SUNSHINE

two

Casey, Riley, and Jenna had all changed into their uniforms, wearing their matching tournament t-shirts instead of their jerseys to warm up in. Casey made sure she had her socks, cleats, shin guards, and gloves all in her bag before she left to head to the field, the girls driving with her and the boys driving with Jackson. She had the music on full blast, the doors off of her Jeep, and the three of them soaking in the Florida sunshine on their fifteen minute drive to the school. They were singing along loudly to the music on Casey's playlist, for they had all agreed that she had the best music to listen to. They were singing along to Rockin' by The Weeknd, which was one of their favorite pump up songs to listen to before a game. They got there a little early so they could hang out and watch the rest of the junior varsity game, the team tied with Robinson High School, one of their conference teams. Casey shut the car off and there was a soft groan from her teammates.

"Don't worry, I brought the speaker for the locker room and I'm going to plug in my playlist to the stadium speakers." She informed, pulling her speaker out from her bag and getting out of the driver's seat, her keys in hand. She closed the door and waited until Jenna and Riley got their bags out of the back to lock it. The three of them went through the main gates and went towards the locker room, going to put their bags inside before watching the rest of the game already being played. They came back out into the stands and sat near the end of the bleachers.

"Anyone going to the Pride game Saturday? I know Daniel and I are going." Jenna asked, looking to the two of them.

"You're asking the wrong people. Of course we're going!" Riley answered, playfully punching Jenna's arm.

"I'm surfing this weekend, anyone wanna join?" Casey asked.

"I will, and I'll join y'all for the game too." Jackson said, coming up and sitting behind them.

"Well if we wanna make the tailgate, we're gonna have to leave at ten or eleven." Jenna informed.

"Of course we're going to the tailgate. It's the first game of the season, we have to go." Casey said, and they agreed. They continued to talk about their plan to head to Orlando tomorrow, for it was the opening day of the NWSL and the Pride tailgates were extremely hype. Florida had one of the best atmospheres for soccer, Casey had travelled a lot to watch and play soccer with her club team.

"Alright, time to start warming up." Riley said, looking at the stopwatch on the big scoreboard.

"Good luck, kick some ass!" Trevor called, pecking Riley on the cheek before the three girls left to go to the locker room to get their equipment on. Casey turned on her speaker and started blaring music, getting their team hyped up for the game. The twenty of them all sang loud and off-key to the song playing as they got ready to head out to the field. She put on her socks and cleats, always waiting to slide her shin guards on just before being called as a captain to the center field. They went out to the empty space on the turf behind the net to warm up, and they had ten minutes before they could take the field to fo their on field warm ups. They did their running lines then stretching lines, then they kept loose and got taped up and whatnot for the game. The whistle blew and the Jefferson High School junior varsity team scraped out with a win over the Knights of Robinson High School.

"Bring it in, ladies!" Coach Henderson called, and the twenty of them brought it into the sideline, surrounding their coach. "Alright, this is the first game of the season. It's a big one, for they are our rival, which is a great way to start the season. This is going to be a physical game, but I know you all are capable of holding your own. No fouls, play cleanly. Listen to each other, talk to each other. Communication is a must. Now, let's go put a few quick goals in the back of the net and get this game done." He told them in a confident voice, and they all started cheering and getting motivated.