Chapter Text
It was a Wednesday afternoon, Tobin was waiting in her classroom for the start of practice. She was a high school art teacher at one of Portland’s top private schools, Ridgewood. She was also the soccer coach of the undefeated, reigning state champs varsity girls team. She can hear her best friend Ash, who is also her assistant/goalkeeping coach, and gym teacher walking down the hall.
“Look alive bitch, I have arrived” Ash says
“Blah blah, I will be alive when it's time for practice” Tobin says
“Seriously, what has you looking so glum?” Ash asks
“Nothing.” Tobin lies
“That’s bullshit and you know it.” Ash responds
“Um.. Shirley is moving in with her new girlfriend” Tobin says
“Aww, Tobs, I am so sorry. I know this has all been really hard on you. But you really have to start putting yourself out there. You aren’t going to be able to move on if you just keep waiting around for her.” Ash says
“I know I do. I just don’t know how. It’s so hard” Tobin says
“Have you tried Tinder? It's not just for hookups these days. You know that is how Abby and Glennon meet right?” Ash said
“I’ll think about it. Let’s just go to practice” Tobin says, grabbing her bag and standing up.
*
Later that night when Tobin is laying on the couch watching the latest soccer game, she finds herself opening and closing the app store on her phone. Finally she finds herself typing in the word Tinder into the search bar. She stares at the screen for about a minute when she bites the bullet and hits the download button.
After about 30 seconds the app was downloaded. So she opened it. She fills in all the basic profile information, then she gets to the hard stuff. The bio. She thinks on it for a bit before she comes up with something super simple. She then picks her photos. She decides to only go with three at first. She is still a little weary about putting herself out there like this.
But she did it. She did what Ash said and she made an account. Now is she going to meet someone, well that is a whole different question. She hopes her profile is good enough to get some likes.
*
The next day Tobin again is waiting in her classroom for Ash to show up. As soon as Ash walks in Tobin blurts out that she made the Tinder profile.
“Wow, I actually didn’t think you had it in you. Did you match with anyone?” Ash asks, surprised that her overly shy friend actually did it.
“Well no, but I made the account. That accounts for something right?” Tobin says
“Yeah it does. I am proud of you. Now show me this profile before we have practice.” Ash says, walking closer to Tobin so she can see. So that is what Tobin does, she shows Ash the profile hoping her friend has nothing bad to say. Fortunately Ash doesn’t say anything negative about it.
*
About 25 miles away Christen is laying in bed in a hotel room. She is bored so she is doing what she always does when she is bored. She swipes on Tinder. Christen is a professional soccer player for Angel City and for the U.S. Women’s national team.
Now I am sure you are all thinking well aren’t people just going to swipe because she is famous. Well she doesn’t use her name or her pictures. For the last year she has been using the name Anne-Marie, which is her middle name, and she has been using her sister's pictures. She tried her best to make the profile as true as possible.
The only thing she ever lies about is her name, what she looks like, although the Press genes do run strong and her family all have similar features, and her job. She says that she is a flight attendant, she picked that job so she could explain why she is always flying and in different places.
She is swiping when her roommate comes in, her roommate for this camp is Crystal Dunn. “What are you doing roomie” She asks
“Nothing” Christen responds.
“Oh so you are swiping again aren’t you” Crystal responds with a little laugh
“You caught me” Christen replies
“Are you still pretending to be your sister” Crystal asks
“You know I am. I know it is wrong and I shouldn’t be doing it. But I just want to try and meet someone who likes me for me. Not Christen Press soccer star. Also you know I promised you I would tell someone if it ever was becoming something more. I just haven’t met that person yet.” Christen says. She has always felt guilty about what she was doing. But after her last relationship she doesn’t want to take anymore chances.
“Well if we are swiping then I want to swipe with you. I need to see all these hot single people” Crystal says hoping on the bed next to Christen.
“Crystal you are married” Christen says laughing
“I know, that is why I am going to live vicariously through you” Crystal responds
So for the next 5 minutes they spend it swiping on Tinder. What Christen didn’t realize was how picky Crystal would be for her.
“To tall”
“To short”
“Doesn’t like sports”
“Only wants to hook up”
“They are only showing pictures with a fish. Could you imagine yourself trying to fish”
“Republican”
“Hot but only one picture. Probably a catfish. Oh wait that is you too”
“The bio is just a quote that says “I am not here for a long time, just for a good time”
Christen couldn’t help but laugh every time Crystal swiped left. But she was starting to wonder if Crystal would ever find anyone to swipe right on.
“Christen I found her. I better be invited to the wedding. First of all she is hot, second of all she is into soccer, third of all she wants something long term.” Crystal said. Christen had to admit she was hot. Her profile was different from all the rest. So she nodded her head yes signaling Crystal she could swipe right.
“Well my work here is done. Let's go eat.” Crystal said, locking the phone, throwing it at Christen and hopping off the bed.
*
Tobin is back on her couch later that night with another soccer game on the TV. She has her phone in her hand with the Tinder app open. She has swiped on a couple people but so far hasn’t gotten any matches. When she comes across a beautiful woman. Her name is Anne-Marie, she is 25 years old, and a flight attendant.
She thinks a smile could light up any room she would walk into. Her bio says she loves to go to the beach and read a good book. It also happens to say she is not into hooking up, which is a relief because those are hard to find. So she swipes right. What she can’t believe is that on her screen pops up with “It’s a Match”
She paused for a minute unsure of what she should do. Does she ignore it and hope Anne-Marie messages her first? Or does she message first because she is the one who matched?
She has a moment of bravery and clicks the send message button. She types out Hey, but then erases it. She thinks to herself that she has to do better than that. Who is going to respond to just hey. After a moment of thought she comes up with the perfect message
[Tobin 8:33 PM]
Hey. I am glad we matched. I see you like
the beach and that you're a flight attendant
so you must get to travel a lot. So what is
your favorite beach to go to?
After Tobin hits send she throws her phone on the couch and just focuses on the soccer game hoping to calm her nerves.