BCS Day 10 - It's Friday...

It's Friday.

Tiff wakes up you and your team. You start with a quick warm up, then you get a light breakfast, then a final team huddle in the locker rooms before you put on your game uniforms.

Tiff recaps yesterday's planning meetings briefly. The main concern with Team Green is the small group of military girls that all know each other. Their soccer technique isn't perfect, but they have excellent synergy and are extremely tough.

There's a sense of relief because the waiting is over. Now you just have to play.

You put your uniforms on and head out onto the field, where there are tons of cameras, and the bleachers are full. These are all FUTA employees and their guests... live viewership is limited while FUTA is still in this early stage.

At least half an hour of group photos, individual photos, and pre-game interviews go by before you're finally walking out there onto the field.

It's another beautiful, sunny day... but hot.

The game starts out full throttle and rough. Green Team is aggressive and focused. There's precision in everything they do... they have their playbook memorized, and they stick to it religiously.

The military girls aren't afraid to get rough, and it's making for a good show. Even the small live audience is pretty loud.

You see Michelle watching. Tiff might be your coach now, but Michelle will always be your real coach. You don't want to lose in front of her... but you are a mess. You are exhausted from last night, which was a... very late night. No rest. It was fun, but... you feel like shit.

And your body is uncoordinated already. You know this will be a hard game. You try to be smart, letting Lara do the things that the old you would have done. You try to pay attention to Green Team and look for weaknesses, but you're just... not at your best.

You try hard, but lose the game 2 to 1. Lara plays just... really well, but it's not enough.

You can tell she's disappointed in you after the game. Everyone is, but... at least everyone seems to agree that those army girls on the other team are ridiculously hard to deal with. They don't feel like it's ALL your fault.

FUTA obviously wants everyone gone. The winning team does interviews and gets bussed to the Lodge, while the rest of you get on busses to go wherever you're going to go...

Lara puts her arm around you and gives you a reassuring squeeze.

"It's OK," she says. Everyone is a little emotional, and she can tell you're blaming yourself for this. It's not the end of the world, but... you just lost on camera... it's a lot. Your loss, your lackluster gameplay, the fact that even with a sports bra your chest was bouncing around like crazy as you tried to play... on camera. It's just...

You and the other girls sit on the bus as it leaves the Soccer Camp area, going onto a gravel road that you never noticed before. Two other busses are coming as well... one for each losing team.

You drive through the forest, but Lara notices something and looks out the window. You turn to look too. There's a sign up ahead. It's yellow, but it has words on it in big, friendly letters:

WELCOME TO

CAMP CRYSTAL LAKE

EST. 1935

"Another camp," Lara says.

"What?" You don't understand.

But in a minute the bus pulls up, and you see it all: it's a summer camp. The Soccer Camp is modern and pretty nice, even just the cabins and showers, but this place... it's a wreck. It looks like something from the early eighties.

But it's on the lake, which is pretty. There's a sand volleyball court, and a basketball court... no sign of soccer. Some cabins that are a lot like the ones at the Soccer Camp, just shittier.

The busses stop.

You all get off, finding four young women waiting for you wearing the shorts and t-shirts of camp counselors. They each have their name written on their t-shirts. Meg, Claudette, Nea, and Kate.

Meg is sporty and looks like a runner. Claudette is Black, very cute, and wears nerdy glasses. Nea looks grumpy and has a beanie on, but she'd probably be pretty if she smiled. Kate is obviously the hot one, with long, red hair and the look of a popular cheerleader.

Kate steps forward as all the losers gather around.

"Welcome," she says. "So you'll all be here until Monday morning. No drills or anything. No cameras. You're free to just relax. I guess the punishment part is that it's... you know." She turns and gestures at the camp. Yeah. The punishment is that it's not the Lodge.

And you had to give up your phone when you got on the bus. No phones, no air conditioning... probably no TVs. So there will be no creature comforts, but it might be very relaxing actually with no cameras and no social media pressure or anything.

You go into the cabin assigned to your team, finding it dusty, creaky, and kind of horrible... the beds squeak, and there's no privacy in the shower, which is supposed to be for six people but is just tiny.

No phones... it could be a long weekend. You stop as you're unpacking your stuff and look at the window. Weird... for a second it looked like there was someone out there, watching you. Like... someone wearing dark clothes, but with a very pale face. Just kind of staring.

Whatever. It looks like everyone wants to just go to the lake and splash around, try to forget about today. You're going with them.