Number on me

6. Auriga

The energy surge that entered Max's body didn't last long. When she neared the facilities, she couldn't resist the urge to yawn.

'Morning kid!' A smiling Beth yelled from the window on the passenger side of her car, driven by Viv.

'Morning Beth!' Even if Max felt tired today, she would never show it to her new teammates.

She saw her insomnia as a weakness. And more than that, as embarrassing. She never really talked about it with anyone. Of course, Fay knew, but that was simply the result of years spent in their shared room.

She waited for Beth and Viv to park their car, and the three of them made their way in to the facilities together, engulfed in a simple conversation, Viv's arm around Max's neck.

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After a quick breakfast, that for Max consisted of a small açaí bowl, the team made their way to the gym. Usually, gym sessions were Max's favourite. She was strong for someone her age and loved leaving everything she has in the gym.

Maxine wanted today to be no different, even if she definitely did not have enough energy for an intense session.

She was used to give a lot of energy while having very little. She never slept well. But these last couple of nights have been terrible, and with all the new stress, Max was at the end of her rope.

Luckily for her, every gym session starts with stretching. While talking with Vic and Less, she was seriously reconsidering her life choices. Not that she chooses to never fall asleep, but she did chose to have a sporting career on an average of four hours of sleep per night.

'okay girls, split up and start working please!'

With another sigh, she stands up to go to the treadmill; for the cardio part of the workout, the girls are required to spend time on either the treadmill of the bike. Maxine, growing up in the North of the Netherlands and having to bike 14 km to get to school, would never willingly spend time on a home trainer. She loved the occasional bike ride, but inside bike riding wasn't for her.

'A bit more Max, almost done! Give it your all, let's go!'

At this point in her cardio, Max was seeing stars. She didn't want to let anyone down, and upped the level on the machine once more.

'there you go, three more kilometres and you're done, okay?'

Max didn't answer, as she simply needed every bit of energy inside her body to complete that last part of the cardio. Gritting her teeth, she remembered that this was just the first part of the two hour gym session.

Looking down at the treadmill, she saw she was finally done. Getting of her treadmill, she felt extremely light-headed, causing her to stumble and grip the machine for balance.

'take it easy there, trouble,' a strong aussie accent said.

'No thanks Steph, other teams won't take it easy on me.' Maxine smiled as she said this, but her mind was instantly reminded of the pressure she was feeling for this season.

Being young, but talented, brought a certain pressure. Fans excepted her to play like she was a seasoned professional, while the actual seasoned professionals wanted to show her she was not. She knew she could keep up with anyone in the league, but only if she was, both physically and mentally, 100 percent prepared.

Maxine had struggled with the mental aspect more than with the physical aspect. She hated making mistakes and would punish herself hard, causing her to get sucked in to a downward spiral that felt impossible to escape.