Have Hope

29

Y/N POV

The team enjoyed a late breakfast this morning before loading onto the busses and heading to the gym/field facility to complete our day of conditioning. 

Dawn had constructed personalized workout plans for each member, catering to their specific needs regarding strength and agility. I was paired up with Ash and Alyssa to do more strength based training, while all of the other players did cardio and light weight training.

Of course we stopped every so often for a dance party lead by Crystal. I swear that woman was a walking ball of swag.

I aspired to reach her level of awesomeness.

After our conditioning, we went to the pool room to take our ice baths, and then loaded back onto the buses to head back to the hotel for our strategy meeting.

Everyone filed into the conference room, tired from the workout, and already bored from the meeting which hadn't even started yet.

We all chatted with one another for a few minutes until Jill walked to the front of the room with Dawn, suspicious smiles on their faces.

The projector screen had been pulled down, displaying a slideshow made by the coaches.

"Alright, everyone." Jill said, clapping her hands together, immediately quieting the group down. 

"So I'm sure you've all heard by now that the Netherlands beat Sweden 1-nill this morning, which means that in just four days time, you'll be playing the toughest game of your lives, against a very tough opponent. Four days may sound like a lot, but it will fly by, I promise you. I want you all to know how proud I am of the work you've been doing. It's been a long road since December, and the effort I've seen put into this team is nothing short of immeasurable. So, that's why instead of having a strategy meeting today, we have come up with a little game for all of you."

Jill clicked a button on a small remote, changing to the next slide.

We all laughed when a picture of Tom Cruise from Mission Impossible popped up, with the words "Your Assignment" in bold letters.

Dawn and Jill went on to explain the rules of the game, and that they were going to split us all into groups and hand each person a paper with a list of tasks on it. 

"Each team will have twenty minutes to complete every task, with photo or video evidence. The first team to successfully complete every task with adequate proof doesn't have to run laps during training tomorrow."

"Do we get to choose our teams?" I asked.

"Nope. The groups have already been chosen. Group one will go stand next to Carli, and has Alyssa, Rose, Abby, Becky, and Sam. Group two stand next to Tierna: Sonnett, Jess, Morgan, and Julie. Group three stand next to Y/n: Ashlyn, Tobin, Lindsey, and Crystal. And group four stand next to Alex: Ali, Christen, Allie, Kelley, and Pinoe."

I was bummed that my girlfriend and I weren't in the same group, but at the same time, my competitive side was jumping for joy, ready to destroy her in the competition.

The team split into the groups Jill said, all going to our respective parts of the room.

"I'm going to give everyone your task list. Everyone group has the same task. You will have two minutes to discuss strategy before we release you all at the same time." Dawn announced, walking to each group to hand us a paper.

"Two minutes starts...now!"

Ash, Tobs, Lindsey, Crystal, and I all surveyed the paper, already forming our plan on how to accomplish every task.

There were ten of them, most of them pretty simple under normal circumstances, but a bit more difficult when you're at a hotel.

All too soon the two minutes ended, and an eager, nervous excitement filled the air.

I looked across the room to my girlfriend who smirked at me and mouthed "I'm going to destroy you" I shook my head with a chuckle before mouthing back "You wish."

"Okay everyone, your time starts in three...two...one...go!"

All of a sudden total chaos broke out; everyone rushing quickly towards the double doors.

My group managed to make it out first, breaking free of the crowd and heading off to the location of our first task: the pool.

I made sure Crystal was filming before pulling my shirt over my head and diving into the pool, swimming a full lap across it.

After that we had to do other tasks like find a fish and take a picture of it, play soccer with a beach ball, and touch the cross bar of a soccer goal.

Our group worked as efficiently as we could, playing to each member's strengths to complete every task. We had considered using loopholes, but we were worried that it might make our tasks not count, so we played it all by the book.

Every so often we'd pass another group trying to complete one of their owns tasks, but we stayed focused on our own work.

Jill sent out a group text to everyone to let us all know that we had three minutes remaining, right as we finished our last task. 

"ALRIGHT LET'S GO!" Ash yelled, leading everyone back in the direction of the main hotel building.

As we entered the lobby, we came face to face with Alex's group, who was clearly also making their way to the conference room. If they beat us there, we could lose. 

Our two groups took off running down the hall, Ash and Alex leading the way, papers held high in their hands.

We both burst through the doors of the conference room, getting to Dawn, Jill, Mark, and Erica at the same time.

"We win!" Alex and I both exclaimed breathlessly. 

The blue eyed forward glared playfully at me, and I stuck my tongue out at her.

"Everyone calm down, the evidence must be reviewed before any decision about the winner is made." Dawn said, effectively quieting us down just as the other two groups arrived. 

Each player took their seat, waiting eagerly for the winner to be announced.

The air in the room was tense as we waited, and I held my breath.

"Okay, everyone, the results are in." Jill called.

"In fourth place, with six fully completed tasks, we have group two: Tierna, Sonnett, Jess, Morgan, and Julie. In third place, with eight fully completed tasks, we have group one: Carli, Alyssa, Rose, Abby, Becky, and Sam. In second place..."

I exchanged looks with my group members, nodding confidentially at them before looking over at Alex.

I shot her a smug smile, hoping to god we beat her.

"In second place we have group number four:  Alex, Ali, Christen, Allie, Kelley, and Pinoe. So that means our 2019 scavenger hunt winners are group three! Y/n, Ashlyn, Tobin, Lindsey, and Crystal, congratulations."

We all cheered, hugging and high fiving each other.

I walked over to my girlfriend with a smile. "Better luck next time, Princess."

The brunette laughed, standing from her chair. "Oh come here." She threw her arms over my shoulders, pulling me close. 

"Congrats baby."