Lauren Hemp short fanfic :)

part 1

Early mornings were not Lauren's thing, you'd think that being a footballer she'd be used to waking up before six. But it still killed her every time she had to arrive at the training grounds before the sun came up. Today was no different. There were no matches planned; at least not in the upcoming week. But still Gareth insisted that the few girls arrive promptly. After all; England's Lionesses were looking for new players and a few of the Man City girls had been told they have a solid chance at making the team. Gareth had mentioned, during the last session, that there was going to be a new face at training today, but in all honesty most of them forgot. That was until an unknown girl arrived on the pitch.

"Ladies!" Gareth shouted from the sideline, all of the women who had previously been warming up on the pitch made there way over towards the voice. Lucy made it over to the side first; followed shortly behind by Georgia, Lauren and Ellie. It wasn't often that City got an international transfer, Arsenal or Chelsea were usually the ones they would be sent to. Before Gareth could introduce the younger woman his phone rung out from his back pocket, he pulled it out, turning to the group;
"Please, introduce yourself"
The manager walked back into the tunnel, phone up by his ear. Leaving the five girls standing on the pitch alone.

"I'm Lucy. This is Georgia, that's Lauren and Ellie." The darker haired woman spoke up, obviously sensing some tension,
"Alina." I smiled warmly, thankful for Lucy's comment.
"Woah. Your accents cool. Where are you from?" The woman who was Georgia asked, seeming genuinely interested.
"Denmark originally. But my dad was in the army, so we moved around alot. I used to play for Man United; that was before getting shipped back to Denmark."
"Danish huh? We've never had a Danish member on the team before." The last woman spoke, breaking her silence. She glanced at me,
"There's a first time for everything." I reply, smiling. Keeping eye contact with the other woman. There was something off about her. And I couldn't quite place it.
"Wait. Man United, oh my god your Alina Jenssen. You dated Les." Ellie spoke up,
"Oh, uh- yeah." I chuckled, "we dated for a few months, when I was back at United."
"What happened between you two?" Lauren spoke up again,
"Uh- distance got the better of us I guess, I had to move back to Denmark, and uh, yeah."

"Sorry about that ladies." Gareth interrupted walking back onto the pitch,
"Ellie! In goal please. We'll do some shooting."
Roebuck jogged over towards the goal, and me and the other three girls made our way to mid field. Lucy took the first shot and it flew straight past Ellie into the top-right hand corner. Georgia took the next, but her shot was saved expertly by the keeper. Lauren glanced at me and signalled for me to take the next one. I smiled and took the ball at my feet, aiming it at the bottom left corner but curving it to go in the bottom right. It drifted past Ellie and hit the back of the net, the woman in goal kicked the ball back in my direction. I stopped it and hit it back towards Lauren. She also scored and then we did the round again, taking it in turns to take a shot. Then Gareth got us practicing some assists, I was paired with Lucy and together, taking it in turns assisting and shooting, we scored at least five. We carried on with training basic aspects of the game until it was 4:00pm, then Gareth let us go.

Ellie, Lucy and Georgia raced back through the tunnel into the changing room, Lucy winning easily. I took a slow walk where the girls had previously ran,
"did you enjoy today?" I voice spoke from behind me, i twisted my head to see Lauren appearing on my right.
"Yeah. I did actually."
"So. Me and the girls were speaking and we wanted to see if you'd like to maybe grab a drink with us."
"Oh, uh. Sure. Why not?"
Lauren's face immediately twisted into a smile, but she repressed the emotion as we entered the tunnel. There was still something not right about the girl and I still wasn't sure what it was.

I quickly got changed out of my kit; it wasn't very warm in Manchester at the moment. So a pair of black tracksuit bottoms was my choice. I was just pulling my shirt off over my head when Lauren walked in from speaking with Gareth. Her eyes immediately landed on my midriff, she pulled her eyes away, but still made conversation. I carried on with my action, talking to Lauren in a sports bra and trousers.
"Uh- you like sit-ups by any chance?"
I chuckled, reaching for my hoodie, "uh. I guess. I've always been one to spend all my free time in the gym. I don't really have a life outside of sports."
"What football player does?" Lauren chuckled, I smiled then quickly pulled my hoodie on, zipping up my bag and throwing it on my shoulder. I pick my phone from the side, my move to City had just been announced on their Instagram page. And now my Instagram was flooded with comments on my transfer. I sat down on the bench and scrolled through the comments; most were supportive, saying "welcome to city!" and all that, but a few were different. These were people who obviously pride themselves on making others feel bad. There was always going to be people like that; especially in women's football.

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