This Girl I Met

19

In the end, we ended up being only being 6 out of the 14. Sam claimed the had a family dinner, and took Steph with her (because she's obviously a part of the Mewis family, even though the sister's parents don't know about their relationship), and then Cari and Moe had a double-date with their boyfriends that went to watch the game. Ashley had to go and see her grandparents. Jane felt sick, Andressa and Rachel had to go to a meeting for exchange students... So that leaves me with Emily, Abby, Andi, Cari and Mal. 

The fab 6, if you want my opinion. 

So Allie decided to invite over Kling, Kealia and Ash, since they were at the game to support us. As soon as they arrived, the short-haired goalkeeper immediately put some music on and made us dance. Bati is cooking - I mean, his Brazilian meals are so good - while Allie is watching him with heart eyes. 

While everybody is joking around and drinking already, Emily asks if she can talk to me in private. I immediately accept, hoping that it has nothing to do with what happened earlier. But, in my big surprise, she just handed me a letter. 

"What is it ?" I ask, trying to open the envelope. 

But her hand immediately on mine just makes me stop. We catch eyes, and she immediately removes her hand. 

"It's... something I wrote." she says. I give her my 'thanks Mrs Obvious' look, and she starts to nervously play with her fingers. "About that night." 

I immediately get that she's talking about the night her dad died. 

"Emily, you didn't have to-" I start. 

"You're the first person I tell the story to. Nobody knows, and I'd like it to stay that way, okay ? Just, don't open it now." she says. 

"Are you sure you want me to read it ?" I ask. 

She stares at me for a while. "You said you'd fix me." she shyly whispers. "How can you fix me if you don't know what happened ?" 

"You got a point" I say, putting my envelope somewhere safe, where Allie never sneaks or something. I then look at her again, willing to do everything in my power to help her. "Thanks for granting me your trust." I then say. 

She smiles, and we go back to the party. 

**

Cari just can't hold her laugh anymore. 

As Andi has been trying to explain why she broke her arm in first grade, the brunette has been trying really hard not to laugh. But when Sully (her nickname) explained that she wanted to follow a freaking frog because she found it cute, and that she didn't see the hole in front of her, Cari just couldn't help it anymore. Her noisy laugh just caught everybody's attention, and some others just came into the mix. 

That resulted in Cari, Mal and Emily loosing it, and Andi looking offended. 

"That's not funny !" she exclaims, her hands up in the air. I hold my smirk back, while I can clearly feel Abby trying to remain serious next to me as well. "How was I supposed to know my neighbor was digging big holes in his garden ?" she asks, in disbelief. 

"Why were you in his garden in the first place ?" Abby asks, raising her eyebrows. "Because of the frog ?" 

"Yes !" Andi exclaims. "I love frogs !"

I start giggling, and the brunette just glares at me, not happy about that. Mal, who has been laughing for the last five minutes, just calmed down, but when Sully said the word 'frog', she just burst into laughter again, tears in her eyes. Emily is smiling widely, while Cari is still on the floor, holding her stomach. 

I look at the midfielder, who seems to be laughing too at this point. 

"Oh my God" Mal suddenly exclaims. "Remember when Steph got so drunk that she was running behind a cat and mistaken it for a rock ?" she says, and I immediately start laughing. Not to mention that my laugh is very weird. I feel Emily's eyes on me. When I look at her, she quickly looks away. Mal was trying to tell the end of the story : "She jumped on the rock and then she cried for an hour. Non-stop."

My laugh just increases. "And then" I recall, trying to hold my laugh. "she was saying her life was miserable, and she got mad at Kristie because she was laughing even harder than Mal and I. I don't think she ever forgave her." 

"She didn't" Allie says, laughing. 

She and Ashlyn are sitting on the couch. Bati, Kling and Kealia had to go home because they have an important exam tomorrow. It's already 1 AM, but nobody really want to go to bed, so we just kept that party going. 

The keeper just smirks. 

"I guess Allie never told you that time she thought Tobin had a crush on a guy, and that Christen was right next to them ?" Ashlyn asks me. I raise my eyebrows, as Allie is throwing a death glare to her 'Pookie'. But she is smiling, so I guess it's a way to say 'go on'. "She was drunk and she and Alex pushed Tobin against the guy. Then, Christen began to speak Spanish because she was mad, and Julie punched the guy in the face." 

"Oh my God" I exclaim, in shock. "Julie Johnston ? The cinnamon roll ? She did that ? What ?"

Ashlyn couldn't hold her laugh back. "Yah !" she says, looking at Allie the next second. "And Pooks was feeling so guilty she and Alex just began to cry, and then Tobin too, and then Christen joined the mix. So, basically, Julie and I were the only ones laughing our asses off." 

"That was ridiculous" Allie comments.  

Cari can't restrain herself from saying : "Awe, Allie's got a soft side ?" 

My sister just throws a death glare at her. 

I love the fact that, whoever my friends are, Allie has always full of acceptance. And it's also the other way around. Cari and Moe are the people I've known since I got here. And then Danny. And Sam. And Andi... She knows them all, and appreciates them. She even likes Abby, because she thinks she's a little genius in science. 

Emily moves a little bit next to me, and I can clearly feel her hand touching my leg for a second. She probably didn't do that on purpose, and didn't even notice, but I did. Her touch just made me shiver. 

"Kids, I think it's time to call it a night" Allie says, trying to get off the couch. Then then takes a look around. "Pookie here can drive some of you home, and I'll drive the rest." She then turns and look at Emily. "You're sleeping here tonight ?" 

I feel everybody's gaze on us. The rest of the team don't know about her familial situation, or not as much as I do. What if they misread the situation ? I then stop thinking that. Bro, you're inviting a friend over. They can't suspect you're attracted to her, right ? When I look around, I only see Dahlkemper's and Andi's eyes on me. I frown, and they look away. Abby has a little smirk on her face. 

Ashlyn gets up. 

"So, Dahlkemper, looks like you're coming with me" she says. 

Abby nods and follows her. When she says goodbye to me, she winks, and I immediately feel like she's got something to say but can't say it. 

The other leave, and Emily just sticks around for ten more minutes, before going home. Her mom is not here, and she wants to rest.

When I get to my room, I immediately open the envelope. And what I read just set my jaw wide open. Oh my fucking God.