Adultnapped
In the end, Tobin only hangs out in Christen’s room for about 30 minutes after returning to the residence hall. If they’re both being completely honest, the dinner with Christen’s family seems to have worn them both out. That and because Tobin says she has something planned for early in the morning are the two reasons the girls decide to call it quits for the night. So just as soon as she came, Tobin leaves, but not before reassuring Christen once again that the evening wasn’t a total bust.
As Christen prepares to get ready for bed, Kelley finally returns to the room with her arms full of gifts and her eyes puffy from crying. Even though they’ve been at college for a few weeks now, saying goodbye to their families isn’t that much easier than before. When Kelley sets down the jumble of gift bags and tissue paper, Christen is immediately at her side, pulling the girl into a hug. Neither one of the roommates say anything. Instead, they just enjoy the company of the other as they try to remind themselves that they aren’t alone in their feelings of missing their loved ones.
After chatting for a while with a combination of light-hearted joking and longing tears, sleep overcomes them both.
In the morning, Christen is awoken by the sound of her door creaking open. Initially, she thinks nothing of it. She figures Kelley just had to use the restroom and was returning to bed. However, When Christen rolls over to her side, she sees her roommate across the room, sound asleep and limp as a corpse. As Christen’s brain begins to wake up, she gradually becomes more conscious of problem in this situation. Wait a second, if Kelley’s sleeping over there then who’s… Oh my god! Someone’s breaking into the room!
Christen’s body tenses up, paralyzed with fear. Her eyes search desperately around the room for something to use as a weapon. Something, anything, to defend herself. There’s a lamp in the corner, but can I get to it? Or wait, I think there’s a hammer under my bed, could I use that?
The door creaks open even more and a tall shadow dances in from the hallway. Shit! They’re really coming in! Should I scream? Maybe someone will hear me and come help. Yeah, I should scream. I should definitely scream.
Just as Christen is about to wail away for help, more shadows stream in from outside her door. Christen’s words get caught in her throat and her heart beat pounds loudly in her ears. Oh my god! Holy shit! Holy fucking shit!
Dark figures slowly enter the small room, quietly whispering amongst themselves. Christen is too frantic to count how many, but she knows she and Kelley are clearly outnumbered and extremely vulnerable. Oh god, what do I do? What do I do?!
Christen’s body shakes uncontrollably as every fiber of her being screams for her to run. To get out. Now. As the figures continue into the room, they seem to ignore Christen’s side and beeline straight for Kelley, who at this point is still blissfully asleep and completely unaware of the dangerous situation she is smack dab in the middle of. Christen now feels a burst of adrenaline flash through her veins. I need to protect her. I can’t let them hurt her. She needs to wake up. I need to wake her up!
At the same time Christen opens her mouth to bellow a vicious warning to the intruders, a loud voice beats her to the punch.
“KELLEY O’HARA!” the voice booms, immediately jolting the innocent sleeping girl awake. They know Kelley? Oh shit, who did she piss off? She really needs to be more careful with what she says to people, it could land her in trouble. It has landed her in trouble!
“Jesus fucking – ” Kelley yells as she looks up and her eyes instantly widen with alarm. Kelley looks frightened. Genuinely frightened. But only for a second before the worried muscles in her face seem to relax. She recognizes them? Who are they? What do they want?
“It is time” One of the other mystery figures declares. Time? Time for what?!
“Are you ready to accept you fate?” Another asks Kelley. Kelley seems a lot calmer now, maybe even a little bit excited as she nods. Accept her fate? What fate? I’m so confused? Who are these people? And what are they doing in our room?! Christen’s curiosity replaces her fear and she begins to feel fed up with how out-of-the-loop she is. Enough of this, I need answers, dammit!
“What the hell is going on?!” Christen bursts, her eyes feverishly burning into the backs of her unwelcomed guests. This time it’s the intruders’ turn to be surprised. A few of them jump as they turn to Christen, startled by the sudden outburst. By now, Christen’s eyes have better adjusted to the dark, so when they face her, she can inspect their features much more accurately than before. For some reason, her eyes are drawn to one figure in particular. Christen stares intensely at this one until their eyes connect. Christen involuntarily lets out a relieved breath she didn’t know she was holding all this time. I know those eyes.
“Whoa, shit. Christen calm down, it’s only us” a familiar voice sounds out as they switch on the lights from across the room. After reactively blinking a few times, Christen looks in the direction of the voice and sees Kling with her hand on the light switch.
“Calm down?” Christen sourly retorts, “You want me to calm down? I thought you guys were fucking thugs breaking into our room! How can you possibly expect me to be calm right now?!” Christen’s firey eyes scan the group, recognizing some faces and failing to recall others. Then her eyes find their way back the figure they were drawn to before. Back to Tobin.
The midfielder looks apologetic as she endures Christen’s harsh gaze. It’s almost as is she wants to tell Christen that she’s sorry, but at the same time she seems afraid that if she speaks, Christen might ripe her a new one. Which she might. Christen hasn’t made up her mind on that one just yet.
“Oooh Kling, big mistake. Don’t ever tell a girl to calm down. That’s just asking to get yourself mauled” a girl with short blonde hair comments from Kling’s side. Her name is Pinoe I think. At least somebody gets it.
“So is somebody going to tell me what the fuck is going on or...?” Christen simmers from her spot on her bed, obviously still seething with annoyance.
“It’s a part of team initiation” Tobin finally speaks after finding the courage to address one very ticked off Christen Press. “Every year we sneak into the new recruits’ rooms and gather them up to take them to our team induction ceremony. Did Kelley not mention that this could happen?” Kelley knew about this?
“No” Christen shortly returns while glancing over to her roommate, “I wasn’t aware.” A bunch of the girls let out frustrated or disappointed sighs as their eyes follow Christen’s and land on Kelley. The girl shifts uncomfortably in her seat.
“Really O’Hara? It’s no wonder why the poor girl was so upset, we probably gave her a heart attack!” Ali comments from the foot of Kelley’s bed. Thank you, Ali, you’ve always got my back. Kelley looks over to Christen sheepishly.
“Sorry?” she quietly apologizes. Christen just rolls her eyes and huffs out a breath of air.
“Yeah, yeah. Whatever you say” Christen nonchalantly replies as she fakes still being upset with the girl. In truth, Christen has already forgiven her, knowing full well how scatter-brained her roommate can be. But she keeps up the act a little longer, deciding to let the girl sweat it out a bit.
“Christen, I’m sorry! I meant to tell you, I really did! I was just about to the other day but then I saw that squirrel and – ” Kelley desperately pleas.
“Alright, that’s enough. Time to go, O’Hara” Sarah cuts her off as she reaches for Kelley’s shoulders. A few other girls join in and soon lift Kelley out of her bed and towards the hallway.
“Wait, no! Christen needs to know I’m sorry!” Kelley protests. Before her roommate is whisked through the doorframe, Christen’s eyes connect with Kelley’s and she sends her a smile to let her know that all is forgiven. Kelley relaxes slightly but continues to struggle in her teammates arms for no reason more than dramatic effect. The group carrying Kelley disappears into the hall and just a few players remain in the room.
“Christen, listen, we’re really sorry for scaring you like that” Kling solemnly states. Christen looks into the eyes of each of the remaining players and feels her heart soften a bit. They really do look like they’re sorry.
“It’s ok” Christen sighs after a moment’s pause, “I guess I forgive you.” The girls’ faces light up at Christen’s admission.
“Great” Tobin says as she smiles at Christen. Christen instinctively smiles back, but then Tobin and a few other girls exchange suspicious looks before they all direct their eyes to Christen once again. “I hope you can forgive us for this too.” What is she talking about?
Then Tobin and the other players circle around Christen’s bed. Soon she feels Tobin’s hand pull her up by her arms. What the hell is she doing?
“Grab her legs, Kling” Tobin instructs from over Christen’s shoulder. What?! Kling obediently obliges and immediately following the other girls grab hold of Christen’s body and hoist her into the air.
“Why are you taking me too? I’m not on the team!” Christen questions as the girls shuffle her out of the room. Tobin pulls the closed behind them.
“You were at tryouts” Tobin simply answers as she readjusts her grip on Christen so she can support her weight better.
“But I didn’t tryout!” Christen protests, becoming exceedingly overwhelmed with the situation and a little uncomfortable with the amount of strangers’ hands on her body.
“But you were there” Tobin knowingly retorts.
“Your logic makes no sense!”
“Sure it does” Tobin chuckles, “Now just go with it.”
“Just go with it? You’re abducting me against my will and you want me to just go with it?”
“Yep.”
Christen shakes her head. She knows that at this point it doesn’t matter what she says, Tobin isn’t going to let her go. Finally the group comes to a stop in front of the elevator. There, Christen sees the group carrying Kelley waiting patiently for the doors to open. It occurs to Christen that this is the only way of leaving the building because carrying a few girls down several flights of stairs is not the safest option. Kelley perks up when she spots her roommate.
“Pressy?! You’re the chosen one too?” Christen just nods as she catches a glimpse of Tobin’s amused smirk out of the corner of her eye.
“Apparently” Christen acknowledges.
“Well” Kelley begins again, this time with more somber emotion in her voice, “If this is how we die, I just want you to know that you’re the best roommate I’ve ever had.”
“Kelley, I’m the only roommate you’ve ever had.” Christen corrects.
“Exactly” Kelley confirms, pretending to be overcome with even more emotion, “The best!”
Christen rolls her eyes as the elevator dings and the crowd of girls pile inside.
After being carried all the way to the practice fields, yes, all the way to the practice fields, Christen’s feet meet the earth for the first time in what feels like forever. Each of the new recruits and Christen are wrangled to the center of the pitch where they are forced to participate in crazy activities and to recite a ridiculous oath. The new players are then awarded with their jerseys and Christen is given a homemade T-shirt that reads ‘Honorary Teammate’ on the front and ‘Permanent Bench-Warmer’ on the back. It’s completely childish and silly but Christen still laughs.
When the initiation is finally deemed concluded, the girls spread out amongst the bleachers and just hang out as a team. Snacks are passed around and the girls talk and laugh as the sun begins its ascension into the early morning sky. Christen takes in the light pink clouds and lingering stars as she feels someone sit on the bleacher to her left.
“So” Tobin begins as her eyes drift over to Christen’s profile, “Are you still mad at me for stealing you from your room and bringing you here?” Christen keeps her eyes forward as she attempts to suppress a smile.
“Yep” she deadpans, “I don’t know if I’ll ever be able to forgive you for this.”
“Not even after I gave you this super cool shirt?” Tobin playfully asks as she reaches over and tugs at the sleeve of the T-shirt Christen is now wearing over her other one.
“I suppose I could reconsider” Christen concedes, “Does it come with any interesting perks?” Tobin smirks as Christen finally turns to face her.
“Well” Tobin draws out, “You can come to practice whenever you want and should any of the other players get hurt and need to be subbed out…” Tobin pauses as Christen eagerly anticipates the rest of the sentence. “You can stay on the bleacher because technically you aren’t on the roster.” Christen frowns and Tobin chuckles.
“So basically this is just a good-for-nothing shirt” Christen states as she feigns dissatisfaction. Tobin shakes her head as her face contorts into a cheeky expression.
“Not good-for-nothing” she utters as she continues to play with the hem of Christen’s honorary shirt, “You look pretty adorable in it.” Christen playfully shoves Tobin’s hand away while simultaneously trying to hide the blush creeping to her cheeks. Chill, Christen, she was just teasing.
Not a moment later, Pinoe walks over and plops herself down on the bleacher right between Tobin and Christen.
“Hey, I’m happy to see that the two of you are getting along!” Pinoe greets as she slings her arms over both of their shoulders. “I thought Christen here was going to murder your sorry ass back in her room, Tobs.” Both Christen and Tobin chuckle.
“Me too. I’m glad she didn’t” Tobin admits from the opposite side of Pinoe.
“Same here” Pinoe agrees, “You’re a starter, we can’t afford to lose you before the season, buddy.” Tobin responds by raising her water bottle in solute. Then Pinoe shifts her eyes from Tobin to Christen. “Oh and Christen I’ve been meaning to ask you” she begins, “I have this dumbass on my floor that who blasts his subwoofers until three in the morning every night. You mind taking care of him for me?”
“Sure” Christen giggles, “Will do”
“Excellent” Pinoe states with a satisfied grin, “I knew I could count on you, killer.”