Our Kiddo

We did it baby

The next morning and they were all sat outside having a coffee together. Evie heard tales that apparently the curtains had opened every hour. She felt relieved that she was a deep sleeper and hadn't been disturbed by it.

Everything felt too relaxed. They were here having a coffee and a chat like any normal day and in barely any time at all, they'd be playing in the euro final.

None of them realised quite how big the final was until they were on the coach. There were six police cars escorting them and the loud noise of a helicopter could be heard, filming them on their way.

Each of them had been given a ticket allowance and Evie had given hers to Jamie, Jemma, Ella, Mr and Mrs Copper, Poppy and Kiyana and each of their dads plus Ava and her mum. Everyone else was bringing more people but these were all she needed. The fact she even had family there at all was enough.

As they got off the coach and walked to the stadium, their breaths were taken away. Thousands and thousands of people were all gathered, all there to watch them. This was hours before kick-off, what would it be like when it was closer?

The noise still rung in their ears as they walked inside. Once they were in, they began to get ready to warm up. They did everything as usual, Less doing her hair and the like, but it was still scary. Evie actually couldn't do it. She only had one boot on when she ran into the toilets, only just making it as she threw up. She was so scared.

Quickly she locked the cubicle door and curled up onto the floor, the nervous sobs coming from deep within. What if they lost? What if she played badly? What if everything they'd worked for was taken away from them?

A knock at the door pulled her from her thoughts.

"Kiddo? You okay?" Leah's voice asked.

"Fine. Go warm up. I'll be alright," Evie lied, her voice raspy.

"No. I'm not leaving you. Open the door."

"Please just leave it. I don't want to ruin this for you."

"You won't. Please open the door. I want to help you. It can distract my nerves at the very least."

Evie reached up and pulled the lock. Leah stepped inside and shut the door, before sitting down next to her.

"What's up?" Leah asked.

"I actually can't do this. I'm not good enough. I can't compete at this level."

"Yes you can. You're world class. I know you're young but use that. Use your passion and your instincts."

"What if I play badly? What if we lose? What then? We've worked so hard. We can't lose now."

"We're going to give this everything we've got. We might lose and that won't be nice but if we do at least will be able to say we gave it a bloody good go. That's what's so good about this team. We care. We work for each other. We need you kiddo otherwise this doesn't work. We need every single one of us to be out there, on the pitch or the bench, for us to work at our best. I know we can do it and I know it will be tough but we could win. We could leave today with a trophy. Come on. We need your help. And we want you to do well as well. I have so much belief in you, in every single member of this team. We could fucking win this thing," Leah said, her arm wrapped around Evie's shoulders. Her words had worked and she felt more relaxed. Win or lose they'd already done so much. They'd gotten this far, might as well give it a good fucking go.

Sarina had gone to check they were okay and over heard everything Leah had said. That was exactly why she'd made her captain.

They all made it out to the warmups. The crowd roared as they went out. It was loud. And it wasn't even full yet.