Breaking the Mold (Alex Morgan x OC)

A new league, Same old team

"Still can't believe we're back here. I never thought I'd see myself back down here again. Feels like deja vu in a way." I told Alex as we walked into the old Oakland Stadium that's the home of the Stingers.

The new league, named the NWSL, is starting its first season right now. Today, and the eight teams that were named beforehand were the Chicago Red Stars, FC Kansas City, Portland Thorns, Seattle Reign, Sky Blue, Washington Spirit, Western NY Flash and last but not least, Oakland Stingers. Yep, Al pushed hard to sign all of us old players who were part of the 2011 squad, but not all of us made it on the team. Other than that, it's the same FO and same coaching staff. Kelley was one of the players who couldn't make it on the team, Sky Blue signed her before Al could even offer her a contract. Kayla and Madison are two who were instantly signed, along with Alex and I. We also have got some new players too, who were picked in the draft earlier on before pre-season camp.

"Yeah, same here. At least we have a new league now." Alex said.

"You're right about that one," Kayla said from behind us and we turned around to see her and Madison with their gear. "If this wasn't happening right now, then I would've gone overseas or something."

"And play for Lyon?" Madison says, looking at Kayla, "You wouldn't last long."

We started giggling and Kayla shook her head as the four of us walked into our locker room. The old familiar smell of the locker room filled the air, and we all took a deep breath before we started getting changed for the pregame warmups. We all got dressed and Coach John came in to tell us the starting XI and discuss what formation we're going to be in. "Alright everyone, let's go do our warm-ups and then we'll work on our drills quickly." John said, and we all nodded as we went out to the field and started stretching. It was a good feeling to be back, a new league, same old team and a chance for us to go for the gold.

After going through our warm-ups and small drills, all of us then went back to the locker room and got ready for the game, discussing our strategy and tactics. Then, John told us a weird saying that really hyped us all up, "Don't worry about the horse being blind, just load the wagon." 

We didn't know what it meant, but it just sounded like we're about to go out and accomplish something. Today we were hosting the Portland Thorns, and the entire stadium was sold out with tickets. I missed the roar you'd get here from the home crowd, it pumps you up.

Minutes into the match, we were playing like we did back in the old league. For Al, and us players, a new league with new set rules didn't bother us at all, we were going to play hard, and bend the rules a bit no matter what. Kayla had her arms padded up like she used to and was pulling off excellent tackles with a few late hits thrown in there too. Alex and everyone else were doing their thing up the front and in the middle as us defenders did what we needed to do at the back. At the 44th minute of the first half, the score was still tied at 0-0, but with our hard press we're doing, a goal is imminent for us. 

"We've got 'em where we want them! We've got 'em where we want them!" I yelled to my teammates as the ref blew his whistle, starting the clock back up. Sinclair had the ball and one of our new midfielders, Chloe, picked her off and intercepted the ball just like that, then we all started pushing up. She sent it over to one of our wingers, Olivia, who then sent it straight into the net, earning us 1 goal. The home crowd started roaring with cheers as we ran over to Olivia and swarmed her. After that, it was halftime, and while we were walking to our locker room, John came up next to me, "You okay? Liv is telling me you're screaming 'We've got 'em where we want them,' during the reset."

"We did." I responded and he pats my back while flashing his big smile while we walked into the locker room.

While I sat down and took a swig of my water, John was giving us more potential plays we could pull off before he out of the blue said, "Guys, we're gonna shove it down their throats." That was something that is considered out of character for him, but he wants us to succeed, and that's what we're doing.

At the end of the day, we won 2-1, and we went to the Hilton for drinks to celebrate our first win of the year in the new league. I was sitting next to Alex at our team table and felt her foot occasionally brush against my leg, which made me feel a bit weird, but I didn't mind it. "Can I talk to you for a moment?" She suddenly asked me, and I nodded before we went somewhere private.

"What's up? You alright?" I asked her.

Alex sighed and shrugged her shoulders, "I don't know, it's that Servando and I are having some issues at the moment."

I could see how much this was affecting her, and I'm surprised she hid her sadness from everyone, "What sort of issues?"

"He's always out with his friends, and some nights we end up having a argument when I ask if we could just have some time together," She said while her face fell, "I don't know if I want to keep going out with and just wait it out, or end things and find someone else."

"Look," I said, putting my hands on her shoulders, "I can't make any of those decisions for you. But what I can tell you is that you should go with your gut, go with your feelings and then go from there. If you need someone to talk to, or a shoulder to cry on, I'm here, okay?"

Alex nodded and looked up into my eyes, before giving me a tight hug, "Thank you Ellie. I really appreciate it."

"It's all good. That's what friends are for."

Deep down, however, I knew I had to make a decision with that pro and cons list. Do I stay with Jeff? Or do I choose to end things with him and hope that Alex and I could be an item? I'm just not sure.