Straight from the academy

1.

My eyes slowly open and I stretch my legs. I close my eyes again to fall back asleep when all of a sudden they immediately open again and I sit up straight.
Shit. I've overslept.
I look over at Ruby who is lying next to me, also still asleep. At least I'm not the only one.
I shake Ruby's shoulders to try and wake her up.
"What??!!" She says not long later, annoyed about how she's being woken up.
"We overslept! Get up!"
Her yes widen and we both get out of bed. We change into our training kits as fast as we can and shove some other clothes into our bags for us to get changed into after training. Then we race downstairs to pack the rest of our things.
In our rucksacks, we pack our water bottles, boots, shin pads and a few other things. Then Ruby and I both grab a banana and a protein bar and run out of the house to the car. Normally, we'd have a proper breakfast but we are running really late and we can always get food when we get there if we need to.
I put my seatbelt on and start driving as fast as I can, but still careful not to break any rules.

Training starts at 9:30 and we get there and 9:26.
Just on time.
We get out the car and race down to our 3G pitch. Ruby and I put our boots and shin pads and on as fast as we can and then we join in with the other girls who have just started a jog.

In the end, we made it just on time and we didn't miss any training. Or, at least, no one noticed if we did.

Training was good - we did 1v1s, possession and passing drills, defending set pieces and 5 v 5 games.

Then the team make our way inside to the gym where we go on the running machines and exercise bikes for an hour or so before having a stretch session. After that, everyone walks to the changing rooms to change their clothes and some people have showers. Then it's time for lunch.

Ruby and I are sitting with a few of our other teammates eating lunch when our manager calls me into his office to talk.
What have I done? Did I do something wrong?
As I walk in I immediately notice someone else sitting at his desk too. He stands up and walks over to greet me.
"Hi Elenor, as you may already know, I'm Jonas Eidevall and I'm the manager of the arsenal women first team." He says shaking my hand.
"Yes, hi. It's an absolute pleasure to meet you" I say kind of spluttering my words from shock.
That was embarrassing.
He sits back down in his chair and I sit down in the chair that is front of me. My manager also walks around the desk and sits down.
"I was watching you train earlier." Jonas says to me.
"You were?"
"Yes I was, and I have to say I was very impressed."
I'm taken aback.
"You are an exquisite player, Elenor."
"Wow, thank you so much."
Jonas just nods his head at me and then he looks over to my manager who starts to speak.
"I have been talking with Jonas recently and we have both agreed that you are a very talented but also mature player for your age."
"With that being said," says Jonas. "We'd like to offer you a professional contract with arsenal women."
"Seriously?"
"Yes."
"Oh my god, thank you both so so much"
"You deserve it, you are the type of player I want on my team."
"That honestly means so much, thank you. Can I call my family to tell them? And can I tell the other girls?"
"Yes, you can. We will talk again tomorrow morning to discuss wages, fill out the forms and other things like that."
"Ok, thank you so much."

I walk out of the room and practically run back to the other girls. "I got offered a professional contract!!!" I say, running into the room.
"Are you for real?" Ruby says walking over to me.
I shake my head and grin at her.
"I'm so so proud of you, Ellie" she hugs me so tightly I almost can't breathe.
"Ruby? Rubes? I can't breathe"
"Sorry" she says finally letting go. "I'm just so proud of you! Have you told your family yet?"
"No I need to do that now. Do you think it would be ok for me to drive to their house? It's only like 15 minutes away"
"Yeah go, if anyone asks where you are I'll let them know and I'll let out manager know."
"Ok thanks. See you later"
"Wait!" Ruby hugs me again quickly before I walk out the room and to my car.