Chapter 23

"Sylvia. Sylvia. Mason." I heard a voice whisper. I didn't really care who it was, I just curled up into a tighter ball. There was shuffling before I almost went deft by the sound of Anderson Cooper in my ear.





I shot up like a lightning bolt and yanked my earbuds out of my ears with wide eyes. When I came to my senses, I realized we were still on the plane. I narrowed my eyes and glared at an amused looking Finn to my right. "Was that really necessary?" I hissed at him in a low voice. The man on Finn's right looked slightly annoyed as he stared at his computer. Sucks to be him.



"Actually, I thought it was very necessary." He replied with a smirk as he whispered it in my ear.



"You're going to give me a God damned early heart attack." I muttered and unplugged my earbuds. We were landing soon, hence why Finn woke me up and why that man was angrily closing tabs on his computer. Someone's not having a good day. "You ever been to Atlanta?" I asked Finn.



"Yeah. The airport, not the city. What about you?"



"Once. The airport, not the city." I replied, mimicking him slightly. He smiled slightly and leaned back into his seat. Atlanta was one of the busiest airport connecting hubs in the world. I feel like everyone had been here at least once. The rest of the landing was quiet and peaceful. Finn and I were some of the last ones to get off the flight, but we were deliberately taking our time. As if not being at the hotel and sports center would somehow delay the time of the actual tryouts tomorrow.



We arrived at our baggage claim and had to wait for all eight of our items. Aka three sticks each and our clothing. Despite the fact that it was only four days, we also needed multiple pairs of clothes a day since we don't live in workout clothing. Either way, I still felt really stupid with my suitcase and a duffel bag full of padding, a back pack, and three large metal sticks (two of which were D-poles that made me feel even stupider).



People were staring at us as we walked through the airport. Luckily we didn't have to take any of the subways to get to other terminals.



"Is it just me, or do you feel really awkward right now?" I said to Finn who was walking on my left. The duffel bags where hooked onto the suitcases handles and sat on top while my hand stretched to hold all three sticks perpendicular, as to not stab anyone in the crowded airport.



"Me? No. But then again, I'm not the one with two sticks taller than I am. Nor do I have social anxiety around strangers." He teased.



"Okay. First of all, you're just jealous that I get to use a D-pole and you don't. And they are not taller than me. Second of all, I do not have social anxiety." I retorted. I would have crossed my arms, but they were full. "It's called general anxiety and it has to do with the events happening this week."



"Like professionals would care enough to watch high schoolers tapes." I scoffed at the notion.



"Exactly. The other players won't even be looking at us, so we only have to worry about the coaches, not the social politics of getting in with the 'it' players."



"That's easy for you to say." I pointed out and pressed the elevator button with my elbow. "I'm the only girl there. Eyes will be on me no matter how much I suck."



"By the time you are on the field, you won't even remember where you are. You're just at another game with new players. Don't think about it as Olympic tryouts." I don't know if he was saying it for me or for him. It seemed like both, but either way I took the advice.



The elevator opened and we both stepped in with our hordes of stuff. There was an older woman who looked us both up and down as the door closed and the elevator descended. I sent her a small smile but Finn didn't do anything. Asshole.



"Are you two here for the Olympic trials? What sport do you play?" She asked.



Finn smiled politely at her now, probably realizing he had to acknowledge her. "Yeah. We play lacrosse."



She looked confused and I sort of expected that. I feel like no one knows lacrosse unless you're in high school in the East. Either way, older people usually don't know what it is unless they played it.



The elevator came to a stop and we gave her another small smile before stepping out. There was a pick up area and a car rental area. We were only here for four days in the city, but Finn and I had decided to rent a car for the time being. Holiday cars allowed people 18 to 20 to rent cars for an extra fee of 50 bucks. It might not seem worth it, but it was to us. We had a lot of gear to lug around and we had to go to the grocery store to get food since we were both on strict diets for tryouts. Most restaurants don't have a variety of stuff we can eat while training. It was just more convenient for us.



"Give me the keys, Finn." I argued once we loaded all our stuff into the suburban.



"What? No. Why?" He said while closing the trunk.



"When was the last time you drove in the city. Not downtown, I mean the city. Like New York or Boston, maybe even Stamford." I crossed my arms and gave him a pointed look.



"Why was the last time you drove in the city? Four months ago? When you lived in LA?" He mocked and crossed his arms. He always made me drive before so I have no idea why he wanted to drive now.



"Well it's a lot sooner then the last time you did. Hand them over."



After bickering for a few minutes, we decided on a coin toss, which I ultimately won. Finn plugged the coordinates into the GPS on his phone and we were off.



The hotel the school had booked us in was a nice one across the street from the Falcons football stadium. The trials would be four days for each sport. Lacrosse was being treated sort of like the NFL combine. They would review our tapes and our performance at trials to make the decision. Day one was on field workouts and weights (the one I was excited for). Day two was running based. Day three way agility and stick work and day four was scrimmages.



Lacrosse players don't lift weights competitively like Finn and I. Despite the fact that Sam was stronger than me, that was only because he also weight lifted like us. I was stronger than every other guy on our team. We lifted for higher numbers, these players lifted to stay in shape. That's why Finn and I had so much muscle compared to everyone else. I had some of the best agility and aim on the team so day three would be my bitch. Day four is what we are both good at, the only problem was we were playing against world class players. Now day two..... Finn and I were fast but I don't think I will be excelling that day.



"You check in and I'll park the car. Come back out and we can move our stuff into the room. We can get a workout and then go grocery shopping after we shower. I'm still feeling gross from the plane ride." I said as we pulled up in front of the main entrance. The hotel was extremely nice and elegant. Probably because all of the hot shots paying top dollar to see football games wanted nice hotels and convenience. It was an easy money maker.



"Agreed." Finn replied while grabbing our papers from my backpack and hoping out of the car. He closed the car door and went inside of the sprawling glass doors.



I moved the car around the side and managed to snag an empty parking space that wasn't too far from the main entrance. I waited a few minutes before Finn reappeared from inside. I got out of the car and called his name. His head snapped in my direction and he walked to the car.



He handed me a maroon key card and opened the trunk. "Hope you like sharing because they're all booked up and our room only has one king bed."



I scoffed and rolled my eyes. "Of course." We were both without a doubt thinking of the incident two weeks ago, even if Finn didn't know I knew.



"You should be delighted. Any girl at school would kill to have me in their bed."



"And there's the cocky Finn we know and hate." I said in a teasing voice while we both pulled out all our shit.



"Oh, you love it."



"Sure."



****



The room actually was very nice, the only downside was the one bed but it was a king so I couldn't complain too much. Finn and I had decided to get a work out in before we showered so we didn't have to do it tonight. All the Olympic athletes were allowed to use the indoor equipment in the Falcons Stadium. The stuff outside was for trials and couldn't be touched. I think Men's soccer was finishing up today and Men and Women's Rugby was trying out in the afternoon over the next four days. That made sense considering Lacrosse tryouts only went until 3. We had the early time slot. 6am to 3 pm.



Fun.



Not.



Either way, the gym had a few athletes trying to get in workouts on their own time. Finn and I decided to start with our Clean and Jerks because they were easily our best lifts.



"What's your new max? 200 lbs now?" He asked. Chris couldn't spot me anymore because I had surpassed him in max lifts. The thing about the weight lifting I did was that it was mostly legs. My arms weren't jacked, they were just muscular. My legs and my butt faced the brunt of my workouts giving my the thick and sexy body I love. Compared to Finn, who weight lifted for everything, I was a lot weaker. His whole body was jacked but not veiny and gross, it was a pleasant amount of muscle.



"Yep." I replied confidently. "I'm officially in the Expert category now. Granted, I also gained five pounds." It was common to gain a lot of weight when you gain a lot of muscle.



"I can tell." He joked, eyeing me up and down. "Those extra hours in the gym are working for you."



"You're telling me. I had to buy new pants because of it." Don't get the picture that I look like a body builder, I don't. I just have a really good physique, but not at the point where I look disgusting. I'm to vain for that. I still need to look feminine and sexy in my mind. Shallow, but true.



I fastened the belt around my waist and slipped on my knee sleeves. Now that I was into really heavy weights for my size, they were a necessity. The only reason Finn couldn't gain as much muscle in the same amount of time is because both Sam and I needed to be there to spot his max, so he mostly just worked out to maintain his current strength.



I crouched down and gripped the bar. Finn got behind me and his hands found their familiar place, hovering near my sides, waiting to spot me should things go south.



"Ready when you are." He told me. I tightened my grip and used my legs to stand with the weight. The bar hit my upper thighs and I thrusted it out while squatting to get under it. Once the weight settled on my front shoulders and on my locked arms, I squatted low before thrusting up and moving my feet out to lock my arms straight and catch the weight. I held it above my head for two seconds and let out a deep breath before stepping back and letting it fall. The weight echoed through the room. Not many people here had touched these weights all day. I could tell because the gym occupants all looked like they'd never done a clean and jerk before. They seemed like the type who just maxed out on the machines.



I turned and gave Finn a high five. "Nice job. You want to do a Snatch?"



"Sure."



We changed the weight and I got in position. I performed the pull and moved my hands perfectly with the thrust up. My elbows locked in my overhead squat and then I squatted before coming back up and letting the bar drop. Finn and I had another two handed high five and he put on his belt and knee guards. By the time I finished my max lifts, everyone was watching us. We loaded up more weight for Finn and I gestured towards one of the men with larger muscles. This was one of the rare times that Finn would get to practice his max lift. He too had improved, just not at the same rate as me.



"Hey. Can you help me spot him? His max lift is more than mine."



The man with the black hair agreed and asked how to do it. I told him to stand back on Finn's left with his arms extended like mine, should it drop, we are close enough to grab it before it crushed him too bad. Weightlifting was dangerous and we all knew it. It was just a risk we took.



I couldn't figure out what sport the man played. I was paying more attention to him than Finn as he did his Clean and Jerk. It didn't matter though, because he did it perfectly.



We were about to change the weights for his Snatch when another man from a bench press stood up and came over to us. He had lean muscles and brown buzz cut hair. He looked familiar but I couldn't pin point it.



"Do you two play rugby of something? I would ask about powerlifting but that's not a team sport." Finn and I turned to face him. He stood next to the man with the dark hair and tanned skin like they were friends. Maybe they played soccer together.



"No. We play Lacrosse actually." Finn replied for me. Finn narrowed his eyes like he was thinking for a moment. Then it hit him. "You both play, right? Iroquois and the US team."



That's where I recognized them from. I had seen their tapes with Finn and Coach.



"Yeah. In my names Devin. His is David. We both play midfielder. You're both looking a little more buff than the usual lacrosse player. Is the woman's team having try outs this week?" The one with the black hair asked. He was the midfielder from the Iroquois team. They were Finn's competition.



"You guys don't watch the news much, do you?" I joked. "I'm actually trying out for the men's team. I've been playing men's lacrosse my whole life and the Olympics invited me."



Their faces seemed to morph into one of surprise. "You're Sylvia Mason?" David asked. "You're both only in high school? Damn. I'm surprised you're not here for weightlifting."



"It's only a hobby for us." Finn replied smoothly.



"What positions do you play?" Devin asked. He looked like he was trying to recall it. Perhaps he had seen us on the news. I doubt they saw our tapes.



"I play defense. He plays midfielder."



David smirked. "Well, if you're as good at lacrosse as you are at weightlifting then you will have no problem making the team. See you around." He nodded and stalked off with Devin behind him.



I turned to Finn once they left, with a look on my face. "I can't tell if that was a good thing or a bad thing."



Finn crossed his arms and looked at the glass door where they had just left. "Looks like we'll find out tomorrow."



God, save us.