this daydream is dangerous | JENLISA

Chapter 2

Jennie hung her head as the third goal hit the back of the net. The score was already 3-0 and they were barely half an hour into their first season game.

After taking a deep breath, she lifted her head and readjusted her large-framed black sunglasses.

It was just the first game. Marta had arrived less than a week ago, and Lisa wasn't even on the field yet. Jennie just had to trust the process. Even when that process included major bumps in the road like heading into the locker room at halftime 3-0 down against Kansas City.

She watched with tension in her shoulders and her arms crossed over her chest, too anxious to sit as the game resumed. She looked around at the mostly-empty stadium, mainly filled with Kansas City fans who'd made the trip, at the bored security guards, at the lackluster energy that seemed to permeate the arena. It would take a miracle for her to turn this around with the season already started.

"What the fuck kind of call is that?" Lisa yelled, almost standing up from her seat when Sonny was carded for a perfectly good tackle.

When the referee tilted the yellow card at Lisa in warning, she slumped back in her seat, muttering a halfhearted sorry.

"Manoban! Warm-up," Marta called down the bench from her spot atop a cooler.

"Thank God," Lisa sighed, beginning her warm-up along the sidelines as her eyes stayed trained on the ball. She was dying to get on the field, to feel somewhat normal after so much change. She wanted to make this game less of a slaughter, and she wanted to do it now.

So, she warmed up quickly and efficiently before stripping out of her royal blue puffer jacket and joggers. She kept her gloves on and hurried to Marta's side, waiting to get on the field.

"And in the 52nd minute, your Ruby Avalanche are making their first substitution. Out comes Sarah Funk and on goes Lisa Manoban. Let's make some noise for her Avalanche debut!" the announcer's voice echoed around the stadium, evoking uninspired applause from the meager crowd.

"Hate it," Lisa muttered to herself as she ran to her spot on the field.

It wasn't Providence Park. It wasn't loud and chaotic and full of red smoke or singing fans or waving flags. There were more empty seats than people, and most of those people were either friends of players, accompanied by little kids, or asleep. There wasn't an electric energy or a palpable excitement. It was mediocre, and Lisa hated it.

That being said, she was pretty certain this crowd had never seen a goal, and she was determined to change that tonight.

Within the first few seconds on the field, she stripped a KC player of the ball and weaved her way up the field, pulling her best tricks and her quickest moves. She looked to the right and didn't see anyone she could pass to, so she readjusted her hips and sent a perfect shot into the upper ninety from over thirty-five yards out. 

In the executive level box, Jennie felt her jaw drop at the utter audacity of the shot.

Nobody else in the world would have taken it. There was traffic in front of her, a good keeper in the net. Not to mention Lisa was nearly forty yards from goal. But she had taken the shot and given the Avalanche their first goal of the season.

The cheers from the handful of fans were drowned out by the generic celebration music playing through the stadium, something Jennie made a mental note to talk to the facilities manager or Phoebe about. But there were cheers nonetheless and Jennie found herself clapping along with the fans.

"That's how it's done!" Wendy yelled, clapping Lisa on the back as she hugged her.

"Let's get another," Lisa mumbled, ready to get back in the game despite the near dogpile that her teammates were trying to create.