SUNSHINE

twenty

[ Little fact(?) about the last chapter - I play(ed) about half the sports that Casey does, and the one she does not! If you didn't know, i am a bowler and soccer player, and I played softball and a little ice skating when I was younger. I do wish I had played hockey though! ]

The next few days flew, and the next thing she knew it was game day again, today's game against Canada. It was six in the morning and she was up and going. The did not train yesterday evening, so she decided to go on a run, going about two miles away from the hotel and back, running a total of four miles that morning and back and showered by breakfast. They all ate then went to the field, their game at noon and they needed to get some energy going through their systems.

"Casey, can I speak with you?" Jill asked before she went back up to her room to get ready to leave. She stepped aside with her, following her out the nearby lobby doors and out into the Colorado air.

"Everything alright, Coach?" She asked. She motioned for them to sit down on the bench, and they did so.

"Yeah, everything's fine, Casey. Tell me, would you be able to go a full ninety without cracking under pressure?" Jill questioned blatantly.

"I believe so, yes." She answered with a firm nod.

"I believe so too. That's why the coaching staff and the captains all agreed that we want to see what more you have and are gonna start you today." She told her, and Casey's jaw dropped.

"Thank you for this opportunity!" She said excitedly, and she nodded.

"You earned it. You've got some potential, and I wanna see what you can do against a higher end team. You already play like a pro and you're eighteen, and you know that you got called into camp based on your performances with the youth teams and at showcase tournaments, and there's a reason you're here." Jill explained to her, and she nodded.

"Well I'm very excited for this, thank you so much." Casey said. She was speechless, she was about to start in a senior team match and possibly play the entire ninety minutes against one of their biggest rivals.

"You're welcome, now go get ready. We'll see you down here in thirty minutes." She answered with a small laugh, and Casey nodded, dismissing herself and heading up to her room. Once she was inside, she let out a small shriek and fell back into the bed. She grabbed her phone and FaceTimed her mother. When she did not answer, she figured she was in the operating room and could not respond. She the FaceTimed the group, and they all joined in periodically.

"Casey what's up?" Daniel asked once they were all on.

"Okay I only have five minutes, but I have some news." She responded as she went through her stuff and changed out of frame so she could be ready to go.

"Well? Are you gonna tell us?" Riley asked, and she came back into frame in a different outfit, ready to head to the game.

"No I figured I'd drawn out the suspense of the fact that I'm going to be starting today." Casey answered, and she jumped up and down for a quick second before remembering there could be people below her. Riley and Jenna squealed and she went for her phone.

"Ahh now I'm super hype for this game!" Jenna said.

"Okay, I've got to go, but I'll talk to you guys after!" She said, waving goodbye to her friends before hanging up the phone. She grabbed her headphones and made sure she had everything before leaving her room and heading toward the elevator. She saw it open and she jogged the catch up, sticking her hand in the elevator as it started to close and slipping in.

"Nice catch, rookie." Ashlyn said, and she nodded a thank you.

"Ready for your first start?" Alyssa asked, and Casey looked back at her with a soft smile.