Faster, stronger. The words rang in Elise’s head as she made it through the rest of the week—eating, sleeping, going for ice cream with Sophie, and running drills at practice. She didn’t notice any real difference in her performance, but that was okay. Elise reminded herself that the pills weren’t supposed to kick in until Thursday at the earliest. She probably had to build up the stuff in her body first. She didn’t even get upset when she let a direct kick from Dayton go right past her during a scrimmage. Just wait, everybody, she thought to herself. The timing was perfect anyway—the game with St. Ursula was on Thursday. They were a tough school that had beaten the Copperheads the last two seasons. Becca had told them the Ursula center midfielder was playing for Stanford in the fall. By the end of the week, the weather had turned hotter. The temperature soared to over eighty degrees by Thursday afternoon, and everyone was buzzing in the locker room about the effect of the heat on their play.
