It's Coming Home

Chapter 1

May 2021

The warm sun beat down on Amy's face as she lay back watching the clouds dancing across the bright blue sky. She twirled her fingers in the warm grass and took a few minutes out from the  books and study notes that lay haphazardly on the ground beside her. The warm weather reminded her that summer was just around the corner, but worse of all, so were the end of year exams. She groaned, although she was quietly confident that her hard work would pay off in her grades, she just wanted to make sure. She sighed and picked up her business management book again. A shadow appeared over her.

'Um hi' came the voice that she instantly recognised as Callum's.

'Hey' she replied airily as he took a seat next to her.

'What's your plans for summer?' He asked, his deep blue eyes twinkled as he ran his hand awkwardly through his floppy blond hair. Callum was one of the hot guys in her year, but unlike some of the sports jocks who personified vanity, Callum was so completely down to earth, that's why she liked him.

'Nothing yet actually. I'm thinking I might just hang around here and work extra shifts in the pub'

'Really? I'm thinking about doing the same actually. Maybe we could, um, hang out or something while everyone else is gone' he ventured slightly awkwardly, fidgeting with the oversized keyring in his hand.

'Sure, sounds good' she smiled back at him.

'Great, I'm glad there's going to be someone else to watch the Euro's with, I know you're a big football fan and now Scotland have qualified, you never know' he said. 

'I guess you never know your luck' she smiled, she'd been trying to put the whole Euro thing to the back of her mind, but living on campus at a university with the massive Scottish national Institute of Sport, it was all that people could talk about.

'Well, I've got a revision class so I better go, send me a message and let me know when you're free' he said smiling again, before walking away. Amy picked up her book again, no more procrastination.

'Oh my God! He is sooooo into you' squealed her flatmate Emma, who had appeared from nowhere, shattering her peace once more.

'Heeeeey you, but you can get that idea out of your head right now. Callum and I are friends, neither of us thinks any different' Amy was firm, her friends were always trying to set her up. She wouldn't have been surprised if Emma had persuaded Callum to talk to her in the first place.

'Seriously chick. We've been friends for 2 years now, and in all that time I've seen you kiss Scott like four times when you were drunk and apart from that nothing. You turn down every guy that asks you out, when are you going to finally put your mystery ex to rest and move on?' Emma sighed frustratedly.

'I think I am ready. I don't know, I just can't seem to find someone I like'

'Well you never will for so long as you're not actually looking' teased Emma. Little did Amy know that Emma and their other two flatmates were already working on a plan. She wouldn't know what had hit her!

*****

Jack was giving it his all in training. He knew that there was an insane level of talent looking to get a place in the England squad for the Euro's and it was non-negotiable, he needed to be part of it. It wasn't even up for debate. This was what he'd been waiting for his whole life for, it was surely his time to shine. He'd had his ups and downs in his personal life but his passion for football had never changed, it was his life.

'Great session today' said the England Manager, Gareth Southgate, as Jack passed at the end.

'Ooh great session today Jacky boy' mocked Tyrone Mings, his fellow Villa player, when they hit the showers.

'Shut it!' Jack laughed. 'I'm just really focused, you know the boss and I 'clash' sometimes. I just need to prove myself to him and then maybe he'll actually let me kick a ball for a change'

'Unlikely' taunted the captain, Harry Kane.

'Just you wait' said Jack, wagging his finger in Harry's direction. 1st of June the team selection had to be made by. 7 days to go. He just had to keep his head down and work hard and that spot on the team was his.

Once he was showered and changed, he jumped into his Land Rover and made the drive home to Solihull for the weekend. He needed that bit of normality back in his life. The normality that she used to bring to his life. It was always times that these that his mind went to her, that made him wonder if he dialled her number, would she answer. He always came back to the same conclusion. She wouldn't, and he couldn't blame her one bit. He felt his mood slipping as he imagined her long dark hair that she used to push behind her ears, and the way that her dark brown eyes used to look over the top of her dark framed glasses at him when he was winding her up. There was one thing he knew that took his mind off of her.

'Alright mate, I'm on my way home. Fancy a couple tonight. Just quiet like. I'm keeping my head down until after team selections ' he laughed.

'I'll assemble the troops' his childhood friend Chris laughed. Jacks version of a quiet one didn't quite resemble anyone else's.

A few hours later as Jack kissed the pretty little blonde, whose name he couldn't quite remember, he knew no matter who or what he did, Amy would always be the one that got away.