little love

110

They pulled into the Matthews' driveway and Carina handed Maddie a sleep mask.

"Really a blind fold?" Maddie took it and asked

"Si bella, we don't want to ruin the surprise. Shannon and Lily will be wearing them too" Carina assured her

"Fine, but if you let me trip and fall, im gonna be sooooo mad" Maddie groaned. She was clumsy enough with all her senses.

"We've got you Mads, we wont let you fall I promise" Maya assured her with a chuckle.

Maddie put on the blindfold and Maya and Carina helped her out of the car, leading her towards the back yard. In the yard, Alexa stood with a blindfolded Lily and Shannon's brother Gavin stood behind her, making sure she couldn't peek. they positioned the 3 girls across from each other and counted down. Parker stood dutifully by ready to film the whole thing.

"3....2....1...." The crowd of family, friends and firefighters cheered

Maddie, Shannon, and Lily took off their blindfolds and squealed before joining in a group hug and jumping up and down.

"I KNEW IT!" Lily yelled pointing at Maddie and Shannon who were both decked out in Duke gear. Lily was wearing Stanford gear.

"How did you know? I didnt even know till last week that i wanted Duke!" Maddie asked

"The way you talked about it after the tour... the way you both talked about it actually. I'm so happy for you both!!!" Lily hugged them again

"You are gonna be great at Stanford Lil!" Maddie returned her best friend's hug before turning to her girlfriend. "Looks like you're stuck with me, huh?"

"I'm actually so relieved" Shannon exhaled. This was unlike her. Shannon was always so cool, calm and confident.

"You? Nervous? Isn't that usually my job?" Maddie teased, snaking an arm around the dark haired girls waist.

"I have my moments" Shannon blushed and buried her head in Maddie's shoulder.

"We are so proud of all 3 of you!" Ellen Matthews cheered, emerging from the house with a cake shaped like a soccer ball.

The rest of the party commenced, with attendees congratulating all 3 girls and everyone having fun. As things wrapped up and Maya and Carina got ready to drive Maddie home, Sheridan approached them.

"I have to admit, im rather glad they both picked the same place" she laughed

"Us too, knowing she wont be alone so far from us is really reassuring. We will have to coordinate visits and care packages!" Maya smiled at the older woman.

"Maddie Bella, ready to go?" Carina called across the yard to Maddie who was standing with Shannon, Lily and Parker.

"Si!" Maddie called back, turning to peck Shannon on the lips before running towards Maya and Carina.
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Soccer season and Maddie's junior year continued to fly by. The soccer team had made it to the state championship yet again, and the game would be played soon enough. Maddie was constantly practicing with Shannon and Lily, even when the coach had tried to give the team some time off to rest and recover. Maddie wrote out formations and talked things out, both at home, the station and with Lily and Shannon.

Maya and Carina worried that she wasnt sleeping enough. Maddie was sleeping, but she dreamt in soccer. The Duke coach was coming to watch the state championship now that 2 players had committed to come play for them and Maddie want to make sure to highlight all her and Shannon's skills as well as her leadership as a captain.