dear highschool. i hate you. occasionally

welcome to the world cup ro

she packed with tears spilling out of her eyes. she couldn't sleep she stayed up. the next morning her dad dropped her off and she boarded the flight. she sucked up her tears. that part of her life was over. "welcome to the world cup ro" she said to herself as her flight took off. her flight landed and she met up with the team in the airport. she was typing down in her phone to let her dad know she made it. when she was tackeld to the ground. "ow what the he-" "hope!!!" rowan screeched. the two rolled around wrestling on the ground. once they were done rowan greeted the rest of them they boarded their flight to germany soon after. she sat with hope and carli. hope was staring at rowan and rowan could feel it. "what?" she chuckled. hope gently brushed her fingers over the bright bruise on rowans cheek. "uhh slide tackle" rowan lied. hope shook her head and gave her a "we're talking later" look. they got on the flight and the two chatted with rowan for awhile. "on a scale of one to ten. how excited are you?" carli asked her. "ummm a 18648373" she rambled. they laughed. "can i ask you guys for some advice real quick?" rowan asked taking a deep breath. "of course rowan" hope said. carli nodded in agreement. everyone saw how the team interacted with the young girl but what was the most shocking was how the two toughest girls on the team interacted with her. carli and hope we're both known for being driven and determined and intimidating but with rowan they were huge softies. always asking about her highschool life and being there for her. it was incredible. "this is my first world cup obviously. it still doesn't feel real but pia is basically sending me here as a bench player. which is great because i get to come but i can't help but feel you know. upset? or i don't even know the word for it" rowan said putting her head in her hands. "hey ro. you're phenomenal you know that but you're also 15. you have so much time. and as for that feeling it won't go away until you get the start or become a primary player" hope told her. "but hey. since we play similar positions and since hope is the one blocking shots. we'll point out anything we think you could fix. but what you really need is experience" carli finished. "thanks guys. i just i feel apart of the team i really do but i just wanna feel apart of the team in the pitch ya know?" she said. "of course we know. and we're always here. you are apart of this team rowan" carli said. "aww my big softies" rowan smiled pulling them each in for a hug. they laughed and chatted for a while longer and rowan decided to fill them in on her current highschool situation. "but my focus isn't on that. it's on this and you guys. i would be lying if i said it doesn't hurt and suck but i need to be a big girl and deal with it. this rigjt here is my everything. this team is my everything" she said. "good. i'm happy you're gonna be okay ro." carli said. the rest of the flight was filled with reading and rowan doing school work and bugging carli to help her annotate the shakespeare book. and with rowan ofcourse falling asleep on the girls and the girls giving her disproving looks as she ate oreos continuously and not drinking enough water to which she just shrugged at them and smiled.
when they finally landed rowan ran up to tobin. "dude. we've been separated for too long" tobin said fist bumping the girl. "i agree. i was going through withdraw" rowan said back. both girls completely serious. "you know ro you could've sat with us" alex said. "ehhh i can't split up the dynamic trio" she said gesturing to tobin alex and kelley. "oh please this is the dynamic cuatro" kelley said hugging her. "next time?" rowan said. "next time" they nodded. once they finally arrived at the hotel rowan was very very happy to see her roommate was none other than the hope solo. after unpacking and a little bit of training it was dinner time. rowan sat with tobin and kelley and alex. rowan asked them about their college life and what not. "so al. obviously toby here didn't have a boy friend but did you?" rowan asked and tobin cleated her throat clearly uncomfortable. "uhhh long story ro ro" was all alex said before looking at tobin. rowan nudged kelley under the table. she wiggles her eyes brows at her and that meant they needed to talk. "kelley i wanna go look for a squirrel wanna come?" "yep!" kelley said getting up and following her out. "sooo what's up with those two??" rowan asked. "ro i never said this butttt alex is kinda lowkey like kinda in love with tobin basically or has a massive crush on her and"
"tobin told me that she liked alex too!!!!" rowan bursted out. "sooo yeah that's the situation." kelley said. "wait so what's up with alex and her maybe boyfriend?" "well alex has a boyfriend in college. servando but broke up with him once she got her call up so she could focus on soccer more" "huh and tobins not too about that huh?" rowan asked and kelley nodded. "i say we should totally get them together" rowan said devilishly. "i totally agree!" kelley said finally happy she has someone to scheme with. "hell yeah. well come up with a good plan" rowan said to which kelley nodded. "but i did actually wanna look for a squirrel soooo" rowan said. kelley laughed and they went squirrel hunting.
back in the meal room tobin and alex grew uncomfortable. hopes table noticed that rowan was gone. "hey where's the baby?"christie asked. everyone chuckled a little before tobin responded. "squirrel hunting with kell" she informed. "andddd now i remember why we call her the baby" pinoe joked. "talking crap ladies?" rowan asked hand on her hips. "nope never ever" tobin said. "yeah we were but what are you gonna do aboiy it?" alex challenged. "alexandra! that is now way to talk to a-" she was interrupted as alex picked her up and began shaking her. "help!! help! HELP ME! HOPEEEEE!!!" rowan screamed. everyone laughed as hope got up and removed rowan from alex. rowan cuddled into hopes lap. "monster" she said into hopes chest. "i love you ro ro!!" alex called out and laughed and leaned into tobins shoulder. to which rowan and kelley both perked up at. they widen their eyes and communicated with their hands in weird motions. "what the heck are you guys doing?" tobin laughed. they just shook their head at her before returning back to whatever they were doing. the few days of training went well and of course with rowan being new she had to do a crap ton of interviews.
player profiles. rowan and abby.
"this is rowan a crap ton of middle names sanchez" abby said earning a laugh from rowan because she did have 8 middle names. "she's from honolulu hawaii. she's 15 year olds (turns 16 on june 27) and she's a left middy for us" "she played on the youth national teams and recently won the u-20 world cup and the golden boot from the tournament where she broke my record of goals in a tournament" abby said. "her hobbies include surfing, doing cool tricks with the ball, sitting in hopes lap and getting teased by the team" also earning another lap. "her nickname? oh yeah it's 'the baby'" abby smiled. "wait since when?" rowan asked. "since we decided." abby shrugged. "uhhh ok?" rowan said.
once the interview was concluded she turned to abby. "since when?" "since you're the baby" abby said. "what about when i get older?" she asked. "let's be honest rowan. you'll always be the baby no matter how old you are " abby said honestly. she was definitely right about that.
"yep. you'll always be our baby even when your 78" alex told her holding her in her lap. rowan shrugged. there's many many worse things then being the teams baby.