The Endless Search for the Perfect Pitch: Phone Call to Success

Chapter 56: vs China

Wednesday, December 10, 2014

I woke up a little later. It was like 8:30. Hope was sound asleep. I take it she must have been up a while after I fell asleep.

I got up and changed out of Hope's jersey and into one of the USA team shirts we all had and a pair of training pants. I threw my hair up in a messy bun and added light makeup.

Hope woke up and got ready. We walked down to breakfast. Everything was the same and no one dared to change it.

After breakfast I went up to Ben's room. "Hello." He said and opened the door.

"Hey what's up?"

"Nothing much. How was breakfast?" He said and gave me a kiss on the cheek.

"It was good. Wanna go on a walk with me?"

"Of course." He said and grabbed my hand.

We walked hand in hand to the same park we've been going to the whole trip.

It was quiet until Ben broke the silence. "What's on your mind? You're never this quiet." He said.

"I'm nervous for tonight." I said.

"Why? You are here for a reason. Your coach believes in you. Your teammates believe in you. The fans believe in you. I believe in you. And I know you believe in you." He said. "You've believed in me since I met you. You're going to go great. I know it."

"Thanks."

We continued to walk and talk. He always said something funny when he knew I was tense. He always knew how to lighten the mood. Being with him was the greatest.

After we finished our walk we went out to eat. Then I went and spent some time with Tobin.

"Dang. It's been a while." She said.

"I know. It stinks."

"But you know what I brought?" She said excitedly.

"What?" I said getting excited by the tone of her voice.

She pulled out a box. "Open it."

I opened the box and inside was new penny board. I turned it over. It was a USA board with 1N1T on the top.

"Tobs that's hot." I said.

"Thanks. Thought I needed to step up my game. Can't have you riding the streets on top." She smirked. I just rolled my eyes.

After we finished we talked about everything. I stayed for a good two hours. I left at around 3 to get ready. The bus left at 5 for a kick off time of 7:20.

I walked in my room. Hope was finally relaxing. I went and took a shower. I put my hair in a bun after and fixed my makeup. I walked down to the trainers at 4 to get taped. Then I walked up and grabbed my bags and headed down to the bus.

The ride was generally quiet except for the occasional laugher from Kelley or me. We were jamming to Taylor and X Ambassadors, nothing different.

When we got to the stadium there were empty stands. It was disheartening seeing how many people showed up. It was assumed though because there weren't a whole ton of people at open field.

We went to the locker room and got ready. I got the start today. I was so pumped to play. We walked out of the locker room and started our warm up. After about 30 minutes we headed in. I took off my warm up and sat in my locker with my uniform in hand. I was wearing the number 14 tonight. I kept running my fingers over the crest.

Abby came over and sat beside me in Pinoe's locker. "Hey kiddo. You deserve to be here. Remember that. You know that used to be my number. Its okay you'd make a better 14 than me. Make me proud kid." Abby said and gave me a high five.