Chapter 24

"Finn get your ass up, we're leaving in ten minutes!" I called from the bathroom while putting my hair up in a bun. It was easier if it was out of the way completely. I slipped into my Team USA training shorts and dry fit muscle tank top. Everyone was dressed in the dark navy with red stripes down the side and our last names in white. The track and field trials were on television so I wouldn't be surprised if these were too.





The events for today included various dumb bell exercises for our arms and bench presses. There were some leg exercises but not many. I was confident that those were the ones I would excel at though. Finn and I did arm work outs but mine were not nearly as intense. I bursted out of the bathroom and Finn slipped past me to get in. I downed my protein shake and slipped my sneakers on. Depending on the exercises I might have to change into my weight shoes.



Chris and Al had facetimed us yesterday to ask how the travel day was. We told them that it was truthfully boring and that we had met two of the pros. I still couldn't tell if that last comment was meant to be intimidating or reassuring.



Finn took a fraction of the time I did in the bathroom. He was out in seconds and his shoes were thrown on. We were told we didn't need to bring any of our gear with us except for things we would need to do weights.



This wasn't the NFL but I had a feeling there would defiantly be some form of tackling dummies, even if we couldn't tackle. Tackling was all about strength and form and that's what today was about. There wouldn't be any actual combine events today, though. Most of them would be on day two and three.



We slung our bags over our shoulders and we were out the door.



When we got to the stadium there were about 20 players there already, including David and Devin. I don't know how they knew each other, considering they were on different teams, but they seemed attached at the hip. Finn and I had blank faces the entire time. We couldn't seem cocky but we needed to seem confident enough to belong. The best option was to stay quiet and stand out through the events, not our words.



We placed our bags on the ground near some other peoples, but we ultimately kept to ourselves. We watched as the other players filtered it. Most of them listened to music through their earbuds but some were talking. The Pros seemed to have formed a group as well as the different colleges. It seemed like the standard groups were here. South Carolina, Syracuse, Notre Dame, and some random kids from schools like Yale and Virginia.



We wouldn't be meeting the coaches today, we would only be bossed around by trainers running events. Finn and I were already getting looks for our appearances. They probably thought I was transgender, not that there was anything wrong with that. They were looking at Finn because of his pro football player muscles that usually aren't seen on lacrosse players.



I'm pretty sure someone from the North Carolina team was about to call something out when the trainer interrupted by speaking into a mega phone. "Players! Can I have your attention? Thank you." He paused before continuing. He was a shorter man with a Team USA windbreaker on. He held a clipboard in his left hand. "Trainers like myself will be running today's events. I would like to call attention to some...unique aspects of this years try outs."



Great. Here it comes.



"We do have a biological woman here today. No she is not transitioning and she does聽 identify as a woman. She has played her whole career with men and beat out thousands of them to get to this point. Any player not seen respecting or treating her as everyone else will be automatically rejected, as this does not support our values as Team USA. Moving on. Today we have 18 Pro players, 17 college players and 2 high school athletes. The events for today are doing the 200lb bench press, 250lb dead lift, 80lb barbell curls, then we have Clean and Jerks as well as Snatches and Power Cleans set to a weight that is normal for your training. The first three listed are about endurance and are counted with more points. The last three are shows of strength and are not worth as much."



Fuck damn it.



"Can last names A-F please go to the east corner of the fields. G-L to the North. M-S to the West and T-Z in the south."



Finn and I grabbed our bags like everyone else and we walked side by side to our designated areas. Luckily, Finn was in my group or else I would be having major anxiety. I didn't look nervous but Finn must have known I was feeling it because he talked to me in a low voice as we approached the trainers for our section.



"This is our zone. Don't think about it. We do these reps all the time in the gym. You'll hit 15 easily. Most of these players can't even bench ten reps of 200. This isn't Rugby or Football."



I nodded minimally so he knew I heard him but I didn't respond. Our group had seven other people. One I recognized as a nationals player and the others seemed to be in college. I suppose last name distribution wasn't reflective of skill level because none of the groups were spread out evenly. There was a group of nine pros and one college player, one group of ten college players, and one group of eight pros.



The pro in our group approached us, seeing as he didn't fit in with the college clique. He was almost as tall as Finn but was lanky. He had a runners body. His hair was black with a cut that was longer on top and shorter on the sides. The man looked to be of Asian descent. "Hey, I'm Jason." He said and held out his hand for me to shake.



I took it firmly and shook it while dropping my weightlifting gear at my feet. "Sylvia." He shook Finn's hand and Finn introduced himself.



"I'm going to go out on a limb here and guess you're the two high schoolers." He said with a smile as he crossed his toned arms.



"That obvious?" Finn questioned with a small smile. I guess Finn had a sense for peoples characters and he was feeling Jason. He seemed like a nice enough guy.



"Well you aren't talking with the college kids and I haven't seen you before so I assume you're the two high schoolers. Besides, you're the only two built like Schwarzenegger so I assume you know each other." He replied jokingly.



"Well, I defiantly wouldn't say Schwarzenegger but I guess that's fine." I laughed. "Do you play on the national team?"



Finn and I were defiantly not Schwarzenegger status. I would say I look very similar to Mattie Rogers in body type, with a little more boob and butt and a smaller waist. Finn was defiantly a Travis Deslaurier with bigger legs, green eyes, and no beard. Actually now that I think about, they're like identical.



"Nah, just pro. I play attack. What about you two?"



"Defense."



"Midi."



Jason smiled and turned to me while pretending to whisper even though Finn could hear him loud and clear. "Ugh. He's one of those. So damn cocky."



I laughed at the look on Finn's face as he rolled his eyes. "I know right. God. I hated him when I met him. He gets better though."



I had to take the opportunity to look him over. The tight dry fit shirts they handed out really showed off his defined core because he was so in shape. I had to pull my eyes away as Finn opened his mouth with a retort when one of the trainers interrupted.



"Everyone. Gather round. We are testing each event one at a time so we can accurately grade form and endurance, hence why you're here for 9 hours. Speaking of which, we are getting behind schedule. It's almost 7. We're doing this by reverse age because the printer printed the wrong order. Jason Malfoy. You are up first." The man barked. He seemed like he spent a lot of time in the gym and the sun. He had defined muscles and tan skin that almost made him look like a different race, but his Italian scent gave him away.



The majority of the tryouts went slowly since I was second to last. My birthday was thirteen days ago and Finn's was only a week ago. At least he got to finish with a bang. He had been correct about the max reps for these players. No one had yet to top 16 and even that was an outlier. Most only got 10. By the time I was up, I wasn't even nervous.



I settled myself on the machine that had been lowered for my 5'6" height. My feet planted down the ground and I laid back. My chalked hands gripped the warm metal and I readied myself for the 'go'.



I could feel everyone's eyes one me now. They all wanted to see how the girl stacked up against the older men. It didn't surprise me. They were probably all waiting to laugh at the poor 18 year old girl who didn't know what she was getting herself into.



"Begin when you are ready."



I heard whispers around me but I blocked them out. I concentrated on my breathing and did my first rep with no problems. I continued like it was any other day at the gym with Finn. I could almost imagine it as he hovered near me, criticizing my form and complimenting me when I did good. The two of us had developed a positive cycle for each other that kept one another going.



By the time I reached 20 I could feel my muscles getting tired. I usually stopped at 17 when we worked out. I slowly did one last press before putting the bar down. I let out a deep breath and sat up. The people around me had never crossed my mind, but when I saw their wide eyes and shocked faces, I knew I had done something right. I smiled to myself as I stood up and walked over to Finn who had a smirk of his own. I wiped the sweat from my forehead and high fived him with my other hand. Jason held out a hand down low when he uncrossed one of his arms. I turned to face the bench again and have him a low five before crossing my own arms.



"Mason. 21. Last up we have Riley."



Finn looked like a natural as he pumped out 35 reps with ease and managed to get to 37 before retiring.



I guess you could say we had everyone's attention now.



The events rolled by slowly, Finn and I outperformed everyone with ease and Jason stuck in the middle of the pack. Today was probably his worst day, based on the build of his body and the position he played. He was a pro after all, so I wouldn't count him out. By lunch time, word had spread about the two high schoolers who were outdoing everyone.



Finn had the numbers to play professional football. The combine record was 45 reps of 225. He could get close to that if he wanted too. If CT wasn't a lacrosse state, he would probably be a star Quarterback. He was just that kid that was good at every sport.



In the middle of lunch, there was an announcement made by the same man from the beginning of the day. "We're going to do the mandatory drug test now instead of later due to some complaints from certain athletes. When you finish eating, you will be escorted to the nurses station for the hair and urine samples."



I met Finn's green eyes and we both knew. We were sitting on the turf field eating the grilled chicken we ordered last night. Actually, we ordered a grilled chicken sandwich but we threw the bread out and tossed the chicken and tomato on top of the bagged lettuce mixture we got from the grocery store. Everyone was still in their four groups so Jason was sitting with us.



"Great. Now they think I'm on steroids." I huffed, not hiding my eye roll.



"Could be me." Finn said.



I gave him a pointed look but Jason beat me to a response. "It's her. Everyone knows a guy at their gym who looks like a linebacker but not everyone knows a girl who's like the freaking Hulk."



I rolled my eyes and stood up. "Whatever. I'm just going to go get this over with." I said and stalked off with my escort.