You can't Outrun the Truth

Final

We had won against France in the quarter-finals and now were set to face England in the semifinals. The Netherlands had also advanced and would play Sweden. I had been talking to Jackie about what happened and why I was on crutches, while simultaneously ignoring Jill's messages.

Jill

24 June 10:00 pm Hey London! Good win against Spain!

24 June 10:15 pm What happened? Are you okay?

25 June 8:00 am London? Are you okay?

25 June 11:32 am You're not answering anyone here L, please just let someone know you're ok

25 June 5:43 pm Jackie says you answered her. How are you feeling?

27 June 3:00 pm Hope your team does well against England

"You're ignoring her?" Rose asks while she reads over my shoulder.

"No. I'm just not making any attempt to talk to her,"

"You're acting like a child."

"How about we argue after the game. You smash it, Rosie."

"And you respond to Jill." She goes out to line up and I put my phone in my pocket and walk out to the bench.

"Chris is going to score," I say to Mal.

"You think so?"

"Yep. She's going to get one."

"I hope so. Do you think we'll make it through?"

"Oh yeah. I mean, hopefully, we will. But I think we got this."

"So the question then is Sweden or the Netherlands?" She asks.

"Sweden. I don't want to play against Jackie, Daan, or Viv," I tell her truthfully.

"What about Jill?"

"I just don't want to see her in general."

We won against England 2-1 with goals from Christen and Alex, and England's goal coming from Ellen White. We now had four days until the final against either Sweden or the Netherlands, and I was going with Rose and Mal to watch the match tomorrow.

I was wearing Jackie's jersey while Rose and Mal were just wearing neutral colors. I didn't care, I wanted my cousin to win, regardless of what that meant for the final. It was a good game to watch with plenty of shots for both teams, but it remained scoreless through the 90 minutes. When overtime started I was so anxious and wishing I could move around more than just messing with rings. Jackie managed to score in the 99th minute and I stood up and cheered. I was so happy I was almost crying and Rose made sure to take a picture.

After the match, Jackie came over to where we were sitting and I leaned over the barrier to hug her.

"You did amazing! 99th-minute goal? You are spectacular!" I cheered.

"Thank you! I'm so glad you are here, we haven't seen each other much in France. Though, now our teams are going against each other," She points out.

"I know. I was really hoping we wouldn't have to, but it will be fine either way right? No hard feelings or pushing away, especially on my part. I swear."

"Of course Aleid. I'm going to be happy either way."

"Just happier if you win."

"Oh yeah, definitely."

"Well, I won't be playing so no worries about facing each other!"

"I wish you were. A lot of us do," Jackie says, glancing at her teammates.