Training Hub

Chapter 12

Lena gripped the side of the pool as she slid into the literally ice-cold water. Ice baths were a level of excruciating pain but she had to do them for recovery and the saviour of her muscles. She watched trying to hold back laughter as Jill bit her bottom lip, climbing into the pool with her.

"Hey don't act as if I didn't catch you clinging to the handle," Jill mocked Lena.

"Yeah you wish," Lena smirked as she tried hard not to focus on the cold that slithered up her legs and through her spine. 

"What's up with Ingrid?" Jill asked as she watched the Norwegian stalk in, her eyebrows furrowed and her eyes forming a dark shadow.  

"I'm going to guess it's because of the Spanish defender," Lena replied as she followed Jill's line of sight. 

"One day I am going to kill her," Ingrid balled her hands into fists to resist the urge pitting in her stomach to punch her roommate in the middle of the face. 

Her anger was like fire engulfing the ice from the water as she stepped in after rolling her shorts up.   

Lena and Jill stared at each other silently mouthing each other. 

"You ask."

"I'm not asking."

Both reached a stalemate and stood silent, waiting for Ingrid to speak up. After a few seconds of silence, Jill spoke up.

"How was training? What did you guys do?"

"All the normal stuff and tactics."

"Please tell me more," Jill questioned trying to figure out the other team's strategies for the upcoming game.

"As if I'm going to tell you, Jilly." Lena smiled seeing through Jill's pathetic attempt to find out their tactics. It was never said to them about keeping their tactics secret but everyone knew they had to. Everyone was equally competitive and they all wanted to win the first game.

Ingrid stared into space, her mind wandering off. She wondered if Jill knew that she liked her. But she couldn't tell Jill cause what if she didn't like her? She would have ruined one of the best friendships she's ever had. An alarm beeped bringing her back to reality. 

"Where are we going for dinner guys?" Ingrid spoke up for the second time since she entered the pool. 

"Umm.. anywhere I guess but Viv did tell me about this restaurant she visited yesterday," Jill climbed out of the pool grabbing her towel from the floor. 

After drying herself, she walked to her room to change. They planned on going on a bike ride around a park before going to dinner. 

Lindsay greeted the Mewis sisters as they approached the group forming. They planned to go exploring the city of Rio de Janeiro. By the end of the week, they were going to be on a flight to Japan. Kristie wandered along the streets of Rio with Sonnett who was following the map on her phone and O'Hara at the front of the group. Alyssa and Tiane walked behind immersed in their own conversation. Lindsay listened as Sam Mewis rambled on "...is much happier since we got here. I think Kristie was just bothered by the plane ride though she's never been bothered before." They walked for a long time, stopping for photos occasionally until they reached the ocean. Yachts and boats of all colours moored in the harbour creating a painting. Chatter buzzed through the streets and all sorts of aromas floated through the air. 

"Guys, how's this Brazilian restaurant?" Kelley pointed towards a restaurant located at the edge of the water with outdoor dining. The others followed Kelley's arm to the restaurant which was decorated with a rustic modern vibe. Umbrellas sheltered the wooden tables and chairs that were scattered along the wooden deck. Everyone responded with their various answers.

"Sure."

"Yeah, let's try it."

"Okay."

They greeted the waitress as she pointed towards a long table near the water. 

Keira, Leah, Jordan, Lia, Caitlin, Viv and Lucy decided to explore the city. They took the taxi in two groups to the local famous coffee shop for coffee and began to walk around the city exploring. They stumbled upon a staircase decorated in blue, yellow and green tiles surrounded by red tiles. Occasionally tourists would stop and take photos. After taking multiple pictures themselves, one of which Jordan insisted she and Leah get a photo of just them. "Please Leah, it'll be for your mum."

"Jords, I don't need my mum to see it. She has plenty of photos of us already" Leah exclaimed, laughing at the older woman's weak excuse to take a photo.

"Please. For me," Jordan said sincerely with blue wide eyes making Leah's knees almost buckle in the middle of a crowd-filled street. 

"Well, why didn't you say that in the first place?" Leah teased in a mocking tone, cupping Jordan's face and giving her a light peck on the lips. She missed this. She missed being able to touch Jordan in public without having to worry that someone was going to catch them. 

After satisfying Jordan with her photos, they continued along the street, stopping for photos and shopping for souvenirs until they discovered a fancy Brazilian restaurant. They took a seat in the bright green velvet seats waiting for their dinner. 

"It says it's called Es-cad-aria-Sela-ron," Jordan tried to pronounce the words on her phone screen of the staircase they saw. 

"Show me," Lucy reached for Jordan's phone from her seat next to Lia, "Escadaria Selarón. My Portuguese coming in handy."

"Wow Lucy, I totally didn't know that you spoke Portuguese since you talk about it so much," Jordan teased Lucy. 

Lia placed her hand on Caitlin's thigh for comfort. Caitlin smiled in response and wrapped her palm around the brunette's hand grabbing it towards her lap in reassurance. Leah gripped Jordan's hand underneath the table, her thumb drawing circles on the back of her hand. Lucy watched as Keira talked to Leah before jumping into a conversation with Jordan. Keira stole glances during her chat with Leah at Lucy. She couldn't deny the connection they still had and Lucy was still hot as ever. But Lucy betrayed her trust when she left for Lyon. As Viv watched the couples in front in front of her interact, she couldn't help but feel lonely, scrolling through photos of her and Lisa. 

Guro was bouncing her leg the entire drive to the ramp. She had no idea why she agreed to the other three's idea of paragliding. It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience seeing Rio from above but she could already imagine the drop to the ground. Plus, Emma would kill them if she saw them paragliding. They had reached the ramp and Guro's nerves only heightened. They stood in a huddle listening to the instructor explain what was going to happen. Sam gripped Jess's shoulders from behind shaking her, "You excited, nervous, scared?"

"All of them," Jess said as she slipped on the harness with no apprehension. 

'Whelp, great' Guro thought to herself. Sam, Erin, Millie, Rachel and Jess were all doing it. Now she had to do it, if she didn't they were all going to peer pressure her anyway. She breathed as she reassured her of the fact that she had an instructor behind her the whole time. 

She watched as Rachel and Millie jumped off the ramp one after another, each screaming with joy at the leap. She watched from the side as they glided down to the beach down below, counting down the second until it was her turn. She looked at Erin, laughing as the instructor clipped his harness to hers. The lady behind her asked her in an accent "Ready?"

With some apprehension, she gave a nod. She was at least she hoped so. As walked towards the edge, she tried desperately not to look down. As soon as they launched off the platform she was distracted by the views. Her friends were right, the views were spectacular. On one side was the famous statue standing tall and on the other was the beautiful blue ocean. The greenery of the mountain next to them against the bluest ocean she had ever seen made everything worth it. The experience was indescribable. Once her feet touched the soft sand, she couldn't believe herself, she actually wanted to do it again just to watch the view again. She unclipped the heavy harness of her as she watched Sam and Jess glide down.