DESPITE BEING THE VICE CAPTAIN of the soccer team, Lorraine was nowhere near the best player. Lottie had the best footwork, able to control the ball expertly while also completely distracting the people tailing her. Shauna was the fastest, she could get the ball from one end of the field to the other in ten seconds flat. Taissa was the best all-arounder, and she knew it too. Lorraine had stamina, because Shauna could get the ball from the enemy goal to their own in ten seconds but if you tried to pass the ball to her after she'd be sloppy. Lorraine took slightly longer but she could push herself for more. That was probably why she'd made VC. 

She was a little surprised that Taissa hadn't been asked to fill the position, both with how strong of a player she was and how much sheer determination the girl had. But even more than that, she was surprised that Taissa hadn't been asked to be captain. Jackie Taylor was lovely, but she was nowhere near the best player on the team. Lorraine figured it was because Jackie clearly loved soccer the most. They all loved the sport, but Jackie seemed to be really passionate about it. 

Either way, Coach Martinez had selected Jackie Taylor as the captain of the Yellowjackets and Lorraine as the vice-captain for some reason. That meant that Jackie and Lorraine had to be at practice nearly an hour earlier and stay an hour later than the other girls, which Jackie hated and Lorraine didn't mind. It wasn't like she had anywhere else to be. 

What she did mind, though, was having to field all the complaints. They didn't get many, most of the girls preferred to just talk shit behind each others' backs and then forget about it later, but that apparently didn't apply to Allie. 

Jackie was late so it was just the two of them in the locker room. Allie was talking way too loud and way too fast for a Friday afternoon. Lorraine hadn't slept very well that night, admittedly, she hadn't been trying very much. If she stayed up all night Thursday night then she'd sleep all through Friday night, it was the only way she'd be well-rested for states the next day. Classes had ended less than ten minutes ago but Allie was already waiting for Lorraine when she arrived. 

"I had trigonometry," she'd said, like that was an explanation. 

She was pretending to write down everthing Allie said on her clipboard but really she was absentmindedly scribbling the lyrics to 'Zombie' by The Cranberries and nodding solemly. 

"I just feel like we can be putting in a lot more effort, appearance-wise," Allie said seriously, as though she was about to cry. "You know, like, I know you're old now but you don't even wear makeup to practice anymore. And Natalie! She refuses to wear white shoes like the rest of us, like, we're a team we need to look like one. And, to be completely honest, I don't look like I'm part of this team." She gestured to her outfit. Lorraine had seen every single piece of clothing that Allie was wearing on Lottie or Jackie before. Allie wasn't very subtle. 

"Allie, we have two practices every day," Lorraine sighed. "I'm a senior, I don't have time to be getting ready four times a day. I have two jobs and I'm taking 5 AP classes. Nat's boots work, and that's all we need them for. We have literally one dress code rule here." She put her clipboard down and stood up, she could hear voices coming in, no doubt Taissa wanting to practice one of her 'inspiring' speeches. "Wear the fucking uniform."

She left Allie on the bench and went into a stall, pulling her socks up over her calfs. She tried to take as long as possible getting dressed so that there would at least be someone in the locker room other than Allie by the time she got up. Once she heard other voices, Lorraine left the stall, giving polite smiles to Shauna and Jackie as they chatted with each other. Jackie most likely didn't even remember she was thirty-five minutes late, but also Lorraine didn't care. Jackie was a good captain, she cared about the game. 

Mari finally showed up ten minutes before practice was due to start, still with water-flour mixture under her nails. Mari having home-ec on Friday afternoons meant she usually had some baked good for her and Lorraine to destroy in the back seat of the car on the way home. Lorraine already felt nauseous. 

"We made pecan pie," she said apologetically. "It was either pecan or apple and normally I'd pick apple but it's my mom's birthday on Sunday and she loves pecans so it's just this once I promise."

Lorraine waved her off. "You're all good. I wouldn't have been able to eat the apple anyway." She said casually. 

Mari frowned. "Why not?"

Lorraine hadn't realised how concerned Mari would be if she mentioned she felt unwell, so she scrambled to make something up. "I went on Allie's bullshit juice cleanse or whatever."

Allie brightened and Lorraine forgot that they were mad at each other. "You did? It's great right? I feel so light."

Probably because you're fifteen years old, Lorraine thought bitterly. Allie was the only freshman to make varsity, and she never let anyone forget it. Most of the freshmen and the sophomores got put on JV, but they were short a player so Coach Martinez had let Allie move up way earlier than the rest of them. That meant that for the rest of the team, people who had started at the bottom, paid their dues and worked their way up to varsity, Allie was absolutely insufferable. She was good at soccer, though, so they put up with her. 

The entire team was dressed and ready by the time Coach Martinez sent Misty in to go get them. Misty was the equipments manager, but Lorraine wouldn't say she was part of the team. Misty was more like a teacher, if she was honest. A seventeen-year-old really lame teacher.

"Alright girls," they were all huddled together. It had rained the night before, and Lorraine and Lottie had watched the water roll down the sides of Lottie's car. Normally they'd kneel on the grass, but none of them wanted to get wet, so they stood in a circle. 

With states the next day Coach Martinez had them training every day, twice a day. Lorraine had been pretty sore for the first few days of their new regimen, but it didn't help that she was doing multiple hours of cardio at home. Having a house with a completely empty backyard was beneficial when you needed to run laps while reading your calculus textbook. Now, she was mainly just tired, she needed sleep. She was on top of her homework and she was sleeping in her own bed at home that night, so by the morning she'd be right as rain. 

"Girls, I just want to say that I'm so proud of you all." Coach Martinez did not want to coach girls soccer, it was obvious to everyone who saw him on the field. But unfortunately for him, not enough boys signed up for the soccer team, so they cut the program, leaving him to either coach the girls varsity team or find a job at a different school. "I always knew you kids had it in you."

Mari and Lorraine exchanged dubious looks. 

"I'm more proud of you than I am of my own sons," he said solemly. Lorraine couldn't blame him if she was being honest. She'd only met one of his sons, the oldest, and she couldn't really imagine that Travis "Flex" Martinez was doing much to make dad proud. "And I know that you're gonna go out there tomorrow morning and play the best that you've ever played, and I know that because you're gonna give me the best practice you've ever given me. Am I clear?"

"Yes, coach!" The girls chorused, a few of them letting out whoops. 

They said a prayer at Laura Lee's suggestion, as they did before every practice, and then immediately went onto drills. Sprints, dribbling, goals, defense, offense, more sprints. The team was split into small groups based off what they had already done that afternoon and what they needed to work on before the game. Lorraine had just finished running laps when she collapsed on the bench, grabbing her water bottle with an open mouthed gasp. 

She checked her watch. They only had half an hour until the end of practice and Lorraine had never been more grateful that she owned a car. She took a few deep breaths, almost fantasizing about what her bed would be like, when she heard yelling. 

Taissa was furious, sending a red hot glare straight into Allie's eyes. Lorraine had never been on the receiving end of a glare that intense, but even she knew not to fuck with Taissa. Allie seemed indifferent, but her hands were shaking. Jackie had her hand on Taissa's shoulder, trying to calm her down. 

Lorraine groaned to herself and stumbled over, almost slipping on the still-dewey grass. She had blades of the stuff stuck to her legs, she'd need to shower before she let herself lay down. "What happened?"

"Taissa's upset she can't be the centre of attention," Allie huffed. "Other people are allowed to do things, too, Taissa! It's a team."

"Allie's a fucking ball hog," Taissa snapped. "I know that you only have little legs but it is not that hard to kick it to me."

"The goal was right in front of me!" Allie rolled her eyes.

"We were practicing passing," Taissa yelled. "The point of the drill is to pass the fucking ball! Are you hearing this shit?"

"Okay, Tai, walk it off." Jackie sent Taissa to the bench Lorraine had just left. "Allie, we know you're a good shooter. We know. I saw you twenty minutes ago in front of Van, you didn't miss once!"

Allie gave a small, proud smile. "No, I didn't."

Jackie smiled warmly at her. "But soccer isn't just about scoring goals, or it would be a two player game. The rest of us are on your side, sometimes it is okay to give up control of the ball," she said gently. "You don't have to prove anything to any of us."

Allie softened. "Right. It's just Taissa's so pushy. It's like she thinks she has something to prove." She chuckled. "I mean other than..." she trailed off, hoping for one of the other girls to fill in the gap. Neither of them did.

"Yeah, Tai's a go-getter." Jackie said affectionately. "But we all are. We're the best team in the fucking state. Taissa just likes to make sure that other people can see that."

Allie smiled politely at that, realising neither Jackie nor Lorraine was going to talk shit about Taissa (at least, not right in that exact moment. Right in front of Allie). She went back to her drill and Lorraine stretched her shoulders. "Who's the game against, again?"

Jackie pushed her gently. "You don't know? I thought you were the organised one, it's against Evans-"

"Oh, so it is another school?" Lorraine nodded. "Right now it feels very much like Allie vs everybody else. You know she came to me to complain that I don't wear makeup to practice?"

Jackie wrinkled her nose as the two of them walked back towards the bench. "She's fifteen, what did you expect?" As they reached Taissa, Jackie sighed. "You know, I might actually miss this next year. Not, like, this school, obviously. But things like this. After school practices, and bitching about freshmen. Being able to see Jeff every day."

"I thought you were breaking up with Jeff?" Taissa asked sarcastically. Jackie had told them about her plan to break up with her longterm boyfriend Jeff Sadecki for weeks now, regaling them at least every few days with how she needed to start college as her own woman - a single woman. She still hadn't gone through with it. Lorraine could tell she loved Jeff, and she had no real idea why Jackie was so intent on dumping him before she started at Rutgers next fall. 

"Exactly!" Jackie nodded. "I don't want anything tying me down, you know?"

Lorraine and Taissa exchanged looks, and Lorraine hid her smile. "I think Shauna wants you." She gestured over to Shauna who had just finished her final round of sprints and was looking like she was trying to find someone other that Jackie to talk to. 

Jackie beamed at her best friend and jogged towards her, leaving the other two to sit in silence. 

"We've got this, right?" Taissa didn't look at her when she spoke.

Lorraine didn't even hesitate. "Obviously. Dana, this girl I work with, goes to Jefferson. They played Evans last week and she said they ate shit. Like, their goalie literally fell over and got a face full of grass. We're fine."

Taissa cracked a very rare smile. 

────────── ⋆˚✿˖° author's note
i feel like i am finally sort of getting the character's voices down, i don't know why, but i lowkey struggled with that in the first 2 chapters so i am quite pleased with how this turned out. also, sorry for the travis and misty slander, it's lorraine not me </3 that's my girl right there (admittedly travis is a bit🧍‍♂️but aren't we all sometimes) also i stole the high school names from the episode of criminal minds i watched while i wrote this because i have no idea what y'all call ur schools, i do know there's like a weird president thing you have so i threw in a jefferson because he was the first president i thought of. here we just do like [place name] high 💀 so please forgive me