Thank you, Kelley

Chapter 5

Meghan's POV:

I wake to hear some movement on the other side of the room. Panic starts to set in as I have no memory of where I am. I sit up quickly as my fear deepens. Suddenly one Emily Sonnett straightens up from grabbing something from her suitcase on the ground and looks at me with worry. I look around the room and everything comes back to as I remember I am in DC for camp and how yesterday went. I flop back against the bed in defeat.

"You ok?" I hear from the other side of the room.

"Yup..."

"Are you sure? You didn't look so good when you practically jumped out of the bed."

"Ya I just forgot where I was but then it all came flooding back including my um... interesting day yesterday." I say with a giggle as I sit up again.

"Oh ya" she smirks. "Well I'm gonna get ready but then you can use the bathroom. Breakfast is in an hour. I was going to let you sleep for a little longer but oh well..."

With that she disappears into the bathroom. She was acting a little weird but at least she was nice and was going to let me sleep. She seemed very concerned if I was ok. That's so nice of her. Wait, why am I analyzing all her actions? Uhh, Meghan no having crushes on teammates.

Soon enough it's time to make our way down to breakfast and as we leave our room Kelley has just exited hers.

"Good morning you two. How are you guys doing?"

We both respond with "good and how are you?" As we make our way to the elevator Kelley wraps her arm around my shoulder and quietly says "Are you actually good?"

"Yes but thank you for checking in on me." I give her a quick smile.

We enter the room that has been reserved for us to eat in and we each grab what we want before heading to the tables. I start to walk over to the table but slow down as I have no idea where to sit.

"Come here and sit with me," Kelley whispers as she passes me. I happily oblige. As I sit down at the table I am introduced to a few of the veterans who are close with Kelley. Ash and Ali are there who I met last night and a few others including, Alex Morgan, Tobin Heath, Christen Press, Becky Sauerbrunn, Carli Lloyd, and a few others but I can't remember everyone's names as I felt a little overwhelmed. Kelly realizes this and puts a hand on my thigh squeezing it and giving me a kind reassuring smile.

Soon Sonnett walks by and we make eye contact and she makes a funny face which makes me snicker. Ash turns around and sees Sonnett and misinterprets the interaction.

"Sonnett go away! I think you have done enough, ya?" she says with some verocity. Emily's face immediately changes and displays a hurt and sad look.

"Hey, Ash it's ok." I pipe up with. It's the first words I have said since sitting down with all these people. "We talked about everything last night. It was all just a big misunderstanding. We are good. No need to take her head off on my behalf."

I can see the relief and pleasure in Emily's eyes and with that she turns towards her usual table with the younger players.

Well that was an interesting interaction.

Carli starts to scold Ash for being so aggressive but then Jill enters the room and gets our attention.

"Good morning everyone" she states in a loud voice so everyone can hear her. "Ok so I know many of you have already met her but we have a new rookie this camp. We are very excited to have you here with us Meghan and girls let's be extra nice and inclusive. She is also only 16 so one of our youngest so don't get her into anything stupid please. Anyways there will be time to hang out and get to know each other later. The bus leaves for practice in 30 minutes and please don't be late guys." With that she turns and walks away.

Everyone continues to finish up breakfast and then head back to their rooms to get their stuff. Soon we are all outside about to get on the bus. I am a little bit anxious because I don't know where I am going to sit. I have heard that the girls all have very specific bus seats and I don't want to mess anything up.

Everyone is getting on already so I just follow and hope I can find a seat near the back where no one is. As I am walking down the aisle I am suddenly pulled into a seat. I look over with a start to see who has pulled me in.

"Oh sorry, I didn't mean to startle you. I'm Rose!" says the girl who is now next to me.

"Hi, I'm Meghan." I stutter out as I am still getting over my shock that someone would want me to sit next to them. I look across from us and see Sonnett and Linsey Horan sitting there. Emily gives me a reassuring smile.

Rose and I share some small talk on the way to the stadium we are practicing at. She tells me all about her dog Wilma. We also talk about what positions we play. I tell her about how I usually play in midfield and apparently so does she, so that's good. We talked about how I was nervous and that she was too at her first camp. She is super nice and talking to her doesn't allow me time to overthink anything or get caught up in my head which I appreciate. Soon enough we arrive at the stadium and we begin to get ready for practice.

We start practice with some warm-ups and drills. Apparently we have to do the beep test today as well according to Dawn. There is a collective chorus of groans from the players when this is announced. Nobody is really thrilled about running back and forth for no reason. We all line up joking about who will do the best. Kelley is standing next to me as we line up.

"You ready rookie?"

"Ready as I'll ever be I guess" I reply shyly laughing. She responds with a silly grin.

And with that we are off. Back and forth. Back and forth. We all make it pretty far but soon people start to drop out. Starting with the gollies and then a few others. I start to feel the familiar burning in my chest but it's nothing I haven't felt before. I start to get even more focused. I may not have made a good impression socially but I can run forever so I want to prove myself. I start to lose track of time and just keep running. Back and forth. Back and forth.

I look over to see who is left and find that it's only me, Kelley and Abby Dahlkemper. Wow, I didn't think I would be one of the last ones. Soon enough Abby doesn't make it to the line before the beep and she sits down panting. I don't pay too much attention as I have to run the other way again. After a couple more Kelley looks like she is dying. Her face is red and her chest is heaving quickly.

"You good there O'Hara?" I question.

"Ya just trying to beat you but I don't think I'm gonna make it." she giggles and pants.

"Ya well I can run forever so you're not beating me."

"Well then I'm done." With that she stops running and lays down on the field to catch her breath.

I figure I can go for a few more and I want to beat my personal record so I keep going.

"Yo Meghan how long can you do this for?" I hear from the group that is now watching me run.

"Ahhh I don't know. A few more and I beat my personal record then I'll be done." I shout out not knowing who actually asked the question. Just as I said I ran for about ten more times. At this point I know the coaches are really watching me and they seem impressed. That was my goal anyway. I can barely breathe at this point so I call it quits and basically collapse to the ground to catch my breath.

"Well, shit rookie. You're pretty good. You just beat the record for anybody who's ever been at camp." I hear from someone in the group and then a chorus of nice jobs.

"Ya that was my record too." I hear a slightly disappointed Kelley say.

I sit up so I can see her face. "Ya well next time you should try harder O'Hara."

An "ooohhhhhh." comes from the group.

"You little shit" Kelley says with a smirk.

We do a few more drills and cool-down stretches before heading back to the bus. Rose and I sit together again which I appreciate. She and I are going to be friends I can tell. We arrive back at the hotel and we all head back to our respective rooms as we have a couple of hours to ourselves before dinner and team bonding. Emily and I switch off in the shower and then just hang out and watch some Tv until it's time for dinner. I am feeling a little anxious about team bonding later because these guys are notorious for being kinda crazy with the truth or dare's but hopefully it will be all good.