In Your Corner | ✓

Twenty-Two

To my own credit, I make a valiant effort to stick to the promises I made the girls about looking after myself a bit better.

I stop the early morning gym sessions on Mondays and Thursdays, when I have training in the evening anyway. Instead, I give myself a bit more time in bed, but I still make it onto campus for nine o'clock.

It does actually make me feel a little bit better. I'm not so groggy in the mornings and I appreciate the extra time in bed. It also means that I value the sessions more when I do them, because I do them less often.

MJ doesn't go on any nights out during the week and instead, meets Reece for a coffee during a study break. Apparently, he's much more bearable when he's sober.

The jury is still out on that one.

Anandi powers away as normal, just being the queen that she is.

Just over a week later, I find myself at the soccer field bleachers with Grayson, Kat and Farah. It's one of those rare Saturdays that we don't have a game but the boys do, so we have come down to support them.

It's so cold now and the ground is threatening to freeze over, so it's just as well that the season is wrapping up in the next few weeks. We'll still train next semester, but there aren't any more competitions.

I sit next to Gray, wrapped up in a puffer jacket and thick gloves coating my hands that are wrapped around a cup of hot chocolate from the concession stand.

Gray, whose jacket is of a similar style to mine but pristine cream instead of my usual black, blows out a breath, sighing at the fact she can see it. "I love Vancouver, don't get me wrong, but I hate how cold it gets at this time of year," she whines.

I laugh, shaking my head. "That's what you get for moving further up the coast, rather than staying in San Fran, silly."

Farah, who's one her other side, groans. "I feel you, Gray. I hate it. My Iranian ass can't handle it."

Kat shakes her head, eyeing me from the far side of Farah. "Honestly, these two are whinging about nothing, don't you think?"

Gray whips her head between the two of us, her eyes narrowed. "Stop making fun of us."

Shrugging, I turn my attention to the field, where the guys are warming up. "What are the bets today?" I ask, deciding that a change of subject is in order.

This is a tradition that we have. Every time we come to watch one of the guys' games, we take bets about the result of the game and who's going to score the goals. Whoever gets it wrong has to buy a round later on that night. On the nights when none of us get it right, it's undeniably messy.

"Reuben to score a hattrick," Kat replies confidently, her eyes finding him on the field.

Farah snorts. "Well, we all know he's going to put a show on for you, that's for sure."

Kat's pale face burns and she gives our teammate a dirty look, but does nothing else to refute the jab. In fairness, she's subject to so much teasing about her almost-more-than-friends situation with Reuben that she's pretty much used to it by now.

"Hmm, I'd say that Josh is looking pretty sharp today," Gray muses, her hand cupping her face while her elbow rests on her knee.

It's true. Josh has been pretty good during the warm-up, sending a few perfectly accurate free-kicks into the back of the net and his passing during drills has been on point.

"True," I agree, watching as he sends a ball sailing straight into Chase's feet from the complete opposite end of the field. "But he'll probably just pass off all of his chances to someone else."