Cameryn May - A Fresh Start

Chapter 15 - Debut Game Part 1

Training with Arsenal had been fun, it was a much quicker game, much faster paced and everything was more accurate. It was clear that the team was an upgrade from Bristol City, everything they did was more precise and it was possible to win some competitions with this team. Leah and Cameryn were closer than ever, Cam had made herself properly at home in Leah's house. 

It was a weekly tradition for them to have a movie night, which usually involved rewatching the Harry Potter series, but they both enjoyed it nonetheless. The night before Cameryn's debut game they had a movie night for good luck, but neither of them made it to bed, instead, they were cuddled up on the couch in the living room. Cameryn's head rested ever so gently on Leah's chest with Leah's arms wrapping tight around Cam's body. The sun broke through the open windows shining into Cam's face, which caused her to snuggle into Leah's neck.

"Good morning," spoke Leah, her morning voice heavily present.

"Ugh, the sun is in my eyes," Cameryn spoke as she breathed in Leah's perfume from the day before. She kept trying to cuddle in deeper to Leah's neck but no matter how hard she tried she couldn't escape the light that shone through the living room window.

"We've got to get up Cam, it's your debut game remember," said Leah as she tried to wiggle her arm out from underneath the brunette, but her efforts were useless, the 19-year-old wasn't moving at all. "Cameryn, get up."

"No," Cam responded as she fiddled with the edge of Leah's shirt, "I don't want to go to the game, it's going to be really scary".

"I'll be by your side, so don't worry; also isn't it a special day tomorrow?" asked Leah hoping that it might pique the brown-haired girl's interest.

"Nope," was the muffled head directly in Leah's ear.

"What do you mean, no?" asked Leah completely and utterly confused, "it's the 20th of November tomorrow," she continued hoping that Cameryn would figure out what she was hinting at.

"Doesn't ring a bell."

"It's your birthday, Cam," Leah said bluntly.

"I know."

"So it's a special day," the blonde continued.

"No, it's just a day, the same day I was born 20 years ago."

"Cameryn, why don't you like your birthday?" asked Leah expecting to get a response, but instead Cam climbed out of the blonde's arms and marched out of the living room and up the stairs without looking back. Leah took a deep breath, letting out a massive sigh as she stared up at the ceiling, suddenly feeling very empty without the warmth of her best friend.

While Leah lay contemplating what she had done wrong, Cameryn walked back and forth across her bedroom floor scuffing her toes on the carpet. Why did life have to be like this? Cameryn's life was good, she lost her dad at nine years old, but her life was still good. Cam stopped kicking her feet into the carpet and opened her wardrobe, searching for the box she stored in the bottom corner. 

She opened it to find a number of things carefully piled into the black box. First, she pulled out a pile of photos, the top one was of her and her dad during one of her first training sessions playing football. Cam was perched on his knee with the biggest smile across her face, her jersey was a bit too big and her socks were pulled up right over her knees but everything about the picture seemed perfect. She flicked through each photo taking in each moment, there was one of when she scored her first goal on her under 10's team when she was only seven, one of her with Jayden after her team won their grand final and many others. 

Underneath the collection of photos was a book - a diary that her father had started writing when he got his first cancer diagnosis. He wrote entries every few days or when something important happened in her life. She flicked through seeing the words 'always and forever' scattered throughout, it was his favourite saying. She found the page about her first game of football ever, she was five years old, so it didn't look the same as a game now, but his words spoke that he was equally as proud.