"Lindsey, what actual fuck?" Allie asked again, her hands tangled in her blonde hair in distress. Mal's head was in her hands and Steph and Alex were both as white as a sheet, staring at the woman on the bed in shock. Lindsey bit her lip and sunk farther into the comforting cushions on her hospital bed. 

"Allie, I'm not going to apologize for it. I'm not sorry for anything..." Lindsey declared softly, her cheeks pink. She knew how the other girls saw it, but they couldn't change how the woman felt. 

"We know you're not," Alex said firmly, her eyebrows drawn tightly together. "But a teacher? Really, Lindsey? And not just a teacher, our coach!" She glared down at the younger woman. 

Lindsey's face burned bright red and looked down, studying her half eaten pudding cup. She was quiet, and the other women knew they had pushed too far. She was already feeling enough shame without their scornful comments. It was understandable, of course, their reaction. "Will you tell anybody?" Lindsey asked quietly after a minute, looking up with her blue green eyes filled with tears. 

Allie glanced at the three other girls, who were both looking down at the tiled hospital floor. Alex nodded. "Of course we won't," she promised, smiling faintly at Lindsey. 

"But be careful..." The blonde warned, her words almost inaudible. "You're taking a horrible risk." 

-

Today was the first practice that Hope had with the Seattle Reign. She was taking a month and a half away from New York to spend time with her new team, yet was still required to do schoolwork. It wouldn't be the same though. The actual season didn't start until March of the next year (it was almost the middle of December now, and quite warm, which was surprising), but the Reign wanted to get a head spot and work with their multiple newbies beforehand. 

Hope didn't know how she would survive without the constant support of her girlfriend, Carli, and her best friend, Alex, that she was used to. The two women had always been there to bring her up and encourage her to do her best. They always were there to hang out, or even just to hug. But now, Hope had no one.

Is this what it's like in the real world?  Hope questioned as she slid her socks over her shin guards in the locker room for the Seattle Reign. 

So far, Hope had been noticed by two people; the head coach, Laura Harvey, and Hope's kind of friend, Amy Rodriguez, whom she had met at the draft. Both had been very happy to see her, and welcomed her with a hug. But that was it. No goalkeeper coach, other teammate or captain approached her for a solid hour as Laura Harvey went over the season's plans and regulations. 

Training began shortly, and Hope made her way to the goal, following the other keepers; Michelle Betos and Haley Kopmeyer on her way. The two women both slipped their gloves on their hands and Hope did the same, with less class. 

After about three hundred saves, a bloody nose and mud covering her from head to toe, Hope inhaled an entire water bottle and walked back to the locker room, thankful her first day of training had ended. 

She quickly took off her socks and shinguards, speeding to the showers only to see all of them taken. Hope sighed heavily, reminiscing over the practice while she stood. 

Haley Kopmeyer, the third string goalkeeper, approached Hope from behind and waited with her. "What do you think?" Haley asked, grinning at the senior. 

Hope nodded. "I'm exhausted. But it was great," she answered simply. Haley chuckled. "Most are exhausted after their first day. But don't worry, you'll get used to it. You're pretty good." 

"Thanks," Hope responded quietly, barely having the energy to speak. Her arms were aching, her legs were wobbly and there was a thunderous pounding in her head. When Hope headed back to her family home where she was staying for the season, the keeper knew she would need at least five advils to reduce the pain. 

Haley noticed the worn-out glass in Hope's eyes, and thought twice before proposing something. "Later tonight," she started. "Do you want to go out to dinner? Me and Michelle were thinking about inviting you and picking you up around seven, but she was too scared to..."

Hope raised an eyebrow. "Scared? Of me?" 

Haley nodded, shrugging. 

That shocked Hope a little. She had never thought about herself as an intimidating person, but now that she knew that's what her teammates thought, it kind of made sense. All the girls that refused to look her in the eyes back at NYU, even sometimes her own friends would study the ground instead of Hope's piercing blue eyes. 

"Yeah, that sounds good," she smiled, accepting the dinner invitation from the older woman. 

Haley gave a tight lipped smile and motioned to the shower that had just opened up. Hope nodded and slipped around the curtain. 

The rest of the afternoon went by slowly as Hope trailed around the inside of her childhood home. Her mother was spending some time in Portland with Hope's late father's parents, and Hope's older brother Marcus was studying at a University near Walla Walla, Washington. Judy Solo, her mother, would be returning in two weeks, but until that point, Hope had the house to herself. 

As she wandered the first floor, she realized that the house didn't feel like hers. It was emptier than it had been in a while, and a layer of dust had collected on various tables and countertops. The family portrait that had always rested next to the front door had been taken down, most likely because Hope's mother couldn't stand looking at photos of her passed husband.  

Hope unlocked the medicine cabinet that was hidden in the dirty kitchen, and threw four and a half purple tablets into her mouth, drinking half a glass of water to wash them down. After she had gotten that out of the way, Hope studied the kitchen, silently observing the piles of plates, forks, cups, and mugs in the tiny sink. 

Judy Solo hated parties, so this led Hope to believe that the dishes hadn't been done in over three weeks, the time when she had flew back to New York after her father's funeral. 

Hope groaned quietly. She had a lot of cleaning to do before Haley and Michelle came to pick her up at seven.