Chapter Text
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They were a few minutes away from a match against Brown.
“Brown has a high win rate, you know? They’re literally an Ivy League school.”
Nat mentioned it when they were in the lockers, but even if what she said was true, Jackie thinks they still have a chance to win against them. It didn’t really bother her; she’d been playing soccer throughout high school. Hell, she was their best striker. This was pure child’s play because it didn’t even matter that they were an Ivy League school; how hard could it be? Even though she’d heard a few stories about their team captain playing too rough and aggressive from Nat here and there, she assured herself it was nothing she couldn’t handle.
“I think her last name’s Shipman or something like that,” Nat added as she finished putting on her cleats. “Just try to avoid her as much.”
“How on earth do you even know this much information about them?” Jackie said in return, snorting as she finished storing all the gear in her locker. She did have a point, where Nat would get this information… is a bit questionable, though she supposed there’s bigger problems to solve since they still have to win this.
“Well.. I have my ways.” Nat replied, smiling as she headed for the door.
The whole field was all set up, both teams getting into their positions. Not much different than any of the games Jackie has played in. She examined their players until she locked eyes with someone. Brown’s midfielder, the one who had the number 6 on the back of her jersey, and on top of it, her surname: Shipman. She had a scar on her nose bridge and Jackie thought it was kinda cute until she realized—this was the same person Nat had mentioned to her to stay away from earlier in the lockers.
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Number 9. Taylor.
Of course Shauna had heard about Jackie Taylor. She’d heard about her so much it started to annoy her. Team captain, Rutger’s golden girl, best striker. She strongly believed it was an overstatement though. It started when Shauna sat next to Lottie on the bus. There wasn’t really any seat left and standing on the bus isn’t exactly one of her choices, so she took her best bet into sitting next to Lottie.
“I have a friend on their team,” Lottie stated, opening a protein bar she had gotten from her bag earlier. “I heard their team captain’s really good, she’s a striker.”
“I don’t think that would matter much if we beat them, Lot.” Shauna replied dryly, not looking up from her phone as she let out a sigh, leaning her head back against the seat. If there’s one thing about Shauna, it’s that she always puts up a fight. She was confident they’d win, not paying any attention to anything Lottie was saying.
“Their mascot is literally a fucking rabbit.” Shauna mumbled under her breath.
“I guess..?” Lottie replied, shrugging and continuing to snack on her protein bar.
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It was nearing the end of the match. 2-2.
Shauna shoulder charged into Jackie. And at first she had tried to ignore it as best as she could, but it deliberately got more and more aggressive. Deciding to fight back, she did the best she could, fighting the impact of the force Shauna was charging towards her until they both fell, tackling each other to the ground.
“What the fuck?!” Shauna hissed, looking offended, her eyebrows furrowing as her nose scrunched.
“That’s the best you got, Shipman?” Jackie taunted, her head not registering what she just said. They both stood up, now facing face to face.
“What did you just say?” Shauna pushed Jackie’s shoulder with one hand, her other grabbing Jackie’s collar tightly.
A whistle blew. It was the ref, reaching for his pocket. Jackie’s whole world dropped, it was a red card.
“Jesus, Shauna calm down!” Tai held her back, looking alarmed as she grabbed her shoulders, her other teammate getting in between the two of them. That’s all it took and both of them are out of the game. What the actual fuck is this Shipman’s problem? Jackie thought.
Shauna shot her a glare as she turned around and walked away—not looking back once. The match ended shortly after, the scoreboard reflecting the results.
| BROWN | 3 |
| RUTGERS | 2 |
| FINAL・2026 |
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The ride back home was a mess: the whole team cheering for their victory, Shauna getting scolded by her coach, and Shauna’s head throbbing. She wasn’t even listening to anything Taissa was saying, every noise getting drowned out until she caught on to the words: summer, soccer, camp, scouts.
“I checked it last night and I remember seeing they only had like.. 2 slots left or something. But don’t worry about it, I already signed you up.”
Shauna sighed, looking relieved. She didn’t really have any plans for the summer and while spending half of it playing soccer in a random place with people she barely knew sounded boring, it wasn’t like she had a choice. There might actually be scouts there and she isn’t exactly passing up on that opportunity.
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To say Jackie was zoning out is an understatement, her head still stuck on what had happened earlier on the field. She wasn’t really listening to anything Coach Ben was saying until she snapped out of it and eventually—
“It’s a one month sports camp program just for the summer, it’s mandatory considering the way you acted in that field earlier.” Coach Ben sighed, his hand rubbing his forehead. “Jackie, I made you team captain because I know you can handle this,”
She opened her mouth, about to protest until she got cut off abruptly.
“It’s in two days, I’ll send you the details.” He added, sounding exhausted as he walked away.
Jackie took a stroll around campus afterwards, taking her time reflecting on whatever the hell happened today. She got to the dorm some time later, a notification popping up as she opened her laptop, it was an email from Coach Ben.
From: [email protected]
Subject: YJ Summer Camp
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