Welcome to Ohio

twenty one

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About an hour later, as I'm making sure I have my kit bag all packed and ready to go, I stop what I'm doing when Alex's ringtone fills my room, so, I answer the FaceTime call with a smile.

 "You look awful happy for someone who was literally just having a panic attack about this camp." Alex says, and I roll my eyes.

"Sorry, sorry, I was smiling at how cute the choice of your ringtone is." I say, and Alex laughs.

"Really. What's my ringtone?" Alex asks, and I shrug.

"You'll never know." I say, and Alex groans. 

"You're so mean." Alex complains, and I chuckle.

"Says the one that was just making fun of me for panicking over the biggest thing to happen to me, like, ever." I say, and Alex raises a brow.

"Ever?"

"Ever." I say, and she nods. "To date. That make you happy?" I ask, and Alex shrugs. "Babe." I whine.

"I still can't get over you calling me cute nicknames like that." Alex says, blushing, and I feel myself blush. "Status report." Alex says, quickly changing the subject, and I go with it, turning the camera to show the mess of clean clothes on my equally clean floor, and then show the mess in my lap which was a mound of everything that came from my bag. Lots of prewrap, three shin guards. I dunno where the third one came from, but it's mine forever, dirty, sweaty, stinky shirts and socks, cleats that needed to be cleaned, and some candy wrappers. Ever since that doctor's visit after the SheBelievesCup, I've been eating like a normal teenager, but not really, if I've got to stop to get gas on the way home from practice, or the store, or a date with Alex, I'll grab some kind of candy to make sure I meet my sugar intake requirement for the day, and continue on with my day. "That looks stressful." Alex says, and I sigh.

"Trust me it is. I'd have lost my head today if it weren't attached." I say, and Alex nods.

"Which cleats are you going to take to this camp?" Alex asks, and I sigh.

"Well, I'd take my usual ones, but I don't really, exactly know what happened to them? So I'm going to take my backups, and the backups for those backups, just so I'm not wearing the same cleats every day." I say, and Alex nods.

"What's that necklace?" Alex asks, and I pick up the necklace I just realized came out of my kit bag with everything else. Staring at the pendant as it rests in my palm. "Babe?" Alex asks to get my attention.

"It's my Zeus necklace." I say, looking at the picture of the German Shepherd's face as it lay between a metal back, and a resin coat to keep it safe. I thought I lost this a long time ago.

"Are you taking Zeus with you?" Alex asks, and I smile at the necklace.

"Yeah. I am." I say, looking at my girlfriend's image on my phone screen.

"I wish you didn't have to go off for national duty." Alex says after a short pause. "I really want to spend time with you, but you're going to be gone for a while." Alex says, and I smile.

"Well, what are you doing tonight?"

"Babe, I can't go over."

"I wasn't suggesting that. I'm just saying that, if you're not busy with anything, I would love to spend time with you like this as I finish packing. Maybe you'll actually be able to keep me calm until I'm done." I say, and Alex grins.

"Yeah, okay. I can do that." Alex says, and I smile, stretching out, and resting my phone against my dresser so Alex can see me as I organize my kit bag after putting my Zeus necklace in my left cleat to keep me from losing it.