s o u t h g a t e s - s e c r e t

P A R T 4

as we pulled up to the training ground i felt an immediate sense of comfort. it feels good to have some normality back in my life, obviously there was still some nerves but i was just buzzing to be back doing what i do best.

harry pulls out his phone to check the message he had got in the car from Southgate . it read "remeber don't let them know, please look out for her", he has always felt responsible for riley as he sees her as a little sister. he decided to text a few of the other older ones about what the boss has said to him just so there would be extra support.

"you ready ri?" the england captain says. "ready than i'll ever be" i reply with.

the pair of them walk up to the pitch to meet up with the two teams. they can both hear the sounds of laughters between the players. "kane nice of you to finally show up" harry heard from the other end of the football pitch, his only defense mechanism was to flip them off.

mason was nudged in the arm by his team phil, "do you know that girl next to harry mase?" he asks.

"i've seen her around stamford before a few times but the last time i did she had a knee brace with crutches so i'm guessing this is her first time back" mason replys with.

chilly joins in the conversation and adds "i don't know her but damn she's hot" which earns him a hit on the head from maguire. phil laughs in agreement. by the time harry and riley had walked over the conversation the boys had came to a stop.

i had spotted lucy and walked over to stand with my teammates. "so are you excited then" lucy whispered.

the overwhelming feeling of testosterone was intimidating however i was excited to show what i can do to the newbies of the lions. obviously i know a lot of the older players but i felt the need to prove myself.

"yeah i'm buzzing luc, are you ready to get skinned by me" i whisper back. "i'll only allow it since it's your first day don't let it boost your ego" lucy replies with, i smirk.

once everyone had introduced themselves steve explained the drill to the two teams and we all split into the lines . i'm glad it's only a shooting practice and not a game straight away because i don't know if my knee could take that. my line had me, lucy, fran, jude and phil.

i realise it was my turn and i took a deep breath and went for it. i took touches in and out the mannequins and striked the ball through the middle of it making it go top corner , pickford didn't even get his fingertips to it. fucking hell i thought, i couldn't even score any bangers like that before my injury never mind after.

this caught the attention of both lion teams and it earned myself a round of applause. i done a quick bow and ran over to the other side to eventually cross it in to raheem who scored a header.

"wow that riley girl is really good" jude says to phil . "yeah she's good i guess and those tracksuit bottoms make her arse look fineee" phil says laughing.

i come running back to the line hearing jude say "what did you say? your gonna have to speak up, louder foden". phil's face went crimson as he pushed the borussia dortmund player.

at the end of the session we played a 7 a side game. i was very tired out at this point but i kept going. the player i was playing against was jaden sancho, he is a baller so i was a bit apprehensive when i got the ball.

i got myself in space and shouted to mason who then passed the ball to me. i went on automatic mode at that point, i wasn't thinking what i was doing, i just done it. jaden tried to tackle me but i managed to pull a cheeky nutmeg out my pocket and run right past him. i sprinted up the line, he tried to catch me but couldn't. all i could hear was the team sitting out giving sancho stick for what had just happened.

"hey steve can i sit out" i said whilst pointing to my knee. he allowed it, obviously, because if my dad knew i played on he would've went bonkers. i knew Jordan was in the team sitting out so i scanned the side benches to try and find liverpools number 8 as i knew none of the other boys. 

"stop aggin' hendo mate"

i heard a familiar brummie voice that i never fail to forget. then as my eyes scanned the bench more thoughroly i spotted him. his ski slope of a hairstyle sticks out like a sore thumb. out of all people grealish, jack grealish. i couldn't believe it my childhood enemy was right infront of me.