dear highschool. i hate you. occasionally

big games big girl

the team had a day off after a few days of training and they spent it by one sleeping in and then waking up to explore. rowan spent it with kelley alex and tobin. "sooo what's everyone's plans for today?" christie asked as everyone was eating breakfast. "me and lori are gonna go shopping!!!" pinoe hollered. "mmmm i believe me and barney are doing something" someone else called out. "tobs?" cheney asked. alex responded instead. "uhhh me tobs and kelley are gonna go explore. oh and we already called dibs on the baby" alex said. that was what rowan was known as. "the baby" buy it didn't faze her. kelley and rowan took this time together to slowly work the talex relationship. the ship name both kelley and rowan came up with. they started off with little things like making sure they were always super close together and giving them PLENTY of alone time. primarily because there were squirrels everywhere and the duo just HAD to go see them. after their day off the team went back to the hotel. rowan was laying on hopes bed with hope while everyone else was sprawled out all over the place watching the world cup. she was super nervous. but this wasn't just her first world cup it was tobin, alex's, cheney's arods and kelley's. but they would all play primary rolls. rowan was just what. there? she pushed the thoughts out of her head for the next few days. finally after a very long awaited time it was the first game of the world cup. she woke up and her and hope got ready quickly. rowan brushed her teeth and hair. styling it into her signature game day hair style. low ponytail with a braid. she changed into warm ups and packed up what ever else she needed before heading down to breakfast. the tensions were high at breakfast but rowan just ate and focused on the game ahead. she got up and felt a little pain in her ankle. she had felt it for a while but didn't want to use the resources the team had provided. she was just a bench player after all. the bus ride to the stadium was quite as everyone listened to their music. they went through the typical game day things. she was in the locker room getting ready to change into her uniform. she stared at the jersey. she felt something she couldn't put her finger on. she felt someone was trying to tell her be grateful. but actually hope was trying to tell her to "put your jersey on ro. let's go" rowan did as she was told and tied up her cleats. neon yellow her favorite. she wasn't huge on attracting attention but she liked her cleats too. she stepped out onto the field and stood for the national anthem. she placed her hand on her heart and thought of her dad. finally it was game time. rowan sat on the bench watching intently. during half time rowan was extremely quiet. the game started back up and late in the second quarter pia made a sub. something pia and the world would soonly regret. rowan would go in. she jogged over and ran into the pitch. she took a deep breath and got ready to play. for the first few minutes it was uneventful just a lot of running. but sure enough that had to change. christie sent the ball down to rowan who passed it up to abby and she attempted the shot but it turned into a corner kick. rowan got a great idea and decided to line up extremely close to the goal post. the hard medal goal post. she gave a look to abby that said. "i got you" abby sent the ball in and the rest happened in slow motion. rowan jumped reaching for the ball as her defender did the same. her defender slammed into her causing her neck and a paper of her head to slam into the post and she landed on her ankle before clashing against the ground. no the ball didn't go in. everyone stood there shocked as they watched as CSF came pooling out of rowans ears and she was knocked unconscious. hope sprinted down from the goal once the ref blew the whistle. the whole crowd was silent. it looked as if the 15 year old was dead. the trainers sprinted on and checked her pulse and were relieved to see she was still breathing. but she was still pooling blood and unconscious. she began siezing and they signaled to call 911. her team watched in awe. how in the hell did this happen. why. who's fault was it?? hope couldn't move or breathe. soon the ambulance arrived and they set her on the stretcher. everyone knew it but no one would say it. she was done.
no one played good after that. the US won but they sprinted quickly into the locker room to hear of any news on their fellow teammate. "she is in surgery everyone. we will be waiting for a very long time so i suggest you get dressed and let's get out of here" everyone did so in silence. one of the trainers went with rowan to the hospital so she wouldn't be alone. she was in surgery for a few hours as she needed major repairs. she had fractured her c-spine slightly. thankfully not enough to paralyze her. just enough to scare the shit out of everyone. she had a major concussion. and tore 5 ligaments in her ankle. she didn't wake up that day. the next day she awoke to see her dad there waiting. he tried to hide it but she knew it was bad. "hey babygirl" he said. she could tell he had been crying his eyes were red and his voice was cracking. "i'm done huh?" she asked not being able to look at him. "fuck" he mumbled breaking down again. she let a tear slip down her cheek before turning her head and staring out the window. her career was over at just the age of 15. she couldn't think or move. she refused to eat and only allowed pia in to see her. when it was finally time for her to be released after one whole week. she allowed the team to come and see her. before that the team had to wait in the waiting room while she met with her coach dad and doctor. "rowan i i don't want to sugar coat it-" "spill. it. please" she said. "it's very very unlikely you'll ever play soccer at this level again" he told her. that enough set her over to paralyze her. she went out and plastered a smile on her face. she greeted her teammates as they gently hugged her. she boarded a flight and went home. just like that her dreams were gone.