In Striking Distance

Chapter Three | Coach

THEA SLOWLY OPENED her eyes and her gaze landed on the wall clock across her bed. She jerked awake once she saw the time.

"Oh shit," she said, throwing off her duvet cover. She grabbed her phone from the side table, certain that it would be blowing up with text messages and calls by now.

Instead, she was faced with a black screen. It was dead.

With everything that had happened last night, she'd forgotten to charge her phone before falling back asleep. She couldn't believe she had made such a rookie mistake.

Thea rushed out of her room, rounding the corner only to stub her toe into something very hard. She swore, hobbling on one leg as she held her foot. She glared at the carry-on bag.

"Well, that is one way to start a morning,"

She screamed clutching her heart as her eyes met Orson's. "I forgot you were here."

"Clearly."

She scowled at him, ignoring his disheveled look. The bags under his eyes were evident but she probably looked a thousand times worse. "Orson, I don't have time for you or your baggage right now. I am very late and need to get to the pitch for a meeting."

"You wouldn't be late if you had set your alarm," Orson said nonchalantly.

Thea wanted to pull her hair out in frustration, "No, I wouldn't be late if you and my stupid brother didn't show up in the middle of the night!"

"Nobody told you to let us in," Orson continued as he went back to scrolling on his phone. "But my point about the alarm still remains."

Thea could not believe the rage gathering within her. She was normally a calm and collected person but never had her ex-best-friend gotten on her nerves like this. "Orson, so help me God, if you say one more thing—"

"You'll break my legs? Guess what they are already broken."

The last words were said in such a flat tone that Thea's anger deflated like a pierced balloon. Her gaze flickered to said legs, hidden beneath the blanket she had given him last night.

"I don't need your fucking pity," he said coolly, his grey eyes turning stormy.

"It's not pity," she met his gaze, but she saw that he didn't believe her.

Thea sighed; she really did need to go, and this was not the time to be having his conversation.

"I got to run, but we'll talk more once I get back," she promised.

Orson didn't answer.

⚽⚽⚽

Thea nervously pulled into the stadium's parking lot. She was sure Coach Hill was going to rip one into her. She was nearly an hour late and still didn't have access to her phone to let anyone know where she was. Somehow, her car charger had gone missing as well.

Thea wasn't sure if a witched had hexed her or all the small coincidences were just adding up. She walked into the dressing room to see that it was still empty. The only sense of relief were the bags scattered across the floors—at least her teammates were still here.

Quickly tying her cleat, she ignored the flare of pain in her ankle. While the swelling had gone down, it still felt tender to the touch. If she had time, she would have taped her foot, but she didn't want to keep Coach Hill waiting any longer.

Thea walked through the narrow passageway and saw the girls huddle in the corner. Sprinting to them, she joined them in the back, standing next to Lauren. Her team captain gave her a wide look before she hissed, "Where have you been all morning?"