A Second Chance

Chapter 7 - Training

The next morning you wake up to Leah's alarm blaring out. You groan as she rolls over and turns it off before turning back to you again and wrapping arms back around you tightly. She pulls you in even closer and mumbles "just ten more minutes" into the back of your neck. You laugh and relax into her arms savouring the next ten minutes of warmth.

What feels like only a few seconds later, Leah's alarm goes off again.
You sit up and rub your eyes as Leah turns her alarm off and turns over to look at you.

"You excited for your first day in training?" she asks, a huge smile taking over her face. You sigh and slump back down into bed whilst groaning and roll over whilst burying your face in the pillow.

Leah chuckles and begins to rub your back whilst saying "the girls are buzzing to finally meet you properly, they're excited to have you on the team. I know it seems scary going in but they're so excited to welcome you". You smile at Leah's words and already feel much calmer, Leah looks into your eyes and takes your hand whilst saying "and i'll be right there next to you".

You instantly smile and give her hand a squeeze, thanking her for her words of encouragement.

Leah jumps out of bed whilst saying "right pre training breakfast, you have a shower and it will be done in 15 minutes. We need to get there early so you can get your training gear".

You bring your hand to your head and salute whilst saying "yes sir" before marching to the bathroom. You hear Leah chuckle and call you an idiot before making her way downstairs.

•

An hour and a half later and you and Leah have just pulled up at London Colney, you take a deep breath before reaching up for the door handle.
Before you can get to it the door swings open and Leah is stood there with a big smile on her face with her hand out towards you.

butterflies

You return the smile and gently take Leah's hand and step out of the car ready for your first day.
As you walk towards the door you hear your name being called from across the car park, you turn and see Alessia making her way towards you.

You smile and hold your arms out bringing her in for a hug.
Alessia is another person who's helped you a lot since first meeting at the Emirates. She's always been there for advice when making your decision, and has been generally a good friend to you.

You pull away from the hug and ask "what are you doing here? I didn't think training started for another hour and a half".
Alessia smiles and says "well it's your first day, i know how nerve wracking it is walking in on your first day so i thought you could do with a friend".
You pull her in for a hug again whilst whispering "thankyou so much you're the best".

Before you pull away she whispers back "no need to thank me, this was all Leah but don't tell her i told you".
You turn back to Leah but she's already began making her way into the building.

butterflies again

You ignore the feeling in your stomach, you'll add that to the list of things to worry about later, and begin to make your way into the building with Alessia.

•

An hour later and everyone else has started to turn up ready for lunch before you head out, you're sat in the canteen with Leah and Alessia as everyone enters.
They all instantly make their way towards your table and begin to greet you.

You stand up and hug each of the girls, feeling welcomed straight away, just as Alessia said you would.

Everyone has squeezed round your table, pulling up chairs and sitting on top of each other as you begin to answer questions that are being fired at you.
You tell the girls about where you grew up, your family, memories from your childhood and how you first got into playing football before the sound of a whistle silences you all.

You turn around and see Jonas stood there with the coaches either side of him. He walks over to the table and gives you a smile before motioning for you to stand.
You slowly rise to your feet and sarcastically take a bow and wave as Jonas formally introduces you too all the girls, this earns you laughs and cheers from the group.

•

An hour later and you're halfway through your first training session and everything is going really well so far! You've enjoyed joining in with all of the warm ups and shooting drills before joining in with a few passing games to get you used to playing with the girls.

You look over to the pitch beside you where Leah is training but she's already looking at you, you feel a blush creep to your cheeks as she winks at you before turning back around to carry on with her individual training.

You feel the butterflies take over your body again.

You quickly shake them off as it's your turn to begin dribbling the ball following the line before doing a quick pass and turn before making your way to the back of the line.

Jonas calls you over and asks how you are feeling, you smile and say "i feel like i've made the right decision, im happy and im feeling good about this. I feel like ive just slotted straight back in and everything feels a lot easier than i thought it would after not playing for so long".
Jonas smiles and places his hand on your shoulder whilst saying "you're a natural on the pitch, you were born to be on that pitch and you deserve to be on that pitch. I am happy to have you here Amelia".

As Jonas walks away you lay down on the grass and stare up at the clouds floating through the bright blue sky above you, taking in every single word Jonas has said.

You deserve to be here
You were born to be on that pitch

Happy tears begin to escape from your eyes as you tell yourself over and over again 'you deserve to be here', for the first time in a long time you believe it.
A few seconds later a pair of arms wrap themselves around you, you sit up and lean into them.

"Don't worry these are happy tears", you say as Steph Catley looks at you with a worried look on her face. "You had me worried for a second there" she said in her Australian accent as a smile instantly breaks on her face.

She sits herself next to you, both of you looking out at the team training and being silly with each other for a few seconds before she breaks the silence. "What are the happy tears for, if you don't mind me asking".
You turn to her and smile "thankyou for asking, i'm just happy i've fallen back in love with football again. Jonas just told me that i deserve to be here and for the first time in a long time im starting to believe it".

Steph wraps an arm around your shoulder and pulls you into her side, "of course you deserve to be here, you're an amazing footballer! No one would believe you've been out of it for a couple of years if they saw you today. You were born to play football and you can see that in the way you play. I am so happy you're here and so are the rest of the girls".

You stand up and pull Steph up too before pulling her in for a hug, "Thankyou Steffie i'm so happy to be here with you girls".

After you've finished with the drills Jonas calls you all over and begins to randomly hand out blue and yellow bibs ready to play a 8 vs 8 game, you look around to see who you have on your team.
You, Beth Mead, KCC, Kim Little, Laia Codina, Noelle Maritz, Steph Catley and Sabrina D'Angelo.

You play a quick 20 minute game, your team scores within the first two minutes, Steph runs down the wing, passing to Kyra in the middle who chips it over the defenders as you make a run and volley it straight into the back of the net.

As the girls all wrap their arms around you in celebration you get a feeling of home.

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