Breaking the Mold (Alex Morgan x OC)

Once a Stinger, Always a Stinger

Ellie's POV.

"Bullshit!" John yelled from our bench as Atlanta Beat scored on us, despite the goal being offside. "God, throw the damn flag!"

It was our 9th game into the season so far, and it was becoming clear that our team was becoming the one team that everyone else in the league hated. Some of the referees were fair to both teams when we played, and sometimes there were ones that were against us, just like today.

Maria managed to claim possession of the ball and instantly pushed fast, before preparing to send it to Kelley for a header. But as soon as Maria was going to pass, one of their midfielders took her out in their box, which would normally result in a penalty kick, but in this instance, we didn't get one. "You jerk! You big jerk!" John yelled again, and you could tell he was pissed off, "You don't call shit, yeah you!"

The ref had enough of his yelling and randomly pulled out a yellow card, and the crowd here in Oakland booed very loudly.

"Don't let up now, you hear?" Madison told me and I nodded. I was sharing the backline with her and Denise. Kayla is out with a nagging hip injury at the moment, so she's going to be out for quite some time.

Maria stood up and pushed the player who took her down, and a massive shoving match broke out. Multiple Atlanta players ran over and joined in and we ran over and started shoving them too. This evolved into one of them throwing a punch at Kelley, hitting her in the eye. The officials quickly ran in and split us all up, and Kelley was subbed off and was given an ice pack as Alex ran on to take her place. This game is going to break down in a few minutes, I know it.

One of their players kicked the ball high, and I went in for a header, but my head collided with another one and I went down hard. The whistle was blown and my head was pounding so badly as I groaned in pain. Before I knew it, one of our team medics was already next to me, and was giving me a concussion test.

I was taken off the field and back to the bench, and John came over, "Listen, concussion or not, I'm not putting you back out there, okay? I don't want you risking a major injury." I nodded and he smiled, before subbing on another player. Kelley looked at me and flashed a huge smile while holding the ice pack on her eye, "Look at that, we're both injured," She joked and I giggled before taking a sip of my water.

Halftime rolled around and Atlanta were in the lead at 1-0. John was talking to us all while writing on the whiteboard, but I wasn't really listening to him. Al came in after John went over the tactics and game plan for us, before we went out back to the field. We huddled up in a circle, and Al spoke, "We'll grow and be tough, now fight with 'em, and just keep....sticking it to 'em."

"Stingers on 3. 1, 2, 3," Denise quickly says.

"Stingers!" We said together before everyone who was playing dispersed back to their positions on the field, while the rest of us went to our bench.

********

Well, the 2011 season was another disappointment. We came up short once again, making the playoffs and losing. Right now we're all at the 19th Street Station drinking together. Al and John were here too drinking with us all.

"Hey, uh, can I have everyone's attention." Kelley abruptly said as she stood up at our table. "I won't be here for the next season, I'm going to be playing for Atlanta since that's pretty much close to home." She announced and the mood kind of fell flat, but Kayla being Kayla, made sure it wasn't.

"Let's raise a glass. To Kelley. Once a Stinger, Always a Stinger."

We all toasted to that and went right back to drinking. I got up from my seat and made my way over to Kelley and threw my arm around her, "Leaving me again?"

Kelley chuckled and took a swig of her beer, "Why? You going to miss me?"

"Obviously. But hey, if you want to play close to home, then that's okay. I'd do the same too if there was a team near Calgary."

The two of us kept talking all night, cracking jokes and having a laugh. I'm going to miss her presence here down in Oakland, but that's the way it goes.

"Woah," Kelley breathed out as she and I stumbled into my apartment asking with Alex. They wanted to come back to mine for more drinks. I turned on the lights and I fell onto the couch, Alex and Kelley were laughing uncontrollably and I just smiled, before they started raiding my fridge for more drinks. Alex looked at Kelley and then at me, "Hey, why don't we play a game? Truth or dare?"

Kelley nodded and I shrugged, "Sure, why not?"

We all took turns asking each other questions and then it was my turn. I looked at Alex and Kelley and then back at Alex, "Alex, truth or dare?"

Alex bit her lip and then said, "Truth."

I nodded and thought for a moment before asking, "Do you like someone?"

Alex's face instantly reddened and she looked away from me, Kelley started to giggle as Alex didn't answer. I suddenly felt a little bit awkward, so I quickly changed the subject. The three of us kept playing as the beers in my fridge were slowly disappearing, until it was late and we all decided to call it a night. Alex stumbled into the spare room and I looked at Kelley, who had a huge smirk on her face. "What?" I asked her.

"Nothing, I just know something you don't." She said before laying on the couch and closing her eyes, "Goodnight Ellie."

"Night Kelley."

I walked into my room and changed into some pajamas, before getting into bed. It's been a long day, so I'm looking forward to getting some rest. As I was about to drift off, I thought about what Kelley said, and it left me wondering what she meant by that. But before I could think any further, I was already fast asleep.