8 || Alliances, June 1977

                                    

                                          
(Unedited, 4438 words)
Trigger Warnings: Some fighting, mentions/discussions of emotional and physical abuse, insults

As the first month of summer finally came to a close, the Radley family returned from their newly annual month-long trip to Texas to find that Clara had become pregnant. Cautiously, Olivia and Alexander invited the Afton family over for dinner in order to catch up. Their contact had been spotty at best since Amelia's birthday party, but now that Clara was expecting, Olivia wanted to rebuild their friendship— if it still existed— and give William a second chance. Alexander was less hopeful about the situation, but agreed to it because he knew Olivia was counting on it.
Alexander took off work that day to help his wife prepare the food and the house while Ben, Amelia, and Michael all ran off to the new soccer fields at the park across from their neighborhood. Mark met them there and they all played soccer for a while. Jeremy and the two Williams kids joined them about an hour after they arrived, and within twenty minutes, they had all teamed up against another group of kids that had arrived to the fields without a soccer ball. The terms of the game were that the winner got to take the soccer ball home, and Mark was determined to not let one of his only Christmas presents be taken from him.
Mark, being the oldest of the group (seven) and the most experienced at soccer (four years of playing), took charge and did the best on their team. He was on a real recreational team and apparently, some of the other kids were his teammates, though they all acted like they hated each other. Mark never really explained the rivalry between them, but it was not lost on the children that, while their team was composed of a few different races, all of the other kids were white. 
Michael was also seven, but he wasn't as good as Mark in soccer. Not to mention that the other team, which was partially composed of his classmates, were oddly hostile towards him. He and Mark both bit back, and the moment they truly snapped, the other team shut up about it. At some point, someone on the other team mentioned that Mark should throw Michael out since he wasn't any good, and before Mark could even tell them he didn't care how good Michael was, Amelia stepped up told them to shut up. 
The six-year-olds— Jeremy, Simon, and Benjamin— were all pretty good. Benjamin was the goalie, and he never let a single shot past him for as long as he stood there. The other team actually told Mark that Benjamin was the best player on Mark's team, though the seven-year-old retaliated by saying everyone on his team was better than the other team. Simon, though the other team called him a nerd at times, was quick and clever and he managed to trick the other team into believing he was going to do the opposite of what he actually did. Jeremy wasn't a soccer kid (he played hockey with Mark, but not soccer), but he held his own. 
Since the incident after Amelia's party, Jeremy and Michael hadn't talked much. They shared short glances and wouldn't say each other's name outright, and Clara refused to hear any word about Jeremy from anyone— including people like Olivia or even Amelia when she was over visiting. But, whether they were on good terms or not— their friend group had become a pack, and much like a wolf pack, they always had each other's backs. 
Amelia and Catherine were the youngest two. Amelia was still four, but Catherine had just turned five. Catherine was still pretty sour about having gotten into trouble for "being mean to Amelia, whether she pushed her into the pool or not", but just like Jeremy and Michael, she and Amelia had grown to protect each other. With Amelia starting at their elementary school come August, it was important to build back up their relationship. Even though they'd be in different grades, she and Amelia would be at recess together, and they needed each other then.
The teams were seven against eight, with the other team having eight. But within an hour of playing, Mark's team had gotten six points, and they were showing no sign of slowing down.