Preath: Head In The Game [Complete]

21: Head In The Game

GAME DAY ONE: VS. THAILAND

After that final beach getaway, Christen's and my face were all over the French tabloids. I think Sammy and Rose's presence was the only thing that kept them from concluding that it was a double date. There had always been a questionable theory about Lindsey and Emily.

"You know what Tobs," Emily said, "it was only a matter of time. Someone infiltrated the Preath data and behold, your faces are all over the web again."

I was also happy to get a hotel room with Chris again. Crystal swapped with Alex to room with Julie, then I swapped with Alex to be with Christen, leaving Janic and Worms together.

Thin lockers made of wood are set up in order of our numbers. Chris steals Ash's #18 spot so she can sit in it.

"You ready?" she asks.

"Yeah," I say, and we leave the locker room last as usual.

It takes us only twelve minutes to score — Alex's header of steel. Rose's goal is low and fast, and even makes Mal cry. I watch the beautiful moment unfold between the younger players. Sammy's foot is on tonight too. I suffer a helluva kick in the leg, but it turns into a goal for Lindsey.

Megan scores and makes a big show of it. I cringe a little, feeling for Thailand.

Alex scores once, twice, thrice, quice, fice... sice? Nice. The game ends, and the one thing nobody can stop talking about is the fact Alex's jersey number is thirteen, we ended with thirteen goals, and if she scored fifteen seconds later, she would've scored at the thirteenth minute. She is a hot pick for post-game interviews.

Jill reminds us that it only gets harder from here. I recount the game in the journal Chris gave to me.

GAME DAY TWO: VS. CHILE

The Chile game goes well. Carli scores unsurprisingly, and Julie scores an acrobatic header off of Tierna's corner. Chris gets real close, but Christiane Endler keeps her shots out.

The game ends 3–0. An interviewer approaches Alex and me after the game. On the spot, my vocabulary diminishes.

"How do you and the team plan to psych yourselves up for the next game?" the reporter asks.

"Uh, you know," I say, "we always have that attitude, and uh, we have that knowledge and that faith that we're going to win. That makes it much easier."

"And what about these new kits, huh?"

"Oh yeah. You know, we like them, 'cause they're really fresh-"

"And so clean," Alex adds. "Well, maybe not so much anymore."

GAME DAY THREE: VS. SWEDEN

The "so fresh, so clean" thing has become a viral meme. Alex has permanently added "Toebean" to the end of it, and Chris catches herself saying it.

Lindsey scores in the first half. Halftime hits, and Jill has a lecture for us. "We know we can do it because we're not just winning it, we're defending it. Alright?"

As much as she could be disagreed with, Jill was always a great coach to us. She made me believe that motivating words were a part of the contract.

Five minutes into the second half, I score. We're into the knockouts.

GAME DAY FOUR: VS. SPAIN

I'm still amazed at the amount of makeup some girls wear on the pitch. It must be so expensive to find ones that don't melt off of them.

"Hey, look at what we just discovered," says Lindsey in the locker room. "If you have an innie bellybutton, you can stretch it out to make it look like Rose's mouth."

"I kind of think it looks more like Abby's," Rose says with a shrug. "I'll take it, though."