Time to Tryout
While in class Thursday afternoon, Christen has to force herself to pay attention to her professor’s teachings. She stares at the power-point slide, her eyes scanning over every word but only comprehending a handful every so often. Her professor speaks in lengthy intervals but the woman’s words seem to go in one ear and out the other. Christen can’t find her focus and she has a pretty good idea as to why.
Her mind keeps wandering back to earlier this morning. Back to when she stood in the hallway as Tobin stood opposite of her, covered only by a towel. She felt completely out of control in that moment. Her mind told her to look away, ignore the girl in front of her, but she couldn’t. Tobin didn’t have to just be wearing a towel for Christen to notice her. Christen was drawn to Tobin. Period. Like a moth to a flame. A moth to a smoking hot flame. And no matter how hard she tried, which she tried very hard by the way, Christen couldn’t avoid Tobin. Or the way Tobin made her feel time and time again.
While she absentmindedly copies down notes into her notebook, Christen feels ashamed of herself for ever believing that Kelley’s allegedly fool-proof plan would work. How could it ever? Of course she would run into Tobin practically everywhere, that’s just how things have been working out lately. But even then, when she thought she could just check-out and shut Tobin out, Tobin kept trying and that was something Christen never could have anticipated. Probably because no one has ever really tried that hard to gain Christen’s attention before. Not even her friends from home. She flew under-the-radar and learned to feel used to not being noticed. So now, when a perfectly nice girl is vying for Christen’s companionship, Christen doesn’t know how to handle it and the only fool in this plan is herself.
Christen sighs exhaustedly as she props an elbow on her desk and leans her head against her hand. Now she just stares blankly at her professor as she twirls her pen in her fingers. How am I ever going to make it through college if I can’t even think past my dorm room door?
After class, lunch, and lazily hanging around her dorm room for a few hours, Christen gets ready to walk over to the practice fields to watch Kelley try to secure a spot on the soccer team. When a chilly gust of air blows in through the windows, she decides to throw on an old high school honors society sweatshirt before grabbing her backpack and heading out.
As she exits the residence hall, Christen is enveloped by the slightly crisp fall evening breeze. The temperatures have noticeably dropped from earlier in the day. Even though it takes her body a moment to get used to, the cooler air is a nice change from the usual hot temperatures during this time of the year.
Within just a couple minutes, she arrives to the practice fields. Considering it was such a short walk from her room, Christen begins to understand why so many soccer players live in her building. There she scans her eyes over three large plains of grass. On one field, the women’s field hockey team is scrimmaging. On another, a game of intramural ultimate frisbee has just gotten under way. And on the third, Christen spots clusters of girls with ponytails kicking balls around cones and tearing up the ground beneath their feet. Soccer tryouts.
Christen gradually makes her way to the metal bleachers parallel to the field. As she walks, she takes in the smell of the dewy grass and listens to the screeching of various whistles. She instantly feels a wave of comfort, it was not too long ago that she called places like this home. Her sanctuary even. But now, after years away, it no longer is. Now she is just a spectator, limited to the sidelines and prohibited from stepping onto the field that her feet so desperately ache for. This is her reality now, and she reluctantly accepts it as she sits down on the cold, unwelcoming bleacher.
She slides off her backpack and sets it beside her as she searches the field for Kelley. Soon enough, she spots her freckled roommate in a neon green scrimmage vest as she weaves her way through several defenders, occasionally getting a touch on the ball every now and again. Kelley is agile and seems to switch from offense to defense with relative ease. Christen is impressed. She seems like quite the utility player, versatile and smart on the ball. She can read the game well enough and she has the speed to cover a lot of ground when she’s beat. Any coach would be an idiot not to have her on their team.
After a few more minutes of play, a defender from the opposite team clears the ball in her final third and sends it rolling in Christen’s direction. Instinctively, she jumps up from her seat on the bleacher and runs to block the ball’s path. Seconds later, the ball arrives at her feet and she traps it with her left foot. Just feeling the ball under the sole of her shoe is enough to put a smile on her face. This feels good. I’ve missed this.
When Christen picks her head up again, she sees a player trotting over to collect the ball. The girl pauses about 30 yards away, waiting for Christen to kick the ball back. As Christen’s eyes focus on the girl’s face under the harsh, overhead field lights, she recognizes her right away. Shock is the only thing Christen feels now. I didn’t think she would be here.
Tobin stands patiently as she smiles over at Christen, still waiting for her to return the ball. Christen takes a deep breath and resettles her mind. Casually, her left foot slips off the ball and like a loaded spring, Christen’s right foot launches the ball forward. It lands perfectly at Tobin’s feet; she didn’t have to move an inch. A surprised and impressed expression appears on Tobin’s face. She offers Christen an acknowledging and thankful wave before turning around and making her way back to the field. Christen hesitates slightly before she walks back over to the bleachers and takes her seat again.
Once she sits, her brain fills with questions. What’s Tobin doing here? I thought this was an open tryout. What would Tobin be doing at an open tryout if she’s already on the team? That doesn’t make any sense. Unless…
Christen’s eyes roam the group of sweaty girls again as she seeks an answer to her latest thought. She finds it.
Gathered in a small cluster near the bench, Christen sees Kling, Alex, Sarah, and Ali stretching out and occasionally squirting water or Gatorade into their mouths. Their faces are slightly tinted red and they seem to be breathing heavily. Looks like they’re cooling down from a work out. Did they have practice during tryouts? Is that what’s going on? I’m so confused…
One loud, final whistle blares and all the girls on the field cease their previous movements. One of the coaches yells out some orders that Christen can’t understand and the girls huddle around him in the middle of the field. After a few minutes, the group breaks apart and the women disperse in various different directions. Wait, is it over already? That was quick.
Eventually Kelley comes into view and her face lights up when she sees Christen. She excitedly jogs over to the bleachers to meet her roommate.
“Hey, you made it!” Kelley exclaims between staggered breaths. Christen smiles at her friend’s exhausted enthusiasm.
“Yeah, I told you I’d be here, didn’t I?” Christen nonchalantly returns like it’s no big deal. Because it’s not. Friends support each other, or at least, they’re supposed to anyway.
“Still” Kelley pants, desperately trying to catch her breath, “It’s cool that you came. It means a lot to me, roomie.”
“No problem” Christen earnestly replies, “It was an honor to watch you kill it out there. Like seriously, Kels, you’ve got some real talent in that smallish body of yours.” Kelley lets out a winded laugh and then curtsies modestly in front of Christen. Christen giggles at Kelley’s knack for flare when a girl with boy-cut blonde hair walks past the two. Kelley perks up mischievously like a cat about to pounce.
“Hey Pinoe!” she calls after the girl. The blonde stops and looks over in Kelley’s direction. “See!” Kelley yells as she gestures to Christen on the bleachers, “I told you my cheerleader would show up!” Really Kelley? The girl, or Pinoe as it was, looks Christen up and down before glancing back over to Kelley.
“Niiice!” she grins as she gives Kelley a thumbs up and turns to walk back towards the direction of the bench. Christen shakes her head as she covers her face in embarrassment. Did that just happen?
“I can’t believe you actually told people that” Christen mutters from under the hands shielding her face. Kelley chuckles.
“I’m a woman of my word” she retorts with a shrug. Christen looks back up as Kelley brings her shirt collar to her face and attempts to wipe some of the sweat away.
“A woman of too many words if you ask me” Christen teasingly shoots back. Kelley only responds by stripping off her sweaty scrimmage vest and chucking it at Christen’s head. Christen leans out of the way as the small, balled-up piece of fabric floats to the bleacher seat behind her. “It’s a good thing you’re a soccer player because that throw was weak.” Kelley narrows her eyes at Christen.
“I’d watch what you say if I were you” she jokingly threatens, “I know where you sleep, Pressy.” Christen laughs and Kelley exchanges her menacing façade for a smirk. “Anyway, I should probably go get my things out of the way so the rest of the team can practice. Are you good waiting here until I get back?” Christen nods in approval. So I was right, the team is having a practice here.
“Cool, I’ll be back in a few” Kelley states before taking off towards the bench. Christen watches as Kelley high-fives a few players in the process. Oh she’s definitely on the team.
As she waits for her roommate, Christen gazes out towards the practice field once again. The team has already begun with some drills and one group is even in the middle of a scrimmage. Christen looks around for familiar faces. Soon she finds Alex. She’s at the top of the field as she seems to be throwing the backline of the opposing team into an absolute frenzy. Parallel to Alex is Sarah, she makes several different runs as the ball moves across the field. Those two are forwards for sure.
Then Christen’s eyes follow the ball to a short, brown-haired defender. Kling. She holds the ball for a brief moment, allowing her teammates to reset. Then she pushes up the left flank. There’s a left back if I’ve ever seen one.
When Kling can’t find an open teammate, she passes to a blonde center back who immediately switches fields. The pass is a little in front of the right side defender but the girl speedily bounds forward and retrieves the ball. That’s definitely Ali. Alright so Ali’s a right back, that makes sense.
After Ali passes, the center mids pinball the ball back and forth for a bit before finally sending it to the right flank. There, a girl gets the perfect first touch on the ball and seamlessly launches into the attack. As she dribbles, her feet dance beside the ball, always seemingly in control even when trapped in extremely tight spaces. Finally, the girl races for the end line, beats her defender, and places a beautiful cross into the box. The ball finds Alex’s head and soon the back of the net. The scoring team celebrates as the girl finally turns towards Christen’s direction, revealing her identity. Tobin. Midfielder. Of Course.
Once her teammates break apart from huddling around her, Tobin looks to the bleachers and her eyes connect with Christen’s. Christen feels out of place, like she wasn’t worthy of just witnessing such gorgeously orchestrated soccer, but Tobin’s warm smile reassures her. I could watch her play like that forever.
It’s only when the coach’s whistle blows and the players reset to continue with the scrimmage that Tobin breaks her gaze. Christen is astonished. Yeah, she knew Tobin played soccer, but she didn’t know Tobin played soccer like that. It was unlike anything Christen has ever seen before. The perfect mixture of skill and passion. She played with extreme precision, but with a flare uniquely her own. That’s how soccer ought to be played.
As the ball starts rotating around the field again, Kelley approaches dressed in her sweats and a toting one large duffel bag.
“Ready to go?” Kelley asks as she arrives beside Christen. Christen nods as she reluctantly pulls her eyes from Tobin’s majestic running form to Kelley’s expectant gaze.
“Yeah” she answers, “Sure.”