Little Do They Know

Chapter 46 - Left Wing

As we headed into the 2022/2023 season, I knew there was a lot to look forward to. We were playing in the Champions League, the World Cup was less than a year away and I had Jackie. Now my Jackie. It was as if everything had aligned, and my life was following a path that it was always destined to take. My heart was stable and my mind was settled. Jackie made me happy. She made me free. And I loved her, and she loved me.

As I woke up, the morning before the opening round of the WSL, I saw her laying beside me. Her blonde hair draped over her face, and her eyes fluttered slightly as she slept. All I could do was smile. Smile at her, and what my life had become.

"Are you watching me sleep?" Jackie asked me, as her eyes were shut. She could obviously sense my eyes upon her.

"No," I lied, quickly closing my eyes.

"Don't lie to me," she joked, moving closer to my body. I could feel her breaths on my skin, as our bodies were close but not touching.

"I don't think I'll ever get used to this," I said to her.

"I don't want to." I smiled as she said this, knowing that we both would always want those butterflies. Always want those feelings of excitement and thrill.

We had not announced our relationship to anyone, but it wasn't as if it was a secret either. We were both happy and content, but also not ones to boast or let everyone know. If it came out, it came out. We weren't going to let ourselves stress about that.

As we got into the car, for the last session before the game, I looked at Jackie in the drivers seat. She had become the designated driver between the two of us, and something about that solidified our relationship. It cemented something more than I thought.

I held her hand as she drove, and although she does drive a manual car, she continued to hold mine, at any safe chance she could.

"Now," Jackie said, "we should be scoring and assisting each other even more so now. If our connection was good before, it should be like lightning now."

"That's a lot of pressure Jack," I said to her.

"Feeling pressure's good," she replied, "it shows we care." I nodded, knowing she was right. It does show we care. I feel a lot of pressure. Pressure to perform well, pressure to make people proud of me, pressure to not fuck things up. Sometimes it feels like a lot, too much even. But we carry on. We live. That's what we have to do sometimes.

When we arrived at the ground, we got out of the same car, and as we passed Less and Tooney, they both gave us a look. We weren't holding hands nor standing close together, but they could tell. They all could, I think. Something about Jackie and I had changed. We were now livelier, happier. As if, we were living on cloud nine everyday and there was no way to get off of it.

We trained that day, and as Jackie and I got back on the football pitch together, our connection shone just as bright as it did before. I knew where she was going to place the ball, and my finishing had not decreased. I was scoring with my left, my right, my head and even more shoulder. It was all working.

"Bradie," Marc called for me, after training, "can I have a word?" I nodded and headed inside.

"So, I was watching your CONCACAF, and you played incredibly, absolutely incredibly. However, I was also watching the Euros, and so too did Less. so, my game plan for this season is to have you on the left wing, and her in the 9. Would that be okay?" I thought about it for a second, and although I knew I was best suited for the 9, there wasn't much I could do, and I can play just as well on the wings.

"Yeah, sure that's great. I'll do anything for the team."

"Thanks, Bradie. That means a lot to me and everyone. You're one of our brightest talents and we need you this season, that's for sure."

As I headed out, I saw Millie standing there, looking over her shoulder, seeming to me to be quite nervous, a bit shaken up.

"You okay, Mills?" I asked her. As she looked towards me, her eyes were bloodshot and tears were streaming down her face.

"I'm okay," she replied.

"Are you sure?"
"Yeah, I'm fine." She turned away, and although I knew she wasn't fine, I could tell she didn't want to talk and I needed to respect that.

"You should talk to Millie," I said to Ella, as we were the last to leave the car park after training had finished. Ella was waiting for Less to come out of the building and Jackie was waiting for me in the car.

"Why?"
"I saw her crying today."
"Yeah," Ella replied, "I don't think things are going too well with Rachel."

"Oh, right," I answered. Rachel was MIllie's girlfriend.

"Apparently there was a big fight. They're still together, I think, but just haven't talked."

"Right," I said, slightly suspicious.

"BRADIE!" Jackie called me from inside, "I'm tired."
"Got to go," I said to Ella, before hopping inside.

"What was that all about?" Jackie asked, as we pulled out of the car park.

"Oh nothing. Nothing that bothers us at least."

Our first game of the season was against Liverpool. We were opening the season at Old Trafford, something that always excites me and the team.

Once we arrived at the stadium, we could see the floods of people that had come out to support us in the opening round. Liverpool versus Manchester United is always a big game, and it was going to be an exciting one, especially since Liverpool was just promoted from the Championship.

As we sat in the locker room, I looked at my jersey. 12. Van Dyk. I wondered what it would be like if Meyer was there instead. It did feel as if Meyer was my true name, but it was too late to change now. It would always be too late. I was Van Dyk to everyone else. Bradie Van Dyk.

"You okay?" Jackie asked me, coming over and sitting beside me.

"Yeah," I replied, "ready to play."

As we went out, onto the pitch, 50,000 people were sitting in the stands. It was the largest home opener for a women's match, breaking a record set by Tottenham a few years earlier. I couldn't believe that this is where we were. I couldn't believe that football had come this far. It was a dream come true.

"And here comes your United Team!" The commentator said over the loudspeaker. "Keeper, 27 Earps! Defenders, 6 Blundell, 3 Thorisdottir, 21 Turner, 17 Battle. Midfielders, 14 Groenen, 7 Toone, and your captain, 10 Zelem! And your forwards, 11 Galton, 23 Russo and number 12, Van Dyk!" After each name, the crowd cheered, and we knew that, for this crowd, we were going to win this game.

During the match, I felt freedom that I hadn't felt since I was last on the field. Although I was confined to the wing, I made it my own. I was weaving around Liverpool's backline, and making leads, trying to get the breakthrough goal. When Jackie played a slip ball to me on the left, I ran with it, touching it past the right back. I cut it back into Jackie, who I saw had made a lead in the box. She shot, the ball gliding through the air, passing into the back of the net. She had scored at Old Trafford. The stadium went up in flames, the crowd was cheering, louder than I thought that possibly could. She ran up to me, her hands placed on my face, and forehead rested upon mine. The other girls soon ran over, breaking up my special moment with Jackie, but I knew that was something we were going to cherish, forever.

That was the only goal of the match, but it put us into good stead going into the season. We bagged three points in the opening round, and we were able to survive the pressure. We won the next few matches of the season, before we had international break. The US team was set to verse Canada, and that was going to be an exciting friendly.