USWNT 1.0

31

There were two ways to catch Julie's attention. You could either put a pizza right in front of her, or talk about Christen Press.

Right now, her and Zach were sitting in a bank outside of the hotel. Today was visit day, and all the girls were spending the day with their families - except for Hope and Carli who decided to go on a car trip all day long together - enjoying a little break from soccer. As always, Zach has brought her flowers, and was a very loving man. He couldn't help but kiss or touch her. Julie used to like that part of him, but now that she knew about her feelings for Christen, it wasn't the same ; she was disgusted, and even more, she was bored with him by her side. The butterflies she felt for Zach seemed to have disappeared for good. But Julie didn't want to admit it ; she was persuading herself that she was in love with her fiancé.

But when she turned her head to look around, her heart stopped. Her face became whiter than ever, and she was shaking. Christen was kissing a girl. They both were sitting on the sand, and the redhead had her arm around the forward's neck. She couldn't believe that Christen has moved on so fast. Julie was feeling like her world just went apart. "Why in the world am I even reacting like that ? I should be happy for my friend. Besides, she kept her promise to leave me alone. Be happy for her." Julie thought, but she couldn't believe any word she was saying.

She suddenly was brought back to reality by Zach, who was slapping his fingers right in front of her face. Julie sighed, and her smile wouldn't come back. The man tried to touch her arm, but she removed it from the table.

- What's going on ? Are you okay ? he asked.

- Fine, Julie said sharply. I just need some rest. I'm going to see you next week.

- Julie, wai-

But the blonde already took off. When she knew she was out of sight from Zach, she began running as fast as she could. She arrived at the hotel out of breath, and threw herself on her bed. The tears were running down her cheeks, and she heard a knock on the door. She didn't respond, but Tobin entered anyway. Seeing the blonde defender crying, she opened her arms. Julie let her head resting on her thorax, as Tobin was wrapping her arms around her. Never had Tobin seen tears so big. Julie seemed to be bummed, out of track, totally wrecking. She first assumed it was because something had happened between Zach and her, but she quickly returned on her other idea ; Julie was crying because of Christen.

Tobin had seen the back-haired girl kissing the redhead by the beach. Of course Christen had told her about Jane, but she also told her that she only dated her to get over Julie, since the blonde didn't want to be in a relationship with her. Surprised that things had turned out to be this way, Tobin sighed ; it was obvious that the feelings they shared for each other was mutual. Why couldn't they just take a step back and see it ?

Suddenly, the door opened, and Christen came in. She was out of breath, like if she had run on her way here. Her eyes went wide when she saw Tobin and Julie in such a position ; from her point of view, they were looking very close right now. Christen gave Tobin a death glare, before she encountered that Julie was crying.

Tobin was now the one looking at her with surprise in her eyes. When Julie noticed Christen standing there, she snapped right at her :

- Get out !

Even though the message was crystal clear, Christen didn't even move a bit. She didn't understand : why was Julie mad at her ? "I mean, I just hooked up with my sorta girlfriend, that's what she wanted, right ? Just friends ?" she questioned herself.

- Sorry, I didn't except to find you two so touchy with each other, Christen let out, visibly in a bad mood or jealous. I'll leave you two alone.

- Wait, Chri- Tobin said, but it was too late.

As the door was slammed, Julie burst in tears for the second time in like ten minutes. Tobin hugged her tightly.

***

Kelley finally found Allie, who was sitting on a bank on her own. She sat next to her, too excited to hide it. She gave her a big smile, and the blonde looked down at her, raising her eyebrows. Kelley couldn't hold it anymore.

- You're coming with me this afternoon, we're leaving in 5, Kelley said.

- What ? Where ? Allie asked, surprised.

- Well, since you granted me your trust, it's my turn to disclose something personal about me.

- You don't need to Kels, it's fine.

- But I want to, Kelley said, looking at her with childish eyes. You'll see, it's a secret place where I usually go alone. It's kinda my secret garden.

- O-okay, Allie stammered, embarrassed.

She was flattered by the idea of Kelley wanting to show her that she was able to trust her. But spending the whole afternoon just the two of them was scaring her to death : she was gonna like the Georgia girl even more, and she couldn't fight the thoughts that were filling her mind, or her growing conflicting feelings.

Kelley winked at her, blushing already.

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Hey guys, I need your help
Any particular request or idea for the continuation of the story ?