Chapter Nine: Getting There- Both.

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Indi:

We'd won. We danced around the change rooms, singing a random medley of songs. The ice baths shocked us, freezing us into a language of shivering and sipping Gatorade. I checked my phone. 'Oi, Cee, look what Tanner posted,' I said, showing her. She laughed at the photo, her taking a 0.5 on his phone with me, Amelia, Zoe, and Poppy in the background. Zoe leaned over my shoulder and laughed as Ally came in. 'Great game girls! You all played well, and for the first game, our MVP is Sienna,' she said. Daisi and I clapped Cee on the back as she took the MVP ribbon from Ally. 'We play Taz tomorrow, so I want you to get sleep and get here early for pregame ice and meeting. Great job,' she dismissed us, and Sienna and I said a quick bye to the girls before racing out. It was Yas who hit me with a hug first. 'That goal was so sigma,' she said. I side-eyed her.

'No?' she added. I shook my head.

'NO!' Sienna, Zane, Tanner, and I said together. She held her hands up.

'Ok, ok. Fair point. I'm never doing that again,' she said. We laughed, and Zane draped his arms around Sienna. I glanced at Tanner. He glanced back. 50 bucks they're together by end of nashos. He mouthed. I nodded, leaning up against him. As Mum and Dad came over with Narelle and Matt, Tanner moved sideways, saying 'TRUSTFALL,' quite loudly, earning glares from the umpire mentors. I slipped backwards on the slick varnish, falling straight onto my arse. The parents watched, amused, as I attempted to get to my feet, before giving up and grabbing Tanner's ankle, drop sliding him. 'Fuck!' he yelped. I laughed, wheezing, as Zane doubled over Sienna as they both died of laughter. The celebrations continued well past dark, and when I fell asleep, I didn't wake up until the sun came up.

Tanner:

The crowd for today's game was a step or three up from yesterday. It was packed. Sienna's eyes widened as we headed down the ramp toward the rooms. All the girls were apprehensive of the huge sellout they had to play for, you could see it. Zane ran up as Sienna left with the team for the meeting room. 'Tann, you haven't seen Indi, have you?' he asked. I shook my head.

'Not since dinner last night, why?' I replied. He grimaced.

'She left the hotel early for icing, and we assumed she'd stayed there, but Ally just came up to me and said she hadn't been here all morning. Yasmin said she's probably had an attack,' he said. Shit.

'This is fucking Sydney. She could be anywhere,' I replied. Zane's eyes were filled with determination.

'I'll look for her here, you head back to the track and if she's not there, then check the footy oval.' He replied. I nodded. The athletics track was dead quiet. My eyes scanned the track. Nothing. The stands. There she was. Top row. Knees tucked under her chin, and from halfway up the stairs where the general admission tunnel came out, I could see she was shaking. 'Hey, it's okay. You're okay,' I said, sitting next to her and pulling her close. She looked up. 'I can't. I'm not good enough. I-' her voice choked. I gritted my teeth. It was going to take my all my self-restraint plus Zane to not knock Charlotte's lights out. KIDDING. I'm kidding. 'Show me,' I said. she passed me her open phone.

Quinn Z- She played so shit; Charlotte I can see why he loves you more.

Charlotte- See even Quinn agrees. Bloody hope that fake bitch sees this.

Sadie Matherson- I don't even know why she tries.

Pops- Guys stop you're pulling apart the whole team by bringing her down.

'They're trying to get to you, Bri. Get them out of your head. Hey, at least Poppy stood up for you,' I said. she shook her head.

'Poppy's not like her sister. She's nice. But it still doesn't change this,' she gestured toward the comments. I frowned. 'Don't listen to them. They're the fake bitches.' My voice was low. A small smile creeped across her lips. 'The crowds-' it dropped as fast as it came. That was one thing about Indi. She absolutely hated huge crowds, huge being the literal definition of the one in the stadium right now. 'Don't worry about them, once you're out there your mind'll change.' Another thing. Once Indi stepped onto a footy oval or netball court, her mind switched. Literally, you had to see it to believe it. Its like she turns into a fucking demon or something. 'What'd she say?' I added, knowing part of the reason she was up here was Charlotte. 'She- she said I was a piece of shit, that I couldn't play netball, that...' her voice fell away, and I knew without asking what Charlotte had said. 'She went on about it,' I finished. Indi nodded.

'I know. I know. But you know it's not true. Tell yourself that.' I whispered. She inhaled a shaky breath.

'Ok. We should probably get back to the courts before Zane files a missing persons report,' the smile came back as we ran down the tunnel. As we walked into the stadium, her hand went around mine, and I snuck a glance at her. There was a glimmer of panic in her eyes, but it left as soon as it came as she took a breath. She blushed when she saw I was looking. I grinned. 'Ready?' I asked as we reached the players end of the race that would take them back up to the court. She grinned back, determination replacing the panic in her eyes. 'Ready,'. 

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