Not According To Plan (Preath Fanfiction) (Co-written by @uswntloves1723)

6: The Meeting on the Top Floor

Christen's POV
Time: 11PM, two days since the incident

"I'm going to require your complete attention for the next half hour or so." Detective Stan McDaniel slides copies of his business card to everyone, but leaves me out; I have all his info already. The casualness of his accent is almost nonexistent now, completely stamped out by his authoritative tone.

It's 11PM upstairs in the training grounds office building, and there's panic all around. At this rate, we'll get nowhere. I look out the window at the grassy field, which appears like an audience watching the spectacle from below, laughter rippling through the blades. Everyone's been in a bigger fit since Allie and Kelley disappeared, wondering who would be next, all my teammates praying it wouldn't be them. Not me. If I were the next target, maybe I'd see Tobin again.

I'm too angry to be scared, and all those little blades of grass piss me off so much. Is it strange that I blame soccer for this? Tobin's fame, and Kelley's, and Allie's—that must've had something to do with it. There's a trend here. Soccer used to make all my problems go away, but every time I think of soccer now, I think of her.

Some seats are missing across from me. I muster a shout loud enough to rise above the noisy room.

"Jill?" I call for Coach's attention. "Is everyone who was supposed to be here accounted for?"

All the eyes in the room direct their attention to the head of the table. Jill closes her eyes as if to avoid everyone else's, and shakes her head slightly. At that, the room breaks out into a panic stronger than before.

"Alright alright alright!" Stan yells, expression tightening. "Listen!" One by one, voices fall. Stan sighs. "Back to grade school we go." He pulls a clipboard off his chair and cycles through a roll call.

"Press? Okay, you're right there... Next?" He goes down the list in numerical order.

"Are you okay, Chris?" Lindsey whispers, worried.

The beads on my bracelet look very fidgetable. "I just don't want to be here."

"Tell me about it." She bites her lip. "Russ broke up with me today."

"Woah," I turn to face her. "He did? Are you okay?"

"Not really."

I remove my fingers from my bracelet and take Lindsey's hand into my lap. She squeezes firmly, eyes swimming with moisture as she manages to keep her gaze straight and strong. I didn't know Russell that well, but he and Lindsey had been dating long-distance for as long as we'd been friends. I feel strange and a little apprehensive seeing her like this. Usually, Lindsey reacts to emotional situations with anger, and it takes a lot to make her cry.

"Becky's busy... where's Harris?" Stan pierces through my thoughts.

"She and Ali are on vacation," Jill says. "They told me last week."

"...Fine, and Rapinoe?"

"Megan couldn't make it," Alex pipes up. "She texted me and told me that with everything that's going on, she's been staying with her parents."

"No, no," Julie cuts in. "That makes no sense because Ali said all three of them were going to celebrate her brother's birthday after the vacation. How could she be home already? Those are literally on separate coasts."

"I don't know, Jules, maybe plans changed. Do you want to see the messages?"

Julie furrows her brow defensively before Crystal cuts an arm in front of her, giving her best friend a look of warning. "First of all, calm down."

Alex produces her phone with the evidence, but Stan gestures for her to put it away. "Not yet," he says. "Lemme get this straight: Megan is with Ashlyn and Ali?"