My alarm went off at its usual time of 6:00 so I got up and left the hotel to go to a park to do my morning yoga which took about 45 minutes so I got back to the hotel around 7. Once back in the hotel I went up to my room and showered and changed then headed to breakfast.

I was the first person down for breakfast so I sat down at the farthest table from the door because well I just wanted to sit there. People started coming down for breakfast soon and while I was eating I heard Kelley attempt to whisper

"Does she think she is better than us?" She whisper shouts.

After I heard this I got up to take my trash and get my training gear. As I got to the door I look back to the team to find all of them looking at me

"Hey Kelley...learn to whisper. And no I don't think I'm better than any of you. I just got here first and sat down. Anybody could've sat by me." I said then left the room to get my training gear. Once in the room I got all my stuff together then went back down stairs and waited for the bus.

"I'm sorry Cairo." Kelley said as she sat next to me in the lobby.

"For what?" I ask.

"For talking about you this morning."

"Kelley it's fine." She hugs me. I guess she wants to be on my good side for some reason.

Finally the bus arrived and everyone got on. I got on last and sat in an empty seat in the front of the bus and listened to music until we got to the training pitch. Once we get to the training pitch I took my shirt off to change into the training top, but I'm interrupted when I feel eyes on me. When I turn around I notice some of the girls staring at me and my tattoos.

"You guys enjoying the view." I say and the girls that were staring stopped staring which caused me to laugh.

"Sorry your tattoos are really cool. Do they represent anything?" Kelley says.

"Thanks. And yes they do."

"What do they mean?" Pinoe asks and the rest of the team crowds around me.

"Well the anchor tattoo just represents the ocean and my serenity and freedom when I'm diving." I say showing them my left side.

I then turn to face them and move my sports bra so they can see the two tattoos around my boobs. "This one in between my boobs reminds me of a flower I saw in Italy so I got that to remind me of my time in Italy. The one under my Right boob is a French saying that means be beautiful in your own way."

I show the team my right hand."The lion really doesn't have a meaning."

Next I hold up my right wrist. "The semi-colon is...well if you really want to know then go look up what it means on google." Ash looks like she knows what I'm talking about. Maybe she can help me.

"The two on my left arm I saw while walking around Spain before I left and I thought they looked cool so those reminds me of Spain."

I then turn around to show them my back. "This is the Vegvisir symbol which is an Icelandic symbol that, according to Huld Manuscript, if this sign is carried, one will never lose one's way in storms or bad weather, even when the way is not known."

Now turning to show the right side of my body I take off my shorts and move my nike pros to show them my right hip. "Basically I thought this wolf looked really pretty and it also has a different meaning, but I'm not comfortable telling anyone that."

After I'm done explaining the tattoos I put my stuff on and wait around messing with a ball until I feel a finger tracing my left arm which scared me. It scared me so much I jump and turn around.

"What the hell Lindsey. You scared the shit outta me." I say catching my breath.

"Sorry Cairo I just really like your tattoos. This one is beautiful." She says while touching my left arm.

"Thanks, but next time you want to feel it warn me please."

"Okay." She says with a smile then pulls me away from the group. "Hey someday will you tell me what the wolf means?

"Maybe someday Lindsey."

"Cool, now come on we have practice." Lindsey says and pulls me towards the team waiting for someone to speak.

"Ladies today is fitness testing so... beep test time." Dawn says causing the team to groan and get into the groups we were put in. My group was me, Alex, Kelley, Mal, Tobin, and Christen.

Our group did pretty well but the other girls stopped until eventually Kelley and I were the last ones and I think the only reason either of us kept going was because we both didn't want to lose

We were just about to start the last level and I was going to just give up because this shit is boring, but someone yelled at Kelley "Come on Kelley. You gonna let a rookie beat you?" Oh fuck off.

"You ready to go all the way." I say to Kelley.

"Bring it." She says right before we start.

As we started the team started to yell, mostly for Kelley. Both of us kept running, but as we got near the end Kelley wavered and stumbled causing her to not finish the level. I went till the end to prove to people that I deserved to be here.

Once I finished the level my legs gave out so I just laid on the ground catching my breath. Fuck I hate fitness tests. Suddenly I'm picked up by somebody.

"Hi" I say to whoever holding me.

"Hey Cairo." It's Ash

"Where are we going?"

"Training is over so we are going back to the bus then back to the hotel for lunch. Then we have a couple hours to ourselves before next practice which will be a more laid back one since we did fitness testing."

"Sounds good." I say as we get on the bus and Ash sits me next to my bag. I guess somebody got it for me. During the bus ride back I was given pickle juice to drink which I quickly did because my legs hurt. Once back at the hotel we ate lunch then I did the big legs.

- - - - -

It's the afternoon now and we have another practice. Right now we are working on set pieces and I'm waiting in the line behind Tobin to practice free kicks. Tobin took her free kick and Ash got a fingertip to it, but it wasn't enough to disrupt it so it hit the net. I step up and did my routine before I kick, which is basically me wiping the ball on my shirt then placing the ball then taking one step back. I stood behind the ball and waited for the whistle to be blown and when it did I took my one step run up and hit the ball into the upper 90. Ash didn't move, she just watched it go in.

"Where did that power come from?" Julie asks me from the wall. I just shrug and go stand in line behind Tobin.

The rest of the line finishes and the goalies switch and I wait in line until it's my turn. When it is my turn I do my routine then I look at the wall and see Alyssa's feet giving away she thinks I'm going near post. I then look over the wall and see her close to the near post. When the whistle blows I take my one step run up and hit the ball to the side of the wall and it goes low and hard to the far post and hits of it and goes in.

"Why did you go that way Cairo?" Jill asks while everyone looks on.

"Well I saw Alyssa was favoring her near post and her feet were giving away she was going to dive toward the area where I put the ball last time so I decided to go to the far post and hit it low and hard." I say and she nods so I go to my bag and sit by it since this is the last drill. After everyone finishes we head back to the hotel.

Once back at the hotel we eat dinner and once again I'm the first one down and so I sit by myself at a table. Soon everyone is down for dinner and I'm sitting with Tobin, Alex, Christen, Kelley, Ash, and Ali.

"Nice job today Cairo." Tobin says.

"Thanks."

"I didn't think anyone would beat Kelley." Alex says and I shrug not really knowing what to say.

"I still don't understand how you got so much power with your run up." Ash says.

I shrug. "That's how I've always I taken free kicks." The conversation turns to be less about training and is more about different stuff. After dinner there is a team meeting to go over the fitness tests and then we are released for bed.

- - - - -

Today is our game against China and we just got to the stadium. Since I was closest to the front I was the first one out of the bus. Once inside the stadium I went and put my stuff in my locker then grabbed a ball and went out onto the pitch and stood on the closest end-line and put the ball on my head and juggled it there while walking towards the other end-line. This is my normal pre-match routine. I do this walk from the end-line closest to me to the far end-line and back. Once at the far end-line the ball started wobbling so I had to control it so it wouldn't fall. I've never dropped the ball during one of my seal walks.

Once I got back to the line I started at I let the ball fall into my hands and as I look up the whole team is standing there watching me. Nobody says anything until I toss the ball to Kling.

"What was that?" Kling asks after catching the ball.

"It's called the seal walk. I do it before every match." I say

"Why is it called that?" Mal asks.

"Because it looks like when the seals in captivity balance stuff on their nose." I say then walk to the locker room with the rest of the team. Once inside I get out my blue and white pre-wrap to make my traditional headband which is just those two colors of pre-wrap intertwined to make a headband.

Once I had my headband on I got dressed then sat in my locker and listened to music until Jill spoke. I found out I was a sub and would come on around the 60th minute. Once the speech was over it was time to head out, so me and the rest of the subs headed towards the bench and after the anthems I sat down and watched the game.

I came on in the 65th minute when the score was 1-0 thanks to Alex. Nothing really materialized until Sam played a through ball forward in the 80th minute and none of the Chinese defenders did anything with it thinking it would be played out by their keeper. I saw this and started running at the ball and finally caught up to it around 30 yards out. The Chinese keeper came out for it so I decided to chip her seeing as nobody was running with me. The stadium was silent after I chipped the keeper until the crowd erupted after the ball hit the back of the net. Wow goal on my debut, post game is really going to be fun. After seeing the ball in the net I turned around and began walking back to the center circle and just kept walking past the confused looks on my teammates face and waited for the restart.

In the 86th minute Ali played a ball forward down the right side in a pocket of space so I ran to that space, but I saw Carli in offside position going to get the ball.

"LEAVE CAR LEAVE" I shouted at her.

She heard and let it go as it rolled toward the end-line. 15 yards before the ball went out of bounds I caught up to it and looked around. I saw nobody in a position to help so I looked back towards the keeper who was hugging her near-post so I decided to try something. I hit the ball with the outside of my right foot and it whipped around the keeper and into the net. I swear I went deaf for a little bit with how loud the stadium sounded. After a few seconds of asking myself how the hell that worked I walked back to the center circle and once again I walked past my confused teammates. I guess they want me to celebrate. Once I got to our defensive half I waited for the ref to blow her whistle to restart the game.

Ten minutes later the whistle blew signaling full time was over. We won 3-0. Nobody was around me to shake hands so I briskly walked into the tunnel and once in the tunnel I ran, carefully so I didn't slip, to the changing room and went to the nearest toilet and threw up. I sat next to the toilet and waited for the next wave of nausea which happened rather quickly. I think by the time I was done I threw up 4 times.

I was sitting next to the toilet on the floor trying to catch my breath when someone walked in.

"CAIRO" Mal yelled. "Are you okay?" She asked and the rest of the team ran into the bathroom and huddle around.

"I'm fine."

"Did you throw up?" Dawn asks as she crouches next to me.

"Yes like four times, but I always throw up after debuts. I'm fine really." I say and get up and head to my locker and change out of my uniform and put on more comfortable clothes then head to the bus and sit down and relax.