• Secret Sister •

• Eleven ~ World Cup Debut •

Lily's PoV

Much to my disagreement, I was starting in our game against England. The girls had to force me to get into the tunnel for lineup with Erin behind me. She held my hand discreetly and squeezed it every few seconds. When we were finally walking out she let go and I grabbed hands with the ball girl I had.

The national anthems flew and we were just about to start. We won the toss so I have kick off first. I glanced around the England team and Beth gave me a discreet thumbs up. I smiled softly at her and got into my game mode. The ref blew her whistle and I passed Kim the ball. I sprinted down the field and Kim crosses the ball in to me. I got a nice control of it with my chest and volleyed it into the top corner without a single English defender around me.

Erin ran straight for me and I felt to the ground with the momentum of her jumping on me. The girls all joined in and eventually got up to restart play. I looked back at Rachel and she gave me a thumbs up. The play started again but this time England were pushing us more.

The back line and Lee were having a phenomenal game not letting anything into the back of the net except one from Nikita Parris who literally came out of nowhere. It wasn't until the 78th minute when Ellen White got the second in. I watched as Rachel huddled in her back line and then kicked the ball up to the midfield. I looked at Erin and gave her the nod. We spoke before the game about my nods and what they meant. She looked at me skeptically before nodding her head in agreement. I glanced back at Rachel and she smirked before nodding her head.

The ref blew her whistle and I passed Rachel back the ball. Myself and Erin ran down a side each before faking out our defenders and running backwards. Erin crossed over and received the pass from Rachel as I sprinted to the goals. She kicked the ball in to me and I had to battle for the ball with Lucy Bronze. I megged her and rolled off her shoulder recovering the ball again before coming up against Steph Houghton. I did my rainbow flick over her and slotted the ball into the far corner out of Karen Bardsley's reach.

The stadium had erupted with noise as I sprinted to the sideline. I saw the USWNT with a few signs with my name on it and I smiled. I noticed Becky and Christen and bowed before my teammates came at me. Rachel got to me first and I jumped into her arms. I held up four fingers and pointed towards the girls before doing a love heart.

After the play restarted England had been given a penalty. Rachel was fuming so I had to run to pull her away before she was carded. She covered her eyes with her hands and buried her face on my shoulder. Parris stepped up and slotted the ball into the back of the net. I sighed and rubbed Rachel's back as she groaned. We had just taken kick off again when the ref blew her whistle. I collapsed to the ground and buried my face in my hands.

I tried so hard keeping my tears back but they just released on their own account. I sat up and bit down hard on my lip as I looked around the stadium. A few of the England players came over and patted me on the back. Lucy Bronze came over as knelt down in front of me. "You're one hell of a player kid. I had a tough time keeping up with you. You guys deserved the win more than us and that penalty was a rough call." I looked up at her and nodded my head. She put her hand on my shoulder and squeezed it softly.

"You've got a bright future ahead of you Evans. Don't hang your head now. This is tournament to show the world who you are and you'll have offers filling up your mail box." With that she stood up and held out a hand. I took it and she pulled me up. We exchanged jerseys and she smiled sadly at me. She hugged me quick before walking away. I looked around the stadium and wiped my eyes.

I saw Rachel making her way over to me and I buried my face in her jersey as I cried. She held me close and rubbed my back softly. I pulled away after a few seconds and sighed. "We were so close. So fucking close." I lifted my jersey over my face and groaned. Rachel put her hand on my shoulder and I looked over at her to see her pointed behind me. I followed where she was looking and saw the USWNT standing behind the railings. We walked over and stood on a chair each to reach them.