Thank you, Kelley

Chapter 19

Meghan's POV:

I wake up in someone's arms not totally sure where I am. I look around trying to remember but also not wake the person I am snuggling with. My sleepy eyes are met with a sleeping Kelley and Emily and suddenly everything comes back to me.

Last night was bad. I don't think I have ever had one that bad. I don't remember much. I feel so bad though that these two had to be woken up to care for me in the middle of the night. Uhh... I can't even sleep by myself. I'm such a child.

My guilt, the thought of last night, and the memories that cause the whole problem start to overwhelm me. Tears slip from my eyes. They plop onto Kelly's bare arms that are still wrapped around me. This caused her to wake up.

"Sorry. I didn't mean to wake you." I whisper out trying to advert my eyes so she can't see the tears which is silly because they are still falling onto her.

"Hey shh... it's ok. You don't need to cry." This just makes me cry harder. But it's a silent cry. Tears flow freely from my eyes but no sobs come out of my body.

"Shh..." she pulls me up closer into her chest. "No need to cry. I got you." She whispers sweetly. She brushes the tears away from my eyes gently.

"I'm sorry that she had to wake you up in the middle of the night. I'm such a mess. I'm acting like a little kid. I can't even sleep through the night."

"Hey shh... you're ok. Meghan, there is nowhere else I would rather be. And I know you don't want to hear it but you are still a kid. You still need people that care for you and are there for you even in the middle of the night... You missed out on too many hugs, and I'm planning on making up for them." We both giggle at the last part.

She uses her magic Kelley abilities to calm me down and we lay there for a while until Emily wakes up.

"Good morning sleepyhead," Kelley says when Emily opens her eyes. She groans slightly but then pulls me away from Kelley's arms and into her own. And I have no complaints about this. Kelley just laughs at us and then gets up to go get ready.

Emily and I lay and enjoy the moment for a few more minutes before getting up and getting ready ourselves. We eventually made it into the hallway to make our way down to breakfast. We end up coming out at the same time as Rose and Lindsay do.

"Hey, guys." Rose greeted us.

"Good morning so ahh what happened last night? Also you two look like crap." Lindsey states. We all are a little taken aback by her bluntness but then I laugh. I am soon joined by giggles from Emily and Rose.

"Ya... I had a really bad panic attack last night. We didn't sleep much. Sorry if Rose woke you up trying to get Emily. Also Rose I hope I didn't freak you out too much." I apologize.

"Oh sorry. I didn't know what was going on. I shouldn't have asked." Lindsey obviously feels bad about her bluntness.

"Oh no, you're all good. I don't care." I say reassuring Lindsey she has nothing to worry about.

Now it's Rose's turn to talk. "I'll admit I was definitely a little freaked out but only because you really didn't look good and I didn't know how to help. I was just worried about you."

"Ya... it was definitely bad last night, but I'm good now. And you did exactly the right thing. I usually need somebody to hold me until I calm down enough to remember where I am."

At this point, we have made it all the way down to breakfast. We each get whatever we want and head over to the tables. There are only a few people down here so there are a lot of choices. I make my way over to the table that has just Kelley and Becky. The other girls join me.

I end up sitting in between Kelley and Emily with Becky across from me. I like her. She is definitely the most mature on the team so she is kinda the mom of the team.

She quietly asks me, "You ok kid? You didn't look great last night."

"Ya I... I'm good now," I say with a small smile. "Wait you were there?"

This gains a giggle from the people at the table. At this point, there were all involved in the situation so they joined in on the conversation.

"Yup" she grins as she responds. I still look at her confused trying to remember the events from last night. "I'm Kelley's roommate."

Realization flashes through my brain. "Oh... ya, sorry you had to be woken up."

"Oh don't worry about that I don't care. I'm just glad you are ok now."

The rest of breakfast goes pretty quickly as the rest of our team arrives. Thankfully the conversation turns away from my less than glorious night. Soon enough it's time for practice and we all load up onto the bus. Rose and I talk for a while about how she is going to switch rooms with Emily so that she can be with me if I have another panic attack. I apologize again to her but she tells me she doesn't mind at all.

Soon enough we arrive at practice and it goes well. I am glad to be able to get my mind off my traumatic night and just play. Soccer has always been my escape. I just feel so free of all my problems once I make it out onto the field. Kelley and Emily also rarely leave my side all day. They are obviously just trying to protect me and be there for me but it is a little suffocating.

We start with a bunch of drills and we practice PKs too. These are not my favorite because I get really nervous but I am pretty good at them. Today we have a longer practice so in the middle of it Jill let us have fun for a while.

We were trying to find out who was the best goalie out of the non-goalies. It was hilarious. We start with Alex.

"Yay! Lex!" the team encourages her as Carli steps up to take the PK. Obviously it goes in but Alex dives in the right direction so that's good. The whole team is laughing the whole time.

"Alex you're so stiff. You gotta be loose" we hear Ash shout out.

"Ya know what Ash?... Shut up!" she yells back playfully.

Each person gets a chance to save 5 PKs and we have a great time. The whole time is spent laughing. None of us are very good at it. At some point, its Crystals turn and Pinoe steps up for the kick. She sends a high power ball shooting past Crystal as she ducks screaming. This gets a big laugh out of the team. It doesn't help that Crystal looks so small in the net. She does slightly better on the other balls but isn't able to save any of them.

Next, it's Sonnett's turn. She walks up there like she is the shit and it is so funny. Tobin steps up to shoot and sends in past her. She really did try though. All of us non-goalies look so silly trying to dive for balls. We just don't have the right form. Sonnett is actually able to save one. The crowd goes wild. I look over to our coaches just laughing at us goof off.

Now it's my turn. I step into the goal. Wow, this is scary. The goals are a lot bigger than you realize. First up is Carli. She shoots high and to the right and there is no way I am going to reach it but I try anyway. Obviously I don't get it.

"Wow, this is terrifying" I state as I get up off the ground. This gains a laugh from the girls.

Next up is Tobin. But as she comes up to the ball I can see which way she is going, by the way, her feet point in the direction. I dive to get it. Then I feel contact on my hands. Wait I actually got it. I jump up in excitement and Kelley and I chest bump in celebration. Tobin looked a little sad but laughed it off. The next two I miss, the first one completely but the second one I was at least going the right direction. On the last one though I saved it again.

I can't believe I was actually able to do that.

"Hey, you're not that bad!" I hear Ash yell.

"Aww, thanks, Ash. Just the compliment I wanted. 'Not too bad'" We all laughed.

Jill eventually comes over and tells us we have to go back to doing real practice but she ends the statement, "Also Meghan, nice job. You won with the most saves!" I get a few cheers from the girls.

The rest of the practice is good and we do some scrimmages before heading back to the hotel.