Onward and Upward

two || palingenesis

palingenesis : a new life; reincarnation; a new beginning

Music blared through her headphones as she walked from her car, her aviators over her eyes on the sunny day. She had a bottle of Gatorade in one hand and her phone in the other as she neared the back of the locker room. She met up with Abby Smith and Kelley O'Hara, who were ahead of her signing autograph to the crowd that was waiting for them. Although she was a newbie in the United States, she was still asked to sign autographs and take pictures with the fans, and she felt honored. This was a new career life, and she was excited to start it with such supportive fans and teammates. 

Georgia got into the locker room, and even though she had put her headphones back on, she could hear the music blaring in the locker room. They were listening to God's Plan by Drake, and she laughed as she went to her locker that had the number one and her last name on the top of it. She was listening to Pray for Me by The Weeknd and Kendrick Lamar, and she got herself into the zone. They had forty minutes before they went out to warm up, then another hour and a half until kick-off. She was about to change into her warm-up jersey when there was a tap on her shoulder. Georgia pressed a button on her headphones to pause her music, resting them on her neck and turning around to be faced with O'Hara and Sauerbrunn.

"Let's go take a walk around the field." Becky said, and she shrugged, putting her headphones in the top cubby and them followed them out of the locker room to the tunnel. The sun hit their faces, warmth instantly coming to them on the mid-April afternoon.

"What's up?" Georgia asked, looking to the both of them as she walked in the middle of the two of them.

"How are you? Are you okay? We know you just got back from D.C. a few days ago, but we haven't seen you since then." Kelley blurted out. Georgia looked to the ground, then straight ahead as she thought about answering the question. She could be honest with them, or she could just say something to get them off her case. She knew they were just trying to be friends, and she was thankful for them, but she did not want to reveal too much. As much as she loved the team she was a part of, she did not know who she could trust yet. It took Georgia a while to open up to Carli, and there were still things that she had not revealed to her yet. It took her almost a year to open up to Allison, who was her best friends.

"Um, yeah, I'm alright. It was a good ceremony, it was great to see Antonio." Georgia responded vaguely, deciding to go to the more laid back response.

"Will we be able to meet Antonio today?" Becky asked out of curiosity.

"I'm not even sure if he's coming, so don't get your hopes up." She fibbed, knowing that Antonio had seats right behind her goal. She had been told that he was trading seats with a buddy of his when they switch sides, with made her laugh when he had told her. She dropped him off at the front of the stadium before driving to the back to park and go into the locker room, Antonio promising to meet her in the back afterwards.

"Are you ready for your first game with the NWSL, rookie?" Kelley asked, and Georgia felt a smile crawl to her lips.

"A little nervous, but I'm excited." Georgia stated with a grin on her face, clasping her hands together as they turned to start heading back towards the locker room.

"You should be. You've already got a fanbase here, and I'm sure that you're going to do great this season." She responded with a chuckle as they started walking out onto the field for the national anthem. She stood behind Becky, who was the captain of the Utah Royals. They stood on the sideline facing the fans as the national anthem played over the speakers of the stadium, and as soon as it ended, the fans started waving their big flags and banging on the side of the stadium. The team got into a huge huddle, their arms wrapped around each other.