha how did you do that”

“ First off you left your queen unguarded and second off you came in way too cocky, thinking you were gonna win and “ this is gonna be so easy” bullsh*t, so I needed to humble you. And I did” 

After that, Daniela practiced and practiced so that wouldn’t happen again, she played the easy player and slowly made her way up winning against harder and harder people. And after a few months she was finally back to her first opponent that she played. 

“ good to see you again rook” said the boy as he put the piece back in place

“Ready this time?”

“ ehh yea” daniela looked at him as he did his first move pawn to G4

They go back and forth checking each other until finally after one hour Daniela got him into a checkmate, she got so excited, she was finally the best in her class. The boy looked at her confused yet still proud of her. 

But after that she seems to be bored of the class not going anymore to the club meetings. 

Few months went by and the doctor told her, her leg is better and she could go back to playing football. But Daniela didn't know if she should go back or not. So she went back to thinking again just like she did before she went into chess.

During school, people told her she should go back to football but she kept telling them she wasn't sure. So day and night all she thought about was if she’d go back or not. 

“Should I go back, I mean it was fun but don’t I wanna hurt myself again”  

“ Let me look for other sports I might like or atleast try. Soccer? No… I probably will get hurt again, Volleyball? No, track? No too much running, swimming? That might be different. I’ll give it a try.”

So Daniela waited till swimming was a sport and tried out but of course she had to practice before because she didn't know how to swim fast.  So every day after school she would go to the local swimming pool and practice every day till she was quick. And so she wouldn’t get embarrassed like last time in chess, she practiced with other people from the school that were also trying out for swimming and beat everyone or well at least almost everyone. 

***

So a week passed and try outs were finally on. After a few days the cuts were shown and Daniela made it so she made the team. And unlike chess the sport was more competitive then chess so Daniela never really got bored of it. After her friends found out they asked her why she joined swimming rather than football. 

“ I don’t know just wanted to try something new and different again”

“ Alright Daniela you do you we’re gonna go to class see ya later”

After that Daniela never really talked to them because well she wasn’t playing with them anymore, they’d still talk a little because they were still friends just less though. But she managed to make new friends with her teammates from the swimming team. 

The next day the coach told her that they were going to have their first competition against another team and it’d be a good idea to put their best swimmer up first so the others schools knew what they were gonna go up against.

So the day of the competition Daniela and her team all got ready to prove why other schools should worry about her. Daniela was up first, she went up against this skinny, tall, white girl and Daniela easily won. Since she was their fastest swimmer they made sure to give her a chance to relax and rest before she went back up to go against other people. 

And just like football her team was just winning back and forth, school after school, tournaments after tournaments. The day had finally come where it was the top schools versus each other so basically the top 16 schools would compete against each other to win the tournament. And since Daniela school won most of their games they instantly got moved up to the semi finals and got a week to practice before they go against another school.

So they practice everyday and only got one day off to relax and rest before their competition. The team went out to relieve themselves, they got food and ice cream. Just trying to forget or not stress as much that tomorrow's competition will decide if they will go to the finals.

***

The day of the competition instead of putting Daniela up first they put the other first and saved her for last because what they found out or realized was that school would put their slowest teammate first so Daniela would get tired and then they put their fastest for the rest of the team. The score was tied 3-3  had won on Daniela's team and 3 had won on the other team , so once again it was all up to her to win and go to the finals. So she got set and ready then “boom” the gun fired and they jumped into the water and at first it seem that daniela was gonna lose but then she sped up and past her opponent and touch the wall first before the other person and just like that they made it to the finals; 

“ Daniela has done it again, she has won the competition for her team and they move on to the finals” the announcer said while the team were all cheering her.

Now knowing that the they made to the finals, they realized they’d have to practice even harder and more then they did before the semis and even before the tournament.So they once again practice harder and harder everyday just like last time  but instead of having the day off before the competition they had the day two day before the competition,

The finals was set between Daniela's school vs some other school in fresno. There weren’t as many people at the football game but still a decent amount of people went to cheer them on, even Daniela's old teammate. Once again they made Daniela go towards the end. And at first Daniela’s team was losing 2-4 but after a break and a quick talk with the coach they managed to tie it up. It was down to her again but this time her opponent was one of the best swimmers in the country. So it would be a close race and Daniela knew it would be, she had heard about her from one of her teammate and practice alot for this. The judges realized that they want to make it harder so they decide to make them do 4 laps instead of 1.

“ In order to get the point you have to touch the wall, go back, touch the other wall and then repeat that again. 

So they got ready, relaxed  a little and then it was finally time to see who’d win the tournament. Danila got set and the other girls got set.

“ 3, 2, 1, ( gun shot)”

And both of them dove into the water and were off people cheering for both of them. Chants of Daniela’s name were repeated. She heard them even underwater and knew that people had her back and supported her. Daniela was barely finishing her lap while the other girl was already starting to go to the other wall and for a second Daniela thought she was gonna lose but remembered that all the practice everything she’d done was for this, she then although tired managed to catch up and they were both really close. They were about ¾ of the way of the lap and still were close. But daniela got a little burst of energy and passed the other girl and won the tournament. Daniela once again got her team a win when it all relied on her. Her team went crazy and cheered her name.

They got their trophy and held it up and also helped up Daniela because she was so exhausted  from the race. After that she went back to  change and was so happy she’d not only won the football tournament but the swimming one too and at the last minute.

After that schools all over the country were offering her a scholarship after seeing her in all her swimming competitions. And from that day on, Daniela would win most of her other competitions and win tournaments. She realized she loved swimming more then football although sometimes she would miss football.