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GAME DAY

SEMI v HARVARD

Julie starts breathing heavily.

Her teammates have put some music on to get hype, but all she can think about is that this is their chance to shine. Their last chance to honor Kelley and Becky before they enter the Draft next week. She wants to offer her mentor victory. Becky deserves it. This teams deserves it after all they've been through this year. So in order not to worry other people, she isolates herself far from the other girls.

She is soon joined by Maro : after all that has been going on those last few weeks, the German has been the one person Julie needed to see in order to forget. After she told her everything about her family, sister and plan to come in UCLA to get revenge, the German only held her tight, until Julie had no tears left to cry.

The blonde looks down at Maro's tattooed arms, before falling into silence. But after several seconds, the brunette says :

"I've been offered a contract"

Julie immediately looks up at her, confused.

"What ? Where ?"

"Wolfsburg."

Her heart immediately drops, as she sets her jaw : the truth is that her immediate first thought is that she doesn't want the German gone. She shakes her head, trying to hide her emotion. Thus the manages to say :

"Congrats."

"I wanted to ask you to come with me, Jules."

That reveal makes Julie's heart miss a few beats.

"What ? I-in Germany ? I can't just-"

"There is an University of Applied Sciences called Ostfalia in Wolfsburg" Maro continues, very hopeful but scared to go on. "It's a very good university, with a great campus and a great soccer team you'd fit perfectly in."

"I don't know if-" Julie starts, really confused.

Maro puts a hand on Julie's arm, before saying :

"You don't have to answer now. But I think it'd be great for you to start over... I mean, nothing is holding you back here."

"But, Zach..."

"Just think about it, okay ?" Maro asks one finale time.

After Julie nods, she stands up, before softly kissing her forehead and joining the rest of the team.

*

Megan, who is walking toward the bench to get some water with only two minutes before kick off, suddenly realizes something.

At first, she hadn't seen Kailen Sheridan standing in the crowd, her eyes locked on the young defender. It's only after drinking some water and catching one of Rose's weird looks that Megan knew something was wrong and looked up. As soon as she sees the goalkeeper, she totally freezes. Her jaw is set, and there is an inner conflict inside of her : she doesn't know if she wants to slap the girl or kiss her at the moment.

After exchanging a look with Rose, Megan decides to join the girl real quick. As she jogs toward Kailen, her heart starts beating faster. She then realizes Kailen doesn't look very fit today, and probably doesn't because of the blonde.

"Hi"

The brunette's word is enough to make Megan shiver, but the young defender isn't ready to bend over to her.

"What are you doing here ?"

That cold question makes Kailen raise her eyebrow, before the brunette says :

"I just wanted to let you know I am going back to Canada for the holidays, so hopefully I will see you next semester."

Megan frowns.

"That's it ?"

"Uhm" the goalie thoughtfully lets out, blushing. "No. I also wanted you to know that I am sorry : I didn't want things to end between us..."

"Then why did you end them ?"

The brunette sets her jaw.

"Because I love you."

That's a shitty reason, Megan thinks to herself, but doesn't want to say that out loud because that's one of the rare times Kailen is exposing herself to her (or anyone else, really). But the blonde can't forget what she's felt those past weeks : most of the time she was just sick to her stomach after Kailen tried to kill herself, and then when she broke things off, she just felt dead inside.

Nevertheless, she is not ready to forgive her.

"I hope you'll have a nice time in Canada" Megan says, turning around and walking away.

She realizes kickoff is only seconds away and jogs toward her position, trying her best not to cry in the middle of a game. She knows Kailen stayed for a while, watching her, but then left because it became too unbearable to her.

I'll see her next year.

But Megan doesn't have the time to worry about the goalie for now : the game is starting, and there is a weird vibe today.

*

Commentator : Devastation for the Bruins after what has been the most entertaining game I've watched in a while ! Despise hard work and good energy and group effort, the girls from UCLA have lost their chance to qualify for the Finals this year, a first in the last five years. Even though the year has not been really quiet because of some drama we've all heard about, the Bruins have hold on and have delivered great emotions. The university will celebrate their season as they will not travel to Stanford for the final, that sees the Stanford Cardinals face Harvard next Saturday.

Becky puts her hands on her head.

Of course she could think she just failed and let it go. But something in her tells her nothing is over yet. The Draft for her and Kelley to go pro is only in a few days, and she is determined to go and support her girlfriend win that championship. But the same can't be said about the rest of the team : they wanted to send Kelley and her off in style, but 'failed' to do so. So it is now up to the captain to say a few words.

She has not prepared any speech, so she decides to just go out there and talk to her girls with her heart. She sees some girls avoiding her gaze, as some of the still are dressed up in the Bruins uniform.

"Look at you" she says. When the girls all look up at her, and that Kelley has a smile in the bottom of her lips, she continues : "Maybe you don't see yourself as I see you right now, but when I look at you... I see champions. Maybe not in the paper this year, but in the heart. I don't know if you realize that, but this year has been crazy. And we went through this together. This is what I call team spirit, and this is what I will regret for the rest of my life, because there is no such thing as being a Bruin."

The captain shades a light tear, as Kelley is moved as well. Jill and Dawn, who gave a beautiful speech as well only moments ago, nod their heads, as Julie gets up and go and hug the captain of the Bruins. Once she can control herself again, Becky takes a deep breath.

Her voice is shaking when she says :

"You made this last year - and all the others - unforgettable. And I will never forget y'all. Even with all our differences, we fought and fell together. But what matters is that we are now like sisters - well, except for Abby and Steph because it'd be weird..."

There is a collective laugh on the room, while Abby kisses her girlfriend's cheek, and that Steph gives her captain a thumbs up. Becky then resumes her speech :

"... anyway, thank you. I love you."

As soon as those words leave her mouth, all the girls get up and run toward her. Becky is soon buried under not far from twenty something bodies laughing their asses off as they all fall together on the ground.

This team is family.