Chapter Text
Chapter 1
She did not look forward to this.
The noise of all those people chatting and laughing, enjoying their young and free lives...It simply got on her nerves.
She would give everything to go back to the morning workouts with Paul, quiet time with Boxxy and Carli, directing her defenders and simply being a part of the team.
You see, Hope loved soccer. She loved being the youngest and most perspective goalkeeper
in United States. She loved being an athlete, she loved pushing through the boundaries
and crashing records...
She loved it all... Yet she still fucked up her chance.
And what hurts, no, what burns her inside is the guilt! Because the fact is, it's all her fault.
She crushed her own dreams. she was good enough! she IS good enough, but the rising of
women's soccer depended on more than just great players. They needed fans at the games, media coverage, the sponsors and the whole hype that men had. They needed a marketing campaign where they would present the players and make them idols for all those girls hungry for female role models.
And Hope could have been all of that...yet after Jeremy returned to her life... It was all just one bad decision after another.
The drunk driving could have been dealt with, after all it was Jeremy who drove. But the pictures... They would be on the internet for anyone to see.
She was good, she was really good, but the damage she could bring to the team was not something Pia wanted to gamble with.
And Hope won't ever blame her for cutting her of the team.
Hope understands there's so much more at stake than just one goalkeeper's carer.
Even-though, the goalkeeper was magnificent.
Jeremy. stupid Jeremy. how could she let him take the teams van? how could she let him drive while intoxicated? how could she trust him with the photos?
Hope closes her eyes and tries to banish those thoughts.
What's done is done.
Getting angry again wont do her any good.
She had 2 years behind her of self-destructing, drinking and wasting her life.
It's time to get back at her feet.
As a player, she was always determined, and now, her new goal is to finish college.
she unclenches her fists, takes a deep breath and steps on the campus.
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As she walks down the hall, it doesn't take long for
some of her the students to remember her.
Isn't that Solo?
Giggle, yeah, I heard she wasn't good enough for the national team
remember when she...
Hope squeezes her eyes shut to try to get a grip on the rising anger and block those voices when-
"Ouch!"
She feels something slams into her.
She grips the person and barks:
"Are you an idiot? watch where you're going!"
"hey, you're the one who walks with closed eyes"
The girl narrows her eyes at Hope, not backing down and returning the murderous stare.
Hope just opened her mouth to put the girl in her place when someone pulled her away.
"Hey Ann, let it go, we're gonna be late."
Hope barely registers the intruder with freckles all over her face as she leads
other girl away.
Crisis averted.
Taking a deep breath, she feels the anger in her subdue.
fucking great start of the year she thinks to herself.