Under the Circumstances

BabyHorse

Alex's POV:

In only a few minutes I learned that Abby wasn't as intimidating as she appeared and was cracking jokes every second, even if they were sometimes pathetically awful puns.
As I smiled politely at Abby's pun about how there's a restaurant in space blah blah blah it's good but there's no atmosphere blah blah blah, Tobin came and sat back down next to me. After a few minutes of silence between us she decided to break it.
"So, I heard you just played the Under 20 World Cup? How was it?" Tobin inquired as she shoved a forkful of eggs into her mouth.
"We won." I shrugged, not thinking much of the question.
"Yeah, but how was it? Did you have fun?" Tobin asked again, sitting back in her seat. "It's not about winning, Morgan. It's about having fun."
"Wow, when did you become Gandhi?" Amy laughed and Lauren almost spit out her orange juice.
"I think she's actually more like spiritual. You know, how like she likes to walk around barefoot." Lauren commented with a laugh. "Basically Jesus right here."
I laughed at Tobin's pouting face and set down my fork. "I did have fun."
"Well, that's good." Tobin replied, glaring at Lauren and Amy who were still laughing over their jokes. "So, tell me about yourself. When did you start playing soccer?"
"I only started really playing like freshman year of highschool." I said and Tobin raised her eyebrows. God she looked so cute when she did that. "How about you?"
"Probably my whole life." Tobin replied very matter-of-factly. She rested her elbows on the table and looked at me. "How about your family?"
I took a sip of my coffee and wringed my hands together under the table. It's a little bit soon to talk about my family with a bunch of people I met only yesterday, even if I did think of Tobin as a friend. "Umm, you know, just a family. I live with my dad and my two sisters, Jeni and Jeri." I looked at Tobin who held back a small laugh.

[a/n: I'm aware that not all facts are true, like their families will not be actual representations. But bear with me, bc we all know Tobin and Alex are already such angels in real life it's hard to make anything seem wrong. So in this story yes, there will be family drama.]

"Jeni and Jeri? So where'd they get Alex?" Tobin laughed and leaned over the table to grab the pepper.
"Couldn't tell ya." I shrugged and laughed with her. "What about your family?"
The sound of Tobin's beautiful laugh ceased and her eyes clouded over slightly. She opened her mouth to say something before Pia interrupted.
"Okay girls, goodmorning." Pia greeted us and I heard Tobin sigh slightly. It sounded like a sigh of relief. But I could be wrong. The sound of Pia's voice instructing us on our day started to blur and I felt myself zoning out.

Tobin's POV:

     Pia dismissed us and I looked over at Alex, who looked deep in thought. I looked down at my hands, which were clammy and beading with sweat. I rubbed them down the sides of my sweatpants and focused back on Alex instead of focusing on my family. She looked adorable when she was thinking.
    Suddenly I felt someone step on my foot lightly and I turned to see Pinoe smirking at me, glancing from Alex to I. She tried to mouth something to me but I rolled my eyes and waved her away. Looking back at Alex, I nudged her arm.
    "Hmm?" She mumbled and looked at me.
    "Sorry to interrupt your thought, but we should go. We have like an hour before practice and then the rest of the day off." I told her and she nodded, getting up.

"Let's get this thing on the road, ladies. Pair up and warm up." Pia said and everyone went to their natural partners. Lauren came over to me and grabbed a ball. I looked out of the corner of my eye and saw Alex, standing alone as everyone paired up. Could she make it any more obvious it was her first practice.
"Hey, you go with Amy," I said to Lauren, who gave me a confused look, "Alex needs a partner." I continued and Lauren proceeded to raise her eyebrows. She mouthed 'OK' to me and winked, waving as she walked away. I shrugged it off and walked over to Alex, who had her back to me. "First rule in being a rookie, don't make it obvious you're the rookie." I whispered from behind her and she jumped.
"Jesus, Tobin." Alex gasped and regained her posture. "I wasn't making it obvious."
    "Whatever you say," I spoke with a smile tugging at my lips as I passed the soccer ball to Alex.
    Okay, Alex was good. I mean really good. Damn. I thought to myself as Alex put the ball into the net behind Alyssa for the tenth time. I highfived her as she stepped back into line behind me. "Okay, Morgan, I'll give you that one. It was sweet." I smiled and she smiled back.
    Pia finally sent us to the team's favorite part of practice: scrimmage time. They picked new kids captains so it was Lauren and I. Lauren quickly picked Amy and I laughed slightly. I locked eyes with Alex and she looked back down, standing at the back of the group. The team already notices us spending time together. Well maybe just Pinoe. But still. Would I make it obvious if i picked her? "Um, Meghan."
    We went a few more rounds and Alex sinked further into the back of the group. "Alex." I said and she looked up, surprized. She walked over and stood with Abby.
     The scrimmage went well, my side won of course. But something more important came out of it. The team found out that Alex runs. I mean like seriously runs. Like a horse. Her and Abby were a dinamic duo already.
    "Hell yea, Babyhorse!!!" Abby yelled as Alex ran and kicked in an easy goal past Hope from a cross from Abby. They celebrated and the rest of the team just laughed at Alex's nickname, "Babyhorse."
    Towards the end of the scrimmage I brought the ball to the edge of the box and picked my head up, spotting Alex open at the back of the box. Crossing it around Kelley, Alex jumped and perfectly headed the ball across the face of the net. She smiled at me and ran over as I cheered and opened my arms. She literally jumped on me and I held her tightly onto me.
    "Way to go, Babyhorse." I said into her shoulder and she laughed.
    "Nice cross." She whispered by my ear and I felt chills go down my spine. After a moment or two I set her back down. I noticed the team's stares out of the corners of my eyes but I ignored them.
    "Alright, ladies. Great practice, go get your stuff." Pia dismissed us and we headed to the bench.