A young lioness

Pre game day

Maeva's point of view:

It was game day. Normally I would be buzzing, like a kid on steroids. However, today was different. Different in that, not only was I playing for my country but that, this was also the first time anyone was going to see me- media and all. The team and I had done a pretty good job at keeping me out of the media for a while, which I appreciated. However, after tonight I knew that no one would keep my name quiet.

I woke up very early, but that's no surprise. I glanced over at my phone and saw that it was 10 minutes past 5 in the morning. Way too early, even for me. I tossed and turned for a bit, not really wanting to get up just yet. I ended up getting fed up after a while, and looked over to where Keira was sleeping. Of course, she looked as peaceful as ever, it did make me wonder if she ever got game day nerves. I decided that it would be best to hit the gym early, that way I would be able to work out in peace and also not disturb Keira with my ruffling around in the bedsheets.

Luckily for me, I like to be organised in all capacities possible- I think that's the anxiety in me. So I grabbed my clothes which were in a neat pile on my dresser, and quietly got changed in the bathroom. I had become quite skilled at moving around without anyone noticing so it really wasn't hard to not make any noise. I left Keira a note, so she didn't wake up and wonder where on earth I was, I still think she was a little spooked from my panic attack, and so she liked to keep tabs on me. The corridor was long and I couldn't hear any noise so I figured that nobody else must be awake which only enlightened the idea of having the gym to myself.

I decided that today would be a light session, we weren't really allowed to work out at all on game days but I just needed to clear my head. It was a big day, I knew the stadium would be packed with the most fans I've ever played in front of, and so that prospect alone daunted me. Not to mention the fact that it's my literal senior debut and so you know someone will want to interview me after and quite frankly that is a situation I would love to avoid. Whilst all of these thoughts were going through my head, I didn't realise the figure that had appeared next to me.

"Thought I'd find you here at this time" I looked over and saw Millie, she startled me at first but once I saw it was her I smiled. "Couldn't sleep, thought the gym would be quiet" I responded, not really puzzling the pieces together that of course at 5:30 am would the gym be quiet. "Well I should hope so at this hour" she joked. "Well, what are you doing up?" I asked, genuinely curious. "Game day routine, I like to get up early and do something for myself before the structure of the day starts" she responded, I just nodded along- her answer made a lot of sense actually. I watched as she began stretching on the yoga mat beneath her, it felt weirdly nice to have company even if we were going about our business. I suppose I had felt a bit alone through patches of camp, it's easy when you are around so many people to feel as though you don't actually belong, imposter syndrome I believe. This meant that even having someone in the same room felt like I was a whole different person compared to just me.

I finally came to the end of my workout and just saw Millie watching. "Do you ever chill mae?" She asked through little fits of laughter, "Chilling is overrated, even on game day" I shot back with, smiling as I said it. Millie was right, I was never chill, my body could be as zen as you like but my mind would still be on a 100 mph train with no stations. We both walked over to the dining area and saw a couple of the girls eating already. I spotted Lucy and Keira so decided to go eat my cereal with them. "I have never roomed with anyone like you before, you know that right maevs" Keira stated with a smile, I was curious and so asked why. "One minute you are here, the next you are gone, almost like you come alive when everyone else is asleep" she responded with. I chuckled, I did prefer to do things on my terms which often meant a few last minute plans. "Well Kei, some would say I could even be classed as nocturnal" I wasn't lying, I really did love the night. At this point, Lucy had looked up from her phone and asked what nocturnal meant, much to mine and Keira's amusement.