Jessie Miller

TWENTY FOUR

After the game the other day, I went home to have a couple days recovery from the game. Yesterday we all had a travel day to the camp. Today I have training, so I take a shower and get into my warmups. I zip up my purple jacket and head down to the field. Just before I went in the shower, I got a call for my mum, but I didn't answer. It's kind of annoyed me that she's tried to get in touch with me even though I told her I don't want contact. I get to the field, lace up my boots and get ready for training. Phil arrives on time of course and then calls us in to explain what is going to happen in today's session. We are doing the bleep test first and the going to the weight room. Selected people are doing tests today in the weight room. I hope I'm not one of those people. After the weight room we are coming back to the field to do shooting drills and passing drills. He then tells us that we have a game next week against Belgium which will be my very last game of the year. Once Phil stops talking, we all go off and do a warmup. I jog around the pitch with Leah who is excited about camp. So am I to be honest...

Once everyone is stretched out, we line up. Half of us on one side and the other facing us. We will cross over whilst doing the test. They do this just to make it easier to see if anyone doesn't make it. We do the test and I come 5th. I lay on the floor, dying, barely breathing. I pushed myself too far and I regret it. I get up and get a drink so I can recover. Phil tells us to go into the weight room once we are all done. I take a couple more minutes to check myself over and then go to the mats. I start by doing crunches and push ups. I move on to bicep curls with light weights but lots of reps. I then go to the bigger weights and do leg presses to strengthen my legs. After this, I do squats and finish off the session with a few sets of Russian twists with a medicine ball.

After we're all done in the weight room, we all go for lunch. The cafeteria put out healthy foods that will give us energy for the rest of the day. I have pasta and a bit of salad. The table that I'm sat at consists of Lucy, Jordan, Leah and Nakita. Leah and Jordan are playfully arguing and the rest of us are just laughing at them and throwing in subjects for them to argue about. I see Lucy take a video of them and post it on her IG story. I go on her story and share the video on my own. I caption the video "Can't take them anywhere...🙄" They're still at it by the time we have all eaten and taken our plates away.

We do the first drill and I'm not doing well; it's irritating me. My shooting is off, and my passes aren't accurate at all. We finish the drill and have a little break. A small passing drill is being set up for us by the coaches whilst Phil pulls me aside to talk to me.

"Hey, You okay?" He's obviously noticed that I'm not doing my best today.

"Honestly, I don't know. I had a call this morning that I didn't want. I tried to get it out of my head before training, but I couldn't. I'm sorry."

"Jessie it's fine. We all have bad days. You think that the more experienced players like Steph don't have bad days? They do and it's fine because they fix themselves back up and work better next time."

"Thank you." I look up at him and smile. Phil really cares about his players. He wants and needs our minds to be clear when a game is coming up and he just wants to make sure that we are okay.

"I also thought I'd tell you that you're starting next week. I had a talk with the team and we really want to see what you're made of." Holy shit...

"Thank you so much! This really is a dream come true. I'll make up for it this week and I'll train the best that I can."

"Okay. You have it in you to be one of the world's best wingers one day you know. Now go take part in the drill and show us what you've got now." I nod and then turn around to join in. This drill goes a lot better now that I've had a chat with Phil. That man is a magician not a coach.

The rest of the session goes well. Most of the girls have got changed and gone home but I have other plans. I go into a room where we do ice baths. I get in one and sit for 20 minutes with my earphones in. Nobody else is in the room so I get to have some peace and quiet. This is until Leah comes into the room. She smiles at me, undresses into her shorts and sports bra. Her muscles are damp with beads of sweat from training. She's one of the many players who works her ass off every session. She makes sure that she has fun of course but the amount of determination and effort that she puts into football is amazing. I take an AirPod out and talk to Leah for a bit whilst I still have time in the bath. When I get out, I see that Leah's eyes scale down my body and check me out. Her eyes meet mine and she blushes. I smile at her and blush myself. I leave the room after wrapping a towel around me and putting my sliders on and saying goodbye to Leah of course.

After getting dressed in the changing rooms, I grab my things and go up to my room. Jordan is already in there and is sprawled on the bed, listening to music. She might be asleep to be honest; she hasn't moved since I stepped foot in the room. I put my bag on the floor next to my bed and jump on it. I put my face in my pillow lay there for a minute thinking about today. Mum called and I ignored her, I did training, I was told that I'm playing next week and then Leah checked me out.

I'm not going to lie; Leah is a very attractive girl, but my interests are in Lucy. There's something about Lucy that makes her so enticing. Of course, Lucy is gorgeous but it's not just that. Her personality reels me into her. She has this charm that makes her so desirable and she knows how to use it against me, I can tell.

I lift my head and I smell the stench of sweat coming from my clothes so I decide that it might be a good idea to take a shower. I relax my muscles under the hot water and wash myself. I throw some comfortable clothes on when I'm dry and watch some TV. There's nothing else I want to do tonight other than maybe FaceTime Addison later. Jordan is still out of it even though it's only. 8:38pm so I keep the TV quiet, so I don't wake her. Some movie that I've never seen before plays on the background whilst I scroll through my Instagram feed.