It's five thirty in the morning when my alarm goes off. It's way too early and the buzzing noise is giving me a spliting headache. Olivia reaches over and turns the alarm off, relieving my headache. She throws her feet over the side of her bed and sits up lazily.
"I don't know about you, but I think six is a little too early for breakfast." She says slipping a purple t-shirt on over her head.
I nod my head in agreement. The thought of food right now makes me feel nauseous. I really would rather skip breakfast, but I know that I need to eat if I am going to make it through the day.
I put on a pair of black soccer sweats and a white soccer t-shirt. Olivia and I would be matching if she was wearing a white t-shirt. She helps me straighten my hair and I quickly do my makeup. By 5:50 we are out of our room and headed to the cafeteria. The u-17 age group eats breakfast with the u-18 age group, so it shouldn't be too crowded.
As I'm walking to the cafeteria I feel a hand grab my arm and pull me to the side. I let out a little shriek and realize it's just Melissa.
"Oh my God, I'm sorry I didn't mean to scare you that bad." She says leading me towards the cafeteria. "You were really zoning out though. What were you thinking about? Erik?"
"No I wasn't, I kind of zone off a lot when I'm tired, sorry."
"Alright, well hurry up, Olivia, Christina, and Raya left us."
Melissa and I join the other girls in the line. I get a bagel with cream cheese and yogurt and find a table. We sit at a round table near the drinks. I find myself looking around the room for Erik and even though I know I should stop, I still do it anyways. I find myself oddly disappointed when he never walks through the doors.
"Aly, hurry up we have to be at the team meeting in ten minutes." Olivia barks, dumping the rest of her food into the trashcan. I do the same and push open the double doors, engulfing me in the blinding sun.
The team meeting is in the same classroom we were in yesterday. When I walk in, I notice Erik standing in the corner, looking over some papers. He doesn't look up when we walk in, he's too concentrated on whatever he's reading. I can't help but stare at the wrinkles that he has on his forehead from concentrating. He looks up and notices me staring, I try to turn away but I can't, it's like his stare is holding me in place. We hold eye contact for about a minute before he looks away. Once he looks away, I quickly advert my eyes to the floor, embarrassed that he caught me staring and I didn't do anything about it. He walks to the front of the room shuffling his papers.
"Good morning girls. I hope you all slept well. I'm supposed to take attendance, so when I call your name just raise your hand and say here, please." He goes through the list of names and two girls still haven't shown up.
"Well let's continue." The rest of the meeting goes by slowly. We talk about the essentials of a team and I catch myself zoning out a little more than I should. The only reason I'm able to concentrate half of the time is Erik. The sound of his voice, when he talks, is the prettiest thing I have ever heard.
"Okay girls, I have one announcement before I dismiss you. Tomorrow instead of another team meeting we will be having an optional team training. You do not have to show up, and you will not be looked down upon if you don't go. This is just to help you improve. Training will start at 7:30 instead of 7." He takes a sip of water and smiles at us. "You're dismissed."
Olivia is the first one out of the classroom and we join her in the hallway.
"Are you going to training tomorrow morning?" She asks as soon as Melissa and I walk out of the room.
