I wish I was you **ON HOLD**

Chapter 2 - First day

"Mornin' Rhaina!" Lisa said enthusiastically to me.

"Good morning." I replied. 

Viv handed me a glass filled with a shake. "If you want more just let me know and I'll make some more." 

"This is great thank you." I said taking the glass.

The rest of the morning was very chill, after breakfast we got ready and left around 8:15. Viv wanted us to get there early so that I could get acquainted to the place before training started.

Once we got there Viv and Lisa introduced me to most of the staff. Michel the strength and conditioning coordinator who spent most of his time in the gym, Mary the receptionist at the front desk who knew everything about everyone's schedule, Nick, Sam and Jack the chef trio who would be making us lunch and occasionally dinner, Amelia the nutritionist, Elizabeth the physio. I also met the kit men, the media coordinator, and a few other members of staff. 

We went into the changing room and I saw the locker with my name on it. I opened it up and saw a stack of clothes ranging from practice kits to every day joggers and hoodies. There was also three boxes of matching boots. There were also 2 other boxes containing some sneakers in them. 

As I got my boots and organized my locker people started trickling in and the room got steadily louder. I'll be wearing number 8 for Arsenal so my locker lines in between Danielle van de Donk, a fellow Dutchie and Beth Mead, an English player. 

As I was strapping on my boots Beth looked over at me and smiled. "Aye, you alright?" I nodded. "Nervous?" I nodded again. "Eh don't be you'll be great. The girls love you already." I hope they do. I just know that I have to show them today that I belong here.

Beth's POV:

Despite my already high expectancies Rhaina was better than I'd expected. With her incredible control of the ball combined with her amazing speed she could get by just about anyone on the team. Her finishing skills were just as good if not better than her ball control. She could win just about every header with her crazy high vertical jump and could cross the ball to the perfect place too if needed. Honestly she was one of if not the best all around player I'd ever seen and that was saying a lot. She never seemed to tire and just kept wanting to do more. I couldn't wait to see her in action in a few weeks when the season started. 

We finished off the session with some finishing and Rhaina yet again showed us her ability to score bangers from basically anywhere on the field. 

Rhaina's POV: 

The rest of the day was pretty chill, we did a bit of lifts after our first training session then went to lunch. I had a challenging relationship with food to say the least. It had nothing to do with me trying to get smaller or anything it was just that I had never particularly enjoyed eating. I only ever ate enough to keep me going and keep me healthy, never anymore than necessary. The food at the training center was actually quite decent though, today we had some rice, chicken breasts, some vegetables, and salad. 

After eating some lunch I decided to hit the recovery room. I had some cupping done on my quads and calves as they had been quite sore since I arrived in England. After that I joined a few of the girls in the ice bath. I actually quite enjoyed ice baths, the cold water felt soothing. The girls talked amongst themselves occasionally asking me questions. I checked my phone every few minutes.

"Hey Rhaina," Leah said. I looked up from my phone. "What's your family like? You got any siblings?"

"I have a much older brother he's 20, he goes to uni at UNC right now. And I have two younger half sisters one is 2 and the other is 4." 

"Oh your brother goes to UNC?" Leah said surprised. "Lotte is playing there right now. What a coincidence!" 

"Oh yea I think I've gone to watch her play with them a few times. She's number 23 right?" I said remembering the young striker making headlines back home. 

"Yea I think so." Leah said.

"That's so cool!" Jordan said. 

Their conversation continued but I just zoned out. Still checking my phone occasionally.

We headed home a little past 3 and I just headed to my room to do some school work. See because I was still 13 I still had to study so I was enrolled in an online school where it would be much more flexible for me to handle my schedule. I'd never actually gone to a real school because back home I was homeschooled as training took up the majority of my day. Despite that I actually really liked studying and learning.

Around 7 Viv and Lisa came back home from one of Viv's photoshoots. They brought home some take out and we sat and ate as we watched a NWSL game on TV. 

Soon I headed upstairs, got ready for bed. I checked my phone one more time but still nothing. I had been waiting all day for a call or text, anything from my father. But nothing today nor yesterday. He hadn't contacted me once since I had arrived in England. He hadn't bothered to make sure I had arrived all right, or to check in to see how I was doing. Deep down I knew that this was expected and half of me had known after he had not contacted me after the first day that he wouldn't contact me unless he needed something from me. But the other half of me still kept hoping that he would somewhat care. 

I headed to bed with a sigh knowing that the jet lag would help me sleep so I wouldn't be needing my pills tonight. But I took them out of my bag and onto my bedside table just for comfort knowing that they would be there should I need them. 

Hey guys! Another chapter done! I hope that the story is slowly developing. It's great to see how many people are reading it already!! It would be awesome if any of you guys have any ideas or suggestions to comment or something! 

TTYL

-Quaxel xx