AllFreeNovel
Share Us
I laughed. "I just can't believe how fast everything is happening. Liam asked me to be his girlfriend last night."
Becca spun to face me in her seat. "What?! When?"
I bit my lip and tried to focus on the road ahead of me. "Well, sort of in the middle of the night, but then he confirmed it again this morning on the beach."
I could see her gaping from the corner of my eye. "What did you say?"
"Yes! Of course. Do you think I’m insane?"
"Yes, a little bit. But, that’s unrelated to this situation. Wow, he’s such a catch.” She nodded as if imagining him for a moment.
"What about you and Penn?" I asked.
Becca narrowed her eyes and stared out the front window. "I'm not sure yet. He just got out of that relationship and he's told me he wants to take things really slow. I don't think he wants to disrespect his ex by jumping into a new relationship so soon."
"I guess that makes sense. How long ago did they break up?"
"A little over a month."
"Hmm..." Honestly, I wasn't sure what the rule was on the appropriate amount of time between relationships. I guess it depends on how long they were together and the way they broke up.
"I think it's obvious that he has serious feelings about you, you guys were practically attached at the hip today. Just hang in there and I'll try to get info from Liam if you need it."
Becca smiled. "Yeah, I'm trying to just go with the flow, but I'm not very good at it. I think my body’s too stiff.”
…
Monday morning, Coach Davis sat everyone down and explained that Tara was no longer a member of the ULA team. We voted for the new captains right away, opting to bump Sofie up and then replace her spot with a junior that everyone loved. I expected more commotion about Tara's leaving, but as soon as Coach Davis said the announcement, it was almost as if you could hear an audible sigh pass through the group.
After practice I was heading into the locker room when Sofie caught up to me.
"Hey, could we talk for a second?" she asked. Her eyes were fleeting from me, to the ground, then back again, and she was fidgeting with her hands.
"Sure. Of course," I said, preparing myself for the worst. At certain moments during the past few weeks, Sofie was just as bad as Tara, but now that her leader was gone, it was as if Sofie almost seemed shy.
"I just wanted to apologize for everything. Tara and I were really out of line, and while we both should have probably been kicked off the squad, I realize now that I was given a second chance and I won't blow it. I should have never treated you like I did and there's really no excuse..."
I put my hand on her arm.
"No worries. Let's forget the past few weeks ever happened and we'll just move on. Sound good?"
Relief flashed across her face. "Thanks, Kinsley." To my surprise she reached forward and gave me a tight hug. It was awkward. So very awkward. I patted her back and then kind of squirmed out of her hold eventually.
Throughout the rest of the week I tried to stay in the moment. At soccer, I focused on soccer. Coach Davis pushed us hard and it felt good to keep my mind occupied on something other than Liam.
We had a scrimmage scheduled against another area college the following week, so we were gearing up for that. I was nervous just thinking about it, but Coach Davis assured me I would be starting in the game. Unfortunately, that only made me more nervous. It would technically be my first college game and I wanted to impress everyone that was expecting me to excel. No, I wanted to exceed everyone’s expectations of me. I wanted them to say, “I thought she’d be good, but that girl is on fire.” They’d have no choice but to compare me to Katniss.
On Thursday, we were huddled up and Coach Davis was filling us in on last minute things before practice ended.
"Don't forget that this Saturday we'll be going as a team to watch the LA Stars play. This will be a good learning experience for all of you that are coming off of high school teams. The level at which these professional athletes compete will give you a taste of what we need to aim for during our practices and games. I won't make everyone ride together, just meet outside the stadium at 5:45 P.M. Wear your black ULA shirts and jeans."
With everything else going on, I’d forgotten about going to watch Liam play.
"You're going to get to see your boyfriend play in a professional soccer game," Emily teased as we drove home. We'd filled Emily in on most everything that had happened over the weekend when we got back Sunday night. She had her mouth hanging open for most of the explanation, but by now I think it was starting to sink in.
