PURPLE - Trent Alexander-Arnold

THIRTEEN

3/10/2017

Ever since Trent had told Ella he liked her she had tried to avoid him, when he had kissed her she had guessed he did like her but hearing him say it out loud to her face had scared her. Ella had worked her entire lift to make it into the Premier League for Chelsea and even the idea of being in a relationship when she was still getting used to the Premier League scared her

Tammy had noticed his best friend's change in behaviour and he knew her well enough to know that when she had sorted out whatever was going on in her head she would talk to him. Trent too knew what he had said got to her head so he didn't want to push her and let her think about it by herself

Right now Ella was lacing up her boots as the Under 21s prepared for training that day, Chloe was talking to her rapidly about a story from Crystal Palace's training ground as they made their way onto the pitch with the rest of the team

They started their training like normal with some stretches followed by running laps of the field and finishing with simple passing drills before taking a drinks break. The team were too distracted by Ella jumping on Tammy's back while Kiera was on Demarai's back and racing the width of the pitch to notice Aidy talking to Gareth Southgate while the senior team left the building

Aidy whistled which was a sound his team knew all too well and they stopped messing around to gather around

"Alright so team you all know this is the senior team manager Gareth Southgate and we've decided to do a joint training session with the senior team today," Aidy announced and the under 21s all tried to hide their excitement at the chance to play alongside the seniors who arrived at that moment "We want to start with an 11 vs 11 training match," Aidy pulled his team to the side and gave them their starting 11 which Ella and Trent were both apart of

It may have only been a training match but it was clear to everyone that the under 21s were much more keen to win, this was their first chance to impress Gareth Southgate and they were planning on taking it. Ella may have been acting strange, especially around Trent, but right now she was focusing on this game and Aidy was pleasantly surprised to see Ella and Trent getting along for the first time since their last game against Latvia

They fell into an easy rhythm between them, whenever Trent had the ball Ella would find a space for him to send it up to and whenever Ella needed to pass back Trent anticipated her move and got there to receive the ball. Sterling managed to score to put the senior team 1-0 up and this made the younger team fight harder to get even

Angus Gunn took a goal kick and the ball made its way to Demarai Gray who controlled it and passed it up to Dom Calvert-Lewin. Jordan Henderson tried to tackle Dom but Dom was much faster and passed up to Trent who was running up the right wing. He slipped past Demi Stokes while Ella and Tammy ran into the box

He sent the ball ahead of them and Tammy pretended to take a shot so Joe Hart dived the wrong way and straight after, Ella took the shot and smashed it into the top corner

She ran at Tammy who picked her up and Dom celebrated with them, the 3 of them let go of each other and made their way back to the starting lineup, passing Trent as they did so. Ella shot him a quick smile in thanks for his pass which was fast enough that not even Trent was sure he had seen it

Gareth and Aidy shared a look, Aidy's been a very proud one as they watched the young striker. Nobody knew that Gareth had tried to get Ella to join his senior team for this international break but Aidy had told him Ella was too young and throwing her in there by herself would only scare her so Gareth had listened and didn't call her up

But Gareth knew she had the talent and the mentality of his senior players, especially when he could see the familiar playing style of his old friend David Beckham in her playing

The score was now 1-1 and the senior team were surprised by how much harder the under 21s pushed for the win, to them this was only a training match but to the younger team it was their chance to prove their talent

Ellie Dale had tackled the ball off Harry Kane and passed it to Chloe Kelly who flicked it up to Ella and she had ran towards the box to try lose Harry Winks who was marking her. She was faster and got away but before she could take a shot, Lucy Bronze fouled her and Aidy whistled, pointing to the penalty spot

Trent had been nearby the foul and pulled Ella to her feet "You okay?" he asked quietly

"Yeah," she nodded and Tammy joined them

"You take it," Tammy told Ella, she nodded and placed the ball down on the spot. Ella took 4 steps back and pushed her nerves out of her mind, she ran on the spot before running forward and smashing the ball above Joe Hart who had dived too low to catch it

The under 21s cheered and Dom caught Ella as she jumped into his arms, Trent smiled at her and she was grinning to herself at scoring the winning goal since the game ended 3 minutes later 2-1 to the under 21s

"Go on, El!" Aidy cheered and hugged his striker. She let go of him and turned around to see Trent there looking at her

"What?" she crossed her arms

"Good goal," he said genuinely

"I know," she grinned

"You're so cocky," he laughed

"I can be because I'm good," she teased

"Breaking news team!" Aidy shouted "Trent and Ella are getting along!" The team cheered while the mentioned pair laughed, they grabbed their water bottles and joined their team on the benches to take a drinks break

"Still think she's not ready?" Gareth quietly asked Aidy. Aidy glanced over at the bench where Trent was poking her knee to get her attention and Ella turned around to give him a glare, Trent laughed and she shook her head in amusement

"I think she's got more to give this team," Aidy said, his eyes glancing between Trent and Ella. He wasn't blind, something was going on there and he was just as curious as the rest of the team to find out what was going on

In truth Aidy knew she could handle herself on the pitch with the senior team, but he also knew she would struggle off the pitch. Over her two years on the team Aidy had become very protective of the young striker and he could see her potential to be one of the best, so he wanted to do whatever he could to make sure she would get there