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Ch. 41 - Training

Kelley POV

We have our first training today and I am hyped up. Hope is going to make me sit with Alex on the bus since I'm too excited. Coach said that we are just going to be doing drills and weight room to get an idea of where we are with our fitness. We also have to see the nutritionist today.

We get to the stadium and all head into the locker rooms to get into our training gear. Charlie is back completely and gets to train with us while Liv is back on light work, she seems excited to get to back to work.

The drills we are doing today are the forwards are primarily working on shooting on the keepers. Midfield and defense are going to be doing small drills whether it's soccer tennis or being in a circle and having to keep the ball up in the air along with some cone drills.

Forwards will be rotating who they shoot on. The rotation will be Tobin and Christen shooting on Alyssa first, Megan and Alex will be shooting on Hope, Carli will be shooting on Ashlyn and Lynn will be shooting on Charlie. Then it'll rotate through.

There is also four teams between middies and defense and they're playing against each other. Defense 1 is myself, Liv, Crystal, and Becky. Defense 2 is Ali, Emily, Abby, and Heather. Midfield 1 is Julie, Morgan and Lindsey while Midfield 2 is Rose, Sam, and Allie.

Charlotte POV

Training went fine. Alyssa only let one shot through and that was from Christen. I let two through, one from Alex and one from Carli. Ash let two through as well from Megan and Tobin, but Mom didn't let a single one through.

We are getting ready to head into the weight room where we will be figuring out our levels and get pulled to the side for our talk with the nutritionist. I'm walking with Mom off the field and finally speak up.

"You didn't let a single ball through Mom. Do you know how amazing you are?" I ask her completely in awe of the player she is.

She just laughs at me, "I'm just doing my job Char. But thank you for telling me how amazing I am. Should I have recorded that too?" She smirks at me as I playfully punch her arm.

"Yeah yeah okay. I do hope I will play like you one day though." She smiled and gave me a hug before assuring me I will.

We are all working on different machines when I get pulled to the side from the team nutritionist and a fitness therapist that I had seen when we first met mom and mama. They take my weight and height before asking me what a normal meal is. I tell her I mostly eat vegetables, but will occasionally have some meat and maybe some starches and fruits.

"Charlotte, I'll be honest... I'm not too happy with your results," they told me. "Your mom had us get an idea on both you and your sisters health when your first met them and they got guardianship of you. Since neither of you are technically players, we never kept up with it because you aren't covered by us."

I was confused where she was going with this. "Okay? What does this mean?"

She sighed, "It means I'm going to recommend getting a nutritionist at home along with your parents knowing about this and keeping track of it. Someone around your age that is an athlete at your level should be around 135lbs to be deemed healthy. It changes for each individual, but that's a good weight zone. When we first met you, you were 110lbs, but now you are 96lbs."

I shook my head, "I don't understand... I still eat regularly and a lot. I said earlier that it's mostly vegetables, but I just wanted to seem healthy and not let on how much ice cream I eat." I tried to say jokingly but neither one found it funny causing me to freak out. Luckily Willow was with me and sensed I was going to have a panic attack.

She started licking my hands and it drew me away from the attack long enough for me to tell them to get my mom.

Mom rushed in and sat next to me so I cuddled into her side. I don't understand why I've lost weight, but I've always been on the small side. They explained everything to mom who looked at me worriedly.

"Char... you're not starving yourself are you?" Mom asked with a hint of fear in her voice.

"What? God no! I swear I'm eating. I don't know why I have lost so much weight. Why can't they tell me why?" I asked starting to get defensive.

The nutritionist looked at me for a minute before asking more questions, "How have you been feeling lately? How has your mood been, how is your body acting, your behaviors? Anything that seems to be out of sorts."

I sat and thought about it for a minute. "I mean I have panic attacks, but I just thought that was from my anxiety. That's why I got Willow. I guess I also feel a lot more tired than normal along with I sweat a lot more than I used to. I just thought it was because it was getting hot outside again. I also sometimes have trouble sleeping at night." I confessed to them.

"How often is sometimes?" The nutritionist asked.

I looked down, "More often than not."

She wrote everything down before looking back to us, "I recommend seeing your primary physician. I believe you may have an overactive thyroid based on your symptoms."

Mom spoke up, "How do we go about treating it if this is the case?"

"If it is her thyroid then hopefully they can treat it with medication. For now, just keep an eye on her plate, make sure it's well balanced along with her eating multiple snacks a day. I would also limit how much and how hard she trains with you guys."

I started pouting at that, I had just gotten clearance to practice without restrictions and now she's restricting me. Mom saw my pout and gave me a side hug. She thanked them both before we exited the room.

"I know that's not what you wanted to hear Char, but your health is always more important than a game."

I was not in the mood for one of her pep talks so I just blew her off and walked back to the hotel with Willow since it was right down the street. We rode the bus just because of all of our gear.

I don't think she realized I left because she would have definitely followed me if she knew I was leaving. I got back to the hotel safely and ran up to my bedroom. I climbed into my bed and cried while Willow tried to nudge me and help. She gave up and just cuddled in next to me.

I must have fallen asleep because the next thing I know I'm woken up when the bed dips. Not caring who it is I keep my eyes closed.

"I know you're awake Char," I currently had my back to her, but when I realized it was mom I turned around to face her. "I'm sorry Char. I know that wasn't what you wanted to hear for this trip."

I just shook my head, "No and it sucks, but you don't have to apologize. I was never mad at you. Just mad at the situation." I scooted over so I could give her a hug.

"We'll get it figured out and then you'll be back and better than ever." Mom said and I nodded my head before falling asleep in her arms once again on this trip.