Attached - Mallory Pugh/USWNT

Chapter 7

April 5th, 2022 7:00 pm

"What do I wear to something like this?" I asked Mallory. 

"You're supposed to wear this." Mallory said, grabbing a USWNT shirt that was given to me and throwing it on my bed. 

"So I don't have to dress nice?" 

"Nope. It's just a press conference. Wear US Soccer clothes." 

"Alright."

I admit that after Mal saved me from the scary deep end of the pool I thanked her a million times over the last 3 days. 

I also hugged her willingly yesterday. Things are changing. 

I'm not saying that she's my best friend or anything, but she's growing on me. I told her a joke yesterday because I thought she'd find it funny and I loved to hear her laugh and see her smile. 

That reasoning shocked me too, but I have learned to just accept things. Like how I'm afraid of the deep end of the pool, or how Mallory Pugh went from my mortal enemy to me wanting to hear the sound of her laugh. 

"Morgana put on the shirt. We gotta get going." Mallory snapped me out of thought. "Bus leaves in 10 minutes." 

"Right." I said, quickly getting changed. 

"Your abs will never not amaze me." She laughed. 

"Creep." 

"How is that creepy? You wore a bikini the other day?" 

"Just the fact that you watched my change." I said, grabbing my purse. 

"I'm sorry." She grabbed hers and just stood there. 

"Are you going to move...or..." I asked. 

"What?" 

"Move...like this?" I grabbed her by the shoulders are turned her around. 

"Sorry. Lost in thought." 

"Why are you acting weird?" I said as I walked past her. 

"Huh?" She asked. 

"Are you okay?" 

"Yeah. I'm fine." She looked at me. 

"Alright." I said, grabbing her wrist and pulled her out the door. "Time to put on your press face. Do you understand?" 

"Yep." 

Something was up. She doesn't zone out like that, at least not when I'm talking to her. She always listens intently, looking into my eyes, never breaking contact. 

"Let's go." I dragged her across the hall to the elevator. 

We ran to catch the elevator, which a few random girls were in. 

"Mallory Pugh?" Said one of the girls. "Um, tell me this isn't Mallory Pugh!" 

"Oh she's Mallory Pugh." Said one of her friends. They looked to be about 14, maybe 15. 

"Hi." Said Mal. "How are you?" 

"And you're Morgana LaRue!" Said the third girl. 

"That's me." 

"Oh this is amazing. We are huge fans." Said the first girl. "We are going to the game in a few days." 

"No way!" Said Mallory. 

"Yeah. Um, could you do us a favor and take a selfie?" Said one of them as the elevator reached ground floor. 

"Sure." Mallory took the girl's phone out of her hand.