Freya was holding her dad's left hand as they rode along on the subway. It was sweltering hot outside still, but she was wearing a cute ice blue shirt with a football that had a pathway traced into a capital C on the front. On the back written in black was the name Fiora and the number 24. She wore white shorts and shoes. Her dad was wearing a similar outfit and carried a flag in his other hand sporting the same design they had on the front of their shirts.
It was standing room only and Freya stuck close to her dad, looking around at all the people. Most were wearing a similar outfit to her, but with different names and numbers. A few had an older motif, while there were a few she could spy in the other car wearing light green and yellow. Aleksi was supposed to come, but he had caught a summer cold and it was mum's turn to miss a game, according to her father.
"Stick close," her dad said as the tram slowed to a stop and the doors opened. Freya nodded but felt the surge of bodies, almost like a river as everyone rushed to exit the train, but she gripped her father's hand tighter as they moved out with the crowd. They stood up next to the wall to allow the flood of people to move by. There were all sorts and ages, some with streamers and most with some form of either the blue and white motif or a green and yellow.
"Alright kiddo, once we get in, you're to take this and make as much noise as you want," her father said as he handed her a mini version of the flag he was holding. "And I mean lots of noise, like the levels you make when you and your brother are chasing each other and the neighbors tell you to keep it down. It's very important."
Freya nodded and her dad grinned as they moved up the stairs and through a glass door labeled 'Blizzaria Sports Complex South Entrance.' As the door opened, the gush of cold air enveloped Freya, but also she heard murmurs of people. While she was adjusting back to the cool air, her dad scanned his wallet near a turnstyle before guiding her through. As they moved forward the noise volume steadily increased until they re-emerged near a field. The seats were at the halfway line, about midway up. They sat down next to another family who were frantically waving their flags around. Freya's dad seemed to know them and the fathers exchanged pleasantries.
"Showing your daughter the ropes today?" the other man spoke.
"Yeah, gotta start them young so they know who to support," her dad chortled. "I never thought we'd have to close the dome for anything other than snow."
"Indeed, the AC bill must cost a small fortune."
"Guess we can expect the prices to go up for next year's tickets."
While the adults were talking, Freya inched closer to the other kids who were already watching the people on the field. Everytime someone in blue touched the ball they screamed and jumped up waving their flags. Freya joined in with them, though sometimes to Freya it felt like they were cheering alone. That was, until one of the blue people kicked the ball in the net. Then Freya couldn't even hear herself think much less scream. She turned around to talk to her dad, but he couldn't hear her and he gave her a thumbs up. After some time had passed ((45 minutes plus injury time in the event you don't know)), the players walked off the field and the crowd cheered as they disappeared below them.
Though it was air conditioned, Freya found her throat a bit dry and was a bit hungry. Her dad however, was ahead of her and gave her an orange drink and a hot dog. The neighboring kids had a hamburger and popcorn respectively. Freya offered them a trade, to which all three agreed and soon all three had a bit of hamburger, hot dog and popcorn. All food was eaten by the time the players returned to the field. This time the blue players seemed to be going the other way, but it didn't matter, so long as a blue person had the ball the cheering continued.
At some point in the game, Freya's dad complained about a call made by the referee and accused him of cheating.
"I don't think the referee can hear you daddy, but...." Freya said as she suddenly bolted from her seat and down towards the field. She wound up behind the Blizzaria Team benches and yelled out to the fourth official as he passed by, "HEY! STOP CHEATING!"
The official paid her no mind, but members of the teams turned to see who was screaming at the official and gave a chuckle. One of the game marshals approached her, but was intercepted by one of the players.
"Let the child yell, she's not hurting anyone, and at some point I'm sure all of us on the benches can agree to having had that sentiment at one point or another to a referee," the player said which caused the marshal to step back into place.
By now her father had caught up to her and apologized to the player who shook their head and laughed, "It's alright. I remember when my dad brought me to the games when I was little and did the same thing, except I actually jumped the fence and directly spoke to the ref. Do what my dad did for me, give her a whistle or a megaphone. She'll be too exhausted to be running up and down the steps."
"I'll keep that in mind," Freya's dad nodded.
"You're a cool player!" Freya added with a thumbs up. "That's why you're going to win!"
The player chuckled, "I sure hope so, Raine City isn't letting us walk away that's for sure. Maybe sometime you can join the team and make sure we keep the cool players going and winning," she added with a wink.
"You bet!" Freya giggled.
"Fiora, we're subbing you on," the coach ordered. "Get ready."
"That's my cue," Fiora nodded. "Keep up the volume, let us hear you want us to win." Freya nodded and returned with her seat to her dad. She spent the rest of the game jumping up and down making especially loud screams whenever Fiora got the ball. The girls in blue went on to lose the game 3-2, not that Freya saw it. By the time the last goal was scored deep into injury time, Freya had already exhausted herself.
"Hey wake up champ," her father nudged her with a smile.
"Oh... hey dad.... did we win?" she asked as she rubbed her eyes.
"You sure did," he said with a smile. He pointed to her shirt which now had something written on it, 'to the Capitals' new cheer squad leader, thanks for the support' and it was signed 'FI'.
"Uh-oh, mum isn't going to kill me for this is she?" Freya asked her father.
"That's a hard call," he laughed. "Not for it being dirty, but out of jealousy that you got her favourite player to sign your jersey." He then helped her out of her seat, "Now, let's pick up your garbage and dispose of it properly, so that the team can have a nice clean stadium for the next game they play."
Freya nodded as she picked up her drink bottle and plate her food had been in. The stadium now was much emptier and quieter than when they arrived, but she still heard the echo of the noise of the crowd, the movements of the players, and the excitement of telling off a referee and meeting a player. She looked down at her shirt one more time to look at the writing. Today had been an exciting day for her, and she already couldn't wait for the next one.247Please respect copyright.ＰＥＮＡＮＡHPhtoGbmQs
