Sophomore Year || Parenthood Series, Book One || WATTYS 2018

Chapter Sixty

SOUNDTRACK: "Call It Stormy Monday" - Albert King, Stevie Ray Vaughn

"I'm sorry I've gotta miss your game, Gremlin," Jared said over the phone as Kate sat on a bench in the locker room in Santa Clarita. "But I'm sure you'll do great," he assured her.

"Yeah, sure," she answered with a sigh. Her pride was still wounded from the loss a few days prior.

There was a flood of noise on Jared's end. "Look, Kate, I've gotta go. Good luck. Have fun. I'll call you later, okay?" he said quickly before hanging up.

Kate sighed and put her phone back into her locker before sitting back down to slide her shin guards on. Jared's absence wasn't a concern for her this time; Connie and Shannon had both come to the game that night and would be cheering her on wildly. Connie had never come to a game at Santa Clarita and it had been a while since she had seen Kate play. But she was hoping this game would go differently than the last.

Suicide Squad's premiere date was fast approaching and Jared was getting lots of press because of it. Almost every week some story would run about things he did while filming and on set, including but not limited to sending quirky and strange gifts to the other cast members. There had been a story about used condoms, but Jared had quickly assured her that it wasn't true. If nothing else, it was all giving her a crash course in how the press handled things in Hollywood.

Kate's teammates had all asked for autographs and Jared had very kindly supplied them. He had even come up the day beforehand and done a photo session with all of them as a thanks for treating Kate so well. She no longer felt like the high school kid who was coming up to train with them. They had done a fantastic job of welcoming her onto the team officially. And once Jared had signed the contract for the rest of the season, the entire team had rejoiced. Kate was easily one of the better players and having her on a permanent basis would likely give them the edge they needed.

"You okay, Kate?" Lyndsey Donovan asked as she passed by. "You look green."

Kate shook her head. "I'm afraid we're going to get beaten again," she replied.

Lyndsey smiled. "Well, there has to be a winner and a loser, right?" she said as she sat down. "All you can do is play your hardest and do the best you can. If you leave it all on the field, it doesn't matter if you win or lose."

"Seems pointless to even play if you look at it that way," Kate stated.

"Winning isn't everything, Kate," the older player smiled at her.

Kate opened her mouth to reply but was interrupted by the remaining members of the team entering the locker room. Lyndsey started a conversation with another player, leaving Kate to her own thoughts. Her phone rang in her locker and she went to answer it, smiling when she saw Olivia's name.

"Hey," she greeted her friend.

"Your uncle and grandmother are crazy," Olivia huffed. It sounded like there were several voices in the background of the call.

"Huh?" Kate asked.

"Your uncle and grandmother are crazy," Olivia repeated. "They're sitting next to me and I swear to God, Shannon has painted his chest blue."

"He did not," Kate replied in disbelief, embarrassment starting to wash over her.

"I'll send you a picture," Olivia said. "And Connie is just smiling along with him as if he looks like this on a daily basis."

Kate burst into laughter. "Wait, I didn't know you were coming to the game. I thought you had to work?"

"I did. But the class was canceled at the last minute. So I called Shannon to see if he had left yet and hitched a ride down with them," Olivia explained. "I thought I'd see my best friend the Pro Soccer Player in action."