I sigh as I walk through the Boston Airport, since it's boot camp and National Team game time. I'm flying solo this time, since my flight just got to Boston and it's 4 in the morning. I adjust my glasses and slip my beanie on because my ears got cold on the plane. I move the hair sticking out of my beanie on the front, out of my eyes and adjust my carryon bag as I walk to luggage claim to grab my other backpack that has my kits in it. I walk out to where the cars are and find my über and get in, the driver takes me to the hotel as I scroll through my phone and look at Boston. I'm not new to the city, but I can still admire the sights. Since last time I was in Boston was night before last, in my living room, on Fallout 4, because like I said, I'm a nerd. Once I'm at the hotel, I pay the driver and thank her for the ride as I take my bags into the hotel to check in with the info Jill told me to give the desk person.
"Yeah, I'm here for the last reservation under thee name 'Ellis'." I say and the kid, who couldn't be more than four years younger than myself, types it into the computer.
"Jill Ellis?" He asks and I nod. He returns the nod and gives me a set of room keys and wishes me a great morning, as I do the same while walking to the elevators to get to the fourth floor, my room being room 403. I get into my room and see everything off and hear one of my teammates snoring, so I go in as quietly as possible and take the empty bed, crawling in after only kicking off my shoes and taking my glasses off.
In the morning, I wake up to silence, my roommate is gone, either to practice or breakfast, depending on the time, so I look at the digital clock on the night stand between the bed and read the bleak green numbers that read 9:30. I sigh as I get up and shower before changing into some different clothes and head down to breakfast, where I find the whole team eating, Tobin, Alex, Christen and a few others are off in a corner and the rest are kinda just scattered or not here. I fill my plate and go sit by Alex. Since there's no empty seat by Tobin. Everyone looks at me and just stares.
"You cut your hair." Press says and I nod.
"Yeah. Bout five days ago."
"When'd you land?" Alex asks, wrapping an arm around my shoulders, hugging me.
"4 this morning." I say and she nods, releasing me as Tobin continues to stare.
"Well, it's good you could join us today."
"Is it really? I think I hear my bed calling my name." I say before I begin to eat, listening as everyone falls back into their own conversations while I eat in an exhausted silence. After I eat, I throw my trash away and decide to go back up to my room to relax a little before practice at 11.
After practice, I get on the bus with the team and sit by one of the windows, looking over as the new girl on the team sits beside me she's not really that new. She's been to two boot camps, but those were two boot camps I couldn't go to.
"Hi." She says and I look over.
"Hey." I say and she blushes a little.
"I'm Jaelin." She says, holding her hand out to me, I take it and shake it, offering a friendly smile.
"Y/N."
"I know."
"Cool." I say and she blushes again, so I turn my full attention to her. "What position do you play?"
"Central Mid." She says and I nod, playing it cool, but on the inside, I'm wondering why Jill recruited another Middie. When we could really use another sub for Ash. Since Hope is gone.
"Cool." I say and she nods. "What university did you go to?"
"I'm uh, actually in high school. I'm 17." She says and I raise an eyebrow. A 17 year old on the full National Team? What?
"Nice. Playing international soccer at 17, when I was 17, I was barely trying to figure out what my senior pictures would look like." I say and Jaelin laughs.
"I've got those done already."
"So organized." I say and Jaelin shrugs.
-
At the hotel, I go up to my room and get a shower, when I get out, I see Jaelin sitting at the desk on what I could only assume is her laptop, doing what I'm guessing are online classes.
"So you're my elusive roommate." I say and Jaelin looks over before nodding, turning back to her laptop, so I shrug as I slip a shirt on and go meet with Tobin, Ashlyn, Alex, Carli, Ali, Julie, Pinoe, Kreigs, and a few others that I'm too lazy to name, and smile as Tobin wraps her arms around me for the first time in three months. She places a gentle kiss on my shoulder and rests her chin on it.
"So let's go out and stuff our faces." Ashlyn says and we all voice our agreements.
When we get to the restaurant, I sit next to Tobin and relax into her hold as we talk and enjoy ourselves, but after a while, I withdraw from the conversation to think. My birthday is tomorrow, I wonder if anybody will remember. I know Ashlyn, Alex, Kelley, and Ali will. Not sure if Tobin even knows when my birthday is though.
"Panda? You okay?" Tobin asks and I look up at her from the table I didn't know I was staring at, then at everyone else who was looking at me with worried expressions.
"Yeah. Just thinking. Sorry." I say and Toby kisses my forehead and pulls me closer.
"I love you." She mumbles to me and I close my eyes, relishing in her hold as I relax.
"I love you too." I respond and smile as she kisses my temple.
"I want to talk about your hair cut." Tobin says and I look at her.
"Okay."
"Why'd you cut it so short?"
"I dunno. Wanted something different." I say and Tobin kisses my nose.
"Well, no matter, I love it. It's cute." Tobin says and I smile.
"I'm just glad my hair grows fast. I'm tired of being called sir."
"You would make a cute guy."
"Too bad. I've got boobs and a uterus." I say and Tobin chuckles.
"I've missed you."
"Keep missing me. The season isn't over."
"I'm painfully aware, lovely." Tobin says and I rest my head on her chest.
"Can I swap with your roommate? I really just want time together." I say and Tobin sighs.
"Not this time baby. Jill said so. Plus, Jaelin loves you."
"And I love you."
"Baby." Tobin warns and I sigh.
"I just don't want to distract the kid from her studies." I say and Tobin shrugs.
"Be quiet in the room then."
"You know I can't do that." I say and Tobin kisses my temple again as a response.
"You guys," Carli starts and Tobin and I look over. "The cuteness is making me nauseous." Carli says and I shrug, snuggling closer to Tobin and hiding my face in her neck.
In the morning, I wake up to see Jaelin sitting on her bed, on her laptop again, shirtless this time, so I just ignore the minor's lack of clothing and go to the bathroom to brush my teeth and brush my hair as I sit on my bed before going to my bag to grab clothes to change into.
"Snowed last night. Jill canceled practice today. Tobin stopped by and asked for you to drop by her room across the hall sometime today." Jaelin says, not looking away from her screen and I nod as I slip my workout clothes on and grab my phone and earbuds before grabbing my room keys on my way out of the room and down to the gym the hotel has. Once there, I spend an upward of two hours working out and just ignoring the world for a little before going back up to the room to see Jaelin at the desk again, so I shower and change in the bathroom after my shower before heading across the hall to Tobin's room and knock on the door. When the door opens, Mal smiles at me and lets me in, when I'm fully in, I see Tobin on the bed furthest from the door, so I go and lay with her, smiling as she holds me close and whispers a happy birthday into my ear. I smile up at her and kiss her.
"Thank you."
"Did you think I wouldn't know your birthday?"
"I didn't expect you to know." I say and Tobin smiles.
"Well I did."
"And I appreciate that." I say, cuddling into Tobin.
-
"You and Ashlyn went to the same college at the same time?!" I exclaim, looking between my girlfriend and Ashlyn, who both share a look.
"I thought you knew." Tobin says and I scoff.
"Hell no I didn't know that." I say and Tobin chuckles.
"Well, we did."
"That's so cool." I say and Ashlyn joins in on laughing at me as my brain melts.
"Why are you guys laughing?" Alex asks, walking up behind me, hugging me tight and placing an obnoxiously loud kiss on my cheek. "Happy birthday, geezer."
"Hey, you're older than me, so what are you saying about yourself?" I retort and Alex smiles. "But they're laughing at me. I didn't know Tobin and Ashlyn went to UNC at the same time."
"Oh, yeah, they did. Cool huh."
"Yeah." I say and smirk a little.
"That means I'm rare tho."
"How?"
"I'm the only UGA Alumni on the team right now."
"Almost as rare as Jaelin." Ali says, wrapping her arms around Ash.
"Pff. Tell me about it." I say , sighing. "I'm pretty sure I'll be slipping on gloves in the near future." I say and Tobin furrows her brow.
"Jaelin is your sub, babe."
"Not with how much Jill is practicing her for my position."
"She's a middie."
"But she's only been running central. Hi, hello, I'm a central mid, starting central mid to be exact."
"You seem to have forgotten that we run a 4-4-2 formation most of the time." Alex says and I sigh.
"Everyone else has practiced this week and the only workouts I've gotten are on my own in the gym here at the hotel." I say and Tobin holds me close, but let's me go as Jill walks into where we were all relaxing and asks for me.
-
"So guess who is Ashlyn's new sub." I say as I walk back to where everyone was.