Five days later

After class, Kealia got back to her dorm, a smile on her lips : ever since the former seniors have graduated, she knew she finally would be in a starting position. She knew she couldn't be compared to people like Wambach or Leroux, or even Rodriguez, who were directing an attacking counter that was said to be the best in the whole tournament. They also are the reason why the team was having this little trouble advancing further and further.

When the blonde opens her dorm's door - that she shares with juniors Kristie, Kling and Kelsey - she finds her teammates crawling on their beds, watching a game on TV. Kealia immediately recognizes Juventus' colors, and know Kling was probably the one insisting to watch it. She smirks, before throwing an envelope at them, containing the roster for Wednesday's game. For a Friday night, the campus was abnormally calm.

Kling immediately grabs the envelope and unfolds it. When she sees her name on the starting eleven, she starts dancing around the dorm, before handing it to Kelsey and Kristie, who once again are substitutes.

"Gibby made the roster" Kristie says, quite surprised.

Of course Kelsey is the one saying : "She deserves it. That kid can play. No wonder she's Broon's new pupil."

"What do you mean ?" Kealia asks.

The goalie smirks.

"Well, she's like a mini-Becky, and a younger version of JJ, so my guess is that Becky is gonna raise her as well."

"We all know Becky is raising the whole back line, except from me" Kling says, rolling her eyes. "I mean, Dahlkemper and Oyster also are her babies."

"She ain't raising you because you're a lost cause" Kelsey lets out, raising her eyebrow.

Kling only smirks, but doesn't say anything. But Kealia, who is looking at the roster a little bit closer, suddenly realizes something.

"She changed the formation"

"4-3-3 ?" Kelsey asks.

Kealia nods.

After a few minutes, the four girls leave their room. They are set to join some of the gals for an team-bonding dinner. When they arrive to the place they're expected, they find Tobin, Allie, Kelley and Ash already here. They greet her by high-fiving them, before sitting down around the wooden table.

Tobin looks at Kealia for a while, before saying :

"Ready for our home opener, Ohai ?" she asks, smirking.

"Yah"

The forward can see her teammates nod, before they start talking about something else. She never has been the easiest girl to make friends with, but now that she spent two years in UCLA already, Kealia safely can say she belongs here.

Like everybody does.

*

The scene is set.

After Jill's usual speech, the girls go on the field to warm up for about thirty minutes. On the other side of the pitch, the UVA team is already set, with a leading Morgan Brian and an excellent Emily Sonnett in defense. Their team also has Sofia Huerta, Danny Colaprico and Andressa, who all are extremely talented. UCLA knows that.

On the stands, over 3'000 supporters are already here. The women's soccer team has earned herself some fans those past few years. They now are the most viewed and liked team on campus, all sports included. In other words, UCLA campus is an exception, and has been renamed the 'home of soccer'. As the fans are already chanting, the girls are focused on their warm ups.

Especially Gibby, who is having a hard time not freaking out.

On the stands to support their team are Megan, Jane, Rose and Mal. Neither of them is bitter about not playing today : Megan has just been traded here after a first year in USC, while the three other girls just got here. Gibby is an exception though, but since Jill needed four defenders, she called her up. Abby could've played, but a minor back injury is keeping her on the bench today.

Also on the stands are a few other athletes, including the whole american football team, lead by JJ Watt (Kealia's boyfriend) and Zach Ertz (Julie's boyfriend). The two convinced their teammates to come to a game once, and despite their reluctantly because it was women's soccer, the guys now are their biggest fans. Becky's boyfriend Zola is also on the team, but not here today. The girls from the volleyball's team are also here, especially French student Laure Boulleau, who is rumored to be Tobin's crush.

In other words : the girls couldn't lose today, otherwise those 3'000+ people coming to see them would be disappointed. And Tobin knows that very well. As she is putting her cleats on, only ten minutes from the beginning of the game, she sees Allie sit down next to her.

"Laure's here" the blonde says, smirking.

Tobin silently nods.

"Some Stanford chicks also found their way here" Julie points out, her eyes locked on the stands.

The two Harry turn around simultaneously, only to find out Julie's right : 5 players from the Stanford team are here, being Haley Kopmeyer, Shelina Zadorsky, Sam Mewis, Alex Morgan and Melissa Henderson (whose boyfriend appears to be on the same team than Zach and Watt). After spotting them, Becky immediately grows angry.

As the captain is about to lose her shit and walk straight at them to tell them to get the hell away from here, Ash restrains her from doing so.

"We will show them what we're capable of, captain. Don't worry." the goalie says in a calm tone.

"They're not welcome here" Becky says, bitter. She then shakes her head. "I'm okay with Henderson and Mewis number two, but the three others are just here to cause trouble. Especially that Zadorsky girl."

"Oh, I thought she was the chillest one of them all tho" Kelsey says, looking their way.

"She is not." Becky coldly says

Neither Kelsey or Ash feel like saying otherwise, so the girls fall in total silence. As they are called to do the pregame ritual, Tobin and Allie start walking toward their team. In the process, Tobin's eyes meet Laure's, who is smiling at her. The middy cracks a shy smiles, before deciding it's best to ignore her because she'd be too much of a distraction.

After saying good luck to all players, the girls get into position, as the substitutes join the bench. But either of the four has the time to sit down, because Allie's first touch of the game consists in firing a shot right in the upper corner of the goal.

UCLA leads 1-0 in the 1rst minute, under a burning sun, a crazy crowd and a hugging team.

*

Right after their 3-1 (Long, Heath & Horan for UCLA, Brian for UVA) win against UVA, and as Lindsey is joining Moe and Emily, her two childhood friends, and some other girls are greeting some of their friends, Becky walks straight at the Stanford players, who still are there. Ash and Kelley are right behind her.

Because they know Becky doesn't swallow her words.

"How many times to I have to tell you you are not welcome here ?" she snaps at the players.

Kopmeyer and Alex immediately burst into laughter, as Shelina's eyes are just locked on Becky, pretty insisting. As far as Melissa and SMew are concerned, they are just with either their boyfriends or sister. Speaking of which, we can say the Mewis sisters are having a heated conversation, as Abby is holding Steph back so that she doesn't bring any more drama into the conversation.

Those laughs just upsets Becky as well, but not only.

"At least show us respect" Ash harshly says, eye-killing Alex Morgan.

The forward is not impressed.

"I'm sorry, but we are in a free country, so we can freely come-"

"We are not. Not when Trump is president. So, bye." the goalie insists, sarcastically throwing shade at the brunette.

As Alex is about to say something again, Shelina puts her hand on her arm. And that just makes Becky lose her shit.

"I swear if you're not gone in five seconds I will kick your asses" she yells, as people are turning around, confused.

Of course everybody near them heard that. Even though Becky talked to all three Stanford players, her eyes remain locked on Shelina. Zach, who isn't far away from here, calls his guys and immediately jogs toward Becky. He knows how she is because she basically is Julie's sister and always hangs out with her ; he knows that she might just lose her shit when she's upset, especially if it's against Stanford.

But Ash, who is here as well, is supporting her teammate one hundred percent. She takes a step ahead and looks at Kopmeyer straight in the eyes.

"We came here to see our almost-new acquisitions play, that's all" Shelina calmly says, trying to calm things down.

"Stanford is not welcome here !" one of the guys from Zach's team yells.

Soon the Stanford players are surrounding the three girls, and Alex isn't that talkative. Shelina, who is just in font of the guys, take a step back, but people are all around them. She bumps into some girl from the basketball team.

A girl that hates being bumped into.

"Are you for real bitch ?" she yells, before setting her jaw.

Shelina starts fearing them. "S-sorry, I didn't mean to-"

"Bitch say what ?"

As people are getting closer and closer to Shelina, Becky suddenly feels the urge to get her body in between the basketball girl and the Canadian.

"Easy, you don't touch her" Becky orders in a cold tone.

In the process of protecting Shelina, Becky's hand suddenly touches the brunette's arm, and she shivers. She then takes her hand back, only to eye-kill the girl in front of her. Of course Becky is respected in the entire campus, so the girl stands still.

But when Alex is about to say something, Becky turns around to face her. She then smirks and says :

"But you can hit that one."

With that said, she grabs Shelina's arm and pulls her away from the growing crowd. The girl from the basketball team says something, before Alex answers something. Soon, there is a big movement and some screams, which means the two girls are now fighting. But Becky doesn't really want to see this, so she keeps on walking.

Once she finds a wall to hide behind, she pushes Shelina against it and says :

"Never come back here again."

As the captain is already walking away, she is pulled back by Shelina, who is beyond confused.

"Thank you. For saving my ass" she says, and her usual confidence is now gone. Becky suddenly loses herself into the ocean eyes that are Shelina's. The Canadian stared right into the captain's eyes, and says : "I didn't have a choice. Lloyd sent me here to watch our soon-to-be newbies, I swear."

"I don't believe you" Becky whispers, serious.

Shelina suddenly takes a step forward, and puts a lock of Becky's hair behind her ears, a shy smile on her lips.

"I will see you on the pitch."

After she starts walking away, Becky is snapped out of her thoughts and yells :

"Take your freaking dogs with you please."

Shelina doesn't turn around.

Becky sighs : she knows she's in trouble. Everybody will know I am the one ordering that girl to hit that Morgan bitch. But what can I say ? Suddenly, something else pops to her mind : people are going to wonder why I protected Shelina. And that realization becomes real when she sees the look on Ash and Kelley's faces when Becky finally comes back. Security has done its job, and the basketball girl has been brought somewhere else.

Ash has her arms crossed against her chest.

"You owe me an explanation" the goalie coldly says.

"I don't owe you shit" Becky answers, like the badass she really is. "I will see you tomorrow at training, and until then you keep your mouth shut, understood ?"

Ash sighs. "Understood."

{

.}