Secondhand - Sophia Smith

Chapter 1

"You'll never be more than a back up goalie. Just give it up and go get your masters degree." 

My mom's words rang in my ears as I stepped up to that midfield line, ready to get to get in the game. 

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"Taylor." 

"What?" 

"Why are you biting your nails like that?" 

"Nerves." 

"About what?" 

"I just have a bad feeling about the game tonight." I sighed. 

"Like what kind of bad feeling?" Asked my best friend and roommate Sophia. 

"I don't know. I just do." 

"You're just dramatic." She sighed, getting an apple from the fruit bowl. 

"I am not." 

"Yes you are. Now go get ready for the game." 

I stood up and walked towards my room, getting changed for our pregame pictures and stuff. 

I put on a plain black crop top and put on a Phillies jersey over it, leaving it unbuttoned. I didn't care that I played soccer all the way across the country, I'm still cheering on my hometown baseball team all the time. I put on jeans and black converse, and let my straight blonde hair stay down with a Phillies hat on. 

"Your love for the Phillies is exhausting." Sophia sighed when I walked out. 

"Shut up." I laughed. Then I started pacing a little bit while she talked about how annoying I was about this 'stupid baseball team.' 

"You know I'm not listening right?" I said eventually. 

"Well you should be, Taylor Riel." 

"Well I'm not, Sophia Smith." 

"Again, you should be, Taylor Riel." She brought her face close to mine. 

"Again, I'm not, and I don't care, Sophia Smith." 

"I can't stay mad at you." 

"Why not?" 

"You're too pretty." 

"Hey." I said, moving backwards. "Should we get going?" 

"Sure." She sighed, and grabbed her keys. 

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"Sophia! Taylor! Over here!" Said a cameraman as we walked up to the front of our stadium. 

We both posed, and then kept walking, other people with cameras around us. 

I was ready to get dressed, warm up, and then settle in and watch my team play. Hear the crowd cheer 'Lets' go Thorns!' or yell with joy when Sophia scores a goal. 

Everything after walking in was a blur, because teammates and coaches bombarded me. 

"You're second string tonight. We need you to dress and be ready if anything happens to Bella." Said our coach. 

"Um, okay. Where's Abby?" I asked.

"She got sick last minute." 

"Alright then." 

I hoped that was the bad feeling I had, just that Abby was sick and wasn't going to be here. Why wouldn't she have told me though? 

Doesn't matter. 

Sophia punched me in the arm lightly, and I git back to biting my nails. Not because I was nervous to be backup, because I got that feeling again. That one about something bad happening. 

They had brought up some goalie from our training program, basically our minor league. They just need 3 goalies on the bench for every game. 

"Taylor." Sophia said, grabbing my hand and pulling it away from my face. "You don't want to chew your nails down to bits, do you?" 

"No." 

"Then you need to calm down!" 

"I'm sorry." 

"Come on. We need to start getting ready."