It was match day number two. They were staying in a nice little hotel in Brighton. It was so peaceful and felt like they were on holiday. They ate breakfast together on the terrace and took walks along the seafront. There was lovely summer sun and all of them felt at peace.
Evie was so pleased that the game was down south. It meant that Mrs Cooper could come and Jemma and Ella would be there as well.
After their first match, Evie had sent one of her shirts to Coops and written a message on the front.
Thank you for everything you've ever done for me. I owe you more than I'll ever be able to give. I hope I'm doing you proud. Love Evie x
It was short but got what she wanted to say across.
The coach up to the stadium was electric. There were already a whole load of fans cheering and yelling even though it was hours until kick off.
They walked around and signed people's shirts and took photos before Evie spotted Jamie.
She ran over, pleased to see her brother even though it hadn't been very long since she last saw him. Jemma and Ella were also there, Ella over the moon to see her Auntie.
"V v!" she cheered excitedly, trying to jump out of Jemma's arms and get to her. After a gentle hand over, Ella began babbling away about a recent trip to the zoo and it was weirdly relaxing. It made Evie get out of her head space and stop thinking about the challenging game they were about to have.
All of them were sat in the changing room. Alessia was doing Evie's hair as the pair of them chatted. It took their minds away from the game.
The first five minutes of the match were stressful. England couldn't take control of the game. The ball seemed to bobble about, nothing much happening. Then there seemed to be a switch and all of their hard work and hours of training seemed to come together.
They built up attack after attack and it was so exciting to watch. Ten minutes in and England were awarded a penalty. Evie felt slightly bad for Norway as it was a very soft one but she didn't feel too bad.
Georgia hammered it home. It was never in doubt. From that minute it was an absolute master class. Not even three minutes after their first goal, they managed to double the lead. Lauren slotted it home and after a VAR check, the goal was confirmed.
On the half an hour mark, Ellen hassled for the ball, completely flooring the Norway player, before smashing it home. It was powerful and a classic Ellen White goal.
Then they got another one. Beth headed a Hempo cross in and then they were sorted. It was such a shock. Norway were meant to be their toughest group game and here they were four nil up after 35 minutes.
Beth got her second a couple of minutes after her first with an absolute beauty. She dribbled through their entire defence before slotting it in.
"Wow," was all Evie could think to say as the bench went mad.
A strong toe poke from Ellen made it six. Six goals. In one half. Holy shit.
The mood in the changing room was one of pure disbelief. None of them knew what to say so instead they laughed. A complete, stunned laugh.
Even Sarina didn't understand it. Norway were tough but England were out playing them. Every pass, every skill, every idea, was working.
When Tooney, Less and Evie were subbed on, they felt ready. They could use their skill and their pace to take the game even higher.
They'd been on the pitch for one minute when Evie won the ball and was off. She did a quick one two with Keira before crossing it in for Less. She nudged it goalwards but it fell into the keepers hands. Frustrating but a good idea none the less.
The subs slotted perfectly into the game. They added into the combinations that built them all the way up the pitch. Triangle of play and tricksy balls through the defence went in wave after wave.
Evie was having hundreds of chances and opportunities but she couldn't quite get her moment. All her shots were going wide or at the keeper and despite the score it was frustrating.
"Keep your head. Your time will come," Lucy reassured her.
A beautiful Lucy cross was met by Alessia's head and then it was seven. Evie ran and leapt into Lucy's arms to celebrate with the team. Lucy held strong and cheered with pure elation, all of them enjoying the goals.
The rest of the game was the same. England dominating and Evie getting so frustratingly close.
"Ah for fuck's sake," she groaned as the ball flew just past the post. The others could tell just how frustrated she was getting with herself.
"Calm it," Millie said as she held the youngster's face gently in her hands, "You are playing so well. Don't let the fact you haven't got one get you down. You're giving us chances and playing incredibly well. Just take a breath and go again."
Evie did what she said and then she was back off. She may have been playing well but she still wanted to aid the teams goal scoring efforts.
10 minutes from the end and Keira launched a long range effort. The keeper fumbled it and Beth took this as an opportunity to tap it in. Evie was so pleased for her. She deserved the hattrick so much.
"MEADO!" Evie yelled as she ran to celebrate with her friend.
The team talk at the end of the game was good. Eight nil. Eight fucking nil.
Evie spotted Frida looking upset and she went over to chat with her.
"Alright?" Evie asked empathetically.
"I've been better. Doesn't help that you're so good," Frida replied, her face breaking into a smile. They had a chat before going their separate ways. Evie didn't really like playing against her club teammates but it had to be done.
All of them then went around clapping fans and trying to spot their families.
"Coops!" Evie cheered excitedly, running over and embracing the woman she cared so much about.
"Oh darling you have no idea how proud I am," she said, welling up and gripping the young girl tightly. They stayed for a moment before beginning to discuss anything and everything. It felt so good to see her.
Evie then went and found her brother and she spoke with them before Sweet Caroline was on and Jemma told her to go and celebrate with her friends.
They felt good, all of them bouncing along and having the absolute time of their lives. They'd been pleased to have won the other day but they weren't pleased with their overall performance. Today was very different.
"Sweet Caroline! Bom bom bom! Good times never seemed so good," Evie screamed loudly as her and Leah did a little dance duet.
The changing room was turned into a disco. The music on high and all of them dancing their way around the room.
They felt on top of the world and this was only a group game. Evie let her brain get away to what it would be like if they won the whole tournament but then she had to stop herself. That was a long time away. For now, she would enjoy the music and being here with her friends.
***
Training was intense and at times it got quite over whelming. A lot of the younger players were struggling with how challenging the major tournaments were and Sarina and all the more senior players were being extremely helpful.
They gave them all time and were happy to speak through anything when needed. Despite how intense it was, it was also extremely enjoyable and they were still loving it.
A bit of a problem was that Sarina had come down with covid. This led to a whole issue of whether this would be a huge chain and the players would be out as well. For now, everyone was good and they were all focused on playing at Southampton tomorrow.
"Evie, you're from Southampton, aren't you?" Ellie asked as they all sat in the hotel lobby.
"Yeah," she replied.
"I've got some spare tickets because most of my family can't travel all the way from Sheffield. You can have them if you want?"
"Yeah. Yeah that'd be really kind," Evie said. All of her friends were round here and she didn't want to pick which ones to invite so having more tickets was amazing. Quite a lot of the girls were also from up North so they all offered her some tickets too.
On the afternoon before the match, Evie had been asked to do a little promotional thing about her hometown. They were going to take her round some places that were important to her growing up and she was feeling pretty excited. She might've had some terrible memories attached to home but she still had some good ones.
They all went, Callum the media guy, a camera man, some official team driver, Leah and Evie. She peered out the window the whole time as they drove the streets she knew so well. She pointed things out and explained them all, Leah listening along intently.
When they pulled up by the cage, she felt a huge wave of nostalgia. It was school time so there weren't any children playing yet and they took this as a chance to film some clips.
She had a ball and as she ran around the cage it was as if she'd been transported back ten years.
"Evie Warner. Born and raised in Southampton," Evie said to the camera before dropping the ball at her feet and beginning to dribble along the concrete. She'd missed it so much.
"Honestly this place was freedom. Growing up my house wasn't really safe or happy. We had no money and things could get pretty bad so coming here was kind of a way out. I was the only girl but I became mates with all the boys so I didn't mind it," she explained.
They filmed a few more clips before heading back to the car.
"Evie!" someone called, making her turn around. She spotted someone leaning over a front gate and beckoning her over.
"Cole!" she said when she realised who it was and began walking over to him.
"Oh my days I ain't seen you in ages. How you doing man?" Cole asked. He looked the same as he had when they spent hours playing football together; blonde hair falling into his eyes, scruffy clothes and with the permanent 'I just woke up' look.
"I'm doing good. How are you?"
"Alright. Jacob got locked up six months ago so things have all gone a bit mad," he explained, a forlorn expression coming over him.
"Oh shit. I'm so sorry," Evie apologised. Estate life was still exactly the same as it had been. She felt sorry for Cole. Jacob had always been a mess growing up and she knew how much Cole had idolised his big brother, no matter what bad things he did.
"S'alright. I resat my maths and English GCSEs at Christmas and I managed to pass so I can go college next year."
"Well done mate."
The two of them spent ages catching up and it felt like old times.
"What about your Isla? Where's she living now?" Evie asked. Isla was Jacob's daughter and he'd had her at a very young age.
"Lives here. She's at school at the moment. She loves watching you play on TV whenever she gets the chance. Only girl on the cage like you but she don't care."
Evie desperately wanted to do something for the little girl. She knew what it was like to be in that position and she'd never been able to see people like herself on TV.
"How do you two fancy coming to watch tomorrow? I've got two tickets for you to have."
"What really? She'd love that. I'd love that."
"I'll send them over. All you need to do is scan them and then you'll be in."
"Thanks so much. She's gonna be over the moon when I tell her."
"Alright, see ya teeny," Cole said with a cheeky smile, knowing this had always wound Evie up as a kid.
"See ya bucks," Evie said, knowing that that wound him up.
She walked back over to Leah so they could go to Evie's old secondary school.
"So teeny? Didn't know you went by that," Leah teased her.
"Shut up," Evie giggled before climbing into the car.
As they drove up to the huge red brick building, Evie was taken back to her first day of school.
"Don't be a dick. And stay out my way," Jamie said as he pushed past his sister and off to find his friends.
Now she was alone and despite not liking her brother, she wanted him by her side.
There were a whole load of people booting a ball around and Evie wanted nothing more than to join in. She recognised a few of the lads playing and when the ball rolled her way, she put her foot on top of it.
"Yes, pass it back," one of them called angrily.
"Hurry up. I know you're a girl but surely you can kick it," another one said. Mistake. Now she wanted to show them up. He came over and tried to swipe it away but she was too quick. She rolled it away and he almost fell over.
All his mates began laughing and this spurred him to try again. Once more she used a bit of skill to get it way before rolling it through his legs for good measure.
Chaos was now ensuing with people cheering and screaming.
"What on earth is going on?" a man with a bald spot and a shirt too small for him shouted, trying to put an end to what ever was happening.
Everyone went silent. Whoever it was, you clearly didn't want to mess with him.
He beckoned Evie and the lad over and it was the first of many telling's off at school.
When he was done, Evie walked to wait for her assembly to start. A girl with a blazer that was so big the sleeves came past her hands, came over.
"That was so cool. Who do you play for? You're so good," she rambled, a big grin on her face.
"Thanks. Erm I don't play for a team."
"Really? You should. I'm Ava by the way."
"I'm Evie."
They entered reception and got themselves signed in before being taken through to wait outside the large assembly hall.
"This take you back to your old assemblies?" Leah asked as they waited.
"Didn't bother with them. Too dull for my liking."
"Rebel."
"Just because I didn't attend maths club and wasn't named god of the school like you," Evie joked.
"I was never in maths club and I wasn't named god of the school."
"Prefect or whatever. Same thing pretty much."
"Right everyone listen up," a loud voice from inside the hall announced, putting a halt to their squabble. Evie recognised that voice. She'd been on the receiving end of many lectures in that voice.
"Today we have England captain Leah Williamson and former student Evie Warner joining us."
There was loud applause as the two of them walked in, giggling a little that they were now on the delivering end of things they hated so much as kids.
The two of them took it in turns to speak about their journey and the importance of not giving up.
"Look it wasn't long ago that I was sat where you were, thinking how long until the assembly was over and how long until I could grab a cookie from the canteen," Evie said, receiving a small, slightly pitying, chuckle, "But in all seriousness you can do whatever you want with your life. Whatever it is that you want to do you can work hard to achieve. This isn't the best area but it's home and where you come from doesn't give you any barriers. No matter what your postcode is, no matter who you know, take the chances you're given. Work hard and care about what you do."
After a bit more chat, they moved onto the question section. Evie looked around, deciding which of the many hands to pick. She spotted loads of familiar faces, including some people from her own year, all sat in the sixth form section.
"What was your favourite and least favourite bit of school?" some kid asked.
"Least favourite was probably science and favourite was just seeing my mates. I was quite the troublemaker so always had a good laugh."
Evie spotted Mrs Willis, her old head teacher, stood to the side and chuckling. She was definitely one who'd made herself known at school, not always for the right reasons.
"What's it like to live together? Like with your mate?"
"Chaos. Just chaos," Leah replied, "We aren't exactly the tidiest people so the rush to find football boots before a match is mad. We have a nice time though, don't we?"
"We certainly do."
Eventually the assembly came to an end and Evie and Leah just went around, walking and speaking to some of the kids.
She enjoyed catching up with the kids from her year and speaking to people, who only a year ago, were in exactly the same position as her.
"Evie Warner. I don't believe it," Mr Bahri said with a laugh as he walked over to her.
"Alright sir?" she said as she saw her head of year.
"What a long way you've come," he said, hugging her, still chuckling. The two of them hadn't always got on well, Evie had never made his job easy.
"Evie. Evie. Don't you dare walk away from me. You're just making things worse for yourself," he said as he followed after one of his most troublesome students.
"What part me of makes you think I care? I'm not bothered," she said, still walking off.
"You do care. If you didn't, we wouldn't be arguing."
She kept her mouth shut and carried on.
"Keep going and we'll have to call your parents to come get you," he said, using the threat he really didn't want to. It was important to keep her here but nothing else was getting to her.
"You can't send me home. I have my right to an education."
"Then go to your lesson," he said, not getting what was going on with her.
"You go to your lesson," she retorted.
They chatted, Leah as well, before going on a little trip round the school. It was like taking a walk down memory lane.
"That was where I blew up a Bunsen burner," Evie said as she pointed at a scorched bit of ceiling in the science lab.
"You are genuinely a nightmare," Leah told her.
"I try my best."
"That was where you told me I was overweight and unlovable," Mr Bahri said with a laugh, able to find the humour in it now. Evie went bright red, embarrassed that she used to be like that.
"Sorry," she apologised. Leah was howling at the antics of her best mate. Overall it was good to have a look around and see everything.
"Coops," Evie cheered excitedly, running and hugging her all-time favourite.
"Heya darling," she said, hugging tightly and rubbing her back.
Mr Bahri and Mrs Cooper then spent the next quarter of an hour telling Leah ridiculously embarrassing stories that Evie knew she'd never hear the end of.
Eventually it was time for them to head to their next spot.
"I really enjoyed that," Leah said on the way over.
"Me too," Evie agreed. She'd been a bit apprehensive of this whole video idea but she was actually loving it.
As they pulled up to the outside of the Southampton academy facilities, Evie felt just the way she had when she'd been scouted, not too long ago despite it feeling like a lifetime. She'd been blown away and she still was.
She owed everything to that club. She wouldn't be anywhere without it.
They did a little bit of filming outside the front and it took multiple takes because Leah kept distracting her. Finally they managed to get a good one.
"Without Southampton I wouldn't be anything. They signed me when I was 12 and that gave me hope. It gave me a chance of doing something with my life. I could put everything into football in an environment that demanded a lot. It pushed me to where I am and I can't say how much this place means."
A very familiar face was waiting inside for them.
"Hello," Evie said cheerfully.
"Hello," Kirsty said just as enthusiastically as she hugged her. Kirsty had been Evie's coach from the minute she signed to the club until she joined the adult team.
She'd always known that Evie was special and was so pleased to see her do so well.
***