A New Playing Field

Megan's POV

I woke up to the annoying ringing of my alarm clock. I think I got a total of four hours of sleep last night. I was too busy thinking about the situation with Nick, if I am going to home come with a gold medal, if I am going to come home with a medal at all...and the situation with Nick.

I got up and got dressed in our team travel uniform—navy blue shorts, a gray t-shirt, and a white hoodie, all with the USA Soccer logo on it of course. Nike also gave us red, white, and blue sneakers with our numbers stitched on the heel. They're pretty awesome. One of the biggest perks of being a professional is definitely all the free stuff.

I walked downstairs and ate breakfast. I loaded up my bags into the car and said goodbye to my siblings and Dad. “I’ll see you guys in a few days!”

Mom and I drove to the Home Depot Center. There were parents, siblings, boyfriends, husbands, and friends all gathered around saying their goodbyes. I loaded my bags into the bottom of the charter bus. After I said goodbye to Mom, Heather and I made our way to the bus door.

“MEGAN, WAIT!” I turned around. I saw a boy running towards the bus, his curly hair flying all over the place.

“Megan, is that-?” Heather started.

“Nick?” I cut Heather off. I walked towards him. “What are you doing here?”

“I couldn’t let you leave without doing this.” Nick put his hands on my waist and gently pressed his lips against mine. He pulled away. “I wanted to do it last night but I wasn’t sure if you wanted me to and I didn’t want to seem like I was rushing things and—”

I crashed my lips against his to shut him up. I put my hands around his neck. We kissed in the middle of the parking lot in front of my mom, my coaches, my whole team, their family and friends, and I didn’t even care. I pulled away. “As much as I wish I didn’t, I really do have to go now.” I was blushing and so was he.

“Text me when you land.”

“Of course. See you later, Nick.” We shared one more kiss before I stepped onto the bus. I was the last one on and my whole team had just seen my goodbye with Nick. As soon as I walked up the steps, all my teammates let out one big “Awwww!” I blushed and took my seat next to Heather. I looked out the window and saw Nick with his arm around my mom’s shoulder and my mom with her arm around Nick’s back. I waved goodbye as the bus pulled off.

A minute after leaving the parking lot, Coach stood up at the front of the bus. The bus fell silent for a minute. “Well ladies.” She paused and the bus was silent for another thirty seconds. “BEIJING HERE WE COME!” Everyone clapped and cheered as we continued our drive to LAX airport.

“Hey Meg.” I turned to Abby, who was sitting across the isle. Abby Wambach is one of the greatest female forwards in the world right now and I really look up to her. “Who was that boy?”

“That’s my friend, Nick.”

“He looked like a little more than a friend! Haha, he looked familiar though.”

“He’s in a band, the Jonas Brothers.”

“Oh, I knew it. Now I recognize his face from the posters my niece has all over her room. Do you like him?”

“Honestly, I’ve only known him for two days, but we spent almost all that time together. I guess I do kind of like him.”

“Well you two looked adorable out there. You’d make a very cute couple!”

“Haha thanks Ab.”

When we got to the airport, we were taken to the private plane on the runway. There were reporters there. We took a quick team photo, and they took pictures of us boarding the plane. Thirty minutes later, we were up in the air. Next stop: Beijing, China!