Charlotte and the rest of the US team sit in the changeroom in silence, listening to the words of their Coach and knowing that they need to win their match against Spain to qualify for the quarterfinals in three days.
Having thus far been unable to medal at the U-20 level; Charlotte wants to do her part today to ensure they progress to the next round.
After adjusting her shorts, socks and shinguards and triple-checking that her laces were tight and tied, she follows her teammates out the door and waits to be led onto the pitch for the game.
It takes only 7 minutes from the opening whistle for the Spanish side to take advantage of a brutal giveaway from Jaelin Howell in their box and make them pay.
The Americans are unable to get and maintain possession of the ball for the majority of the first half as the opposition dominates them.
Charlotte cheers as Ashley clears the ball away from the line and prevents the Spanish Captain, Patricia Guijarro, from scoring her second of the match ten minutes before the half. Still, they are not to be denied twice, and in the 42nd minute, another defensive miscue leads to the team in Red sailing into the break with a 2 - 0 lead.
The US isn't ready to admit defeat and continues to press and in the 83rd minute is able to celebrate a beautiful freekick from Sophia Smith that manages to finds its way past the Spanish wall and curl into the corner of the net, breaking the clean sheet and giving the American's some much-needed jump back into their step.
With mere minutes left on the clock, Charlotte decides to put her laces through a shot from a distance and watches as it deflects off of one of the Spanish defenders and into the back netting to level the scoreline at 2.
Unfortunately for the American side, as the referee's final whistle sounds out, their efforts on the day are all for naught as they are eliminated from the tournament.
As Spain celebrates, the team around them can't hold back their tears. Charlotte makes her way over to the sideline and hugs some of her teammates as they all attempt to absorb the defeat. After taking on some water, they collect themselves enough to shake hands and congratulate the members of the opposition before listening to the post-game directives from the coaching staff.
Back at the hotel afterwards the players go through the motions of getting cleaned up and then making their way back down to the meal area and shuffling food around their plates before deciding to eat some of it.
"Just a few short announcements and I'll let everyone get back to eating. Tomorrow morning, following breakfast we will be having a short team meeting to discuss everything and then you'll have some time to get packed before we reconvene in the lobby and ride the bus back to the airport. I'm not going to do individual sessions with everyone, instead, expect to receive an email within a few days highlighting some areas of excellence and those which could use some work. Have a good night ladies and I'll see you all bright and early in the morning."
Charlotte finished off the food on her plate and her small dessert before grabbing a bottle of water to go and heading back up to her hotel room. She isn't feeling overly sociable at the moment and is surprised when Ashley follows her inside the room and sits down on the bed.
"It sucks, huh?"
Charlotte nods, "Ash, I'm not really in a mood to talk."
"Me neither. I was just gonna ask if you wanted to raid the junk food stash and watch a movie."
"I would kill for some ice cream, right now."
Ash looks at her and proceeds to make her way over to the room phone and dial the front desk.
"Hello? English? Do you speak English?"
"Perfect. I was wondering if you had ice cream?"
"No. Actually, we aren't supposed to charge food to our room. Can we just pay for it?"
"Room 214."
"Uh-huh, yes we're with the US team."
"Seriously? That'd be awesome! Yeah, two dishes would be perfect. Thank you and Merci!"
Charlotte looks over at her friend and roommate, "How much is it going to cost me?"
"Don't worry about it. He said that he'd add it to the US Federation's bill." Ashley laughs as she says it.
"Hopefully no one sees them in the hallway delivering it or it could be trouble for us."
"It's not like I didn't offer to pay for it."
Charlotte shrugs, "True. All the same, there's a couple of euros on the table; make sure to tip whoever delivers our dessert. I'll be back in a few, I just want to check on Sophia, she was taking the loss pretty hard."
"Thought you said you didn't feel like talking?"
Charlotte looks over at her, "When have you ever known me to go an extended period of time without talking? Not to mention, we Cardinal, look out for each other."
Charlotte heads out of the room and makes her way down the hallway to knock on Sophia's door but is met with no answer, she turns back towards her room only to run into a group of her teammates emerging from the elevator.
"Hey Charlie, we're going to watch a movie, you wanna join?"
Charlotte debates for a moment, "Umm, I'm kinda tired Kiki; we've got a long flight ahead of us tomorrow, so I think I just going to call it an early night. I appreciate the invite, though."
"Okay, suit yourself. Let Ash know she's welcome to join if she wants."
Charlotte nods, "I will."
She watches as the girls disappear into one of the rooms before opening the door to her own.
"That was quick."
"I didn't get to talk to Sophia. I ran into a few of the girls and they asked about us joining for a movie. Told them I was fixing to have an early night and that I would mention it to you."
Charlotte kicks off her shoes and heads into the bathroom as there's a knock on the door.
"Ash, can you get that, please?"
Ashley makes her way over to the door and opens it to their ice cream delivery, and she passes over the euros to the gentleman before closing the door.
"Ice cream is here."
"I'll be right out."
Charlotte washes her hands before then making her way out to devour the cold treat.
"Ben and Jerry's it isn't, but, it'll work. So, what are we watching, Sancho?"
"Netflix?"
Charlotte stands up and opens her laptop and cues up Netflix before passing it over to Ashley. "Mal usually always picks because if I do, they are generally on the more biographical or educational side. Other than Nailed It because well that show is legit!"
Ashley laughs, "Have you watched Grace and Frankie?"
"I'm not sure, what's it about?"
"It's like two women who have a love/hate relationship with each other and find out that their husbands are not only gay but together. They get divorced and the husbands get married and their families kinda merge, it's really pretty funny."
"It sounds familiar, I think I may have watched it, but, I'm game to watch it again."
They finish up the quickly melting treat and then get comfy on Ash's bed with the laptop and begin watching the series from the first episode.
"Okay, so, what does Frankie do again?"
"She's supposed to be an art teacher."
"I'm not certain she'd be capable of teaching anyone considering she's a flake to the max."
Ashley laughs, "Yeah, but, that's what makes her hilarious. That and the fact that she's generally always on something or so it seems. Just wait until you get to the newer seasons where sex toys and toilets come into play."
"Hopefully, not at the same time."
Ashley laughs and shakes her head, "Speaking of toys, do you and Mal use any?"
"Nice segue Dorito girl, but, I'm not talking about our sex life with you."
"I was just curious if you had any insight on how I could change things up with Jess and maybe keep her interested in me."
Charlotte turns over and looks at her friend, moving some hair away from her face and smiling at her, "You're an amazing person, Ash and trust me, if I didn't have Mal I would be first in line for a ticket on the Sanchez train. Never doubt yourself or your worth, if Canada can't see how special you are then it's time for you to kick her to the curb and find someone who does." Charlotte leans over and kisses Ashley's forehead and then wraps her arms around her, holding her tightly against her chest.
"Thank you, Charlie."
"You're welcome. Now, can we get back to watching the show, because I have to admit it's pretty good and that Mallory chick is kinda cute."
"That Mallory chick, as you call her, is actually in real life married to Andy Roddick a former tennis pro."
"Cool. Learn something new every day."
Ashley shakes her head and laughs, "Whatever, Wikipedia; you're just shocked that I know something that you don't."
"First off, only Mal is allowed to call me that and honestly, I'm fine with not knowing everything. Now, please, stop talking so we can hear what they're saying."
The next morning, Charlotte sits on the side of her bed and smiles at the message that Mal left her.
New Message
Mally 💍: Morning. I'm sure right now that you're deep in your head trying to figure out how you could have played better and kept your team from being eliminated and I'm telling you right now, to quit it! From what I saw you played your heart out as always and it just wasn't meant to be this time around. Regardless of the outcome, I'm proud of you, C.J. and I'm counting down the days until we can see each other again. I love you, baby so much. Please call me when you get back stateside. Safe travels ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
"Ash, I'm heading down now are you coming?"
She hears mumbling and then realizes that her roommate is in the process of brushing her teeth and laugh when Ash sticks her head out of the bathroom and puts her hand up to indicate she needs 5 minutes.
Charlotte smiles and nods, looking around the room to ensure that she hasn't missed packing any of her belongings.
"Just let me put on my shoes and I'm good to go."
The two players head down for breakfast with their teammates before settling in to listen to the words of the coaches regarding the tournament and their play as a team. Eventually, they are dismissed and the players make their way back up to their rooms to get cleaned up and or finish packing if need be before their departure.
As the plane soars through the air bringing them closer to the United States by the minute, Charlotte does her best to close her eyes and catch up some zzz's as many of the other girls are, but, finds it extremely difficult to shut her brain down so that she can. It seems like she barely closed her eyes and the announcement comes over the intercom that they will be landing in Florida shortly.
Charlotte lets out a big yawn, "Have a good sleep, Charlie?"
A couple of the girls laugh at her, "What did you guys do?"
A compact is passed over and she looks at her face and can't help but laugh, "Really guys, I don't think this colour of lipstick suits me. What do you think, Ash?"
Ashley turns to look at her and she bursts out laughing when she notices that her friend was also victim to one or perhaps more of the players' antics.
"I will find out who did this and when I do; they'll pay."
"Good luck with that, Charlie."
Players say their goodbyes and share hugs and words of encouragement before they separate and head in the direction of their gates for their flights.
Charlotte asks a couple of her Stanford girls to watch their stuff as she and Ash make a quick dash to the restroom to wash the colours currently on their faces.
"Better?"
Charlotte nods, "Yep. Let's get out of here."
Soon it's time for the rather substantial grouping of California-based players to catch their second flight of the day and they all make their way over to the gates, get situated on the plane and then await takeoff.
Realizing she forgot to message Mal and let her know she was back in the US, Charlotte takes out her phone and quickly sends her one before they lift off.
New Message
C.J. 🚀: Got a little sidetracked, so, I forgot to message. Anyway, I'm on the plane and heading back to Cali. I won't get home until early in the morning, at which point I'm probably going to crash; but when I wake up, I'll call you. Love you, Mally, 😘.
After falling victim to her teammate's earlier antics, Charlotte decides not to even attempt to sleep and instead turns her attention to the screen of her laptop and she brainstorms some ideas for use in future books.
- Heterochromia?
- Twin?
- Military connection and service
She types out a page worth of ideas and smiles with the realization that she now knows how to finish "One Small Step, Two Deaths" but also leaves it open for the possibility of turning it into a series. She saves the document and makes sure that it's transferred into the folder where she keeps her ideas or brain bursts and then turns her attention to watching a documentary on the Gardner Museum Heist.
Landing in the wee hours of the morning, the Stanford contingent of players if appreciative of the fact that the US Federation made arrangements for them to be greeted at the airport and delivered back to the dorms or in Charlotte's case, her apartment.
Stopping in the lobby, she checks her mailbox and collects the envelopes that have accumulated there, shoving them into her bag before then making her way up to the apartment. Walking into the cold, dark, quiet space, Charlotte kicks off her shoes, heads to the bathroom and then collapses on the bed.