[TF] The New Water Girl

Tier Reward for SeriousSentence.

An arrogant soccer player finds her position swapped with that of a water girl after a few cruel words.

~

I basked in the roar of the crowd as the ball I had just kicked sailed past the goalie and into the net. Another perfect goal; just in time for the referee to blow his whistle and announce the match over. Not that it had been much of a match really; we had one ten-nil and I had kicked seven of our goals. I was the star of the team for a reason.

With a winning smile I flicked my blonde braid over my shoulder and waved to the crowd, making sure to keep my expression happy, but not arrogant. Personally, I didn't think there was anything wrong with a bit of arrogance but I’d been told too many times that acting humble was part of being a ‘good winner’. Stupid, but if I was going to get drafted into the pros this season I had to make sure I was as appealing as possible attitude wise; I already had looks and skill in the bag.

The losing team all came up to shake hands as usual and we did. I thanked them, my voice dripping with sugar as I assured them all they played ‘so well’. Then I reached the final member of the team and paused in shock; she was chubby, with fat ankles and a round face; she certainly didn’t look like an athlete, yet she held her hand out to me all the same.

“I didn't see you on the field.” I said instead, her hand still frozen awkwardly between us.

“Oh, I don’t play. I’m the water girl.” She smiled with a dopey smile, I couldn’t help it, I laughed a little.

“And what? You want me to say ‘good game’ to you as well? For sitting on  a bench all day?”

The smile finally fell.

“I’m still part of the team.” She said pathetically.

“This isn’t little league.” I snorted, walking away without taking her offered hand, “If you want to call yourself an athlete, lay off the sodas and get on the field, chubby.”

I made sure to say these words with a hiss, quiet enough that nobody else could have heard. Still, I couldn’t resist turning around to look at the girl's crushed face one last time before I joined the rest of my team in the change room. We had one more game today and we only had an hour to rest up and prepare ourselves.

As I cleaned myself up and changed into a fresh uniform I couldn’t help but feel angry. The audacity of that girl, acting as if she was important enough to warrant a handshake from the star player of a championship team just because she was the water girl. I didn't even know those roles still existed at this level of play! Perhaps her father was some bigshot at her university and he paid her way onto the team. It was the only explanation.

If anything though, that made me even angrier. I got my place as a star with pure talent. And yes, maybe my looks helped; I had a perfect athlete body, practically made to appear on the front of magazines and cereal boxes. Once I went pro I would have companies clamouring to sponsor me so I could appear in Nike ads and the like. With my platinum hair and bright green eyes I was a catch both off the field and on. Plus with a name like Lucy Lockheart, the marketing practically writes itself.

“I’m going to the concession stand.” I called to the rest of the team, “I’ll be back in time for the game.”

“Alright but don't fill up on sweets!” Danielle called as I left, I giggled at the thought, I bet that little piggy from the other team was stuffing her sad face with pretzels after I put her in her place.

The concession stand was packed as per usual but the lines parted around me; I could see girls and guys alike staring as I walked up and ordered my sparkling water. I would have loved a lemonade or coke but I knew better; I had an image to uphold after all. Hopefully the bubbles in the mineral water were enough to give me a bit of extra pep right before the game.

A boy with a spotted face handed over my drink with a little pink straw and smiled awkwardly, I watched as his eyes dipped to my chest for just a split second and I fixed him with a hard stare. He knew I saw, and his face flushed red bringing a smile to my own. Perv. Then again, I couldn't blame him, not many women with athletic builds like mine had a double D chest and the conservative T-shirt that was my uniform barely did anything to hide them.

I started to walk back toward the change rooms when the crowd began to coalesce around me. What had been a clear walk to the concession stand was now a press of people. I could feel them brushing up against me at first, then crushing and even pushing a moment later. It was as if in an instant they forgot exactly who they were dealing with!

I shoved back and people gave me the stink eye and I stared right back. I waited for them to look embarrassed or horrified when they realised who it was they were bumping into but none of them did. In fact, they didn't seem to really notice or care about me at all. Philistines. When I went pro they’d remember and they’ll be sorry.

I sipped at my drink, letting the bubbles fizz on my tongue only to realise that the flavour was changing. Confused, I looked down and was surprised to see a bottle of coke in hand. I blinked in shock, taking another sip to confirm that yes, it was inside fizzy soda not sparkling water. But I was sure it had been right a few sips ago.

Oh well, one sugary drink wasn't going to hurt me and after that win I deserved a little treat.

I turned a corner in the crowd and found myself suddenly knocked off balance. Some idiot boy rounded the corner and slammed into me, sending my drink flying and me stumbling backwards.

Normally such a hit wouldn't be a problem, I had excellent balance but all of a sudden my centre of gravity seemed to shift and I found myself falling squarely on my ass.

My face burned with embarrassment and I glared up at the boy who had knocked me down who had the audacity to motion to walk around me without so much as an apology.

"Aren't you going to help me up?" I demanded, holding out a hand, "it's the least you can do, you owe me a new drink too."

The boy's lip curled in disgust and he kept walking.

"You're the one who should be looking where you're going," he called over his shoulder, "and from the looks of you, one less soda will do you good."

My jaw dropped; nobody had ever spoken to me like that before. I didn't even know where to begin dealing with the shock.

I went to jump to my feet and ask this idiot what he meant by that but instead of easily flying to my feet all I managed was a pathetic little hop. I looked down at myself confused to see that my legs were a lot shorter than they should have been. Thicker too, not in the athletic muscular way but rather chubby. The rude boy forgotten I hefted myself to my meet, groaning at the extra effort I wasn't used to exerting.

I kept staring down at my body, confused; I had heard of dysmorphia before, was that what was happening? Because it made no sense that I was suddenly a head shorter and thicker all around. My belly, normally flat, toned muscle in a perfect hourglass was gone. Replaced with a pear shaped body with a huge round ass which explained why my fall had been so cushioned. My belly hung ever so slightly over my shorts and I felt my cheeks going even pinker realising how ugly it looked.

This…had to be a dream, a single soda couldn’t make this happen! No way! I ran, doing my best to weave through the crowd only to end up bumping into every second person I passed. People yelled, I paid them no heed, I had to get to a mirror.

I burst back into the change room, secretly thankful that the rest of the team seemed to have already returned to the field. I made her way to the showers, catching glimpses of my distorted reflection int he metal surfaces she passed. My breathing was heavy, it felt like I was out of breath already even though the run had been short. It was as if all my athletic training had evaporated in an instant!

When I finally  reached the mirror I paused, at first thinking somebody had broken into their locker room; then I realised I was looking at my own reflection. Yet there was no platinum blonde hair and sparkling smile; only a short, frumpy girl who looked nothing like me. Her hair was dirty blonde, hanging in a limp ponytail tied in a faded elastic. My eyes was dishwasher grey now, not stormy grey or anything mysterious, just boring, plain and faded like an old pair of socks.

And my body; oh my beautiful body that I had slaved away to make perfect was ruined. I wasn't fat; but chubby which was almost worse. Each of my limbs held just enough flab to wobble when I moved and my cheeks were round and rosy. All I needed was a little green hat and I’d like like an mall elf at Christmas. Jolly, that was the word that came to mind looking at that rotund belly.

I turned, twisting on my toes and wincing as I felt them crack slightly under my new weight. My ass wobbled as it came into view; it wasn't pert and peachy anymore but round and heavy, hanging low enough that I swore I could feel the ass cheeks clap together when I did a little jump.

The muffled sound of the crowd cheering made me pause, the game! It must have been starting, but how on Earth am I supposed to play like this? I had no choice, I could figure things out later, my team needed its star player!

I ran out to join the others, leaning over on my knees and wheezing as I finally reached the edge of the field only to see most of the team already on the pitch, kick off having started.

“Lucy! There you are.” My coach smiled, “I know you’re not on the field but it’s important to be here on time okay? We need to present a united front.”

What?” I gaped, “What do you mean not on the field?”

My coach made a face; a strange mix between awkward and guilty.

“Well, we talked about this. If you managed to complete drills and loose a little weight, we can put you in goal.”

“Goal?” My jaw dropped, this was all wrong.

I looked down at myself again, horrified to realise for the first time that I had a little paper badge above my breast that read ‘water girl’. No! I was the star player! This wasn't right. The crowd cheered and the coach swore, I looked up to see the opposing team smiling as they ran back into position, having just scored a perfect goal. The girl player centre smiled over at me; her brown hair was sparkling in the sunlight and I realised she looked familiar somehow.

Lacking any better options I sat myself down on the bench and looked forlornly out into the crowd. I don’t know how this change had happened but somehow, in the space of a single break I had been turned from a star player to a nellie nobody. I could see agents sitting there talking amongst themselves. Probably picking out players to offer pro contracts to. None of them looked at me; why would they?