Like Real People Do - Jill Roord

Instead They Adored Her

Leah's POV

I walked into Viv and Lisa's flat, excited to see Jill Roord, Arsenal's newest signing from Bayern Munich. Tonight was almost her initiation into the squad. Viv opened the door and welcomed me into the flat to introduce me to her friend from the national Dutch team. 

As I walked into their lounge I saw Jill sitting there, I sent her a welcoming smile, "Hey Jill, it's great to meet you! I'm Leah," I introduced myself, preparing to shake her hand.

Jill stood up, "Hi I'm Jill," she said, her Dutch accent showing through as she pulled me into a hug which caught me slightly off guard. 

"You're a hugger," I laughed. 

Viv walked over to me, clearly proud that her friend was here with us, and put her arm around my shoulder, "She's a hugger alright."

I had a short chat with Jill as Lisa and Viv finished getting ready for the party and she seemed really sweet. Jill was undeniably an amazing player so I was glad to have her on our team for that reason alone but I thought she'd also bring an amazing vibe to the squad; she was upbeat and positive. I already knew that most the girls would love her.

Lisa and Viv came back but we had a while before needing to head off so decided to sit around and talk for a while. "I feel like we need to give you some warnings for tonight," Lisa chuckled thinking back to our team which could be slightly overbearing at times but Jill seemed sociable enough to deal with that.

"Oh definitely," Viv agreed, "We can't have you walking into the lions den unprepared."

"Jesus guys," I tried to bring some light into the conversation, "Way to scare off our new signing."

Jill laughed, she seemed really sweet, "It's alright. I think I can handle it."

Lisa and Viv began listing all the girls and giving Jill tiny rundowns on them, "Well there's Kim and she's like our mother, she'll protect you if anything happens. Then there's Katie, she looks super scary but she's the sweetest person ever. There Beth and Danielle who are dating and they're both so nice, you know Danielle already though." Then they continued with the rest of the team until they got to the final person I'd been waiting for. 

"And then there's Hunter," Lisa sighed.

I tensed up a little, not knowing how they'd describe Hunter. She was a dear friend of mine, one of the people I loved most in this world, but she was a little reckless and complicated so it would be difficult to sum her up into a few words. 

"We love Hunter," Viv stressed, motioning to the three of us in the room, "We really do but I'm not sure if you're ready to meet her just yet."

I scoffed, "Come on guys, you're being a tad dramatic."

Jill seemed a little lost as she looked back and forth between all of us, "I'm confused," she laughed lightly, "Isn't this Alexia Putellas' sister?"

"Yeah," I nodded trying to steal the conversation from the other two, "We live together, she's great."

"Yes she's great," Viv agreed but it sounded like there was about to be a huge contradiction to her words, "but do you really think she's ready to meet Hunter tonight? Jill already has to deal with the rest of the girls."

Part of me felt bad for Jill, we were talking about her like she wasn't even there and she was an adult so I'm pretty sure she could make her own decisions. But as her friend Viv felt obliged to give her this whole warning which I assumed was rather unnecessary. 

"Guys you are being so dramatic," I sighed, rubbing my forehead wanting to stop this before Hunter's name was completely trashed.

Lisa leaned forward, positioning her elbows on her knees as she spoke to me, "Okay stop for a second and think about Hunter. Is that really someone you'd want to meet on your first night?"

I looked around the room, checking if everyone else was hearing this obscenity, "This is my best friend we're talking about," I reminded them without wanting to start an argument in front of our new teammate. 

"I know," Lisa huffed, "Me and Viv love her as well but she can be a little..," she trailed off leaving us to infer the last part of her sentence.

"A little what Lisa?" I challenged, clearly unimpressed.

Lisa looked bad for what she was about to say, "She can be a little much sometimes."

Viv noticed this situation was about to blow up so decided to diffuse the tension, "Guys we should stop this here because we need to get going. Jill can't be late to her own welcome dinner," I suddenly remembered Jill was in the room, she just smiled at us awkwardly and nodded. 

I took a moment to calm down as Lisa and Viv went to the car, Jill waited with me, "Be honest," she whispered, "Do I need to watch out for this girl? I don't want drama, I only just got here," she searched my eyes for answers and I could tell that conversation had genuinely scared her a little.

I shook my head, "She won't give you any drama," I had to admit more of the truth to her though or I'd feel like a liar, "Yeah, Hunter is a big character but she's no one to be scared of. Trust me, we've lived together for years now and I've never had an issue with her."

Jill nodded, "Thanks. I looked forward to meeting here then."

My eyes widened slightly as we climbed into the back of Viv's car feeling I might have painted Hunter's picture slightly wrong. Yes, I thought all those things of her but only because I'd also seen her softer side; like when she's at home with Nana or when the Barca girls come to visit. And Hunter did not like interacting with new players for some reason so I doubted she'd want anything to do with Jill.

People in the team didn't exactly love Hunter, instead they adored her. There's a very big difference, I loved Hunter; I'd protect her at all costs and travel across the world if she needed me. They all watched her, they adored her yet they didn't truly care, they just loved the show. To them, she was just a character. To them, she may as well just be a doll and I think she sometimes played into that, Hunter most definitely played into that at parties so Jill would see everything they'd told her on full display tonight. I just hoped she wouldn't let it shade her image of Hunter forever because Jill seemed lovely and I think Hunter could do with more loving people in her life. 

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what's everyone thinking?