Casey parked her Jeep in the parking lot at almost ten that evening and was exhausted, but she was excited to be in Orlando. Usually she was only there for Orlando Pride games, but now she was actually going to be playing in that stadium come a week from now. She entered the hotel with her luggage, and since she already had her room key, she did not need to check in at the desk. She went to the elevator and pressed floor two, and the doors closed. She did not know why, but her chest felt as if it was going to explode. The elevator dinged and she jumped, and when the doors opened, she released the breath she did not realize she was holding and exited the elevator. She went down the hall to find room 207, then slid her key card in and opened the door. She found that one of the beds in her room was full of uniforms and whatnot for the week.
She double checked to make sure her text went through to Jill Ellis that she had arrived then plopped down on the bed, not even bothering unpacking everything. She scrolled through her phone, texting her parents and her group chat with Riley, Jenna, Jackson, and Daniel that she had arrived and she would see them all on Monday for their second district game.
There was a loud knocking on her door, and she looked at the time, seeing it was about ten-thirty. She leapt off the bed and walked over to the door, looking through the peephole and finding a contorted image of Kelley O'Hara and Emily Sonnet staring back at her. She opened the door and faced them with a straight face.
"We heard the rookie was in town!" Kelley shouted, and Casey just chuckled.
"If you want to wake the entire hotel, stay in the hallway." She said, stepping back and opening the door a little further. Emily and Kelley looked at one another then waltzed right in, Casey shutting the door behind them.
"You know you're gonna be party central being the only person not having to have a roommate." Emily said, plopping down on her bed, the one without all her uniforms.
"Oh, where are our manners? I'm Kelley, that's Emily." Kelley announced, extending her hand.
"Casey Radcliffe." She answered, firmly shaking her hand.
"Pretty muscular for a high schooler." Kelley laughed. "You're committed to FSU right?"
"Uh yeah, I'll be starting there at the end of August on a full ride." She responded, sitting on her bed next to Emily.
"Ooh we got another smarty-pants on the team? Another person to make Kelley look like a dumbass!" Sonnet said, and Kelley shoved her.
"Well we wanted to give you a warm welcome to the team, and if you wanna hang around with us until you get comfortable, you are more than welcome. Your first camp is always the most stressful, but I have a feeling if you're getting called up now, I foresee many camps in your future." Kelley added with a whimsical end, flailing her arms in a magical manner as she got up off the bed, nudging Emily to get up with her.
"Breakfast is at seven, we'll come get ya and make sure you're up and know where to go." Emily piped in as they neared the door.
"Well thank you both very much, and I cannot wait for that wake up call." Casey chuckled, bidding them farewell as they left her room. She was thankful they came by, for she would have been totally lost tomorrow morning.
--
She had already been up for an hour and a half when the knock on her door at five to seven echoed through the room, and she went over and opened the door, Kelley and Emily both standing on the other side of it. They looked dead tired, then shocked to see how awake she was.
"Are you okay?" Emily asked, struggling to keep her eyes open.
"Yeah, I'm just a morning person and someone who likes routine." Casey responded.
"I'm scared to see what you're routine is at the ripe age of eighteen." Kelley grumbled, and they all laughed.
"Well, you ready to head down to breakfast? You can tell us all about your morning so far, and be prepared to bombarded with questions. You're the only newbie. Fresh meat, so to speak. You look like one of those people that has already accomplished a lot." Emily informed her as she slipped on her Birkenstocks and grabbed her water and phone.
"Then let's get to it. I'm excited to meet everyone." She responded with confidence as they went out of her room and into the hallway towards the elevator.
"Be careful what you wish for, rookie." Kelley chuckled as they got on the elevator.
"What's that supposed to mean?" She questioned in response. Her question was soon answered as soon as she walked into the conference room where they were set up for breakfast, for all eyes turned to her. She sat down at a table with Kelley and Emily, as well as Lindsey Horan, Alex Morgan, Allie Long, Sam Mewis, and Mallory Pugh, all players she looked up to. Of course, she looked up to the entire team.
"Good morning everyone, I hope everyone slept alright, and welcome to the final USA camp before the World Cup in the coming month. As you all know, pressure is high, but I can assure you that all of you are here for a reason, and that reason is that you are potentially on your way to the World Cup roster. Now, also as you all know, Adrianna Franch obtained an injury that will be keeping her out of this World Cup, so I have brought in two very talented young ladies, Jane Campbell and our rookie Casey Radcliffe. Now, for today, we've got breakfast as planned until about eight-thirty or so, then we are on the bus and heading to the stadium at nine. We'll get loosened up, run through some team building drills, then do some fitness training and probably a scrimmage. You guys will then come back to the hotel, get some lunch, get a breather and then at one we'll be heading back toward the stadium and the Orlando Pride and City staff have graciously allowed us access to their fitness center located just down the block from the stadium. We'll do an hour, hour and a half strength building session, then following that will be a water aerobics session that is not necessary, but if you do not do stuff in the pool, there will be other ways to cool your body down. Then, the rest of the evening is yours and we won't start training back up until tomorrow around eleven, breakfast is still at seven, though. Alright, I'll hush up and let you all dig in, enjoy breakfast and we'll see everyone out front on the bus at nine." Jill Ellis spoke to the whole lot of them, addressing everything they were doing that day, which Casey was glad about. She knew the structure of the day, and it was going to be a long one for her first day of camp, and she assumed that they would go hard today and tomorrow then take it light on Monday, since Jill knew that she had a game that evening and she did not want to miss a thing with the team.
"Casey, right?" Someone asked her while she was in line behind Kelley to get her breakfast, and she looked over her shoulder to find Alex talking to her with a small smile on her face.
"Uh, yeah, Casey Radcliffe." She responded with a small chuckle as food was put on her plate as she went through the line.
"You know, I've seen your tapes, and for eighteen, you're pretty good." She said, and that got her to look back up at her.
"I'm flattered, honestly. Thanks." She answered with a grin. The two of them joined Kelley and Emily along with the rest of the group back at their table and they all began to eat their breakfast. After about ten minutes, Alex was actually the one to start the questioning.
"You live here in Florida, right?" She asked. "How was your drive?"
"I live down in Tampa, so it wasn't too bad. Probably would have been better if I didn't have a game right before I left." She answered with a laugh.
"Wait, you had an actual soccer game yesterday?" Mallory asked, her words catching their attention.
"Yeah, I'm still in high school, we have districts." She responded, drinking some of her water.
"Well did you guys win at least?" Kelley asked.
"Yeah, and I have the almost concussion to prove it." She huffed with a short roll her eyes.
"Damn what happened?" Alex asked.
"Went out for a ball, girl tried to go over me but nailed me in the face instead. Ya know, usual goalkeeper things." She laughed, and the way she shrugged it off made them laugh as well.
"Has Dawn checked you out for it? Did you tell her?" Lindsey questioned as if she were a mother hen.
"Uh yeah, she should know. That reminds me, I've got to see if she can check out my stitches, make sure they're good. If you all would excuse me." Casey answered, finishing her breakfast and putting her napkin on her plate. She stood up from the table and took her plate to where a small collection of dishes was starting on the end of the buffet table. The teammates at her table all just watched her walk away, the seven of them all looking at one another.
"I did here her right, right?" Allie asked, leaning in closer to the table as if they were having a top secret meeting.
"Yeah, I think so. I wonder what the story behind that one is." Sam chuckled.
"She seems cool, I like her." Mallory piped in with a little pep behind her words.
"I can't wait to see what she's like on the field, she's gotta be a badass, right?" Lindsey asked, looking around to the other six players at the table.
"I hope so." Alex sighed, going back to her food.
--
Her first training session with the United States Women's National Team was nothing like she had ever experienced before. She had trained with the youth teams, but not that this type of pace and level, but it was exhilarating. She felt as if she were on a high as she exited the fitness center that afternoon, her hair still wet from getting thrown in the pool by her teammates as a prank, but she knew it was because she was the rookie and they needed to get their hazing in.
"What are you up to this evening?" Kelley asked her as they got on the bus. She was able to find a seat near them that was not claimed by anyone on the team, but it came at the cost of sitting alone, which she did not mind.
"Uh, probably Facetime my friends back in Tampa and talk to my parents. They all want to be updated on everything, even though I'm gonna see them all Monday." She responded, leaning against the window as the bus started moving.
"Why are you gonna see them Monday?" Emily asked, overhearing their conversation.
"Oh, um, well with districts, it's a play until you're knocked out, and we're still in, so we have our next game on Monday at three, and Jill has worked the schedule out to where I'll be able to play my last high school games and commencements before we leave to head to Colorado." She explained as quietly as possible.
"Woah woah woah. That's a lot of shit going on during camp, and Jill's gonna accommodate it? That must mean she really likes you." Kelley said, and Casey just blushed at the thought of it.
"When do you graduate?" Emily asked.
"I have commencements Friday morning." She responded excitedly as her phone started to ring for Facetime.
"We will talk later, you go ahead and have fun talking to your friends." Kelley said before anyone could say anything else. Casey subconsciously looked around and saw everyone had their headphones or earbuds in, so she felt less awkward about answering her call on the bus.
"Wow, the Casey Radcliffe answered her phone. We are speechless." Riley said as if she were some big celebrity.
"I'm your biggest fan!" Jackson piped in, and they all laughed, knowing nobody was a bigger fan of Casey Radcliffe than Jackson Rhodes.
"You guys are too much. How is everyone?" She asked, and they all got deep into conversation. Casey only paused when she was getting off the bus and talking with the team, all of them wanting to get in on the group Facetime call, but she told them another time. She got into her room and they all talked for what seemed to be forever, but by the time they decided to end the call, it was only ten thirty. As soon as her head hit the pillow, however, she was practically out like a light. Luckily her alarm was already set, for she passed out for the night, sleeping like a rock through the next six hours.