Chapter Text
“When do you think the last time they cleaned this place was?” Lindsey asked as she removed the blackened Swiffer wet pad from the mop head and tossed it in the trash.
“Probably last year when they made the freshmen do it,” Emily said as she and Sam were setting up the folding tables in the dining room for beer pong. The soccer freshmen were ‘voluntarily’ helping clean and set up the soccer house for the end of preseason party tonight. The women’s soccer house, known as The Castle, hosted the annual party for all the university’s sports teams to celebrate making it through two weeks of hellish preseason practices and to party before the rest of the students got back to campus.
“Wow, it’s looking good freshies,” Alex said as the walked into the house hands filled with bags of cups and ping pong balls.
“You missed a spot,” Kelley said nodding at Lindsey following her fellow junior classmate into the house carrying two cases of soda.
“Shut up, Kel,” Tobin said rolling her eyes coming through the door behind her with more bags filled with ice and jello for the party. “It looks great guys. Thank you. Can you help us just grab the rest of the stuff from the car and then you guys can go back and get ready for tonight?”
“Are you sure? I mean we still haven’t set up the,” Mallory started to say before Lindsey smacked her on the arm.
“Shut up, Mal,” she whispered under her breath giving her a pointed glare.
Alex laughed coming back into the room after dropping off the bags in the kitchen. “It’s okay. Serv recruited some of the soccer guys to help us do the rest of the backyard set up. So don’t worry about it.”
The freshmen abandon their cleaning supplies and help unload the rest of the purchases from Kelley’s car out front. After two trips with arms filled with bags of ice, cups, mixers, and an inflatable kiddie pool Kelley impulse bought, they sent the freshmen back to their dorm to let them get ready for the night’s festivities.
Throughout the rest of the day, people from each other sports teams came to the house dropping off their alcohol contribution for the party. Alex was out back directing the football boys where she wanted the kegs to be put on their back patio. She had already instructed the soccer boys to set up a few tables outdoors and an oversized beer pong kit made from trash cans.
“How does she get those boys to do whatever she wants?” Kelley asked staring out the kitchen window watching Alex supervise 15 volunteers in the backyard.
“Because she’s hot,” Ashlyn said as she was setting up the makeshift bar that was taking over the island in the kitchen. Kelley nodded in agreement still watching Alex shout orders.
“True,” Kelley responded.
“So are you going to help or just keep daydreaming out the window?” Ashlyn asked as she sifted through the shopping bags on the floor for cups and shot glasses.
“I wasn’t daydreaming,” Kelley protested whipping her attention away from the window.
“Sure you weren’t,” Ashlyn said sarcastically.
“I wasn’t,” Kelley said a little more insistently.
“Oooh, defensive much,” Ashlyn teased. Even though she knew Kelley and Alex were nothing more than just friends she loved any opportunity to push Kelley’s buttons.
“Shut up,” Kelley said rolling her eyes and walking across the kitchen to help Ashlyn unpack the bags. “At least I’m not going to be spending the night pining after some girl and then never getting up the courage to talk to her.” Ashlyn immediately stopped rummaging through the plastic bags and gave Kelley a death glare. Her heart started racing faster at just the thought of the junior lacrosse player who she had a hopeless crush on.
“First off,” Ashlyn said holding up one finger, “low blow, Kel. Second,” she continuing putting up another finger, “it’s not just ‘some’ girl. It’s Ali freaking perfect Krieger, okay. And third, she has a boyfriend so what’s even the point.”
“Dude, you got it so bad,” Kelley laughed shaking her head. “The badass Ashlyn Harris I know doesn’t care about boyfriends and certainly isn’t afraid of talking to a girl.”
“I know,” Ashlyn sighed frustratedly running her fingers through her hair. “She’s just beautiful and smart and athletic and she gets these cute little crinkles by her eyes when she smiles,” Ashlyn trailed on looking off into the distance smiling at her daydream of Ali Krieger. She shook her head snapping out of it. “I don’t have a chance. I’m me and she’s, well, perfect.”
“Who?” Whitney, another one of the juniors on the team, said as she entered the kitchen with Tobin in toe. Kelley and Ashlyn jerked at the voice taking them by shock.
“Ali Krieger,” Kelley responded.
“Kelley,” Ashlyn scolded her friend who gave her a questioned look.
“What?” Kelley asked. “Like everyone doesn’t already know you’re in love with her.”
“I’m not in love with her,” Ashlyn refuted her voice cracking at her lie.
“You should talk to her tonight,” Whitney suggested as she opened the fridge grabbing two blue Gatorades, handing one to Tobin who had hoisted herself onto to the counter.
“Ali has a boyfriend,” Kelley said.
“No she doesn’t,” Whitney said taking a sip of her drink.
“What?” Kelley and Ashlyn said at the same time, heads abruptly turning to face Whitney and Tobin. Whitney nodded and swallowed.
“Yeah. Ryan told me they broke up over the summer,” Whitney said mentioning her boyfriend who was on the men’s lacrosse team at UNC.
“How does he know? Is he sure? Who broke up with who? Why am I just hearing about this now?” Ashlyn quickly rambled off a series of questions in a frenzy.
“Woah,” Whitney laughed at her jittery friend. “I don’t know the specifics, but he said one of the lacrosse girls told someone on his team about it. And now all the guys on the team are basically fighting each other at the chance to hook up with her tonight.” Ashlyn’s face went white and she started taking long deep breaths.
“I’ve gotta go get ready,” Ashlyn said panicking, leaping up from the floor.
“Ash, Ash,” Kelley called to her. “Relax. We still have four hours before people start getting here.” Ashlyn’s face went even paler and her eyes widened in fear at Kelley’s intended to be comforting words.
“Only four hours,” Ashlyn was extremely nervous. “Shit, I’ve gotta go. Ali Krieger’s single and I only have fours hours to get ready,” she sighed looking up at the ceiling. “Why are you doing this to me?” she asked toward the sky before rushing out of the room.
“Hey, Ash. What’s up?” Sydney said walking into the kitchen as Ashlyn passed her in a hurry. Ashlyn squeezed by her mumbling something inaudible as she rushed up the stairs to her room to start getting ready. “What’s her deal?” Syd asked to Tobin, Whitney, and Kelley, confused.
“Ali Krieger’s single,” Tobin recapped the gossip update they just received.
“Oh,” Sydney said suddenly understanding Ashlyn’s withdrawn look and hasty desire to go shower.
“Are you ready to find yourself a strapping young man tonight, Syd?” Kelley asked laughing at her own joke.
“Obviously,” Sydney said sarcastically flipping her hair and walking further into the kitchen. “Who are all these men?” she asked getting a glimpse of the boys setting up the backyard from the window.
“Alex’s slaves,” Tobin said. “Aka the men’s soccer team.” They all laughed knowing that Alex’s boyfriend, Serv, would do anything for his ‘princess’, including roping his teammates into doing physical labor.
“Who is that?” Sydney said intrigued at the sight of a light brown, muscular guy with very well trimmed facial hair moving a table into the grass. Whitney and Tobin turned to look at the guy who had gotten Syd’s attention while Kelley jumped up and fought to push Tobin aside a little bit so she could get a view out the window. They all studied the attractive man before Tobin shrugged.
“I’ve never seen him before. Maybe he’s a freshmen.”
“Go get em, cougar,” Kelley laughed giving Syd a playful nudge on the arm.
“Dibs,” Syd said seriously not letting her eyes waver away from the man. “God I love this party,” Syd groaned happily as she walked out of the kitchen.
“Lys, do I look okay?” Christen asked as she examined every inch of her outfit in full length mirror hanging in the corner of their dorm room.
“Yes,” Alyssa responded as she barely glanced up from her phone as she laid sprawled out on her bed.
“You didn’t even look,” Christen complained turning to her roommate who wasn’t nearly as nervous as she was and she was envious of that.
“It’s the same outfit you just asked me about two minutes ago,” Alyssa sighed giving Christen an annoyed look.
“No,” Christen said shocked. “This top is a halter and the other one was spaghetti strap.”
“Oh my gosh, how could I ever mistake that. I’m so sorry,” Alyssa said sarcastically rolling her eyes. “You look great, Chris.”
Christen, content with Alyssa’s compliment, turned back to check herself out in the mirror again. Alyssa was right; she did look great. She had on a halter white satin top that had a deep v-neck and made her almost nonexistent cleavage actually look decent. She paired it with tribal patterned flowy shorts and silver strappy sandals. But Christen being Christen, she was always nervous she didn’t look good and cared what other people were going to think about her. So she stared over her fourth outfit of the night contemplating if she should change again.
“Why do you care so much anyway?”
“Are you kidding? This is our first college party. And everyone from all the sports teams are going to be there. I want to make a good first impression.”
“Oooo you’re trying to find yourself a cute guy tonight,” Alyssa teased. Christen blushed furiously.
“No, no. Not like, anything, like that,” she protested. “I just,” she sighed. “I want to fit in.”
“Well, you look great,” Alyssa said genuinely getting up from the bed. “The juniors just texted and said they’re almost here to walk us over. You ready?”
Christen took a deep breath as the butterflies in her stomach churned more. “Yeah, let me grab my keys,” she said collecting her purse from her bed and looking in the mirror at herself one last time.
“Lys?”
“What’s up?” she responded looking down at her phone.
“You think maybe we could take a shot before we go. I think I need something to calm my nerves.” Alyssa smiled and nodded. She walked over to her dresser and pulled open one of the drawers. She dug around in her t-shirts before producing a handle of cheap vodka they had bought with her fake id. She poured them out each a shot and they both grimaced as they took it down.
“Maybe two,” Christen said setting her shot glass down in front of Alyssa who raised her eyebrows but obliged to the requests pouring out another round.
They were three shots in by the time they met the rest of their lacrosse teammates outside of the dorm building.
“Hey guys, you look great,” Ali Krieger smiled as she spotted the two of them come down. They both smiled back at her because you couldn’t help but smile when Ali Krieger smiled at you.
“About time. Let’s go,” Allie remarked sounding slightly annoyed by the fact the two freshmen were two minutes late from their agreed upon meeting time.
“Oh relax, Al. We have time,” Lauren, another one of the lacrosse team juniors, said trying to calm down Allie.
“I know, but Tobin said they were making jello shots and I don’t want all the football guys to take them before we get there like last year,” Allie said as she started leading the group in the direction of The Castle. From the little interactions she had picked up on, Christen knew that the lacrosse juniors were really good friends with the soccer juniors. They had tried to get the freshmen from both of the teams to meet each other but soccer had too many practices to work something out. Christen liked all of her teammates so far. She was still getting to know the freshmen and the upperclassmen, like Allie, still intimidated her. But she always felt included and promised herself before she came to college to work harder to be more outgoing and make friends. Christen and Alyssa found themselves walking behind Ali and Amy as the group made their way across campus. Christen had a light hold on Alyssa’s arm as the alcohol was starting to kick in.
“How are you feeling?” Amy asked Ali.
“Good. I’m excited,” Ali said still smiling.
“Have any prospects in mind?” Amy asked raising her eyebrows suggestively.
“Why do people keep asking me that?” Ali said shaking her head.
“Well, because this party is the biggest hookup fest of the year and it’s also coincidentally the first time in like two years you’re going to be single at a party.”
Ali rolled her eyes. She had been dating Brent, the backup quarterback, ever since she first got to school. They had broke up over the summer and although Ali was playing it cool, she admittedly was a little nervous about her first party being single.
“I’m just looking to have a good time. I want to enjoy being single for a little bit,” Ali said linking her arm with Amy’s as they walked.
“Okay, I’ll tell all the boys who are texting me about you to back off tonight,” Amy said sarcastically. Ali threw her head back and laughed.
“I’m not looking for anything. But, if something happens it happens,” she shrugged. “Who am I to say no to fate?”
“Listen up, bitches,” Kelley yelled over the music to get everyone’s attention. The soccer team had gathered at The Castle a few minutes before the party officially started to do a little pregamming together. Kelley herded everyone into the living room and stood on top of the coffee table in the center of the room.
“Carli, why does Kelley get to make the toast?” Meghan whinned.
“She asked,” Carli shrugged content with letting Kelley take the pre-party honors.
“Hush you two,” Kelley said pointing at them. “I’m not really one to get sentimental and emotional and all that crap, so I won’t. Congrats on making it through another hell week,” she said raising her cup as the upperclassmen cheered in response. “Freshmen,” she said directing her attention to the young ones gathered in the back. “The house looks great and welcome to the team and all that jazz.” A few of the girls gave the little ones smiles and reached over to give them pats on the back. “Alright, alright,” Kelley settled down the crowd raising her cup high in the air as everyone did the same. “Here’s to a great season and the quest for a 3peat,” she yelled as everyone cheered taking a sip of their drinks. “Here’s to best party of the year,” everyone cheered again and took another drink. “Here’s to hooking up with random guys and girls,” she added with a wink. Everyone laughed and took another sip. “Here’s to finding love, finding friends, or at the very least finding your way home tonight,” she said as everyone drank again. “Here’s to the University of National Champions! TAR!” she threw her head back and screamed at the top of her lungs.
“HEELS!” the team yelled back in response and everyone chugged the rest of whatever was in their cups.
Soon after Kelley’s animated speech, the music had been turned up and the outdoor string lights turned on. Everyone grabbed their second or third round of drinks just as their friends were starting to arrive.
“Holy shit,” Christen said in awe as they approached the house. Which was actually a modest term for the mansion that stood before them.
“It's insane isn't it?” Ali said turning around to talk to Christen.
“This is a college house?” She said still in disbelief. Ali laughed and grabbed Christen's arm.
“They have a lot of generous alumni,” Ali explained the reasoning behind the soccer mansion.
“Wow,” Christen said the butterflies in her stomach building as they got closer to the wide open front door where they could see people dancing and hear the music thumping.
“Nervous?” Ali asked concerned for the freshman teammate she had taken a liken to.
“A little,” Christen said shakily.
“Me too,” Ali said back giving her a weak smile to try and reassure her. “But tonight's going to be fun,” she continued half trying to convince herself. “Don't worry. I'll introduce you to some people and we can go get a drink,” Ali gave Christen's arm a squeeze just as they were about to enter the house.
As soon as the two walked in, a bunch of eyes landed on them studying them. Christen took in her surroundings. The music was deafening and the room off to the right was dimmed with disco lights where people were dancing. The room off to the left had several beer pong games going on. The stairs leading upstairs were roped off with a makeshift rope made from tied tshirts. Christen could see through the crowd of people to the back door that was open and had even more people drinking and laughing. Christen was so overwhelmed and could feel herself shaking.
“ALI!” Someone screamed causing Christen to shift her attention to a very intoxicated girl approaching them with a huge smile and wide open arms. She watched Ali hug her and the girl give her a kiss on the cheek.
“Hey,” Ali said pulling Christen closer by the wrist. “Kelley,” she yelled over the music at the strong jawed brunette. “This is Christen. She's a freshmen.” Kelley nodded and smiled.
“I'm Kelley! I'm on the soccer team!” She said shaking Christen's hand as Christen prayed hers wasn't sweaty.
“Ali!” They heard someone else call in the distance and soon Ali was being dragged off away from the two acquaintances.
“I like your shorts,” Kelley smiled. “J crew?”
Christen nodded and blushed. “Yeah. I love them. They have pockets!”
“No fucking way!” Kelley flashed her a huge smile. “Where are you from?”
“California. Right outside L.A.”
“No way! I just spent the summer in LA playing for Pali Blues. It's a soccer team out there.”
“Oh yeah I've heard of them. That's awesome. I love Cali.”
“Same! One of my teammates played there with me too. Tobin,” she said looking around the party. “I'll introduce you to her later. Do you like Jell-O shots?” Kelley laughed before Christen could respond. “Of course you do, everyone loves Jell-O shots,” she said taking Christen's hand and dragging her through the crowd to kitchen where there was a cooler filled with Jell-O shots.
Christen made the mistake of going shot for shot with Kelley that night. Already sitting on the three shots she took earlier with Alyssa, it didn’t take long before Christen was loosening up and on the brink of blacking out. Kelley introduced her to a ton of people and Christen was sure she wasn’t going to remember a single one of their names. She danced with boys and danced with girls. She played endless rounds of beer pong and she’s pretty sure she got a few people’s phone numbers. The night went on and by three am, the party started quieting down. Christen was stumbling around in the yard outside trying to find her phone that she was pretty sure she dropped in the grass a few hours ago. All her friends were gone and she was desperate to find a way back to her dorm.
It was five am and Tobin was groggily walking back from the bathroom to her bedroom when she heard a banging noise come from downstairs. It startled her but she just pretended like she was just hearing noises and continued back to her room. She was almost to her bedroom door when she heard a louder noise. Her heart started racing and she knew she’d have to go investigate it. She grabbed the closest weapon she could find, which was her leg roller, and cautiously tiptoed down the stairs ready to strike at any danger. She maneuvered her way around discarded cups and sticky beer spills toward the kitchen where she heard the noise. She took a deep breath before jumping through the doorway and flicking on the lights.
“Ah!” she and the girl who was laying on the floor both screamed. A beautiful cinnamon skinned girl was laying on the tile floor with her hand deep in a bag of dog treats feeding the black lab that lived in the soccer house. Her mascara ran down her face a little bit and her hair was haphazardly thrown up into a sloppy bun. Her shoes were thrown off to the side of the floor and she looked really drunk.
“Are you okay?” Tobin asked concerned as she lowered her weapon.
“I am now,” she cooed at Bailey, the dog, scratching his ears and giving him a kiss on the nose.
“Are you feeding our dog?”
The girl nodded enthusiastically her eyes wide in delight. “He’s so cute. I love doggies,” she slurred in a baby voice.
“Okay,” Tobin said as she walked toward her. “But maybe enough treats for now,” she said reaching down to pull the bag of treats out of the girls hands and set it down on the kitchen counter among the empty liquor bottles.
“What’s your name? I’m Tobin,” she said sitting next to Bailey who was sitting in between the two girls.
“Tobin!” the girl perked up at the name. “Kelley, blues, soccer,” she said incoherently trying to make the connection among her jumbled thoughts, snapping her fingers as the memory was coming back to her.
“Sure,” Tobin just nodded and smirked. “And what about you? Does crazy dog lady have a name?”
“I’m Christen and I’m really drunk,” she slurred trying her best to enunciate her words. Tobin smiled at the girl who was cutely trying to compose herself.
“I can see that,” Tobin smiled. The girl looked up into Tobin’s eyes and Tobin stared into the most beautiful piercing gray blue eyes and caught her breath for a moment. The girl returned Tobin’s smile and Tobin’s heart started racing even faster. But Christen’s smile quickly faded and her face paled.
“Oh no,” she muttered before throwing up all over the kitchen floor.