Chapter 2 #2
“It’s going pretty well. She’s out doing the brand building thing tonight. I wouldn’t be surprised if we saw her in some trashy magazine next week.”
“Well that’s… something.” Her dad let out a laugh. “I’ll get Linda to check the next time she’s at the grocery store. If she’s in one, we’ll get it and cut her photo out, put her accomplishments up on the fridge right next to yours.”
Wren’s heart swelled. She knew her dad was kidding, but the sentiment was actually really sweet. “You know, Dad, I think Andy would appreciate it.”
Wren could hear Barbara and Linda talking in the background.
“Hey, Little Bird, I’m gonna have to let you go. I love you so much, and I’m so proud of you.”
“I love you too, Dad. Give Linda and Barbs my love too, yeah?”
“You got it, Sweetie.”
Their call ended and Wren looked at the clock on her phone.
It was already eight-thirty, so she stuffed a bookmark into her book and got up from her spot on the couch she and Andy had purchased when they moved into this apartment together.
It wasn’t the world’s nicest couch, but it was long enough for them to take naps on and deep enough that they could take them together.
Almost a whole month into living together after a full year of dating had proved to be easier than Wren would have expected.
They had only argued once, and it was about the way Wren does laundry.
They decided then and there to do their laundry separately, and honestly Wren thought she had gotten the better end of that deal.
Andy had all sorts of fancy clothes that couldn’t be dried in a drier, while Wren’s wardrobe was ninety-nine percent athletic attire and one percent a suit that had to be dry cleaned.
She was too keyed up to sleep, so she decided to go ahead and pack up her bag for tomorrow before getting ready for bed.
Right after she crawled under the covers she shot Andy a text telling her to be safe and to please not drink and drive.
Andy had replied immediately with a hundred hearts and about seven texts that said some variation of “I wish you were here.”
Wren sent back a promise that she would go next time and thirteen kissy faces.
Wren’s trusty Toyota Tacoma, Toddrick, rattled into the parking lot of Dignity Health Sports Park.
She had bought him with her own money at the end of high school.
She had saved every dollar her mom had sent her over the years, every paycheck she had made from working over the summers at the sporting goods store on the edge of town, and every graduation check.
Toddrick was older than she was, but the previous owner had loved him as much as she did and had kept him in great shape.
She figured she could get another couple of years out of him before upgrading, but as she parked in between a Range Rover and a Mercedes, she wondered if the pressures of Andy’s new glamorous life and her new status as a professional athlete would make her cave early.
She patted the black faux leather dashboard and spread out her Star Wars sunshade. “Don’t worry buddy, I think you belong here. As much as I do, at least,” she said softly before hopping out.
As she approached the player’s entrance, she flashed her temporary badge to the waiting security guard and headed out onto the pitch.
Her heart swelled as she dropped her bag next to Courtney’s and fell into an easy conversation about their upcoming PWSL season.
Her nerves about playing with her childhood heroes were still there, but they had stopped making her heart pound in her chest and were more just fluttering around her stomach with excitement and anticipation that she might actually get to be real friends with them one day.
The last day of camp went exactly like Wren suspected it would.
The drills were more complex, the conditioning was brutal, and the scrimmages to end the day were staggered competitions, three-on-five types of games that were designed to challenge even the world’s greatest players.
By the end of the day she was thankful for the final whistle, but more importantly, she was proud of herself.
She’d left it all on the pitch, and she could hold her head up high.
She had been in the top three players every conditioning drill, her skills drills had been on point, and even when she was on the smaller side team in competitions, she had only lost once.
Not that anyone was grading her on it, but she had also managed to piss Rebecca off during that portion of the practice.
She did notice that that kind of competitive spark between the two of them only made them both play better, especially now that they weren’t playing dirty.
If Wren was a betting person, and thanks to growing up so close to Vegas, she absolutely was not, she would bet that both she and Rebecca were about to make the Women’s National Team.
She didn’t bother trying to offer Rebecca any sort of congratulations or recognition for her efforts from the day, instead she made it a point to go shake the coaches’ and trainers’ hands and thank them for their time over the past three days.
She knew it would look good. Professional sports were unlike anything else in the world, but at the end of the day, this camp had just been a very long, rigorous interview.
She called her dad on the way home to tell him all about it. She still didn’t want to jinx herself, but she really thought she had a shot. When she opened the front door of her apartment, Andy had a pizza and a six-pack of Wren’s favorite beer waiting for her on the counter.
After Wren took a quick shower, they squished onto their comfy couch and tried to watch TV while Wren’s leg bounced anxiously.
At exactly six o’clock, Wren’s phone dinged.
Andy muted the show they were pretending to watch and wrapped her arms around Wren’s waist. Wren swallowed nervously and scanned the roster.
Sure enough, her name was listed as a selected forward.
She was too happy to be even the least bit bothered by the fact that Rebecca Rothschild had been selected as one of the defenders.