Regrets and Mistakes

Twenty - Five

Rachel's POV
I walked to my locker and saw Jill set my plaque down in there. I set the black box next to it and smiled. I sat down on my seat as Nick began talking.

"Great performance by all of you out there and of course to our hat trick queen. Glad you made your debut a memorable one. You all have the day off tomorrow but starting Monday we're preparing for our next game against Arsenal next Friday. It's another away game so we need to be fit. That's it, go enjoy your victory and I'll see you all bright and early Monday morning. Rachel, a word please."

I stood up and followed Nick out of the dressing room. I closed the door behind me and leaned against it.

"So, as you know about the game next weekend is on Friday. That means we leave here on Thursday. It's completely up to you but do you want to come with us or stay and go to school?"
"Can I discuss it with Steph first and give you my decision on Monday?"
"Of course. Take all the time you need. See you Monday."

I walked back into the locker room but I went straight for Steph's locker and sat down on her chair as she took her clothes out of her bag.

"Everything alright?"
"I need to talk to you."
"Okay. What's up?"
"What do you think is the best decision about the Arsenal game? Go and miss school Friday and probably half of Thursday or should I stay? I could skip lunch and gym on Friday and go directly to the stadium from school and make it just before warm ups."
"Are you okay with missing lunch and gym?"
"I mean gym I'll get over because of my job and I could eat while driving up there. Anyway, we can discuss it later. I'm going out to dinner with Carli, Becky and Crystal tonight. I have my keys if I'm not back before you go to sleep."
"Sure, please call me if you need to be collected. Izzy and Jill are staying the night so we'll probably be up anyway."
"I will. Love you mama Steph."

I kissed her cheek and walked back to my locker. I heard the girls tease Steph about the name and I smiled. I grabbed my regular cloths out of my bag and walked into the bathroom. I jumped in fright when I saw Lucy and Keira in there.

"Uh, sorry. I didn't mean to interrupt. Sorry."

I made eye contact with Lucy and she opened her mouth to say something but I walked out. I walked to my locker and changed quickly. I shoved everything into my bag, ignoring the concern looks of my teammates, and walked out of the locker room. I saw Crystal and ran over to her and jumped on her back. She stumbled but managed to regain her balance and hold me up.

"Jesus child. Are you trying to give me a heart attack?"
"Oh please. You love me."
"Well before you jumped on me I was on FaceTime to Ali and Ashlyn. Wanna say hi?"
"Uhm, is that even a question?"

She chuckled and held her phone up again and Ali's face was filled with concern. Ashlyn looked like she was ready to pounce and I laughed. They looked confused.

Ali; What the hell happened?
Crystal; Well someone decided to scare the living daylights outta me.
Me; Hey Americans.
Ashlyn; RACHELLL!!
Me; Hello Ashlyn.
Ashlyn; How are you doing today?
Me; I would be better if you two were here with us but I guess I'm okay.
Ali; Aw we wish we were with you guys too. So, what are you guys doing now? Separating or what's the story?"
Crystal; Well we made a bet after Rachel scored her first goal that the next team to score has to buy the other dinner. Turns out Rachel is a scoring machine and scored three goals and won woman of the match. I don't why I decided to compete with that. So now I'm buying burgers.
Me; I though I'd be nice so I'm getting the dessert.
Ashlyn; That's my girl. We'll leave you two go so. Tell Lucy we said hello Rach. We love you guys. Bye.
Crystal; Bye fellow Americans.