Number 15 - Katie McCabe

5

"What's up with her?" I ask Beth, stunned by what just happened.

"Yeah, that was weird." Beth says, also looking very confused as we see Katie walk into her apartment building without a second look back at us.

"Does she have a thing for Leah or something?" I pull out of where I was parked, making my way to Beth's. She just laughs at my question. "What?" I question curiously as she laughs.

"No, she definitely doesn't like Leah, they're just friends." Beth says in between laughter.

"Well then what was that about?" I sigh. I really thought Katie and I were becoming neutral with one another, why did she just leave like that?

"To be honest, I hardly ever know what's going on with Katie, she barely tells anyone anything." Beth leans back onto the car seat and I nod in response. We're about ten minutes away from her house and it goes silent for a moment, I'm lost in my thoughts. What the hell am I going to do, I'm afraid that it's going to be deathly awkward between Leah, Katie and myself.

"Beth, what am I going to do?" I slide my hand over my cheek with worry, I really wish this didn't happen, especially after only one training session.

"Well, what do you want to happen?" She replies turning to face me.

"I don't know!" I cry out frustratedly, anxiety building in my stomach.

"Seriously, think about it, what do you want?" Beth says empathetically.

"I guess, I really just want to at least just be teammates with Katie, I feel like it's not going to be good for the team if we constantly hate each other." I confide in her, I'm not normally that good with talking to people about my feelings, but having known Beth for so long, I know that I can trust her with this.

"So, why don't you tell her that?"

"Because I still can't forgive her for everything, and every time I try talking to her, I always end up getting so angry." I reply honestly. It's true, I can hardly speak to her without getting annoyed, frustrated, or mad and it ends up with me lashing out or shutting down the conversation.

"Look, I'm not going to ask you what happened between you two, but I don't think you're going to get anywhere with this if you hold onto that anger. I think you should try and get to know her first before you make an assumption based on things that have happened only on the pitch." Beth says, and she makes a good point. If I don't give Katie a chance, then I'm never going to get over the anger I feel for her, and it will reflect badly on the team and probably result with me being on the bench.

"I guess you're right." I reply, breathing out a sigh while braking at a red light.

"Of course I am." Beth says, making me laugh slightly. "And... What about Leah?" She adds while smirking, and it makes me freeze up. I really don't want things to be messed up between us, she's my closest friend on the team, and I would hate to lose her as a friend.

"Okay, I honestly don't know what to do. I haven't thought about her that way until tonight." I say nervously, accelerating once the light turns green.

"Well, in the moment, did you want to kiss her?" Beth asks, and I feel my face go pink again.

"I guess I did." My cheeks heat up as I replay the moment with Leah in my head.

"So, why don't you just play it by ear? It'll only be awkward if you make it awkward." She replies. I'm usually pretty good at pushing down my feelings, and seriously, how hard can it be to pretend everything is fine, right?

"That's true. I guess I'm just worried that everything will blow up in my face, and I really don't want to lose Leah as a friend." I say, looking at her with a worried look.