Our Kiddo

You have a home here now

Evie Warner, the girl with the ball at her feet.

That was what she had always been known as. For as long as she could remember, Evie had loved football.

It meant everything to her.

Even when everything else in her life had fallen apart, football made her happy.

She'd grown up playing in the concrete pitch that was a few minutes' walk from her house. She was the only girl who played and even though she was much smaller than the boys, her skill got her respect.

The hours she spent kicking the ball on the concrete were happy ones. It gave her freedom away from her home life and the scraped knees and cut elbows were a small price to pay.

***

Evie felt sick. Today was the day. She was being signed by Arsenal. After making her Southampton debut in April, just a week after her 16th birthday, Arsenal wanted to sign her.

A proper professional contract. It was all she ever wanted and it meant she could finally leave the shit hole she had to call home.

When she arrived at The Emirates she was blown away. She'd been before but she was still impressed.

It held pretty much double the people that St Mary's held. That fact made Evie realise just how big of a step she had made.

Jonas greeted her in the main reception, a warm smile on his face.

"Hello Evie," he said reaching out and shaking her hand.

They passed light conversation before an official man in a suit poked his head round and said they were ready for the signing.

Evie had already discussed the terms of her contract but she read through it again anyway. Her PE teacher, Mrs Cooper, had advised her to always do that; you never knew when a scam might pop up.

Mrs Cooper was the only adult that had truly cared about Evie. She helped her through everything, all her behaviour problems and her difficult home life.

Photographers stood around, snapping her picture. It was all a bit overwhelming and Evie just focused on signing her name. That was what she was here for. She didn't need to do any posing for photos.

After the contract had been signed, Jonas took her on the tour of The Emirates. He showed her everything and she had to admit it was all very impressive.

"As we discussed the other week, we've arranged for you to stay with one of our players and I'm sure you two will get on brilliantly," Jonas said as he pushed open a door to a room filled with sofas.

On one of the sofas sat Leah Williamson. Holy shit.

She looked up as they entered and smiled widely at them both.

"Hey," she said cheerfully as she stood up.

"Hey Leah. Thanks for coming down," Jonas said as he greeted her. It was clear that they had a close relationship and Evie was glad to see it. Her old boss was a brilliant manager but that was all she was. A good boss. She never got to know the girls very well and as far as personal problems were concerned, they were on their own.

"No problem. Happy to come and meet my new house mate."

The three of them chatted and Evie slowly eased into the conversation. They were both very nice and helped to put her at ease.

After a little while, Jonas announced that he needed to go to a meeting.

"Wanna head back then? I've got your room ready and I even tidied up," Leah said with a laugh.