Talex Who (Tobin/You)

29

"So, captains." Tom says as Ashlyn and I take a break from our 'captain's workout' as Ash dubbed it this morning. "Who is on tonight's roster?"

"If I'm on this roster, I don't want Marta on it, she'd fuck it up for all of us with her ridiculous grudge against me." I say and Ash nods.

"Remind me to find a club that wants her for next season." Tom says and I chuckle a little.

"We need Alex and Danica up front, if I'm needed up there in the second half, I'm fine going up there." I say and Tom nods, writing down what we, well, what I'm saying, since Ash has yet to speak.

"For the first half, we need Y/N, Dani, Nickolette, and Maddy."

"Alright, and the back line?"

"Ali, Alanna, Monica, and Camila." Ash and I both say, high fiving each other when we realize we did that without meaning to.

"Okay, so you're entirely sure?" Tom asks and we both nod.

"Wait! Starting keeper is Ash. Just making that clear." I say and both Ash and Tom chuckle at me. "Like, don't get me wrong, Aubrey is great, but like, if one captain is starting, the other should too. For OCD's sake." I say and Ash looks at me like I'm a freak, I mean, I kinda am, I'm me, but it's still rude. "Staring is rude, Ash." I say and she laughs.

When Ash and I get home, we both take naps to rest before we have to be at the field by five. When we get to the stadium and into the locker room, it's oddly quiet. Nobody is talking, or yelling, there's not even any music playing like there usually is, Marta is sitting five lockers to the right of mine like always, glaring at me, obviously pissed about her being benched. I couldn't give less fucks. Maybe if she didn't act the way she did, she'd be on the roster and not three games away from getting the boot. Not the golden boot, the get the fuck out of my club boot. I ignore that and sit down between Dani and Alanna, getting dressed in silence as well before pulling on my half zip and heading out to warm up with everyone else. After we warm up, we head back in and I sit down, taking my jacket off and setting it behind me in my locker as we listen to Tom speak about the match against Sky Blue that we're twenty minutes away from. Once he's done talking, we head back out and line up in the tunnel, I smile at Kelley as I pass her and high five her before standing in the front of the line, Ash behind me, with Camila behind her, Monica behind Camila, Alanna behind Monica, and Ali behind Alanna, Maddy behind Ali, Nickolette behind her, Dani behind Nick, Danica in between Dani and Alex, who is the last in line. Once both teams are lined up and we have the hand of a child in ours, we walk out and stand on either side of the four officials with them in front of us, I smile a little, putting my hands on the shoulders of the little girl I walked out with as we stand on the northern half of the field, once the anthems are played, national and FIFA, the starters for both teams are introduced, finally, after all of that is done, I walk along the lines of refs and Sky Blue players, shaking hands with all of them, smiling at Kelley as I shake her hand, heading to the top of the box to wait for the rest of the team after shaking the rest of SBFC's hands, letting Ash speak as we huddle. Once we break the huddle, we get into position and watch as Sky Blue kicks off, because we won the coin toss, well, I did, because Ash just stared at me, so I called it and won. When the ball is in play, I shift up and keep my attention on the ball, that comes right to my feet off an attempted tackle from Nickolette, so I pass it up to Danica so she can get the ball to Alex while I rush to support her, when Alex gets the ball, she takes it along the left wing, so I try my damndest to get on the end of the cross, but end up with a shitty header because Kerr was holding me. But does the ref see it? I'll let you take a guess. The ball's out for a goal kick, and I watch Sky Blue get possession. The ball gets dropped back to Kelley, so I step up and help defend her, getting my foot on the ball and sending it over her leg, to Alex before shifting with the play, getting on the end of the cross Alex sends into the box from the right wing, sending the ball into the net, barely past the keeper's finger tips, and I rush to celebrate with Alex and the rest that were close enough to join the celebration before getting back into position. When we get the ball again, Camila has it, so she chips it to me, since I wasn't marked, so I level it and turn with it before getting past the players marking me and past Kelley as she defends me before running with my break away, looking for someone to cross to as I get to the left wing and cross to Dani a millisecond before the ball goes out of play and cheer as she scores while I remain on my back, laughing as she comes and hugs me as I continue to lay on the ground, before helping me up so we can continue with the game. After fifteen fruitless minutes, Kelley gets the ball, from me, and lobs it up to her forwards who make a great run, scoring on Ash to lessen the score line and I roll my eyes at Kelley as she nudges me.