It's us against the world

14 - the match

He announces the starting 11 "Zinzeberger, Rafaelle, Williamson, Wienrother, Catley, Walker, Little, Walti, Foord, Mead & Miedema. I walk onto the pitch gripping Leah's hand tightly as I see how many people there are. She feels me clench her hand harder so she looks at me and tells me "it will be fine my love. I will protect you, I promise." I smile weakly and let go of her hand so I can get into my position ready to play. There is a big announcement over the speakers "Today is a special day for Jessica Walker as she has her debut today for Arsenal. Please give her a warm welcome and treat her kindly today." I go bright red but wave as everyone claps for me and I smile at Leah, jumping up and down ready to start the game.

The game kicks off and we are playing really well until Ella Toone starts a counter attack on us, so I go in for a slide tackle gaining possession and I dribble gaining possession and I dribble up the wing. I out-skill each player that tries to tackle me. I manage to get into the box, so I put everything I can into a shot and it lands in the top left corner, barley escaping Mary's fingers. I run over to the arsenal fans and celebrate with them as the whole team sprint over to me to congratulate me. I jump onto Leah's chest hugging her with a big grin on my face. She carries me back to our half and puts me down so we can kick off again.

We are pressing high on them, keeping them in their half and Beth manages to get a corner off them and she goes off to take it. Leah pushes me to go up so I go running towards the back post. Beth takes the corner as I am almost at the post and I see the ball coming directly at me so I jump the highest I can and I connect my head to it and slot it into the side of the goal towards the floor. I just stand in shock, wondering how I managed to do that, so Leah runs over to me and picks me up again and I wrap my legs around her waist, punching the air in joy. I half-whisper to Leah, over all the crowd noise "thank you for believing in me." I run back to finish the first half and as soon as the centre is played, the half time whistle is blown. I look over to Leah with the biggest grin ever on my face. She walks over to me, scruffs up my hair and says "hey shortie, you are doing amazing. I am so proud of you. You alright my love?" I smile even more at her and reply "yes Le, im fine. Actually, words can't describe how I feel right now. I'm too all over the place!"

We walk into the changing room ready for the half time talk, so I sit down on the bench ready to listen. I grab my water bottle and drink a lot as I am sweating too much. I start to get cold so I put on my jacket, listening to Jonas' tactics. "Before I say anything, I would like to congratulate Jessica on her amazing first half and the two goals she scored so far." I go bright red as everyone looks at me. Jonas continues "ok, keep playing as you are and we should be able to win. Just watch the counter attacks and watch the offside as we have had some close ones and it would be awful to be caught. Jess, try and get another goal for a hat-trick." I nod in response, still red in the face. "Right go smash it girls , you can do it!" Everyone piles out of the changing room ready to walk back on the pitch but I turn the opposite direction to everyone else as I needed to use the toilet.

Leah notices I went the wrong way so she follows me, only just realising I was going to the toilet. I go into one of the cubicles and hear the door open so I say, worriedly "hello, who's there?" Leah hears the tone in my voice and replies "hey love, its only me don't worry. I followed you because I was wondering where you were going and we are about to start the second half and we need you for it." I add "ok I will be out in one second," then I flush the toilet and walk out to wash my hands. I go over to her, smile and grab her hand so we can walk out together. Look up at her and say "thank you for waiting for me Le." She smirks and says whilst staring into my eyes "that's ok my love. I didn't want you getting lost or being alone on your first match." I quickly peck her cheek and let go of her hand before walking onto the pitch ready to start the second half. The half goes by quite quickly and nothing happens other than a few close goals from Beth and Viv and Ella and Alessia almost scored for United but they went wide.

Substitutions for the Arsenal: Little off for Nobbs (precautionary for Kim) & Foord off for McCabe.

Nearer the 80th minute Alessia comes sprinting down Leah's side and she luckily manages to take possession from her and she passes the ball to me, to which I play a one-two with Katie, getting around Ella, so I dribble down the rest of the way into the box where I am tackled viciously by Millie Turner and left on the ground clenching my ankle. Leah rushes over to me, as I sit up stretching my legs, and she crouches down next to me asking "are you ok my love?" I nod and stand up slowly rolling my ankle trying to stretch it out. Millie comes back over to me and apologises "mate im so sorry I didn't mean to-" I cut her off by saying "Millie its honestly fine. Ive had worse."

The ref comes over to us, gives Millie a yellow card and tells me that it's a penalty and Jonas has chosen me to take it. I look over at Jonas and he is nodding in approval mouthing "you can do it." I look back at the box, take a deep breath in and step up to the ball to take the penalty. The crowd roars in excitement but I quieten them down so I can concentrate on scoring. I count my strides as I walk away from the ball, I take a deep breath in and out and as I hear the whistle blow I charge towards the ball and pound it into the top right bins, curling it slightly behind Mary. I run away from the team, with my hands in the air and my mouth open screaming in joy. The fans are all clapping at me and I see the team standing behind me so I give them all the biggest hug in thankfulness. Leah gives me a high five and pulls me in, patting my back and tells me "I knew you could do it. I'm so proud of you my love." I smile and run back to finish the game.

I tackle Parris at the halfway line and cross it into Leah who almost scores but it goes into Mary's hands and the full time whistle blows. I look over at Leah with a big smile on my face, seeing she is already running over to me and she tells me to follow her. I follow her over to the post-match meetings and continues "you've got one of these in a minute my love." I am shocked but also worried that I have to do one and reply with a shaky voice "oh really? I'm so happy." Leah senses the tone in my voice and adds "I can be there with you if you want?" I nod and reply "please" which takes my nerves away knowing Leah would be with me. I go into the section that's being recorded while Leah stands behind the camera looking at me and I start getting asked questions. I get overwhelmed by the amount of questions I am being asked so I start to breathe a bit faster. I look at Leah and she gives me a thumbs up so I start breathing normally and I start the interview.

The first question I am asked "how does making your debut game for Arsenal feel?" I respond by saying "honestly, I was so nervous this morning and on the coach but as soon as I got here I started to feel calmer. Obviously having the whole team here with me made it a much better and exciting experience. And making my debut was awesome and I cant believe I've done it, I cant wait to play more for Arsenal." I am asked another question "how did you mange to score three goals today and how are you so talented at your age." I laugh and reply "I don't even know how how I scored today. I never used to be able to score but I guess im getting better and it resulted in a hat-trick which is fantastic. I am so happy to be part of this brilliant team and I cant wait to see how many I will score this season." They say they have one final question for me "so you got player of the match today. How do you feel and what do you want to say to kids who want to be like you one day?" I reply in shock "wait... I got player of the match? Wow that is so awesome, I cant believe it, I think I am about to cry because this is a literal dream come true. And to all the kids watching today who are like me or want to be like me or aren't even like me, you just have to follow your hearts and it will guide you to the right place. It has done that for me and it will definitely benefit you, even if you think that it's the worst thing that has happened, it will always work out for the best."

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A/N: another part for you <3
Longer cheaper for you now since I've been so inactive
How are we feeling about their relationship??
Anything more you guys want to see?
Im aiming for 1 or 2 parts a week
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