SUNSHINE

fifty-seven

[ I'm just gonna say sorry for this one... But hey three updates since Wednesday? That's gotta be a new record. Another one is probably coming tomorrow! ]

Time had been flying during her time with the United States Women's National Team as they traveled Australia to compete in the FIFA Women's World Cup. They had gone through the group stages with a breeze, scoring quite a few goals to top their group. Their first game in the round of sixteen was a solid two-nil win over France, who were one of the few teams to be contenders for the championship game. They continued into the quarter finals against Germany, Casey earning another shutout with a one-nil win.

They were now onto the semifinals, which was going to be against whoever won between Canada and England. If Canada were to win, it would be a rematch of the 2012 Olympic semifinal match, where they went into extra time to scrape out a four-three win. This time, Christine Sinclair was not a part of the team, for she had retired after the 2020 Olympics, where Canada took another bronze medal. If England were to win, it would continue to fuel the rivalry between the two teams, for the United States had defeated them in the 2019 FIFA Women's World Cup to take their fourth title.

"Alright ladies, are we ready to head to the field?" Vlatko asked them as they all congregated in the lobby, waiting to get on the bus to go watch the quarterfinal match between Canada and England. There was an array of 'yeahs', which he took as a sign as they were all set to go. Casey and Alex had been talking all morning about anything and everything, both of them having too much energy compared to the rest of the team.

"What the hell is up with you two?" Ali asked when they got on the bus, Ali and Ashlyn turning around and facing them as they broke out into a fit of laughter.

"Casey just showed me a video of her drunkenly stealing a traffic cone!" Alex told them as quietly as possible, but anyone who was in the back of the bus heard her. Casey and Alex could not breathe because they were laughing so hard, she had to hand her phone over to Ali so they could see what they were laughing at. Eventually the entire back of the bus had seen the video and they were all laughing.

"How old were you when this was taken?" Ashlyn asked in between laughs.

"I don't know, it was after a bonfire at my friend Jenna's house, so probably seventeen? Eighteen?" She told them with a laugh. "I promise I was drunk for some sort of celebratory reason, but that doesn't mean I remember what."

"Yeah because you were probably blackout drunk!" Megan said from behind them.

"No, I remember the video being taken. I just don't remember what led to the drinking. I promise I never party like this unless it's for a good reason." She defended, and they all believed her, for she only drank on special occasions, when her close knit group was drinking, or after they won a game and wanted to celebrate. They all also knew she was not a lightweight, so it must have taken a lot to get her as delusional as she was. She never drank much until she started dating her favorite bar owner about a year ago.

"Please tell me there's more videos like this." Ali pleaded, causing Casey to laugh even harder.

"I guess you'll just have to wait and see because there definitely are a few." She wheezed out, trying to think of where other videos would have been buried. She knew there were a couple videos of her and Alessio buzzed as they danced around the kitchen, but those videos were for her.

"Please send that to me." Alex said softly, and she chuckled, sending the fifteen second clip to the group chat she shared with Alex, Ali, Ashlyn, and Megan. It might have been a bad idea, but at this point it was oh well, and they had all been friends for so long now that she did not really mind if they had the video. She was going to miss them all when they retired, because she knew the time was coming, and it would be after their victory tour that they hoped to have. She just hoped she would have some more time with them.