right where you left me

Prologue

"Hello," she replied, "I am Ellie."

"Tippah," I replied.

"Tippah, that's a funny name," Ellie responded.

"Hm, I guess it is," I laughed.

After that, the rest was history. Ellie and my lives were forever intertwined. Where Ellie was, I was. Where I was, Ellie was.

We travelled all around rural New South Wales together, and all for football. We were called up for the same trials, and games, and even selected for the same team. She grew up in Cowra, and I grew up in Forbes. It was as if it was meant to happen.

By the time I was 12, and Ellie was 11, we were as close as one could be. I never went about a day without seeing Ellie in it. Either we were at training, or going to school. Whenever I needed to, I also stayed at her house, bringing Finn with me. When things got too hard, Ellie's parents understood, and I loved them for that.

When I was 13, Ellie told me about her family's decision to move to Sydney. They wanted to give Ellie the best opportunity to grow, away from Cowra, and Forbes, and the countryside.

"Tipps?" she asked. "Are you okay?"

"You're leaving," I said, solemnly.

"Yeah, I guess I am."

"I'm going to miss you," I replied back.

"You can come with us," Ellie suggested. As she spoke these words, something in me lit up.

"Really?"

"I mean, maybe. We have to check with mum, but surely. Why not?"

After a long and hard conversation with Mum, and Finn, and only Mum and Finn, it was decided; I would be moving down to Sydney, but Mum and Finn would be coming too. She would be leaving. She would be putting her foot down, and starting a new life. I was proud of her, and I knew it would be the best thing, for all of us.

We left, one night, getting in the car, as he was passed out on the couch. We had to sneak by, and that was, most likely, the scariest experience of my entire life.

But, once we were in Sydney, everything looked up. We moved in with my grandparents, and I only lived around the corner from Ellie. We went to the same high school, and our parents requested all our classes together. We had training together, and travelled for games.

Life was looking good. Happy. Complete.

I was 15 when we started dating. She was 14. We were young, we both knew that. We didn't understand how it happened, but it just did. Something changed one day, and although it all came on suddenly, it felt right. We felt right. We didn't tell our families at first, unsure about what they would say, but after a while, it came out. It all came out.

I never questioned my sexuality, as I never knew it was something I should question. My life, prior to Ellie, was filled with fear of something else rather than myself. Fear of others, not my own head. Ignorance was really bliss for my case.

When I was 15, I was called up to the Matildas, and in the following year, so was Ellie. We were achieving all our dreams together, and it felt so perfect. Too perfect, sometimes. But, I didn't let that worry me. We both got our first Olympics call up, going to Rio in 2016, and later, in 2019, we were both in France, competing for our country, something neither of us could've ever dreamt would happen.

We played together at the Wanderers: me in the midfield, and Ellie as the right back. Whenever I saw her play, or was on the pitch with her, I could understand why everyone thought she was the next big player. She would be one of our greatest, and I was just so happy that I was with her throughout it all. Throughout all of it.