Little Do They Know

Chapter 9 - USWNT

After my parents first died, my uncle and aunt insisted I see a therapist. I was eight years old, but they were worried about me, and rightly so. I had just experienced something no eight year old should ever have to go through. Something no eight year old could even comprehend. Her best friends were gone. Her family had disappeared. She was left without a home, in a place that seemed so big. But when Peter and Josie placed me with a therapist, it did no good. How could I articulate my words to a stranger when I didn't even understand them myself? So, I stopped going. I stopped trying. Which, now that I look back on it, was probably the worst mistake I made.

Sam, Rose, Tobin, Christen and I headed over to the Netherlands the following week. We had a short camp before we played our first international game since before the pandemic started. We met the girls at camp, and when we saw Kristie, both Sam and I couldn't help but smile. She had made it. She had done it.

"We are so proud of you!" Sam said, as we both hugged Kristie in the hotel lobby.

"I'm just happy to be here," Kris replied.

"The three chicks, all together," I added, smiling.

The other American girls started to fly in. They were all coming from different parts of the country, so as Kristie came from Houston along with Jane, Emily came later. I hadn't seen her since I first moved over to England, nearly three months earlier. It was one of the longest periods of time that we had been apart since 2017. It had been four years, and I was starting to get restless. I missed her. I missed my person.

When she walked in, I smiled and ran up to her, wrapping my arms around her neck, and hugging her close. She buried her head into my shoulder, clinging her arms to my waist.

"I've missed you," she whispered in my ear.

"I've missed you too." It was nice being with her again, but something didn't feel right. I couldn't place my finger on it, but I think it boiled down to us being apart. It's hard being in a long distance relationship, and we knew it would be. We just had to find that spark again, before we were to be separated once more.

Emily, Kristie, Sam, Rose and I stayed in the lobby, chilling before dinner. We sat around the fireplace, warming ourselves up. It was freezing in Holland, and although I was used to the cold by now, I still can never go past a nice wood fire.

"BVD!" Kristie said, "How's United?"

"Pretty good," I replied.

"She just loves wearing red," Emily added.

"Well, it is my colour," I joked back.

"I wish I could pull off red," Sam replied, "it just clashes with my skin tone." We all laughed at this, knowing Sam was being serious but funny unintentionally.

"The sky blue makes your eyes pop," I said to her, trying to instil her with a little fashion confidence.

"Just be glad you guys don't have to wear fucking orange," Kristie added, as she plays for the Houston Dash.

"I'll always be glad I don't have to rock the orange," Emily replied.

The next day we had our first day of camp. We trained for most of the morning, and we were all just trying to survive the freezing cold. I played on a five aside team with Kristie, Abby, Rose and Becky.

I'd never played with Kristie before. I had versed her in the league when I was at Portland, but I wasn't even in the league when she was with the national team. I was still in college at the time. So, when I did finally get to play with her, I realised how amazing she was. She made me look better. She produced amazing corners, awesome crosses and always ended up either making an assist or scoring a goal herself. She was an exceptional player, and although she may not be the fastest, she has some serious soccer smarts.