Wild Thing

-10-

Kasey feeling exhausted and bogged down with school assignments, not to mention extremely guilty for having not spent very much time recently with her daughter, decided that it was in her best physical and mental interest to take some time off of work and cancelled her shifts for the next several days. 

Kasey has been in the stands to watch and cheer Kylie and her team on, only to see them lose the Final in extra time to their crosstown rivals. Kylie ended up walking away with her team's MVP award but it wasn't the trophy that she had hoped to win. Kasey felt her heartbreak as tears ran down her daughter's cheeks and she could only hold her and attempt to reassure her.  

Knowing and feeling how disappointed Kylie was, Kasey let her Coach know that she would be missing training on the evening in order to spend time with her and they settled in front of the television for some Netflix. It was difficult for her to focus on what was currently happening on the latest episode of the 100, well, aside from when a certain should be couple shared the screen; her brain was charged with thoughts of the 5 assignments that she needed to complete and submit before 11:59 pm on Friday. On top of everything else, Friday was her birthday and she wasn't in much of a mood to celebrate getting older. 

The next few days went by thankfully rather uneventfully and Kasey was able to focus on getting most of her schoolwork completed while also being around for Kylie after her classes except for when she had training after them. Their training sessions had increased significantly in number and duration with all the added expectations placed on the team as they continued their winning ways. 

To make matters worse, they had a Thursday evening home game against Limestone College the following week and since losing the season opener to Capital City, the Lions had left the teams they played beaten and bruised. Wendy Smith, the older sister of their Coach had even come out and guaranteed a win for her team in the upcoming match. With the campus abuzz about the upcoming battle of the titans and tickets at a premium, it was agreed to move the match to a larger stadium in order to accommodate the expected crowd. With the schools separated by a mere two-hour drive, the Lions were bringing in a couple of busloads of fans to cheer on their team.

On Monday, Kasey finished her day at placement and then headed straight to the 3C campus library to start working on her outstanding assignments. She had managed to complete and submit two when she felt a tap on her shoulder. Looking up she smiled when she saw Jen smiling down at her along with a tall brunette.  

"I figured that I would find you here." 

"Yeah, still plugging away." 

"Anything I can do to help?" 

"Not unless you are a referencing expert, because that seems to be where I'm spending the brunt of my time lately." 

"Sorry, can't help with that. Kailen and I were going to grab something to eat before practice; do you want to join us?" 

"Yes. I'm starving and the words on the screen are a jumble, I think it's time to take a break." 

Kasey packed her stuff up and then followed Jen and Kailen out of the library and to the cafeteria. 

As they sat and ate, the conversation flowed with Kasey and Kailen talking about Abnormal Psychology which Kailen had studied during her time at Clemson. 

"How have your training sessions been this week?" 

"Really good, it's always fun to spend time with the girls and we've been busy promoting the games, Soccer Canada and doing appearances as well. I'm doing two schools tomorrow along with Steph and Shelina, should be fun." 

"Nice. I heard about the clinics and visits and was really hoping that my daughter, Kylie's school was one of the ones chosen for them; but it doesn't sound like it."