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

3

June 2nd, 2012

"Slate! Get your head out of your ass!"

Fifteen minutes in and Eleanor cannot keep possession of the ball. Not since she caught sight of a certain blonde next to her sister.

What the fuck was she doing here? Eleanor couldn't help but think. It was as if listening to her songs on her pregame playlist had summoned the singer and she was all of a sudden completely out of wack.

Eleanor turned around, making eye contact with Maisy as the defenders in front of her chewed Eleanor out for being distracted. Maisy smiled warmly, a feeling that began to spread through the midfielder as she stared at her goalie. Her goalie. Eleanor made a decision in that moment. Taylor was straight, Maisy was probably not. Eleanor wouldn't waste her time on what she could never have.

She smiled back at the blonde goalie and she was back in it.

Patrick saw a switch flip in his sister's head. He had been biting his fingers for the last fifteen minutes, scared out of his mind that his sister was losing her touch. But he should've known her better. Once back in the right headspace, she was killing it on the field.

Once Eleanor was back, the chemistry on the field was altered and everyone knew it. With her back in the game, the other midfielders became more confident as they knew she would always be right there if they needed. It was a welcome change that proved to everyone watching that Eleanor Slater deserved her spot on the Olympic team. She just wished her mom could see it, but that was her own fault.

They won 3-0 and once the final whistle blew on the field, Maisy rushed forward and almost tackled Eleanor in a hug. "You had me worried there for a sec Slate."

Eleanor smiled as she fell into the hug with ease. Maisy was a nice girl and honestly one of the only people beside her brother that she would even consider calling a close friend.

"I always pull it together." Eleanor laughed. "You ever see that game where I got punched in the face by my soon-to-be teammate Alex Morgan and went on to score twice?"

Maisy pulled away from Eleanor, and incredulous look on her face. "No?!"

The midfielder shook her head. "Completely accidental, but it left a nasty cut and bruise."

Eleanor smiled at the memory. Alex had felt horrible and apologized so many times. Most players would be doing that just to get out of the card, but Eleanor knew Alex was genuine. Sure, it hurt like a bitch, but she couldn't really blame her for getting caught up in the energy of the game. That didn't mean she wasn't excited to give Alex hell the second she got to the Olympics.

"That's impressive, but I'm sorry about the punch." Maisy frowned, looking at the small scar on Eleanor's cheek from the ordeal. "Is that where that scar is from?"

"Yeah. It's pretty badass, right?" Eleanor jokingly winked.

Maisy winked right back. "I dig it."

Eleanor's eyes went wide and before she could even assess the situation and come up with a response, Maisy was gone.

"Fuck." She mumbled to herself as she followed the blonde and the rest of her teammates into the locker room.

She was ambushed by the other midfielders, Kailey and Tori, the second she entered the living room. "Did you hear?!"

"Wha-" Eleanor stumbled back.

From across the locker room Maisy spoke up, clearly amused. "Girls, give her space."

Kailey and Tori promptly ignored the goalkeeper as the excitedly bounced on their toes.

"Guess who is here?" Kailey asked, barely able to get her words out with how happy she was.