CHASING GOLD: World Cup

Chapter 8

Practice was going well so far. Andy and Theo were usually paired up and so far today, they were killing it on the field. The national team seemed impressed with how well the team was doing. Alex and Tobin both commented to each other that Andy and Theo were like the younger, newer versions of them. Andy played just like Tobin and Theo played just like Alex. Coach eventually decided to switch things up and put a high schooler with a pro. Alex was paired with Andy and Theo was paired with Tobin so as to put one middie and one forward together. The rest of the teams were divided up with their respective partners.

Alex and Andy were up next with the crossing drill they were doing. As the two ran their routes, Andy lofted a perfect ball to Alex and the forward headed the ball into the net. Alex ran up to Andy and gave her a high five. "Nice cross." Andy smiled. "Just as good as another middie I know." Alex said, knowing Tobin was up next and could clearly hear Alex talking to Andy.

"Ha ha. Very funny Lex." Tobin said. "Watch this." Tobin said to the two. She and Theo started their runs and Tobin lofted her own perfect ball to Theo who headed it into the net. Theo ran over to Tobin, Alex and Andy. "Nice finish T." Tobin said. Andy chuckled. "Something funny?" Tobin asked, confused.

"Hm? Oh no nothing. It's just that I call her that too." Andy said locking eyes with Theo. Alex and Tobin shared a knowing look. "Hey T let's reverse it real quick." Andy said to Theo. Theo nodded. The two switched places and Theo lofted her own almost perfect ball into the box for Andy who placed the ball into the back of the net. The two jogged back over to the two pros watching, giving each other high fives and comments.

"Sorry. We just like to reverse it at least once when doing this drill." Theo explained. She looked at Andy smiling brightly.

The coach blew the whistle signaling it was time for a scrimmage. Quite a crowd had gathered in the stands as everyone quickly became aware of the soccer pros being at their school. Soccer, and especially women's soccer, was this schools sport anyway and the majority of the student body would always be at the games. So this practice was a must-see for most. The teams consisted of pros and Hawks on both sides. The pros on team red were Alex, Sonnett, Kelley, Becky, and Ash with the high schoolers Andy, Kate, Grace, Joy, Tana, and Jo. On team blue was Tobin, Megan, Meghan, Kristie, Christen and Hope with Theo, Lena, Dani, Jack, and Gabi.

The whistle blew and the teams were off. The red team pushed the ball up quickly as Andy put the ball on her left foot and moved quickly through Kristie and Lena. She saw Alex and Grace make their runs as Jo stayed at the top of the box for any bounce back. Alex put the ball in the back of the net with ease. Alex ran to Andy and celebrated her goal with Andy and then headed back to restart. The blue team controlled the ball this time with Tobin taking the ball up the side. Weaving through Tana and Sonnett, similarly to how her daughter had just done on the opposite side, Tobin made her way to an opening with Theo and Megan making runs with Christen at the top. Tobin timed her ball perfectly and Theo put it into the back of the net. Theo and Tobin celebrated and jogged back to restart.

About 10 minutes in, Andy was racing forward with the ball. Looking up to see the players in front of her, she doesn't notice her feet being taken out from underneath her. Play stops immediately but Lena is quick to check on her teammate. "Shit. Sorry Andy." Lena says reaching her hand out for her captain. However, Tobin runs over to defend her daughter, not seeing the tackle as an accident.

"What the fuck was that?!" She yelled to the high schooler, who looked terrified. Alex ran up behind Tobin and pushed her away from the player.

"Tobin. It's ok. It was just an accident." Alex says trying to calm the midfielder. Alex put her hands on Tobin's face and finally locked eyes with her number 17. Tobin softened quickly and spit out several apologies to the high schooler for loosing her temper so quickly. Tobin went to check on Andy quickly.

"You ok?" Tobin asked. Andy smiled.

"Yeah I'm good. It was just an accident." Andy said, trying to ease the pro without knowing why she felt the urge to. Tobin nodded and headed back to her spot.

The scrimmage went on for 30 more minutes until coach called practice. Bringing everyone in, coach gave a quick speech but quickly handed it off for the captains to speak. "So. This was I think it's safe to say an awesome practice?" Andy said, looking around at the mass of players, pro and high school, all smiling brightly. "Friday was an awesome game. We really brought the heat and it showed. It was chippy, not a lot was called but we won and that's that." Andy looked around again and found Tobin intently staring at her. "We have the national team here the whole week and they will see our next game this Friday." Andy finished and Theo spoke up.

"We have been so graciously invited to watch the next national team game this Saturday against France in Cincinnati. The bus will be leaving here at 5:30 so be here a good 10-15 minutes before." Theo and Andy smiled at each other.

"Alright. In honor of the lovely ladies joining us...Oosa on three?" Andy asked, smiling. "One. Two. Three. Oosa Oosa Oosaaaaa!" Tobin and Alex waited for the team to disperse and walked over to Andy and Theo.

"Hey guys." Alex said. Andy and Theo smiled at the two pros before them. "Great practice. You two are really good." Alex said, Tobin nodding.

"Can I ask you a question?" Andy said to Tobin. Alex looked at her briefly.

"Hey Theo let's go talk to Kelley." Alex said to Theo who gladly nodded and followed after her idol like a puppy. Andy chuckled at her best friend.

Once Tobin and Andy were alone, Andy spoke up. "Why did you get so mad when I got tackled?" She asked. Tobin looked at Andy in shock, not knowing what to say.

"Oh." Tobin said, hesitating. She looked at Alex who gave her a 'you can do this' look and Tobin smiled. She took a deep breath. "Ok. Is it ok if we sit down maybe?" Andy nodded, slightly confused. "This could take some time." Tobin said, playing with her hands. "So. It all started one night in high school..."