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I was almost comical how quiet the locker room would get the moment that Alice entered it. Whether she was just passing though or had an announcement to make, it was as if her very presence commanded the full attention of the team.
Today was no different, their assistant coach entering the locker room and the Lady Greyhounds’ voices falling silent. Except this time Alice was not alone, she was accompanied by another woman. Dark hair, radiant skin, and a beautiful smile. Whoever she was, she was gorgeous, and stood just behind Alice at the front of the locker room.
There was an air of confidence to this mystery woman. One that was hard to find in most people, especially when they were somewhere they’ve never been before and standing in front of a group of people they’ve never met. It did not seem to bother her at all, in fact, as she stared intently at Alice.
“Morning everyone.” Alice says to the team, followed by a string of “good morning”’s from the players. Suspicious glances were exchanged between the team, but nobody dared speak until Alice was finished.
The assistant coach clears her throat before she continues. “I want to introduce you to my girlfriend, Camille.” Alice says, gesturing with her hands to the woman beside her. “She’s been wanting to visit for a while now, so I thought I’d bring her along to practice.”
The room was quiet before, the air filled only with the shuffle of feet and intake of breath, but now the space was comparable to a graveyard. Everyone could hear how Niamh’s jaw had dropped, and Margy’s gasp filled the silence for a long moment afterwards.
“Nothing changes,” Alice finally adds when things grow awkward. “I might even work you harder—but I wanted to let you know before heading out to the pitch.”
“Hi,” Camille says, offering a friendly wave. The team stares at her, completely stunned.
Lizzie is the first to break out of the daze, stepping forward to shake her hand. “It’s nice to meet you, Camille.”
“Likewise,” Camille smiles, and the rest of the Lady Greyhounds rattle off their own version of hello.
“Good,” Alice claps, an awkwardly loud sound in the otherwise silent locker room. “Now that that’s out of the way, finish up here. Meet me on the pitch in ten.” She gives two thumbs up before her hands fall back to her sides and she leaves the locker room, Camille close behind her.
The very moment the door clicks shut the team is on Gemma. Crowding around her like a pack of actual greyhounds. “Did you know about this?” Mady asks, then Margy, “She didn’t tell you, did she?”
Niamh, small and nimble as she was, maneuvered her way to the front of the pack. “Gemma, what the fuck?” She says, and Gemma’s eyes are wide. Never in her life had she felt so cornered, and been so cornered physically. She could hardly move from where she was sitting in front of her locker, it was as if the air sucked itself out of the room.
“What are you all looking at me for?!” The striker asks when she gets her wits about her.
Niamh knocks on the wood of Gemma’s bench, now level with the seated player. “Knock, knock, Earth to Gemma,” she waves a hand in front of her friend’s face. “We all know you have a crush on coach.”
“What?” Gemma asks, face scrunched in absolute disbelief. “You think—” Gemma looks up from Niamh, scanning the faces of the entire team. Gemma’s expression quickly changes from confusion to defensiveness. “You all think I have the hots for Chilton? For Alice?”
“We were not born yesterday,” Lizzie chirps somewhere behind Niamh.
“Lizzie!” Gemma throws her hands up in defeat, “Not you too.” Even the captain was in on the team’s shenanigans.
“We have eyes, Jay.” Siobhan says. “We all see it—”
“And hear it.” Niamh adds, with a concerningly passionate nod of her head.
“You guys are hilarious. Truly. But there isn’t anything going on between us!” Gemma tries to say.
Niamh tilts her head to the side, wholly unconvinced. “You can quit lying and just tell us. We’re all here for you.”
“But I don’t, I—” Gemma stumbles over her words. “Alice has a girlfriend, guys.”
“That doesn’t stop a crush from being a crush!” Siobhan says in the most “gotcha!” manner Gemma has ever been subject to, the redhead pointing an accusatory finger straight at her.
Gemma sighs, knowing she has lost and won’t be able to change anyone’s mind.
“Nothing can get in the way of true love!” Niamh remarks, her voice taking on a sing-song quality as she clasps her hands together, looking up and batting her eyelashes dramatically.
“Except for Camille,” Boots interjects, which has the team burst into a fit of laughter.
Gemma rolls her eyes, “So mature, you guys.”
The striker doesn’t know who starts it, but a chant of “Gemma and Alice, Gemma and Alice” takes over the locker room. What was first hushed and low quickly erupts into a loud celebration. Forwards, midfielders, and defenders all jumping up and down.
Gemma does her best to ignore it, but when they near the ten minute mark and begin taking this outside, Gemma goes into panic mode.
“SHHHHHH!” She begins to shush them when the striker notices the chant echoing even louder when they walk through the tunnel that takes them to the field. Projecting “Gemma and Alice, Gemma and Alice” to the entire stadium, if not the entire neighborhood.
Lizzie notices too, how the tunnel carried their voices much farther than they intended. She pulls Boots by the elbow to get the goalkeeper’s attention, spreading the message from person to person.
When that doesn’t work, the captain yells: “Everyone quiet!” and their voices die down. They allow a good thirty seconds to pass before emerging from the tunnel, everyone pretending as though nothing had happened.
Unbeknownst to them, Gemma and Camille were already waiting outside.
“Do you hear that?” Camille asks her girlfriend, turning to Alice who seemed lost in a trance as she stared blankly at the field in front of her.
“What?” The coach asks, coming back to herself.
Camille stays quiet, catching the last call of “Alice” before hearing Lizzie instruct them to quiet down. An order from the captain everyone knew to listen to.
“It sounded like they were calling your name.” Camille says, focusing back on Alice and raising an eyebrow.
Alice huffs a laugh, “Now why would they be doing that?”
“I don’t know,” Camille admits, already sending the thought to the back of her mind. “Must have been the wind.” She says, taking Alice’s hand in hers.