behind the spirit - krashlyn

chapter 4

Today was the first game day against the Breakers and it was going to be a tough one.

"Rise and shine Ash we have a game today!"
"Why are you so perky this early in the morning?"
"Whatever do you mean?"
"That's it, I'm getting a new roommate" "Nooooo Ash I love you but you really do need to get up. warmup is in 20 minutes" "Ugh fine lets get to it then."

After warmup the Spirit starting players were about to take the field.
"Hey, Ali?"
"Yeah?"
"I'm scared"
"Me too" they both confessed nervously. Ashlyn could feel Ali shaking so she kissed her cheek and whispered comforting things into her ear as Ali leaned into her side lovingly.
"Ready Ash?"
"R
eady".

"WE WON WE WON WE WON" screamed the team in the locker room. They were celebrating their 3-1 win with Crystal Dunn dancing on all the tables.
"I saved a goal" Ashlyn said walking up to Ali proudly
"That you did Ash, that you did. I'm so proud of you" Ali responded jumping into Ashlyn's arms as Ashlyn carried her around bridal style.
"You have strong arms" Ali gushed dramatically
"I have been told that yes" Ashlyn giggled wondering where this conversation was going
"And your hair is beautiful. And your smile is beautiful. And-" Ali stopped abruptly
"You okay Al?"
"Uh yeah I was just gonna say that youarebeautifulandiloveyou" Ali sped through her sentence
"What Ali?" Ashlyn asked confused
"NOTHING I was just saying what a great friend you are" she quickly covered for herself
"oh well you are a great friend too!"

Ashlyn went out for a long jog which allowed Ali some time to think. "what was I thinking?" "Ashlyn is my FRIEND" "my bible obsessed parents would be so upset with me" were all thoughts running through Ali's head as she laid on her bed with her hair up in a messy bun. After contemplating her feelings, she finally decided to call her brother (and bff) Kyle.
"Ali?! I didn't even know you were on this earth anymore! how are you sistaaaa!?"
"haha I'm fine Kyle, just busy with soccer, as usual. anything new with you?"
"eh not really. I got some new tattoos but I can show you later. why did you call me?"
"I um....Kyle how did you know you weren't...straight?"
"Oh god Ali where do I start? Well I had girlfriends, as you know, but I was never in love and was just going through the motions. I knew I wasn't happy so I started to think about why girls weren't attractive to me and I began to notice that when a couple walked by, I would always notice the boy before the girl and that's when I knew. At first it isn't easy coming to terms with that for yourself, let alone with other people. I was in denial for the longest time and those were some of the worst years of my life" Kyle confessed honestly
"If you could give advice to your younger self, or anyone for that matter, what would it be?"
"Just be honest with yourself and not try and be who you're not because you will just be miserable."
As Kyle was talking, everything began to make sense to Ali, noticing girls first, meaningless boyfriends, and most importantly her increased heartbeat whenever she thought of Ashlyn.