Little Do They Know

Chapter 13 - Jackie

Jackie's POV

One Year Earlier

The game against Sweden was tight. When it finished at 0-0 at the final whistle, we knew extra time was coming our way. I knew I was going to fight for this win, and fight hard. We wanted to get to the final. We wanted to prove that Holland was a world class team, once again.

In the 99th minute, I did it. I scored a goal against Sweden. We were up. I couldn't believe it. I never thought I would be the one to score the goal. I never believed it for one second.

As extra time was coming to a close, I realised we had done it. We had made the World Cup final.

Going into the final, I knew we were up against a tough opposition. The United States of America. They were nearly unbeatable, at that moment. They were on a roll, and that was going to be hard to stop. They had some big names, and they were definitely the favourites. But we also had something. We had grit, and fight, and a will to go out there and try to win it.

When we lined up, I saw someone. One of the players, for the USA. She looked like someone I used to know, but I couldn't exactly put my finger on who it was. I couldn't seem to remember why her face looked so god damn familiar.

Throughout the game, this girl was incredible. She was hard to stop. The whole American team was, to be fair. We were going strong in the first half, not letting them score. Although, in the second half, after two quick goals, the Americans had done it. They had won the World Cup, and we were only the runners up.

After the final whistle, I stood still, on the pitch. We were so close, and yet so far. The girl soon pushed past me, and ran over to her tall friend. From the back, I remembered who it was. It clicked in my mind. But, it couldn't be. It definitely couldn't be who I thought. Willow Meyer was dead. She died when she was eight. It couldn't be her. It just couldn't.

After the World Cup, I did a lot of digging. I found out the name of the girl was Bradie Van Dyk. She moved from Europe when she was eight due to family reasons, and grew up in Boston. There wasn't much information on her. From what it seemed, she kept her life very private. Too private, if you ask me. But football wise, she was incredible. She was a consistent scorer for the USWNT, and had been playing for the Portland Thorns for a few seasons. She was drafted #1, and never looked back.

But, every time I convinced myself I was overthinking it, I knew my intuitions were never wrong. I knew my gut feeling. This girl was not who she said she was.

Bradie's POV

Present

"I think," she started to say, "you should first tell me who you actually are and why are you pretending to be Bradie Van Dyk?"

"Um," I replied, "I don't know what you're talking about."

"Willow?" Fuck. How did she know? How did she figure it out.

"Jackie," I started to say, standing up and walking away, "I don't know what you're going on about."

"Stop lying," Jackie replied, "I know."

"Know what?" I tried to act normal. I tried to make her think it was all in her head. I had no idea what she knew, and I didn't want to be the one to give her too much information. I wasn't supposed to. It wasn't allowed.

"I worked it out," Jackie started to say.

"Worked what out?" I asked, trying to stay oblivious.

"That's not going to work," Jackie replied, "I know you know."