Young Hearts Beat Fast

1) Mysterious Girl

All the girls hastily finished getting ready. And as Janine put away her phone she frowned to herself. Who was this girl?

——————

They'd won! In front of a packed stadium they'd won the first match of the season and Caroline had scored probably the goal of the season already.

Janine had been skipping around the pitch with the rest of her teammates and then when she saw Caroline off in the distance she ran over to her hand hugged her. "What a goal." She screamed in her friend's ear as they spun around. "Where did that come from?"

"I've been saving it up for a special occasion." Caroline laughed.

"You sure know how to hurt my feelings don't you Caz?"

Both Caroline and Janine turned around to see who was speaking to them. The very girl they were discussing this morning, Alexis Parker-Rose.

"I don't think you know what feelings are Lex." Caroline said, but moved away from Janine and walked forward to pull Alexis into a hug. They hugged for a long moment and they Caroline pulled back to take a good look at Alexis. "Back in red. But the wrong red."

"Says you." Alexis pulled at Caroline's shirt. "Is this blue or am I colourblind now?" They both laughed.

"You'd do anything for your precious Casey though wouldn't you?" Caroline reached up to pinch Alexis cheek and the striker rolled her eyes.

"She's my mum, couldn't say no to her." Alexis pulled away and looked over Caroline's shoulder. "Oh hey Janine right? Good match, you guys played well."

Janine was caught by surprise as she was greeted so politely. "Y-yeah. You guys too."

Alexis raised an eyebrow and turned to Caroline. "Has she been warned about me?"

Caroline nodded. "I'm sorry. I tried to convince everyone that you were normal but it didn't work."

"It's cool." Alexis shrugged. Janine thought maybe she saw some hurt in the other girl's eyes, but she must have been wrong.

"Anyway I better get going before Casey drags me away." Alexis said as she placed a hand on Caroline's arm. "Me and Luce have moved up here so anytime you're free hit me up. It's great to see you again Caz." She grinned at Caroline and then gave Janine a small smile and walked off.

Once she was gone, Janine turned to look at Caroline. "Luce? Has she finally managed to settle down?" She laughed but soon stopped as Caroline turned to look at her.

"You know, you really shouldn't listen to the others when they gossip." Caroline replied, a furious look on her face. She then stormed off.

Janine frowned again and looked over to where Alexis was now. She was doing autographs and taking photos with the fans. She must have some redeeming qualities for someone like Caroline to like her. But after everyone else was so negative about her, it was hard for Janine to see why. Maybe Caroline had a bad judge of character.

——————

The next day was a recovery day. And after Janine had been down to the training ground and was done she was excited to be able to spend the rest of her day relaxing. Instead of using the nearby coffee store that all of her teammates were using, Janine drove down the city a little further to a cozy little once that she had discovered recently.

She walked inside and ordered her coffee. It might have been slightly cliche but she did have a usual table that she always sat at when she was here. But as she turned away from the counter to go to her seat over in the corner of the room Janine noticed it was taken. With a sigh she went to try and find another table but then she realised who was actually sitting at her usual table. Alexis.

Janine gave a short laugh and rolled her eyes. Just her luck. But it would be rude if she didn't acknowledge Alexis. Especially now when the striker looked up and noticed her staring at her. She had to give her a chance, right?

Walking slowly over to the table Janine gave Alexis a small smile. But before she could say anything Alexis spoke first.

"Of all the coffee shops in all of the world, she walks into mine." Alexis smirked at Janine and then went back to the notebook she had been writing in before she had seen the Canadian.

Janine didn't know how to respond to that and just stood still staring at Alexis.

"You can sit down y'know."

And Janine did. She took a sip of her coffee as she tried to find something to say. Luckily Alexis saved her again.

"I spoke to Caroline again after the match yesterday. She told me that I need to be making friends now that I'm back, so if you're wondering why I'm being so nice to you, despite everything you've heard about me, that's why."

Janine frowned and shook her head. "I haven't heard anything about you." She tried to lie.

"That's sweet but you don't have to pretend. Everyone already knows." Alexis shrugged. "My reputation precedes me."

"Well Caroline is right. You should be playing nice."

Alexis laughed. "I'm always nice. Trust me." She raised her eyebrows. "But of course that's not what you've heard."

"So now you're trying to prove everyone wrong?" Janine asked as she studied the other girl.

Alexis shrugged again. "I'm not bothered what people think about me. It's just Caroline worrying."

Janine's brows furrowed and she sat up straight. "Well maybe that's why everyone has a negative outlook on you. Because you don't care."

"Whoa." Alexis held her hands up. The conversation had taken a weird turn. "I don't think that's what it is. But thanks for your input that I didn't ask for."

"Now I'm starting to understand why everyone is getting at. And I'm wondering why Caroline is friends with you."

"Y'know... Caroline said you were the nicest person on her team." Alexis let out a shaky laugh and stood up. "Guess she was wrong about both of us." She grabbed all her stuff from off the table. "Enjoy your coffee." She muttered and stormed out of the coffee shop.

Great. Janine thought to herself as she sighed. That went well.

——————

A/N: Hey all! This is my new book!

It's a little shorter than what I usually write I know, but I feel like shorter might be better with this story. 

I hope this starts to make sense to how the story is going to go because honestly this is a little rushed. But they're already starting to argue so this is going to be good!

Hope you all enjoy!!