Two days later and it was time to say goodbye. Evie had conflicted feelings. She loved camp and the girls were amazing but she also couldn't wait to get home to Leah.
They met in the car park of SGP and embraced tightly.
"Our kiddo the superstar," Leah said, her usual cheerful grin on her face.
The car journey home was full of laughter, chatting and singing. Even when they got stuck in a traffic jam their moods couldn't be lowered.
"I've never had a good track record with it. I don't think I'll ever live down the time I hit Paul with a golf club. He got a bruise. Terrible experience. Wouldn't recommend," Evie said, telling the story of their golf trip.
"He got a bruise!?" Leah laughed. They were stuck behind hundreds of cars that didn't seem to be moving but that didn't bother them.
Eventually they got home and set about making some dinner. They had the music on high and as well as cooking they were having their own little dance party, holding hands and bouncing around.
Neither of them were terrible singers and they managed to coordinate themselves into a harmony, much to their amusement.
Dinner took way longer than it should've as they kept dancing and forgetting what they were meant to be doing.
"Right where's the onion?" Leah asked.
"Shit. I knew I was meant to be doing something," Evie said, abandoning her air guitar solo and running to chop it up.
***
"Embarrassing me. Imagine how I look to the other parents. You're going round to apologise tomorrow," Evie's mum said as she landed smack after smack on her daughters' backside.
"But I'm not sorry!" she said indignantly.
"Well you bloody well will be when I'm done with you! Fighting. I mean for crying out loud!"
"He said girls can't play football and I should run home and play with my barbies."
"Maybe he's right!" her mum shouted as she landed a particularly hard smack and Evie yelped with the pain.
"Right get your nose in that corner and if I see it leave, I'll make sure you aren't able to play football for a week."
Evie hesitated before her mum grabbed her ear and pulled her to the corner of the living room. She shoved her head so it was touching the wall.
"Don't leave until I say so."
Evie stood glumly. Standing still was so boring. And the boy deserved to be hurt anyway. She chuckled slightly as she remembered the look on his face as she'd hit him on the shoulder.
"Heyyy Evie," Jamie's voice said. He had a cheeky tone and she knew this would mean nothing good. He was going to get her in even more trouble.
"Go away," she said.
"Why?"
"Stop acting like a two-year-old. You're 12. Grow up."
Wrong move. Now he was determined to get her in trouble.
He grabbed a hold of her arm and tried to pull her away.
"Stop Jamie!" she said struggling to keep her face against the wall. He pulled and pulled and she knew it wouldn't be long. Quickly checking that her mum wasn't insight, she turned around and kicked her brother, loosening his grip and sending him to the floor.
"MUM!" he shouted. Evie tried to get her face back in the corner but too late- she'd been caught.
"Evie Warner! I told you to stay in that corner!" her mum shouted as she grabbed her daughter and began an assault of smacks. It hurt a lot but Evie wouldn't give anyone the satisfaction of crying.
Jamie lay on the floor giggling at what his sister was going through. She wanted to hurt him. Hurt him really badly. It was a dumb move but a satisfying one. She flew out of her mum's grip and began hitting him over and over again.
"Evie! Stop it!" her mum yelled, trying to get control of her daughter. Being much older, she had the strength to pull her away and throw her across the floor. She slid along the ground, her head hitting the wall with a clank.
Evie sat bolt upright, trying desperately to get her breathing back under control. Why had that memory come back to her now?
She got out of bed and slowly walked down the corridor.
Leah could hear a pair of little feet padding up and down outside her room.
"Kiddo are you alright?" she called, the sleep in her voice very evident.
"Please can I come in?" Evie's voice asked.
"Course you can," Leah said, pulling back her duvet to leave a space for her to get in. Evie clambered in straight away, hugging into the warmth of her body.
"What is it baby?" asked Leah, concerned with how vulnerable she seemed.
"I had a bad dream. Well it was a memory of something that happened," she replied.
"Do you want to talk about it?"
Evie explained everything and Leah stroked her hair comfortingly as she talked.
"I'm so sorry."
"It's okay. What doesn't kill you makes, you stronger I guess," she laughed before being overcome by a big yawn.
They settled down and off to sleep. Speaking had really helped.
***
Today was the semi-final of the FA cup. They were facing Chelsea and training had been extra difficult in preparation. Evie was back to her usual ways and making them all laugh during training. It felt good to have her back.
"You are so cheeky," Jen said as she gripped her in a head lock. Evie had megsed her for the second time in the warmup much to everyone's enjoyment.
Jamie, Jemma and Ella were coming to watch and Evie was hoping to spot them in the crowd. She saw them and they all waved excitedly.
All of them walked back down the tunnel and into the changing room for a final team talk.
"This is your chance to get them back. This FA cup is ours," Jonas said.
They ran out. All of them were pumped to get started. They'd get their revenge. They'd do this.
The first half was very close. Neither team were manging to finish their chances and it seemed to be a bit of a stale mate.
It was the 35th minute when Arsenal had their best chance. Kim spotted Evie in space on the halfway line and then she was off. Sophie Ingle was tracking her but she was gone. She sprinted off as quick as you like. The ball seemed to be stuck to her foot, never leaving her control.
She spotted Stina in the middle and feigned a cross before rolling it under Millie Bright's legs.
Stina hit it first time, the ball just tipping over the cross bar.
The half time whistle went and they all went inside, underwhelmed by their performance.
As soon as the second half went under way, they came out with a bigger bang. They were playing more as a unit and the passes of their forward players were giving Chelsea a struggle.
Beth had a brilliant chance which she sent wide and left them all feeling rather frustrated.
Five minutes after the restart Chelsea scored a cracking goal. Guro Reiten smashed it from outside the box and it flew into the top bins. The net billowed and it was a frustrating way to concede. It had been so unexpected.
Evie wasn't having it and as soon as they restarted she ran off, skilling up two players before passing to Stina. Stina passed to Beth who tapped it back to Evie. She took a touch before noticing an opening. She was just outside the box and she smashed it, watching the ball soar before billowing in the back of the net.
"Holy shit kiddo!" Beth screamed as she ran and gripped her tightly.
"Banger!!" Leah yelled, jumping into the huddle.
The excitement didn't last for long as in the 60th minute Ji So Yun scored a brilliant goal. She hit it and it thundered off the underside of the cross bar before going in.
From that moment, Chelsea completely outplayed Arsenal. They had some attacks but they didn't come to anything and the game ended 2-1.
Their team huddle was a disappointing one. Each and every one of them looked annoyed and upset. They'd worked hard and it was frustrating that they hadn't been rewarded.
Evie went over to her brother, bright red from the effort she'd put in.
"You played really well," Jamie said.
"Thanks," she replied glumly.
"Brilliant goal," Jemma told her in another attempt to cheer her up. Evie smiled gratefully at the effort but she was still upset.
"V v!" Ella cheered happily, clapping her hands. Now that was something that could make her smile. Jamie handed her to Evie and she put her on her hip. Ella was wearing a little Arsenal shirt with Warner 21 on the back.
"She cries every time I put a Southampton shirt on her but she'll happily wear an Arsenal one," Jamie laughed, looking at his daughter.
After that, Evie was called over to do an interview.
"Congratulations on the goal. It was a brilliant game for bangers, wasn't it?" the interviewer said. Evie just nodded along, not really interested in talking about the game.
"How does it feel to score such a beauty?"
"Well I'm always happy to get goals but it would've been nicer to get the win," she answered truthfully.
***
"Leah you're ill. You need to go back to bed," Evie said. Her best mate was lying on the sofa. She looked half dead despite her best efforts to say she was okay.
"I'm fine kiddo. Stop worrying."
"No. You can't go to training. Just tell Jonas that you're ill."
"But I'm all good."
"You can't even stand up properly."
Leah didn't reply. She had a point.
"How will you get there?"
"I'll ask Viv for a lift."
"Really?"
"Yes. Now go to bed," Evie said sternly. Leah tried to stand up before her legs basically buckled from underneath her. She flopped back onto the sofa.
"See," Evie said as she helped her to her feet and began supporting her towards the stairs.
They made it to Leah's room and instantly she lay down and enjoyed the comfort of her bed.
"Do you need anything?"
"I'm alright thanks."
"You sure?"
Leah nodded.
"Ok. Well look after yourself. Don't get out of bed. Get yourself rested and I'll be back in a bit," Evie said as she made her way to the door.
"I love you Le," she said, flicking off the light and leaving her to rest.
"Love you too," Leah said quietly, so exhausted that she could barely raise her voice above a whisper.
Half an hour later and Viv had pulled up outside their house.
"Morning kiddo," she said as Evie got in. Beth was in the passenger seat so she sat in the back.
It was an entertaining car journey and a very eye opening one. Evie knew that the pair had been getting close but she didn't realise quite how close.
E: Leah
E: Leah
E: I don't care if you're at death's door, answer me
L: You told me to rest.
E: You can rest in a minute
E: Are Viv and Beth are thing?
L: Not that I'm aware of
E: Really? I'm a definite third wheel. Like ridiculously third-wheely
L: Oo maybe then
L: We'll have to try and find out
E: Sounds like a plan
They pulled up outside the training ground and walked up to the main building. Evie stood between them, all laughing as they went.
"Looks like two parents with their child," Jen laughed as she came and joined the three of them. Viv went red and Beth glared at Jen. Evie could tell that there was tension.
"Now we've got the grandma joining us," Evie said in a hope it would make them all relax a little. It worked and they all began laughing.
"So cheeky," Jen said, pulling her into a playful headlock.
"Jen don't injure Evie," Jonas told her as they walked into the tactics meeting. She released her.
"Yeah Jen," Evie said as she stuck her tongue out, "Anyway, I'll leave you oldies to discuss your retirement plans."
She went off to sit next to Lotte as they all shouted after her.
***