Old Friends (Kailen/You)

Shine

Your POV:

"Welcome to Spain!" 

"Why are we in Spain?" I grabbed my backpack.

"Camp time." Desiree smirked.

"Oh right. Makes perfect sense for us to be in Spain." Kailen rolled her eyes.

"Babe, what do you have against Spain?" I looked at her.

"Nothing." She mumbled.

"She thinks they're hot." 

"JESSIE!" Kailen yelled.

"What?" 

I laughed. "Oh, you're so funny." I patted Kailen's shoulder. "You can look just don't touch. Because that'd be weird. Please don't randomly touch anyone." 

"Got it." 

We quickly moved through camp after camp. Improving every day as we got closer to the World Cup.

Eventually, we were back in Spain for our final camp before France.

"Ok. Look around you. All of you here will go to France. I'd like to congratulate all of you on how well you all have played leading up to this. It's been very exciting for me to watch the growth of some of the younger players, and the continued greatest of our veterans. It was not easy to pick the 23 going to France, which says a lot about the talent of our program. Let's continue to grow and make Canada proud."

I looked at Kailen. "We are going to our first World Cup." She said.

"Yes, we are." I looked around. "Man. It's all gonna change after this huh?"

"Depends on how we play. You? You're gonna shine."

FRANCE 2019

"Welcome to the World Cup first-timers."

"Shut up, Kadeisha." Kailen laughed. 

"Enjoy it." Steph said. "For some, this is a once in a lifetime moment."

We nodded. 

"And don't fuck it up for us." 

"Allysha." Steph sighed. "Just don't be yourself for like an hour."

"Fine I'll be Kailen." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I LOVE Y/N SO MUCH! JESSIE ASK ME HOW MUCH I LOVE Y/N!"

"How much do you lo-"

"SO MUCH THERE ARE NO WORDS!"

We all laughed.

"Fuck you." Kailen crossed her arms.

"No words." Allysha whispered and walked away.

"That was pretty spot on." I looked at her.

"Don't make me dump you."

"You would never. You love me too much." I winked and walked away. 

I was rooming with Jessie and we laid on our beds. "So like are you worried about anything?"

"What do you mean?"

"I mean big tournaments like this are kind of like auditions for bigger clubs. Once this is over you could be in another country or something."

"Doubt it."

"Really? Kailen said you have an agent now. Got some looks your way from clubs in Europe. Play the way you did in qualifying and you can pack your bags. See you later NWSL." 

I sat up. "Ok but what about you?"

"Me? No, I'm finishing school first. Then I'll think about offers." 

"You don't wanna pull a Mal Pugh and drop out?"

"For her, that was the right move. For me, I don't think it would be. Everyone's different. Mal was in the classrooms physically but mentally she was on the field. Me I like having that balance of school and soccer. When I go pro, all I'll be is a pro. At least now I'm still Jessie Fleming. A student."

"You are so deep sometimes you make my brain hurt." She laughed. "Well just know that I'm behind you 100% wherever you go. You are gonna crush it."

"We both are. It's in our DNA." 

I laughed. 

"Play the way you did in qualifying and you can pack your bags. See you later NWSL."

I looked at the ceiling. 

Now is my time. 

Just like Kailen said.

I'm gonna shine.