Madison's Journey

Part 20: Christen's POV

"Ok, Mads let's get you settled. Mal should already be in here unless she is hanging out with some of the other younger team members. You ready?" I ask. She nods her head at me.

"Alright then." With that, I scan the key card before handing it to Madi. "Don't lose that." I push open the door and see Mal unpacking her things. Her head jerks towards the door when she hears it open.

"Christen!!" She runs over to give me a hug.

"Hey Mal! How's it going?"

"It's great now that I'm back here." She pulls away and notices Madi. "Oh, hi. I'm Mal." She sticks out her hand for Madi to shake and she flinches slightly at the sudden movement. I look to Mal to see if she noticed, but if she did she didn't show it.

Madison shakes her hand, "M-Mad-dison-son."

"Well, it's nice to meet you. We are roommates, aren't we? I took the bed closest to the door, I hope you don't mind." Madi shakes her head and moves to put her own bags on the bed.

"Mal we're going to head down for dinner, you joining us?"

"Yes, I don't think Alex and Kelly would let me not," She says with a smile.

Turning to Madi, "Alex and Kelly are my team moms. They make sure that I'm ok while I'm at camp. I'm sure some of the players will claim you as their 'child' soon enough."

"She doesn't need to worry about that. Tobin and I already did. She's ours." Madi looks down at her shoes and blushes. "Alright then, let's head out." With that, the three of us head down to the team meeting room and met up with Tobin, Alex, and Kelly.

I walk over with Madi to get food and help her make a plate for herself. She sits beside me and across from Mal. Mal enters in conversation with her, and Madi seems content with listening to her.

"So How's it going with her," Alex whispers next to me.

"It's slow. She doesn't really trust us yet. We're working on it. I think being around the team will be really good for her. I..." I pause for a moment glancing back down at Madison, she's laughing a little at something Mal said. Sighing I turn back to Alex, "I'm a little worried about the fact that Jill put their room so far from ours."

"I noticed that too. What I do know is that Carli and Allie are in the room right next to them. And that the closest responsible adult after that is Kilg in 211."

"Damm, and she's already had some problems with Long when we met up for dinner the other day."

"What? What did she do?"

"She basically implied that she's not any good, not that she's seen her play, and that she wasn't going to bring anything to the team."

"She did not."

"Just ask Tobin. I'm actually kind of surprised that she didn't punch her."

"This is going to be a long two weeks isn't it."

"I think so." Tobin and Kelly take a seat across from the two of us, unusually quiet for the pair. 'They must have been talking about some of the same things.' I think to myself. "The other thing that kind of bothered me when we saw Jill earlier was the level of familiarity that she used when talking to and about both Mal and Madi."

"What do you mean," Kelly asks.

"Well..." I pause again and make sure that the two young players are still engaged in conversation, "When we meet and she was giving us our room assignments she called each one of the older players that she talked about by their last name, but used nicknames when addressing them," I explain with a head tilt to my left.

Madison's POV

When we get our food and sit at the table Mal immediately starts a conversation with me.

"So how old are you? Where are you from? How did you meet Tobin and Christen? I've never seen you at youth camp before, where did Jill find you?" I look at Mal as she just keeps asking questions. After a minute she pauses and laughs to herself.

"Sorry, I should probably give you time to answer. I'm Mallory as you know, but I prefer Mal. The only time anyone calls me Mallory is when I'm in trouble. I'm 18 and I've been on the team about a year."

"F-fif-ft-fteen. St-stay-ying-g wit-th T-Tob-bin and and Ch-Chris-ist-ten in P-port-rtland-d."

"That's so cool. How'd that happen?"

"F-fost-ster-er k-kid-d."

"Oh! Oh, well, uh..." I start playing with my food embarrassed. "Ar-are you excited for tomorrow? Just wait until you meet everyone. And stick with me, that way Kelly and Sonny are less likely to prank you. And Pinoe won't because you're Chris and Tobin's kid. Chris is mean when she's protective." I laugh remembering how both Tobin and Christen were when they got mad for me.

"O-ok. I-I w-would-ld l-lik-ke th-that-t."

"Then it's a plan. I'll be your team big sister." I give her a small smile and nod.

"How's it going over here kid," Tobin asks walking over to our end of the table. I nod showing that everything is fine. "You both get enough to eat?" I look down and my almost clear plate, I quickly finish what is left before nodding. "Good. Let's head back up then. We've had a long day and an early morning tomorrow."

We make it back upstairs and the four women drop Mal and me off at our rooms. "If you need anything, you come get one of us ok?" Christen asks me. I nod, "You remember our room numbers?" I nod again. "Alright good night, I'll see you in the morning." She gives me a hug and Tobin joins shortly after. They pull away and head back to their own rooms.

I walk over to my bed and pull out some sleep clothes and my toothbrush. "D-do y-you m-min-nd if-f if I- I t-tak-ke a sh-show-wer-er?"

"No, you're good. I've got some schoolwork that I've got to catch up on anyway." I head into the bathroom and start the shower. 'Good, there's soap in here.' I take a quick shower so as not to annoy Mal with the running water before changing and heading out to settle in bed.

"N-nigh-ght-t Mal."

"Good night Madi. I won't be up for too much longer so hopefully, the light doesn't bother you until then." I nod before turning over on my side facing away from her and falling asleep.

A/N: Please vote and comment I'm always looking for new ideas. Constructive criticism is also always appreciated.