The Highs and Lows of Being a Lioness

Part 1 - training

Ame's POV:

I ran down the endless flights of stairs away from my therapists office and jumped in my car. It was a beautiful day in Manchester, the sky was actually blue for once and the sun was shining. You might think that it's the middle of august but actually, the english weather was just trying to be a main character as per and decided that in the middle of December it would be a shorts and sunscreen kind of day.

I soon arrived at Manchester United's training centre. I jumped out of my car and ran inside. I should've been late to training, it was set to start at 12:30pm and i left my therapists office at 12:15 to start the 30 minute drive. However, i was excited, so fucking excited that i probably endangered hundreds of lives driving like a maniac to make it to training on time, but i did it, i arrived at 12:30pm on the dot. 

In my defence i had been banned from playing for the last 6 weeks because i was too "mentally unstable" to handle the pressures of being a professional athlete. I mean what kind of bullshit is that!

I took a second to calm myself before walking into the changing room. Everyone was talking amongst themselves, getting their boots on when they heard the door open. They all looked up at me, slightly confused as to why i was here. I looked around the room before a huge smile grew on my face and i blurted out. "IM BACK BITCHES!" 

Mary gave me one of her classic disapproving motherly looks before a smile grew on her face and she came over and hugged me. Everyone got up half dressed and jumped on me. 

"alright alright, I'm not trying to get injured before i get the chance to kick a ball guys calm the fuck down!" i shouted above the cheering and screaming of my teammates.

Less gave me an extra long hug placing her head in the crook of my neck before whispering "I'm so glad you're back sis i've missed you"

i smiled softly, giving her a tight squeeze and replied "i missed you too less". 

Training went absolutely perfect if i do say so myself. It was like i never even left. Every time i touched the ball it did exactly what i wanted it to, we were one. The girls welcomed me back instantly and it was a great day. I was happy again.

After training Marc Skinner, the manager called me over and asked if we could have a chat in his office. 

He sat down in his chair and cleared his throat " Ame, it is so good to have you back but i just wanted to check in and see where you are at."

"of course that is completely understandable, it's good to be back" i smiled at him.

"i need to ask, are you just cleared for training or to come back fully and participate in games because to be honest we need you" he chuckled 

"I'm completely cleared. I will say that my therapist has conditions. I have to stick to my routines and actively continue to participate with her in sessions but as long as i do that she said there was no reason she couldn't clear me for now" i said

"oh thank god, this team has missed you on and off the pitch" he said softly before continuing "now that the formalities are out of the way i really just wanted to ask how you are doing?" 

"i feel good, better. I still have things to work on but I'm prepared to do that if it means i get to play again." i said in a more serious tone for the first time this meeting. 

"I'm glad to her it Ame" he smiled "as you turned up to training and played like you never left i want to start you tomorrow against arsenal if that is all good with you"

I shifted in my seat slightly unsettled that arsenal had to be my first game back. Not only are they one of the best teams in the WSL, if not THE best, but i have to play against someone who absolutely hates me. I can't even begin to imagine why, and i am serious here. i have maybe had two conversations with this girl in my entire life and i am not sure i would even call them "conversations". She just fucking hates me. As much as this would be a more stressful reintroduction to football than i would of liked, i will NEVER say no to starting a game. 

So as if my mind wasn't rushing with worries i looked him dead in the eyes and said "can't wait!" I said it so convincingly that even I started to believe it. 

That night i was lying in bed stressing about the game tomorrow. Don't get me wrong i love being at Manchester united, but I'm really just here because of less. After her family took me in we became inseparable and with everything that had happened previously i didn't really want to leave her side, slightly worried that they would all forget about me if i did. The honest truth was though that i had always dreamt of playing for arsenal, I had always supported them growing up and when things would get really bad, the idea of having 200 miles between me and my abusive parents seemed perfect.

I struggled to sleep that night tossing and turning conflicted about so many things. Eventually my alarm went off and it was time to get up and head to the emirates. God i love the fucking emirates. 

The journey there was a lot of fun. Me, Less, Tooney and Ona always sit together at the back of the bus on journeys to away games, cracking jokes and pranking the other players. We are so annoying not gonna lie. 

Once we made it to the stadium we headed for the field to look around before the game. As i walked out of the tunnel i wished i was coming here as a gunner. I was in complete awe of the stadium, it was perfect. Despite not being on the team i really wanted to be on i was still so excited to get to play here in front of a huge crowd. I could feel the butterflies kicking in as i went inside to get changed ready to warm up.

We did some shooting, and passing to get ready for the game as well as a lot of stretching. This was important as so many players in the wsl were out with long term injury's. I didn't even want to think about the 3 letter injury that was plaguing the women's game. 

The time flew by and soon we were lined up in the tunnel waiting to walk out onto the pitch. I knew that the media had their attention on the game. I tried to avoid it as much as i could but so many articles had been released about my return to the field, speculating about why i had been away. I hadn't addressed my absence at all, as you already know, i'm a closed book.

As i waited in the tunnel trying to remain as calm as possible i couldn't help but notice the blonde at the front of the arsenal line looking straight at me. She looked like she wanted to kill me, genuinely. It was actually making me nervous to play against her, i really didn't want to be on the end of a hard tackle from her. Chill the fuck out Ame she's just another player, she doesn't actually want to kill you i mean that would be insane right?

The assistant referee gave us the all clear to head onto the pitch for the game. Man U vs Arsenal. A fierce fixture. I was excited and more importantly i was ready.