They Don't Know About Us

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"Cmon Ellie, it's the last one today and then we're done".

I sigh and lean my head against Alex's shoulder, "Last one". Alex wraps her arm around me in a side hug, "Get through this one and I'll buy you an ice cream afterwards". I hold up my pinkie up her, "Promise?" She laughs and locks her pinkie with mine, "Promise".

It was another media day and I got paired with Alex who usually got paired with Pinoe but she was with Jill today so Alex was with me. Honestly I don't really know how I feel about the media at the moment ever since the match against Thailand we've always been on the back burner with the media constantly attacking us for celebrating. Thankfully Christen thought ahead as she made me delete all my social medias from my phone so I wouldn't get distracted and I have an agreement with Alex that I can use her phone whenever I need to post something for the team or my sponsors.

Thankfully most of the media in France had been okay when interviewing us so at least it wasn't too bad. And it made it better that Alex was me anyways. Alex was a pro at interviews and it helped that she was able to calm me down when I was getting overwhelmed.

Media day has been tiring to say the least, people asking the same questions over and over again. Our next match was against England in the semi final so it was all to play for. Which also happened to be on Alex's birthday. So most of the day was reporters asking about how Alex was feeling about playing on her birthday and asking me how I was feeling to play my former teammates.

When we walked into the room I lean into Alex, "Do we need to wear the earpieces again?" But she shakes her head, "No I don't think so. I think everyone here speaks English as far as I know". I nod as I sit down behind my nameplate beside Alex. We're given a few minutes to settle ourselves before the on slaughter of questions. I take a drink of water before sitting back in my chair. Without even thinking my hand goes to Alex's and starts to play with her fingers and she lets me.

After a few minutes I feel Alex nudge me gently. I pick up my head, "Hmm?" I can see everyone is looking at me, "Uh sorry what was the question?" The room laughs while I blush heavily. Even Alex giggles and pats my head causing me to pout.

The reporter repeats the question, "How are you feeling about the match against England?" I nod thinking for a second before answering, "I'm feeling good. I think it's going to be a tough match but I have confidence in our team that we will pull out the win". I motion to Alex beside me, "Hopefully I get to see this one score on her birthday as well".

The room laughs and I can Alex smile and nod at me from the corner of my eye knowing I answered it well. "How do you feel about some of the comments made by the England coach about your team and you in particular?" A French reporter asks by the sound of their accent. I lick my lip, I was hoping this wouldn't really come up.

Apparently in their own press conference, Phil Neville had some stuff to say about our team talking about how it was England's right to win. And when he was asked about who he was afraid of playing, my name was dropped when he was saying that some of our team are overrated.

I shrug, "I mean I've heard what has been said about me and my teammates from a lot of people throughout the tournament. But honestly I'm not going to comment on that, I'm just going to keep my head down and focus on my performance. I rather let my play do the talking and show what I can do instead of talking myself up. We'll find out soon enough if he's right or not".

Alex lets out a small laugh but disguises it behind a cough. The team love them I do interviews like this. I've been told I have a talent for putting people in their place while also coming off as mature and loveable.

Honestly I think it's just my smile

The media rep for us tells the room we'll have one more question before picking someone out. "Last question, how do you feel about playing again not only your former teammates but also players you've played against in the league previously?" I sigh, "Of course it's nerve wracking playing against friends. Hell some of them I see as family. But it definitely doesn't mean I'm going to take it easy on them and they definitely aren't going to let me off light either. If anything it makes things more interesting as we all know how each other play. And the English have some of the big names on the team, it will be exciting to play against them. We have our work cut out for us".