City of Champions: Jalen Hurts

7

Reese rarely cried, contrary to popular belief.

The soccer goalie did more yelling or cursing than she did anything and she hardly ever did that. Despite being a girl and being driven by her emotions, she tried her hardest not to cry but when she did it probably had something to do with her family or her weight.

Her family was doing pretty good right now, even with her mother being around now. So naturally she was having a very difficult time with her weight and it wasn't even her fault.

Reese was still toned and beautiful, the same weight and size that she'd been since she started soccer. It was like a situation where no matter how hard you tried, you could never look good in your own eyes.

"Hey, kiddo. You alright?"

Reese tugged her earbud out, looking over to Serina who'd come down to check on her. She'd been in the gym at their family residence for 3 hours working out.

"I'm alright." Reese stepped off the treadmill, placing her hands on her hips. "Tired."

Serina watched as her daughter caught her breath, sweat slipping from every part of her body. Reese was pushing herself again and it was fairly evident in how she appeared to hardly stand up without falling over.

"You hungry?"

"I'm good, Mom."

Serina handed her a small hand towel as she sat on the floor trying to catch her breath. "How did your audition go?"

"Um..." Reese wiped her face with the towel, laying flat on her back. "They said that I didn't have the body type they were looking for so they were looking in a different direction."

Her mother slowly began to realize why exactly Reese was in here, working her ass off. "You still have the deal with Under Armour if you want it. They asked for you specifically."

The reason behind Reese's rejection fueled gym craze was the result of her partnership with Adidas falling through.

Representatives said that she was shorter than they expected their athletes to be, which was true. Adidas liked to go with taller athletes such as Trevor Lawrence, Patrick Mahomes, and Aliyah Boston. Even Candace Parker was tell. They were all 6-footers whereas Reese was not.

When she was first given the news, Reese immediately convinced herself into thinking it was something wrong with her build. That's basically what they said so Reese was feeling terrible about herself again today.

"I know." Reese's chest heaved up and down. "Just really wanted to be an Adidas athlete. It's alright, though."

"Jordan's here."

She poked an eye open. "Really?"

"Yup." Serina smiled. "He has a few teammates over here as well. Foods on the table, too. Please come eat something sweetheart."

Reese followed her Mom upstairs, happy to be seeing her brother. The teammates that were over consisted of both defensive and offensive players. Jordan was well liked amongst his Philly teammates and it was obvious.

"Hi, Jordan." She hugged her brother. "I'm sweaty so I'm sorry."

He chuckled. "It's all good. You ain't have classes today?"

"Nope." Reese quipped. "I did get a big, fat rejection from Adidas, though. It was nice."

Jordan furrowed his eyebrows. "Fuck them. Take that Under Armour contract and move up like the Jeffersons."

She giggled. "I will. Thanks."

Nolan, who Reese just noticed, approached her just as Jordan walked away. They hadn't talked much but Reese wasn't in that great of a mood to give him trouble today. Normally, she'd curse him out but she wasn't feeling like it today.