Striker (Christen Press x fem reader)

Chapter 3 | First Training Session

You woke up to your alarm at 6:30, giving you plenty of time to get ready and eat breakfast before heading to practice. You put on your training gear and threw on the shorts and the practice jersey under the long sleeve training top. You looked in the mirror and smiled at your new uniform.

Putting your hair in a high ponytail, you and Abby walked down to eat and saw others already here. You put on your plate eggs and toast with avocado on top. Abby went over to sit with other people, while you found Margaret and joined her with some others.

"Hey Margaret," you greeted.

"Hey (y/n), also you can call me Midge for short," she smiled. You nodded and took a bite of your eggs.

"Not going to lie, I'm a little nervous," she said.

"Why? You've been playing at a professional level longer than I have. If anyone, I should be the one nervous," you explained.

"I know, but every time I play for a new team, I get nervous and I can't help it. I know the drill, as soon as I get on the field the nerves will leave and I'll be fine."

You looked past Midge, and saw Christen eating at a table with Crystal, Alyssa, Alex, and Lynn. You weren't expecting to become the best of friends, but it would be nice to be able to talk to her. Right now, you didn't focus on the crush part of Christen, even though it was easy to fall in that mindset, but the first day was too important to get distracted.

"Hey, you okay?" Midge asked, snapping you out of the train of thought.

"Y-yeah, sorry. I zoned out a bit," you said nonchalantly. Midge turned her head and looked where you were looking at.

"You worried playing against Christen?" She asked. You were startled.

"N-no, of course not," you said quickly.

"(y/n), it's alright to be. I mean, she's been on this team forever, and she's Christen. You're allowed to feel this way. Just show her and Vlatko what you got, and then maybe you'll take her spot," she smiled at the end.

"I just don't want there to be any beef, you know?"

"I get it. Just keep looking ahead, and you got it (y/n)."

You were grateful to befriend Midge. Already you felt you two would be inseparable and would support one another.

Soon enough, it was time to leave for the bus, and following the bus seating, you sat with Abby and listened to some music while having a conversation with her, mostly about UCLA.

As soon as you got to the fields, you walked out and out of the corner of your eye, saw a cameraman with their equipment, probably to make one of those January Camp videos for YouTube. You kept your eyes ahead and walked to the benches and talked with Mal while putting on your stuff. Since you two came from Colorado, you both reminisced and talked about some of your favorite places to go.

The whistle blew, and you and the others began warming up. As soon as you guys were done, you began doing keep away in a small space. During this time, you managed to nutmeg one person and pull of some tricks.

After doing more drills, the whole team eventually moved onto a scrimmage. The team was split into two, and you found yourself on the same team with Midge which made your nerves go away just slightly. But that didn't stop from the fact you saw you'd be playing against Christen. You gulped, knowing you wanted to be on the same team so you could see how much chemistry on the field you two had.

Your team started with the ball, and as soon as the whistle blew, you passed the ball back to the midfield and as they did their job, you ran up to press the opposing midfielders and defenders. You watched and moved with the ball at a distance to try to find an opening for your teammates to pass you the ball and take it towards the goal.