Invisible String [T.S-E.S BOOK ONE]

2

June 2nd, 2012

The days could not be moving any slower. The Olympics were coming and in just a few more days, Eleanor would finally be living out her dream of being on that roster and getting the gold.

She had only a few more games with the California Storm before she headed out and her teammates were sad to see her go. She was the only member of the team who had been called up to the national team and was one of the youngest members that would be on the squad. It was completely nerve wracking, but exciting nonetheless.

Game days were her favorite, something that only proved to herself that she had made the right career decision. There's something thrilling about sitting in the locker room with headphones basting in her ears as she watched her teammates go about their game day rituals. The anticipation was palpable and if she squinted, Eleanor believed she could see the excitement buzzing in the room like a heat wave. It was electrifying.

She sat back and watched as the defenders, Kate and Noelle, swapped their socks (a superstition that they stood by) and as two of the substitutes challenged each other to see who could jump the highest.

A familiar song began to play in her ears:

The way you move is like a full on rainstorm
And I'm a house of cards
You're the kind of reckless that should send me running
But I kinda know that I won't get far

Eleanor smiled without even realizing it as her favorite song played. She knew it was weird. Her and Taylor had never spoken or seen each other since that night two years ago. They followed each other on twitter and instagram, but no interaction had actually happened since then.

She had heard it all from her sister Izzy. She made the mistake of telling the younger girl that she had met Taylor and was met with a whole lecture, disappointed on why they hadn't become best friends and why Izzy wasn't getting VIP passes to her tour.

The truth is, Eleanor agreed. She would be lying if she said she didn't still wonder about what could've been, but a quick google search had told her all she needed to know: Taylor's aggressively straight. Still, she wondered.

There's no way she titled a song 'Enchanted' by coincidence, right?

But she couldn't waste time thinking about Taylor and her beautiful blue eyes. It had been years and last she checked, Taylor was dating that one actor. Maybe they had broken up? She didn't know and she didn't really care.

"Slate!" Maisy, the Storm's goalkeeper, yanked Eleanor's headphones off with a laugh, pulling her away from her thoughts of Taylor. "Get the lead out, it's game time!"

Eleanor grinned up at her teammate and pulled herself to her feet. Maisy was probably one of her teammates that she was closest too. The goalie was five years older, but treated Eleanor as an equal despite her only being twenty one. She appreciated that because she knew she probably wouldn't be getting the same treatment once she got to the Olympics.

"Let's kick their asses." Eleanor told Maisy, a competitive glint in her eye. "Gotta give the family a show."

Her family had flown in from Louisiana and Chicago to see her play today. It would be the second game of hers that they'd get to see in person and the first home game, so she was itching to make it a good one. Especially since Patrick was missing one of his own games to see her. Of course he was riding the bench this year, but it was still a big deal to miss a whole game just for his sister's soccer game.

"You'll make them proud kid." Maisy assured her, slinging an arm around her shoulder and walking with her onto the pitch.

She kinda liked the feeling of her arm on her shoulders.