Chapter Four
Squeezing her eyes together tighter, Arizona slowly hit her alarm clock in an effort to turn off the offending noise. The complete darkness of the room didn't help wake up the blonde. In contrast, it made Arizona want to snuggle up in her queen bed with her fluffy pillows for a little while longer. Humming to herself, she agreed that she could afford another five minutes of sleep. That was, until Teddy burst through her door.
"Arizona!" Teddy yelled, causing Arizona to jump and sit straight up, a headache already throbbing in the back of her head. "What the fuck are you doing? We have our six am!"
Cursing loudly, Arizona scrambled out of her bed as she checked the time on the clock. After last night's drink fest, she completely forgot about their morning practice. Webber usually scheduled two a week during the offseason, and, since the school year just started and lacrosse was a spring sport, the practices began this week. Fall ball, which was what they called their offseason training and practices, was fun but it took its toll.
And, clearly, Arizona screwed herself over by drinking to oblivion last night.
"I'm coming! Give me five minutes," she replied, hastily grabbing shorts and t-shirt from her dresser. Rushing out of her room, Arizona sprinted to the bathroom. Forgetting for a second that someone besides Teddy and her lived there, she pushed open the door to the bathroom without knocking.
Her stomach felt queasy—damn rum and cokes—and the first thing she planned on doing in the bathroom was vomiting. She had to get it out of her system or she would puke at practice, something that would not look good for her. Normally, she made it a priority to not drink 48 hours before any lacrosse event, but Teddy convinced her otherwise. She told Arizona that they were seniors and it was ok to grab a drink or two.
Yeah, she was never listening to her friend again.
But, as she entered the bathroom, making a beeline to the toilet, she ran into a very solid somebody. And that somebody was Callie. The Latina had a toothbrush in her mouth, her hair in a loose bun. Morning Callie was sexy, Arizona noted, before her eyes grew wide at the remembering of what she did last night.
Holy fuck, Arizona thought.
There was no way that the brunette didn't remember the kiss, if it could even be called a kiss. Ok, it was a kiss, she admitted. But whatever. She'd play it off as if she was too drunk to remember it because there were so many things wrong with kissing Callie. Like the fact that she lived in the same house, played for the same lacrosse team and was probably straight as a nail.
"I was just leaving," Callie said in a small voice. Arizona watched as blush ran up Callie's face. "Bathroom's all yours."
The irony wasn't lost on Arizona that they were both in a bathroom again together. Running her fingers through her unruly hair, she side stepped as Callie walked past her, the Latina's side brushing Arizona slightly. At that moment, all she wanted to do was pull her back into the bathroom and kiss her, this time more firm and powerful. But the other woman still grinded her gears and nothing changed from yesterday.
"By the way," Arizona started, "we have a bathroom schedule. Get used to it."
Callie, almost out of the bathroom completely, turned around and walked back in, shutting the door swiftly behind her. Arizona shrunk back against the wall, not knowing what was going to come out of Callie's mouth. Arizona tried to not be a bitch but it was inevitable. She couldn't help it, and that pissed herself off.
"You are so…" Callie paused, "so fucking infuriating! First, you're a jerk to me out of nowhere because I'm your 'competition.' Then you go and kiss me! Now this. Seriously what the hell, Arizona?"
Biting her bottom, Arizona refrained herself from attacking the Latina—and, by attacking, she meant attacking her with her lips. For a second, Arizona wondered what would happen if she actually got to know Callie. She knew it would be infinitely harder to push away her feelings (because, right now, her feelings were purely physical). Deep down, that was another reason why Arizona made no attempt to talk to her the last two days. However, when season rolled around next semester and they were together every day, she knew her life would become a shit storm.
"I don't know!" Arizona said, exasperated. "You just keep popping up in my life somehow, and you've only been here for two days! And it doesn't help that you're gorgeous, and I'm gay, and shit."
Arizona didn't mean to say that, but she figured Callie already knew that by now after the kiss last night. Callie let out a sigh, rubbing her hand over her face in concentration.
"So, you think I'm gorgeous?"
That was all she got out of that conversation. Really?
"And you're annoying!" Arizona said, ignoring the first question. "I would ask you to stay out of my life, but it seems impossible at this point."
Smirking, Callie creeped closer to Arizona. So close, in fact, that Arizona thought that she would turn into a puddle in a matter of seconds. She mentally scolded herself for what she did last night because obviously Callie knew she remembered doing it. It complicated an already complicated thing they had going on—but drunk Arizona had no control, especially when it came to beautiful women at bars.
No, she had no control at all. But she pushed aside those unwanted thoughts about a particular ex to the back of her mind, focusing on the very pressing issue in front of her (literally, Callie was almost pressing completely on her).
"It is impossible," Callie whispered into Arizona's ear huskily. Arizona felt Callie's breath on her neck, her heart picking up speed. For a split second, Arizona swore that Callie was going to kiss her.
But the Latina pulled away before announcing, "We're going to be late."
Then she left the bathroom in a flourish, leaving a dumbstruck Arizona standing there.
Callie smiled to herself as she pulled on her lacrosse goalie gear, which included a helmet, shin pads, gloves and a chest pad. She looked badass and intimidating, something she prided herself on being. Callie Torres—badass. However, right now, despite the thrill of being back in the cage after three years, she was nervous as hell. She had a lot to prove, especially to the ever-infuriating Arizona Robbins.
When she first decided to join the Tar Heels team, all thanks to Webber, she had ran to her computer to look up stats and bios for all the players on the team. During her research, she discovered one Arizona Robbins, all-star keeper. Callie also noted that this blonde bombshell was going to be a senior. Now, the Latina was confident in her abilities as a goalie, but she also didn't want to be that bitch that came out of nowhere and took away someone's starting spot, even if Callie wanted that more than anything—because, at the end of the day, Callie was a team player. And she was coming on to a strong, tight-knit team.
Webber had told her to just do her best when he signed her onto the team. He also told her that there was an extra spot at one of the lacrosse houses. What he didn't tell Callie was that spot was home to Arizona, the girl she would be competing with for playing time. But Callie pressed on regardless, hoping that there would be no hard feelings between them. She imagined the other woman wouldn't be happy if she lost her spot but would be happy if the team did well. That was all that matter, right?
Wrong. Callie was definitely wrong. From the moment she stepped into her new home, the blonde had been a royal bitch to her. Callie brushed it off at first, though, understanding that she probably would have reacted the same way if Arizona had come in and vied for her spot. But then Arizona kept making snarky comments, and Callie just couldn't take it. So she sassed her back.
And, as much as Callie hated to admit it, she loved this back and forth with the blonde because, well, she found herself insanely attracted to her. It wasn't just her looks. It was…everything. The fact that Arizona cared so much about lacrosse. How close she was with Teddy Altman, their fellow housemate. How she wore a moo-moo to sleep in. How, under the façade she had around Callie, she knew that Arizona was actually rather nice and caring. She could just tell all of these things.
Then, of course, Arizona kissed her and called her gorgeous.
But Callie, who had just discovered her sexual fluidity, wasn't really sure how to go about flirting with the blonde, especially since Arizona harbored some pent-up anger at her. Also, Callie didn't want to date anyone, at least not right now. She had her own past demons to contend with, demons that put her off the dating radar—demons that, essentially, broke her heart into two. Then there was the fact that her parents disowned her. Yeah, Callie wasn't in a good spot to date. So, she would just go with the flow. That's what she would do.
"Let's go, Callie. Warm-up," Arizona deadpanned in a monotone voice. Callie smirked, though, knowing that she had the blonde riled up from this morning's bathroom activities.
Running over towards the field, Callie caught up with Arizona. The two walked side by side in silence, each carrying their huge lacrosse goalie stick, as they approached the goalie circle. While Webber was the head coach, Miranda Bailey, the assistant coach, worked specifically with the goalies.
"Alright ladies," Bailey began, picking up a few tennis balls from a bucket next to her. "You two ready for warm-up?" Both women nodded. "Ok, good. Callie, you're up first."
Her heart thumped fast, nerves kicking in. It didn't help that Arizona would watch the whole reflex drill happen. She entered into the crease, standing a little in front of the goal line. She left her stick next the cage.
"Let's see what you've got, Torres. Don't mess up. Wouldn't want that," Arizona whispered to Callie. The blonde had come up to her, making it look to Bailey like she was giving the newcomer a little pep talk.
Those words from woman made her even more nervous, with butterflies dancing around in her stomach. After a few seconds, Bailey tossed the first tennis ball to her, the ball soaring to Callie's upper left side. She snagged the ball in time to throw it away and stop the other tennis ball that Bailey rocketed towards the bottom right corner.
"Impressive," Bailey complimented, as she threw ball after ball towards the net. After a minute or two, with only a few misses, Callie stepped out of the goal.
She saw Arizona's eyes narrow, the blonde obviously irritated that Callie kicked ass on the drill. What could she say? She had great reflexes, which is why she chose to be a goalie instead of playing a field position.
As Callie sauntered past Arizona, she decided to make the other woman a little nervous, too. She earned it for doing it to her before her turn at the drill. "Why so quiet, Arizona? I'm almost positive you'll let in more than me. Good luck."
Bailey still stood oblivious to the interactions between the two competitors, and Callie wanted to keep it that way. Whatever was going on between her and Arizona had to stay between them. It would look bad on her part as the new girl if she started to ruffle feathers.
"Oh, I don't need luck," Arizona commented as she took her place in the net.
Watching in awe, Callie wanted to take back her early jab at the blonde. She saved throw after throw from Bailey. Catching the tennis balls in her hands or stopping them with the placement of her feet. Craning her neck to look at the net, she noticed Arizona let none in the net.
Fuck. She was really good.
"You two are on your A-game today, ladies," Bailey noted. "We are going to be unstoppable in the cage this season!"
The shorter woman had a point, Callie mused. As much as Callie wanted the starting spot—and, subsequently, wanted to play—the team would be solid with either one of them in the net. Yet, that competitive side of the Latina kicked in, telling her that she deserved something good in her life, that she deserved the spot. After all she went through the last three years, she needed this.
Bailey directed both goalies to pick up their sticks, calling over the attackers from their warm-up. After instructing the attackers to take 8-meter shots, Callie once more made her way into the goalie area. This would be her first time facing shots in three years. Yeah, she could do the reflex drill, but that was without her goalie stick and without girls shooting actual shots with actual lacrosse balls at her. It was a whole new game.
And 8-meter shots were the worst. Each time Bailey blew the whistle, the shooter would have a free shot at Callie, with no defenders there to help protect her. 8-meters was not super close but not super far away either.
The first shot came from Callie's left side, with the subsequent shots coming following from that side until the last shot came from Callie's right. Basically, it was what was called rapid fire. A series of shots coming in at her, one after the other.
"Ready?" Bailey asked. Callie nodded.
One of the attackers, Izzie Stevens, sent a rocket towards Callie's stick-side (the side that she held her stick at). She easily saved it, though. However, the next three shots proved difficult for her, with the attackers throwing in fakes and hitches with their shots, fooling the Latina into guessing the wrong side to put her stick.
All in all, she only saved two of the eight or nine total shots. She felt like shit. She was so confident during the reflex drill, but she should have seen this coming—Callie hadn't played in three years. She was bound to be rusty. But Arizona, well, she wasn't rusty, Callie noted as the blonde saved almost every shot that came at her.
"Yeah, Arizona!" The choir of teammates cheered as Arizona blocked the last shot from Meredith Grey. Callie wanted to be happy for her teammate, but, with this weird dynamic between them, she didn't dare say anything.
The rest of practice flew by with only the few occasional bitchy comments from Arizona. Callie picked up her game towards the end but still struggled slightly.
"Bring it in ladies," Webber called out as the lacrosse players ran in towards him. "Good effort this morning. I'm proud of all the hard work you've been putting in so far. Remember, we only have one practice a week instead of two. During your off days, I expect you to come out here and practice with some girls. Also, you will be expected to work out as well. Don't forget, we have our first fall ball scrimmage in October. That gives us a month to work."
Callie listened raptly, trying to remember the schedule while also fretting about fitting in with the team and finding a teammate with whom to work out and practice with. Webber dismissed them and the girls headed to the locker room to shower.
The one thing Callie didn't expect coming is the openness of the girls on the team. The second they entered the locker room, the majority of her teammates stripped off all of their clothes, throwing them on their laundry loops and into the laundry bin. Most every woman was walking around naked—like completely butt-ass naked. Including a certain blonde who was only a few lockers down from her.
"Like what you see?" Arizona whispered as she walked past the Latina on her way to the shower, not waiting for a response.
And, boy, did Callie like what she saw. Her body was perfection. Absolute perfection.
Callie, not confident with her body like her teammates, waited until everyone was in the showers before stripping down and throwing a towel around her body. Grabbing her shower stuff, she walked into the shower area and located an empty shower stall. The curtains to all the showers were only half closed for most of the girls' shower stalls, letting Callie see who was in each one. It's not like she stared at any of the women because that was weird. But she did notice that the only shower open was the one right next to a currently showering Arizona.
Water ran down the blonde's slightly-tanned, definitely toned body. Callie fixated her gaze ahead of her, trying to not look at the blonde as she stepped into the shower next to her. Quickly, she washed off, wrapping the towel around her as she left the shower. She could tell the blonde was still showering but paid no attention as she walked by her shower. Entering the locker room once more, she started to dry herself off.
"Hey, good work today, Torres," a voice said from behind her. Teddy stood behind her, and, as she turned around, she gave the Latina a smile.
That simple compliment made Callie's day.
"Thanks, Teddy. It wasn't my best, though," Callie mused. "Actually, I sucked."
Teddy laughed. "Don't let Arizona get to you, if that's why you think you sucked. Because Arizona is a freak of nature at lacrosse, but you are just as good. Don't let her rile you up."
Before Teddy turned around to leave, she said something to Callie that made her blush. "Oh, and Arizona is being a jerk because she's totally crushing on you."
Not knowing what to say, Callie simply nodded her head and spun around to face her locker once more. But, as she did so, she noticed Arizona out of the corner of her eye—the blonde sporting a look of hate in her eyes.
That's when Callie realized that Arizona heard what Teddy had told her. And Callie was definitely going to capitalize on this situation.
"Hmm, Robbins. You think I'm gorgeous and are crushing on me. Too bad you're not my type," Callie smirked, even though Arizona was definitely her type. And, in a bold move that rivaled Arizona's bold move to kiss her last night, Callie dropped the towel that was still wrapped around her body.
"Oops," Callie said, loving the way Arizona tried to avert her eyes, a blush forming on her face.
Instead of saying anything, Callie watched as Arizona grabbed her stuff and stormed out of the locker room.
Looks like the score is tied. Callie – 1, Arizona – 1. And I don't lose, Callie told herself.
Reviews motivate me to write ;) hope you liked this chapter! It's longer than the others by far.
Also, S/O to my loyal reviews:
[GoldBlooded15]: I think I did well on my exam, thanks! I'm also glad you love the tension and love Teddy!
[Calzonafan123]: You'll find out why she was so upset later in the story!
[AZgirl]: The project together is coming up next chapter (or that's what I've planned for, at least. Can always change)
Lastly, women's lacrosse is a little confusing. If you look up a women's lax field online, the circle with a triangle in it is the goalie area. No one besides the goalie is allowed in the circle. The triangle in the circle is the goal. Also, 8-meter shots are taken from the 8-meter arc, or, in the picture of a field, the smaller arc with hash marks on it. Hope that helps a tad.