Meeting Mia

Confessions

Weeks passed, and we were all training hard. I noticed something, though. Abby and Mia seemed to be hanging out a lot. They always sat next to each other at dinner, and during down time, they'd often be on the field together passing the ball to each other. After practice one day, I approached Mia. "Hey, Coach." I said. "Hey, Squirt." Mia said. She'd called me "Squirt" ever since training started. "Can I talk to you?" I asked. "In private?" "Sure." Mia said. "Let's go walk on the trail behind the Lodge. I've heard that there's a really cool place up there called Table Lookout, but no one's shown it to me." "Sounds good to me." I said. We started up the wooded trail. "So, Coach-" I said, but Mia cut me off. "You can call me 'Mia' when we're not on the field." she said. "Right." I said, correcting myself. "So, Mia, do you like Abby?" "Sure I do." Mia said. "She was my best friend in college." "No, I mean do you like her?" I asked. "As in, more than a friend?" Mia stopped walking. "Yeah. I do." she said quietly. "And I have since college. Was I really that obvious?" I laughed. "No, I'm just really observant." I said. "I noticed you two were spending a lot of time together, so I wanted to know if you liked her." "Are you going to have this same discussion with Abby when we get back?" Mia asked. "Yeah." I said. "Definitely. We're here, by the way." we had reached a large, flat piece of land overlooking the Catskill Mountains. "Damn." Mia said. "They weren't kidding. This really is beautiful." "Maybe you can take Abby on a date up here." I suggested. Mia looked at me. "Are you kidding?" she asked. "No." I said. "That's how Tobin and I started dating. Abby and I have got something similar behind our house in Breckenridge, and Tobin made a picnic up there and that's where she told me she loved me." "Not a bad idea." Mia said. We walked back down the trail. "Hey, Abby." I said, walking into her room. "There's this thing mature people do before they go into a room, Squirt." Abby said. "It's called 'knocking'." She was sitting on her bed reading a book. "Yeah, mature people do that, but, in case you haven't noticed, I'm not mature." I said. "I have a question." "Fire away." Abby said. "Do you have a crush on Mia?" I asked. "Yeah." Abby said. "I've had a crush on her since college. But it doesn't matter. She doesn't love me back." "Are you sure about that?" I asked. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and played a recording I had taken earlier. "So, Mia, do you like Abby?" I asked. "Sure I do." Mia said. "She was my best friend in college." "No, I mean do you like her?" I asked. "As in, more than a friend?" "Yeah. I do." Mia said quietly. "And I have since college. Was I really that obvious?"

"Is that what you wanted to talk with her about?" Abby asked. "Yup." I said. "I noticed you two had been spending a lot of time together, so I decided to ask her. Now you know that she loves you, but she doesn't know you love her. So go tell her!" Abby looked at me like I had lost my mind. "Are you kidding me?!" she asked. "No!" I said. "Go tell her! Or do we have to shove you two in a closet together?" "Mia would give you extra conditioning for eternity." Abby said. "That's why I'd rather not have to resort to that." I said. Abby sighed. "I guess I'll go tell her." she said, getting up from the bed. I smiled, and went back to my own room, which I shared with Tobin. "What've you been up to?" Tobin asked, looking up from her surf magazine as I walked in. "Playing matchmaker between Abby and Mia, hopefully." I said. "Really?" Tobin asked. "Yep." I said. "I hope it works." Tobin said. "Those two are OTP."