MR Day 5 - Grumpy

You wake up feeling grumpy and worried... but the rest of the Lodge is waking up.

At breakfast, everyone quiets down at the coaches gather at the front of the room. Everyone stops eating and talking to listen. Something is going on.

Michelle steps forward, apparently the spokesperson. Wait, Michelle? She's back! You mood suddenly gets a lot better.

"So, announcement time. Everyone listening?" she asks.

"Yes," everyone says together.

"OK. Remember how you have all been gossiping about a new league? And how that's our fault, kind of?" She gestures at the other coaches.

"Yes," everyone says.

"About that. There's no new league," she says.

The room explodes with shock and from some girls, outrage.

"What?" You can't believe it. It's all anyone could talk about yesterday...

"Shut up and listen," Michelle says impatiently. "It's not a league. It's a TV show."

She has to wait again while you all freak out.

"But! But! It's not getting produced yet," she goes on. "Seriously, guys. Let me finish. The producers are here to do a trial run. Your coaches and supervising coaches all have the contract, and you will get your chance to look at it and make your decision."

You want to laugh... like anyone is going to NOT want to be on a TV show about soccer. Everyone will sign.

"For this show, we are going to do a scaled down league, which means teams. But it's a show, not a league. That means these people want to see drama. They want rivalries and things like that. You're sorted into teams, and you *stay* with your team. Your team is like your family," Michelle says.

Wait a minute. What are the teams? Who is on which team? You and lots of the other girls start demanding to know, but Michelle shushes everyone.

"We'll post them in a minute. And I know! I know there's romance here at this camp where we are supposed to be concentrating on training," she says, kind of irritatingly. "So this is how it works. On Mondays you train. On Tuesdays, you have a half-day of training and a practice match. On Wednesdays, you do strategy and light training. On Thursdays, a half-day of training and match prep. On Friday, you have a real match against another team. There will be six teams. Three matches. The winning teams get to spend the weekend here at the lodge. The losers have to stay at camp. What happens at the lodge stays at the lodge. This is the only place where you can mingle with other teams. So if you want to mingle, you have to win. If you don't care about mingling and you just care about soccer, you still have to win, because only winners get interviews. That's how this is going to work."

Whoa. That's a lot. But wait... there are a lot of girls at camp, but not enough for six teams.

"Are these just very small teams, then?" Beth pipes up.

"No. Full teams. More girls arrive tomorrow, and a few of the girls from the Swim Camp are going to come up and join. We..." she says, pointing at herself and the other coaches. "Are your subs if there are injuries. Yes, we know there are some girls here who don't have to sit down to pee. Those girls don't have to hide that. No secrets. Any other questions?"

Wow! You can shower with everyone else now? And share a changing room? And yes, there are lots of questions, but you just want to know what team you are on... but you don't get to see that until after you sign a contract, and none of the coaches will let anyone sign a contract that they have not read yet.

Going over the contracts takes most of the morning. You finally get yours signed, and are handed a sheet with the teams on it. You are officially a contestant in the pilot shoot for Football Ultimate Television Association, or FUTA for short.

You check out your team.

PINK TEAM:

1. Riley (USA) Captain, Striker COACH: Tiff
2. ATT Aki (JAP)
3. ATT Lara (UK)
4. MID Sun (KOR)
5. MID Sam (UK)
6. MID Elena (KEN)
7. DEF Rebecca (USA)
8. DEF Sheva (SEN)
9. DEF Lili (MON)
10. DEF Max (USA)
11. GOAL Viti (IND)

That's all great, but... finally you can catch up with Michelle. You see her talking to the three producers, even though that jerk one, Clara is not cool at all, but Michelle is nice to everyone.

She comes to talk to you when she's done.

"I thought you were gone!" You hug her and she rolls her eyes.

"I couldn't tell you. But I was only going to be your coach for another few hours anyway..." she says.

You realize that is true.

"Then why did Clara do it?" you ask.

"Two reasons," Michelle replies, steering you out of the main room and out onto the patio, where no one is around. "She wants stars. She wanted to see how hungry you were."

"That's terrible! What's the other reason?" you ask.

"You must be her type," Michelle says.

"That bitch."

"She works in TV," Michelle says. She is so nice to everyone.

All the others are inside being excited... no one is looking. And Michelle quit, right? You kiss her, and she lets you... but only for a few seconds.

"Riley, you need to focus," she chides you.

"I'm focused on my sexy coach," you pout.

"Oh my God. OK. I'm not your coach. I'm here as a physical therapist," she says.

Oh. Well, of course... there will be injuries and stuff. Michelle is really good at that.

"Do some physical therapy on me," you say, rubbing her hip. You are so glad she is back. The TV thing is scary... anyone would be nervous about being on TV, but Michelle is super comforting. It's exciting, and your happiness is turning into horniness.

"Not gonna happen," she says.

"Can we at least hang out?" you ask.

"Sure. We can do that," she says, exasperated. "I have some errands. I could use the help."

Hmm... that sounds good, but what about after? You could suggest going somewhere to celebrate.

Restaurant or bar?