A/N: Thank you again for the kind words! I will try not to disappoint you.
Hanging out with Chloe had been nice. They went to a small diner near campus. Chloe told stories about her last three years on the team and their almost championship run last year. They discussed some of the latest matches of the Hockey World League and their favorite international players. Somehow this led to a discussion on which of the Reinprecht sisters, who were currently both playing for the national team, was the most good-looking. Beca swore by Julia, while Chloe defended Katie. Neither wanted to give in, so after a while the subject of the conversation was changed to extreme workouts they had both endured during their time as a player. Beca actually had a very good time and talking to Chloe had been easy. Unfortunately Chloe's phone had buzzed after an hour and she had to run off to help Aubrey with something.
As Chloe got up to leave, Beca was extremely annoyed at her blonde captain and apparently this showed.
"Don't be too annoyed, it is not easy to run a team, you know. Besides, I will see you again at practice in two days."
Beca nodded, but didn't look much happier.
"Unless you're up for a recovery run tomorrow morning. I could meet you in front of Baker Hall at 9."
Beca's face lightened up. She wasn't much of a morning person, but she liked running and she liked hanging out with Chloe. This would be enough leverage to get her up by 9.
"I would like that, see you tomorrow!"
Chloe seemed satisfied and made her way to the exit. As she turned to walk away, Beca couldn't help but wonder what the text from Aubrey had said. Chloe hadn't given an explanation, and she had avoided all Beca's questions on the matter. She also seemed in a hurry to get away. Beca wasn't one to easily share, so she would understand the redhead not sharing, they only just met a day ago after all. This didn't lessen her curiosity. Luckily she had tomorrow morning to look forward to.
The next morning Beca had managed to get up in time to eat a banana for breakfast, get dressed, and head to the meeting place in front of Baker Hall. She liked to do a quick recovery run on days without practice, so the invitation had been very welcome. This also meant spending more time with her favorite captain. Chloe was already standing on the grass, dressed in her usual pink top and green shorts, but now wearing bright pink running shoes instead of her bright green hockey shoes. She was bent over, stretching her muscles and was oblivious of her surroundings. Beca couldn't help but admire the view before she stepped up to greet Chloe.
"Are you ready for this?"
Chloe looked up and immediately broke out in a huge grin. "Yeah, but today it's not a competition. I spoke with Coach Smith, he wanted to see your penalty corner before practice tomorrow, so you need to be at your best."
Beca nodded, knowing the older girl was right. After tomorrow the coaches would pick their team, and Beca had to bring her best to secure a spot.
"Do you know a nice route?"
Chloe nodded and started running. Beca followed immediately. They kept an easy tempo throughout the run. From time to time Chloe would indicate the direction they had to go, but apart from that, the girls didn't talk much. Beca didn't mind, she was used to running to her own music and never ran with others. Due to the lack of music, she was now focussed on her surroundings, trying to remember the route in order to be able to replicate it when Chloe wasn't running with her.
Near the end of the run, they were running over a sidewalk and in order to avoid the passersby Beca was running behind Chloe. This gave her a good look at the athletic body of the redhead. She did not want to be creepy, but couldn't help but admire the beautiful toned legs of her captain, the muscular shoulders, and the bright red hair that was tight back in a ponytail. The sight caused her to lose focus of her surroundings and she had not seen that the two of them had arrived at their departure point in front of Baker Hall. Chloe suddenly stopped and turned and Beca ran right into her. Chloe fell to the floor and could partially break her fall, but right as she hit the ground, Beca fell on top of her. For a split second, neither really knew what had happened, before Beca quickly got up and proceeded to help her victim get up.
"Shit, sorry! Are you okay?"
Chloe found the worry on Beca's face endearing and smiled reassuringly.
"I'm fine, really. I'm tough, see", she said while flexing her biceps. This elicited the response she was hoping for. Beca couldn't help but laugh at the incredibly adorable redhead. Chloe second attempt at making the other girl laugh, wasn't as successful.
"Where were you with your thoughts anyway, admiring the view?"
She had meant the remark as a joke, but as soon as she said it, she saw Beca turn bright red. She didn't mean to embarrass the other girl, and immediately regretted her words. Beca seemed lost, murmured a response Chloe couldn't make out and then said that she needed to take a shower and took off before Chloe could apologize. Chloe was left standing disappointed at how the morning had turned out.
For the last day and a half Beca has been drowning herself in her music. She didn't know how she could face Chloe after the humiliation the day before. She had considered not showing up for practice, but she had a feeling the other girl would not let it go regardless. Besides, if she wanted to get out of here, she needed to get on that team. Tonight she had to show her drag flick to her coaches, and probably captains, and she needed to be at her best. She secretly hoped that the redhead would not show up, but doubted that this would be the case, since she was both co-captain and number one injector for the team. Beca's plan was to just ignore what had happened and pray that Chloe would do the same. She knew she was probably making a way to big of a deal out of all this, but the stress of the upcoming practice was getting the best of her.
After a while, mixing had helped her relax a bit, and she felt ready to take on the practice. She got dressed for training, and double-checked all her equipment. This was a habit she had picked up after having forgotten her mouth guard several times in the past. Since then, she checked of her mental list twice before every match and practice. Mouth guard, glove, stick, shin guards, okay, good to go.
As she arrived at the pitch Chloe was already waiting for her. Beca was not surprised, but she did feel her heart rate go up. As she walked to the sideline to drop her bags, she tried to not draw too much attention to herself, but her captain noticed her nonetheless. Chloe ran up to her and wanted to hug the brunette, but decided against it at the last moment. She had seen the embarrassment in Beca's eyes the day prior, and did not want to make her feel uneasy. She settled for an enthusiastic smile and a small wave.
"Are you ready?"
Beca nodded. She wasn't really ignoring the redhead, but had seen the hesitation and was confused. If Chloe was grossed out by her, why would she still be sporting such a big smile. Maybe she was just being nice because she felt the team needed Beca somehow. Or she knew she just had to endure Beca's presence one more practice, before she was able to get her off the team. Surely Aubrey wouldn't mind that.
Chloe interpreted the grim look of the freshman as nerves and tried to make her feel more at ease.
"Don't stress it, you'll be great. You're a great player and on top of that a drag flick specialist. The coaches would be thrilled to have you, I guarantee it. Even Aubrey was excited when I told her you could drag well."
Now Beca looked up and saw that her blonde captain was also present and currently heading their way. She was indeed looking happier than a few days ago, but was also showing a bit of distrust towards the freshman. Behind her the two coaches were approaching. When they reached the sideline Coach Smith started speaking.
"So Chloe here told me that you have a mean drag flick. We would like to see it in action. Chloe will inject, Aubrey will stop. If you want to, you can warm up for a minute."
They made their way to the goal in silence. Chloe was carrying a small bag of balls which she emptied at the backline. Aubrey took her place at the top of the D, crouching down. They would practice the injection a few times, while Beca warmed up with some short flicks at goal. When everybody was feeling confident enough, they set up for the penalty corner. Beca was standing a few steps behind Aubrey, and was focussed on the ball that Chloe was about to inject. A soon as the redhead started her movement, Beca took two big steps towards the ball, which caused her to line up with Aubrey just as the ball was stopped. Aubrey quickly removed her stick while Beca started her drag. She felt the ball moving in sync with her stick, just how she liked it. As she set up for the release, she felt the ball slip of her stick just a tad early, causing it to fling wide of the right post. It wasn't too far off, but Beca was not at all satisfied with her performance.
She turned around to see Aubrey already looking disappointed. The coaches didn't show much emotion, contrary to a certain redhead, who was urging everybody to set up again. She was also encouraging Beca, pointing out that the ball had been fast and certainly someone would have been able to tip it in from that position. This gave Beca a bit of confidence as she set up for a second penalty corner.
This time the injection was a bit sloppier, but Aubrey did well in handling the ball. Beca went through the same motions as before, but made sure to have enough stick behind the ball throughout the entire motion. She felt the ball being released from her stick and knew this was going to be a good one. She finished the motion, and just as she turned her head back towards goal, she saw the ball fly into the upper left corner.
Chloe was cheering like Beca had just scored the winning goal in a championship game. Both her coaches looked impressed, and Dawson gave her an encouraging nod. Even Aubrey looked happily surprised. Beca smiled, maybe this was going to be a good day after all.
Aubrey quickly recovered from her surprise and returned to her role of captain, demanding to see Beca repeat the feat. Beca did just that, shooting the balls at the different corners. She even managed a good low flick on Aubrey's demand. After a while Aubrey and both coaches seemed satisfied with her performance and returned to the dug-out, where a few girls had gathered. Beca and Chloe were left to pick up the balls. Chloe immediately walked up to the talented freshman and didn't hesitate this time, but pulled her into a bone-crushing hug.
"You just gave us a shot at the championship," she said with a huge grin. "I can just feel it, this is going to be our year!"
Beca smiled at her, glad that she was the reason the other girl was sporting the huge grin. She herself was not entirely confident that she could win them the championship, but she sure as hell was going to try. While they collected the balls, Chloe talked excitedly about how she thought this year was going to play out. Beca was listening, happier about the other girl's excitement than about their chances of winning the championship this year. Besides, she wasn't even officially part of the team yet.