SUNSHINE

thirteen

Casey parked her Jeep in the parking lot at almost ten that evening and was exhausted, but she was excited to be in Orlando. Usually she was only there for Orlando Pride games, but now she was actually going to be playing in that stadium come a week from now. She entered the hotel with her luggage, and since she already had her room key, she did not need to check in at the desk. She went to the elevator and pressed floor two, and the doors closed. She did not know why, but her chest felt as if it was going to explode. The elevator dinged and she jumped, and when the doors opened, she released the breath she did not realize she was holding and exited the elevator. She went down the hall to find room 207, then slid her key card in and opened the door. She found that one of the beds in her room was full of uniforms and whatnot for the week.

She double checked to make sure her text went through to Jill Ellis that she had arrived then plopped down on the bed, not even bothering unpacking everything. She scrolled through her phone, texting her parents and her group chat with Riley, Jenna, Jackson, and Daniel that she had arrived and she would see them all on Monday for their second district game.

There was a loud knocking on her door, and she looked at the time, seeing it was about ten-thirty. She leapt off the bed and walked over to the door, looking through the peephole and finding a contorted image of Kelley O'Hara and Emily Sonnet staring back at her. She opened the door and faced them with a straight face.

"We heard the rookie was in town!" Kelley shouted, and Casey just chuckled.

"If you want to wake the entire hotel, stay in the hallway." She said, stepping back and opening the door a little further. Emily and Kelley looked at one another then waltzed right in, Casey shutting the door behind them.

"You know you're gonna be party central being the only person not having to have a roommate." Emily said, plopping down on her bed, the one without all her uniforms.

"Oh, where are our manners? I'm Kelley, that's Emily." Kelley announced, extending her hand.

"Casey Radcliffe." She answered, firmly shaking her hand.

"Pretty muscular for a high schooler." Kelley laughed. "You're committed to FSU right?"

"Uh yeah, I'll be starting there at the end of August on a full ride." She responded, sitting on her bed next to Emily.

"Ooh we got another smarty-pants on the team? Another person to make Kelley look like a dumbass!" Sonnet said, and Kelley shoved her.

"Well we wanted to give you a warm welcome to the team, and if you wanna hang around with us until you get comfortable, you are more than welcome. Your first camp is always the most stressful, but I have a feeling if you're getting called up now, I foresee many camps in your future." Kelley added with a whimsical end, flailing her arms in a magical manner as she got up off the bed, nudging Emily to get up with her.

"Breakfast is at seven, we'll come get ya and make sure you're up and know where to go." Emily piped in as they neared the door.

"Well thank you both very much, and I cannot wait for that wake up call." Casey chuckled, bidding them farewell as they left her room. She was thankful they came by, for she would have been totally lost tomorrow morning.

--

She had already been up for an hour and a half when the knock on her door at five to seven echoed through the room, and she went over and opened the door, Kelley and Emily both standing on the other side of it. They looked dead tired, then shocked to see how awake she was.

"Are you okay?" Emily asked, struggling to keep her eyes open.

"Yeah, I'm just a morning person and someone who likes routine." Casey responded.