Like Real People Do - Jill Roord

I Need Your Help!

Hunter's POV

"Alexia I need your help!" I dramatically begged over facetime to my older sister. 

Alexia Putellas was my sister, making me Hunter Putellas, and we'd always been close but rarely ever in distance. Although I loved Lex, I'd never wanted to live in her shadow so to speak, and the WSL had been my dream since I'd first kicked a football. Luckily for me my grandparents lived in London, so at the grand age of thirteen, I'd made the decision to move into their house with the dreams of signing with a WSL academy, Arsenal more specifically.
And somehow within a month of my move to North London, I was playing with Arsenal and by the age of fifteen I'd debuted with the senior team and that had been my home ever since. 

I was twenty-one now and though I'd never regretted leaving Spain, I did often miss the long summers, the time I spent with Alexia and Mapi and the peace which I'd always found there. Seeing as I'd lived in England for almost a decade, I'd almost completely lost my Spanish accent which Mapi and Alexia always teased me for.

Mapi Leon had always been one of my best friends growing up and then over all the Spanish team camps, we'd grown a lot closer. We just worked so well together; everyone thought Mapi was this fierce, intimidating person but she was probably the biggest softie I'd ever known so it would always be me standing up for her. We'd bicker here and there but we both knew our friendship was one to last a lifetime. 

Alexia was my older sister and best friend. People often thought we must argue or have tension seeing as we both play professional football in such a competitive environment, but I think we loved each other too much to ever resent one another. We told each other almost everything and Alexia would always be my first call for help, her advice never failed to give me clarity and calm me down. I loved her for that, I'd always been beyond grateful to have her as my sister and as I wasn't close to either of our parents, she'd always taken that mother role. 

And then there was Nana. Sadly my grandfather had passed away a year ago, so Nana moved in with Leah and I, to avoid her getting lonely. And though it was a slightly odd household to many; me, Leah Williamson and Nana, it worked like clockwork. 
Leah Williamson was also a dear friend of mine and we were two of the youngest in the squad so we'd related a lot to one another in that way more than others. Leah was a voice of reason and logic whereas I was more impulsive and illogical, so we definitely balanced one another out. 

"What do you need help with Hunter?" Alexia sighed, resting her chin onto her fist. 

"What do I wear?" I groaned, "We have this big team party night cause Viv is bringing along the new girl."

This quickly caught Alexia's interest, "I didn't know you were getting a new player, who is she?"

"I don't know," I replied casually and to be honest, I didn't really care because I felt I didn't need anymore people in my life and I'd never be the person best fit to welcome new players into the squad. 

"Well tell me when you find out," Alexia told me.

"Finding out the competition, hey?" I teased, knowing it was probably true because Alexia's love for Barcelona ran deep and we often ended up facing them in the Champions League so it could be relevant to her.

"Shut up," she rolled her eyes, "I'm helping you out here! Why don't you just ask Leah for the clothes?"

"She's gone to meet the new girl early with Viv." Leah was always welcoming the newest teammates, even though she was young she was already a natural leader. 

"Ask Nana," Alexia suggested, which made us both burst into laughter.

"I think I'd end up in a dress that reached the floor," I chuckled. Nana sometimes forgot that I'd grown up and still treated me like that thirteen year old, who'd only just arrived in England, most of the time. 

"Maybe wear that dress we bought when I came to visit," Alexia told me.

Seeing as I was running out of time, I decided to agree with Alexia and wear the little black dress with the pumps she'd picked out. It looked good so I just hoped I'd drink enough to not feel my feet by the end of the night because the heels were painfully tall. 

"How's Mapi?" I asked Alexia, I was so jealous that those two got to hang out everyday.

"She's good, she's always good," Alexia nodded, "She's missing you though."

I felt my lips drag down, creating a small frown, "I miss her too. I miss you as well."

Alexia smiled lightly, "Don't worry. We'll see you soon."

"Yeah," I nodded, now slightly disheartened.

Alexia picked up on this and quickly sent me off, knowing a party was always the thing to cheer me up, "Now get going mi hermana (my sister). You look beautiful and you'll have a great night."

"Thanks Lex, love you."

"I love you too," she warmly smiled at me bringing the comfort she always had. 

Just before I went to hang up the phone, Alexia quickly gave me one last reminder, "And tell me who your new player is."

"Okay," I laughed. 

I walked out of my room and down the stairs, already smelling Nana's cooking which was an amazing taste of home. "Te ves hermosa, mi amor (you look beautiful, my love!" She exclaimed, "A dónde vas? (where are you going?)"

"Ahí está esa fiesta, pensé que te lo dije? (there's that party, I thought I told you?)" I questioned as I packed my clutch with all the essentials.

Nana furrowed her eyebrows, clearly she'd forgotten, "Sin embargo, te hice la cena a ti y a Leah. (I made you and Leah dinner though.)" she told me. Sometimes I thought Nana loved Leah more than me, their relationship was rather sweet and Nana was in the process of teaching Leah Spanish, not very successfully though. 

"Podemos comerlo cuando regresemos, no te preocupes. No debería ser demasiado tarde (We can eat it when we get back, don't worry. It shouldn't be too late)." I assured her, feeling guilty that she'd made the effort. 

Nana seemed satisfied with this as she agreed, walking over and making me bend down so she could give me a kiss on the cheek, "Está bien, mi amor. Mantente seguro y te amo (Okay, my love. Be safe and I love you)"

"Yo también te quiero (I love you too)," I bid Nana farewell and then walked out the door, waiting for Beth to pick me up. 

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author's note

I can't lie, I mostly wrote this because I am missing Jill Roord at Arsenal and it's so sad. She's one of my faves so I miss her playing in the WSL. 

This chapter was mostly just an introduction to Hunter and Alexia's relationship but the next chapter will introduce Hunter a little more. Little side note: the Barcelona girls will be very involved in this story.

I hope you are all enjoying it so far, or at least intrigued, and please please please comment because I love to see what you're all thinking. 
All the parts in brackets are translates from the other languages (will mostly be spanish and dutch). Or would you rather me just write it all in English, let me know if it's confusing because I wasn't sure :)

This story is set in the past (time when Lisa Evans and Jill Roord were at Arsenal) but the timeline probably won't be perfect.. my apologies.