this is me trying

Chapter 19 - Never Say Never

"Ev," Ona said to me, the day before my game against Aston Villa.

"Yeah?" I questioned.

"I need advice," she responded. I looked at her, slightly confused, as she was never normally one to ask for advice.

"Everything okay?"

"We want to go on strike."

"Who is 'we'?" I asked.

"Some of the girls from the national team."

"Okay... like who?"

"Mapi, Aitana, Claudia, Leila..."

"How many?"

"15."

"15?"

"Yeah, 15."

"And this is because of your manager, right?"

"Yeah. He shouldn't be there. He shouldn't be in charge. He is only there cause of his father, and that just shouldn't be the case. It's not right."

"Yeah, I agree. I definitely agree. Ona, if you're passionate about this, and you want to see real change, doing nothing is not going to do anything. Support your team mates, and don't give in to him. Don't give in to the federation. Stay strong in your beliefs and values."

"What if I never get to play for the team again?" she asked, looking at me with such fear in her eyes.

"Then you know that it is a team not worth playing for," I replied. Her eyes stared into my own, before she nuzzled her head into my shoulder. I wrapped my arms around her body, kissing the top of her head.

Before anything happened, we had a game to play. We were up against Aston Villa, in Birmingham. We travelled down on the bus, and now that Georgia, Lucy and Keira were all gone, it was time to get new bus partners.

"Hey," Hayley said, "sit here." I smiled at her, and sat across the table with Alanna, and Hayley across from me, and Mary beside me. Mary was another Australian, who had come to City in the offseason. She played a similar midfield role, but had more of an attacking focus. For me, over the past few months, I had swapped to a more defensive midfield role, really liking playing in the 6 as opposed to the 8. But, as I had suspected, with the inclusion of some new players and the leaving of Georgia, I would be staying in the eight. That would be my position.

"How was your summer?" Alanna asked me.

"Crazy," I replied.

"What did you and Ona end up doing?" Hayley asked. "After the Euros."

"Went on a little trip," I said, smiling.

"To?" Mary asked, intrigued.

"Tromso," I replied. "She wanted to see the Aurora, but I had to explain to her that she can only see those in winter, but she was happy anyways."

"The aurora?" Alanna asked.

"The northern lights," I confirmed.

"Oh, that's so cool," Alanna said.

"Well, we didn't see them," I laughed, "but I plan to take her back at Christmas."

"She'll love that," Hayley added.

We arrived at the ground soon after, and we started to prepare for the game. Over the break, we had a few Spanish signings, including Leila and Laia. Ona was excited to have some more fellow Spaniards in Manchester. As we sat together, in the locker room, Leila and I talked.

"Ona told me," I said to her, quietly. "About what you guys are thinking of doing."

"She did?" Leila said.