Kick Start

Chapter Four

~O~

Camila's legs felt like they were on fire and her lungs were burning with a similar intensity as she pushed herself to keep up with her older, long-haired teammate.

She figured she would be able to keep up with Lauren by now, with all of her early morning runs on top of practice, but she found out that she was still painfully out of shape in comparison.

This was the third day she had stayed after practice to train with Lauren, and while she was able to stay closer to Lauren ever-drifting footsteps than she had on the first day, she could tell she was still a ways off from being able to keep up with her captain.

She didn't get it at all.

Lauren was the goalie and she was a forward, why did the older girl feel the need to be in such good shape?

She tried asking Dinah the day before in English, but the red lipped girl had just laughed loudly and given her a look as if saying, 'are you clueless?'

She was glad, though, that she didn't seem to be much of an imposition to Lauren's extra work out, at least, the wavy-haired goalie hadn't protested at all when Camila asked, instead just nodding with a short smile.

It seemed that it was all Camila would ever get from Lauren because she hadn't seen the girl in a state other than serious, excluding when Lauren was with Normani, Ally, and Dinah.

With them, it was as if Lauren was a completely different person, laughing and joking around, and the only other time she had seen Lauren so relaxed was when the wavy-haired girl had been smiling softly at that boy, LuLu or Luis or something.

And no, Camila wasn't jealous persay, not of this Luis guy or of Lauren's friends and kind of Camila's friends, but she just wondered why she couldn't get any reaction out of Lauren other than a nod or a 'Good job, Cabello.'

She wouldn't deny that Lauren was attractive because anyone with eyes could tell that the wavy-haired girl was hot as fuck, but it was also more than that...like the way her green-blue orbs would brighten whenever they were on the field and how she seemed to just be in her element whenever she had a ball between her feet or hands.

Maybe it was because she saw her own focus in Lauren's gaze, the want and need and passion, but whatever it was had Camila practically jumping at any chance to spend time with the older girl, even if it meant dying while running lap after lap around the track.

"You wanna shoot on me? I need some blocking practice on my left side, it's my weaker one," Lauren asked, strolling over to Camila, who stood heaving after finishing her final lap.

Camila nodded, still bent over her hands on her knees, and this, at least, didn't come to a surprise because it was something they had done the previous two days, especially as it helped Camila with her shooting and Laurrn with her blocking.

As it was, Camila was still one of the only ones other than Normani who could score on the experienced goalie, and while that was something to be proud of, training with Lauren had shown the blue-green eyed girl her shooting techniques, so Lauren was now able to block more of her shots.

She managed to make about half of the shots still and once all fifteen balls were either behind the net or inside it, Camila and Lauren went to gather them so that Camila could have another round.

"I think we have a good shot at winning the game next week with you and Normani up front," Lauren's low rumble broke out, and Camila turned around to find the curvy girl right next to her, a ball tucked under either arm and her large hands gripping one on either side.

She was a little surprised- okay a lot- that Lauren was talking to her, and yeah, it was about soccer, but like, any conversation counts for something, especially if Lauren initiates it, and wow, she really is starting to think like a prepubescent girl.