If I get my way

Rachel

Rachel thought she knew what her new teammate was going to be like. She had seen her play enough times to know her strategies. She knew what kind of people she hung out with and they were not people like herself, not that she wanted to become friends with her anyway. She also knew that she had a reputation for being a bitch.

And so when Omar had asked her to go with Amber and Sarah to pick up Kristie Mewis from the airport, she was less than enthusiastic.

"Why me?"

"Because you're a leader on this team."

"Why not get Kealia to do it? She's better at this stuff than me."

"All the more reason you should go. It's good practice."

"Fine."

So there she was, arms crossed in the backseat begrudgingly listening to Amber and Sarah sing along to Taylor Swift on the radio. She tried to tell them to stop, that her ears were bleeding, but they just yelled at her for being a "grumpy grump" and turned back to Taylor. Rachel was miserable, to say the least. Reaching the airport didn't make her feel any better. Sure, there was no Taylor Swift, but there was a Kristie Mewis, which was arguably worse.

Rachel stood a fair distance behind Amber and Sarah as they waited by baggage claim for Kristie. Sarah looked back at her, puzzled.

"What's your deal?"

"Just tired, I guess," Rachel shrugged.

"You've been in a bad mood all day," Amber chimed in. "This isn't about Kristie, is it?"

Rachel shrugged again.

Sarah rolled her eyes. "Kristie's like the sweetest person on earth. No need to be anxious."

"I'm not anxious."

"Well whatever you're dealing with, you better get over it real soon," Amber waved to a girl in the distance. "She's coming over here now."

Rachel sighed, preparing herself for the worst. As her new teammate approached, Rachel felt her heart stop. This was not good. She had seen pictures of Kristie, sure, but they did not do her justice. She was drop dead gorgeous, and she hated her for it.

"Kristie!" Amber and Sarah cried in unison, throwing their arms around the girl.

"Hey, guys," Kristie laughed, enjoying their embrace.

Rachel stood aside awkwardly, rocking back and forth on her feet. She didn't like Kristie Mewis. She knew she didn't. No matter how pretty she might be, she did not like Kristie Mewis.

As she pulled away from the others, Kristie looked at Rachel quizzically. "Rachel Daly, right?" Rachel nodded silently. Kristie walked over to her with a smile and stuck out her hand. "Night to meet you. I'm Kristie."

Rachel simply stared at the hand, not reciprocating the action. "I know who you are."

Sarah and Amber gave her a pointed look that she ignored. Kristie dropped her hand, smile faltering. She turned back to the other two girls.

"I'm going to grab my bags. I'll be back in a flash."

"I'll go with you," Amber volunteered, and the pair walked off.

Sarah turned to Rachel. "What was that?"

Rachel shrugged in what seemed to be a recurring theme that day.

"You should at least give her a chance. She's been through a lot with all of these trades. The poor girl just wants to settle down with a team, and it's not going to work for her here if you don't at least try to get along."

"Have you ever wondered why these teams are letting her go so easily?" Rachel asked bluntly.

"It's not exactly something you go around asking," Sarah responded coldly.

"All I'm saying is that maybe there's something about her that makes people want to get rid of her."

"You can be such an asshole sometimes, Daly. You know that?"

"What's going on here? Everything okay?" Amber interrupted them, Kristie holding her luggage timidly behind her.

"Just peachy!" Rachel plastered on a fake smile.

Amber exchanged a look with Sarah, who shook her head. "Well, we should get going. Kristie, you're staying with Sarah and me, right?"

"If that's okay."

"Of course it's okay!" Sarah grinned. "We've just gotta drop Rachel off at her place first, and then we can get you settled in."

The car ride back was even worse than before. You could cut the tension with a knife. Taylor Swift played quietly from the front seats, but Kristie seemed to be as much of a fan as Rachel. At least she had that going for her. Rachel knew Sarah and Amber put Kristie in the back next to Rachel in hopes that they would interact like proper individuals, but Rachel wasn't about to give them the satisfaction. She gazed out of the window at passing cars, choosing to ignore the other girls presence. After their introduction at the airport, it seemed Kristie had taken Rachel's hint.

Rachel tried not to let Sarah's words get to her. She still didn't trust the girl, no matter how much her teammates tried to guilt trip her. Her appearance might have distracted Rachel for a moment, but it didn't change how she felt. Kristie Mewis was bad news, that was for sure.

Eventually Amber tried to start up a conversation, obviously uncomfortable with the current situation. "So, Kristie, how's the family?"

"Hm?" Rachel looked over to find Kristie quickly averting her gaze from Rachel herself. How interesting.

"Your family." Amber repeated.

"Oh," Kristie paused. "They're fine. They were obviously concerned about me coming here, but they can't really control that any more than I can. Sam's been particularly upset."

"Makes sense," Sarah hummed. "She'd know more than anybody how hard this is."

"Yeah," Kristie looked down.

"And Brandon? You guys are still together, right?" Amber asked.

This got Rachel's attention.

Kristie nodded. "He's been oddly understanding about this whole situation. I didn't think he'd want to do long distance, but I guess I was wrong."

"Never underestimate guys. They can be surprisingly great sometimes."

Rachel snorted at that, prompting Sarah and Amber to roll their eyes and for Kristie to look at her curiously.

"Rachel's gay," Sarah explained. "And painfully distrusting of men."

"It's not that I distrust them," Rachel finally spoke up. "There's just nothing appealing about them romantically. No one understands girls more than other girls."

"I can understand that," Kristie agreed.

Rachel raised an eyebrow.

"Not that I'm gay or anything. I'm not, I swear. Not that there's anything wrong with that, of course," she stumbled over her words.

"I forgot how much of a rambler you are, Mewis," amber joked, inciting Rachel to turn back to the window and fall silent once more.

At that point, the conversation became dull and  Rachel began to tune it out. Thankfully, as soon as Rachel thought she might fall asleep from the mundane voices, the car rolled to a stop in front of her apartment building. She quickly scrambled out of the vehicle, thankful to finally leave the awkward atmosphere.

"Thanks for driving, Amber," she said, not forgetting to be polite to her teammates.

"No problem. Thanks for coming with us."

"It wasn't exactly my choice."

"Still. See you tomorrow," Amber and Sarah waved to her as they pulled away. Kristie didn't say anything at all, she just looked away as fast as she could.

Rachel had survived day one of Kristie Mewis, and so far it was just as bad as she expected. The rest of the season was looking truly agonising.