It's Our Secret

Prologue

Growing up with a twin is the best feeling in the world. They are your inbuilt best friend for life. No one can take them away from you. They are your person, your soulmate, your everything.

As a kid, you have this telepathic connection with your person. You know when they are sad, or when they are happy. You know when they have a secret, or want to be left alone. You have an understanding that even your parents don't seem to recognise. They are your people. She is my person.

Keira always told me, since we were both kids, that we would grow up to be professional footballers, and I believed her. She had a passion, and a drive that I could only imagine. She knew what she wanted, and I was there for the journey. I was never as determined as she was. She knew where she wanted to go. I just followed her around and I hoped that we would end up in the same place.

That's the thing with twins - although you may have the same blood, and same upbringing - you always turn out differently. Keira was the extrovert, and I was the introvert. She was the yin and I was the yang. We were opposites, yet somehow the same. She was my person, and I was hers.

Ever since we were born, we did everything together. We went to the same school, played in the same teams, and shared the same friends. Wherever one could see "Keira Walsh", there was no doubt that "Juliette Walsh" would be written alongside it. She was Keira, and I was Juliette. Or just Ettie. Normally, I go by Ettie.

We both started playing football when we were young. Keira was the one who pushed us both to play. As a little five year old, I was still as shy as I am now. But Keira encouraged me. She pushed me to my limits, and made me play with her. She was adamant that she would only play if I did. And I couldn't let her down. When we both started, we were quite good. We would both play up at the front, and would score a ridiculous amount of goals for being little five year old girls. In our town, the Walsh girls were the ones to watch. Families would come to our club games, just to see us shine.

"Ettie and Keira Walsh are at it again!" Parents used to say as we scored multiple goals a game. The other kids in our team never got their fair share of acknowledgement. I felt bad for them, Keira didn't.

By the time we were eight, we were playing in our county team, and when we were twelve, we received our first call up to the U15s England side. When Keira and I found out that we had been called up, we had totally different reactions.

"Ettie!" I heard Mum call out, "Keira!" We were both in our rooms, lying on our beds, reading through our football cards and magazines. We both turned to each other, confused. As we went downstairs, we saw Mum with her computer, looking at an Email.
"Girls," Mum started to say, "I've just got an email from the U15s Lionesses. They want you both there for the next camp!" Keira and I looked at each other, stunned.
"You're joking!" Keira said, going over to Mum, and looking at the email. "You have to be joking."
"Girls, you are going to camp!" Mum exclaimed.
"Ettie, we are going to camp!" Keira screamed, running over to me and hugging me tight. Keira was ecstatic. She had dreamt about this since we were five. But I was nervous. It was going to be a new environment. An environment that I had never experienced before. But, I knew I'd have my sister, but it still made me anxious. Still filled me with fear.

From there, everything seemed like a blur to me. We both thrived in the England camps. Although, funnily, Keira thrived off pitch and I thrived on it. Keira made so many friends, including Leah Williamson. Leah and Keira had been friends since those U15 camps, and they created a close knit, tight friendship. I was always jealous of their friendship. I never felt that Leah stole Keira away from me, because no one can. No one can take twins away from each other. But I did feel jealous that Keira had a friend. A good friend. And at the time, I didn't.