20 minutes into their game against spurs Katie picked up her first yellow card for an aggressive tackle. Really nothing out of the ordinary for her she just knew that the rest of the game she'd have to reel it in. She definitely succeeded in controlling the tough tackles but she was having a tough time with her attitude especially with all the shit spurs players were talking to her. They were really getting under her skin which usually she can contain but once they scored a goal bringing the score to 2-1 and had all the momentum she was fuming.
Seeing an opportunity to intercept a pass Katie took it and her gamble worked. She looked up to see miles of green grass and took off sprinting. She had gained a good distance before she felt someone wrap her up behind and pull her to the ground followed by a few choice words which Katie didn't quite care for. Katie being Katie and already pissed off wasn't going to just let that slide and shoved her opponent right off of her. The ref was quick to come over and split them up quickly showing a yellow to the spurs player. But to Katie's surprise the ref turned to her showing the yellow too and taking out his red card immediately after.
"WHAT?! she tackled me I was just getting her off"
"Not what I saw McCabe. Now get off the field"
Before she could argue anymore Kim came and gently escorted her to the sideline. Not making eye contact with her bench she made her way past and into the tunnel to the locker room.
As she past her bench, Caitlin who had been subbed out at around the 60 min mark saw the tears start to build in Katie's eyes.
Slipping off the bench when she thought the least amount of people were watching she made her way to the locker room to check on Katie. Before she even reached it she heard something being thrown against a wall. She knew Katie would be mad but didn't expect to see her sitting on the floor balling her eyes out with two water bottles laying across the room, clearly being her object of choice to launch against the wall.
Katie hadn't heard her come in. Keeping her head between her knees she started to slam her left hand against the floor. Caitlin quickly moved to kneel next to her and grab her fist before she continued to punch the floor. The feeling of someone grabbing her hand shocked Katie who eyes immediately popped open.
"Caitlin go back out there I'm fine."
"No you're not. I'm not leaving until you calm down."
"I'm going to miss the next game."
"I know"
"It's Chelsea!!! I'm going to miss the damn Chelsea game"
"I know Kates"
"I didn't mean to get the second one! That was so unfair. They girls are probably going to hate me. God and now everyone just going to say I deserve it. I'm a dirty player. I don't get why everyone hates it I'm just aggressive I can't help that. Why do I get so much hate for it?" Katie was back to crying at the thought of how much the media was going to eat her up for this.
Caitlin took her hands and put them on either side of Katie's face and used her thumbs to wipe some tears away.
"Listen to me. You can't let this get in your head. Yes people are going to say some stupid stuff online but you got to ignore it. Just because you got a red changes nothing about how extraordinary of a player you are. Nothing is going to change your skills unless you let the outside world affect you mentally. You stay strong and you're going to come back stronger when you get back on the field. The girls aren't going to hate you. They are your teammates yeah they might be a little annoyed initially but every single one of them would go to war for you. Just apologize later tonight. We all know you didn't mean it."
"Thanks Cait. You should really be out there tho not with me. I'm sure you're annoyed with me too."
"Katie you're a little more than just my teammate yeah? I care about you more as Katie my girlfriend than I do Katie my teammate. It's just a game at the end of the day. You and me are gonna last much longer than we stay playing this game."
"I love you Cait"
"Love you more"
