Fine Line , Sam Kerr

I. We'll Be A Fine Line

★ one ,
we'll be a fine line

MELBOURNE
april 2022

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ THE MATILDA'S were the australian football team, the female one to be exact. they had existed for decades, going through multiple generations to get to the team it was today. the bunch of women, playing for their spot in the FIFA world cup for the following year.

according to odessa buckleys mother ( who was the matildas assistant coach ) the matildas were the best they have ever been with this team, and that they would create history in this next world cup and the asian world cup that year.

odessa hadn't ever been much of a fan of football, her entire life consisted of netball. working towards the netball world cup, which she was unable to play for in 2019 because she suffered from an ankle injury two games into the tournament.

in late 2021, in a game against the queen land firebirds in the suncorp super netball tournament. odessa felt a large pull at the back of her calf, sending her harshly to the wooden floor. she proceeded to be carried out and sent to the hospital, where she found out she had torn her ACL.

it would take eight to nine months for her ACL to heal, but it would take eleven months until she was able to return to netball, where she could play the rest of the 2022 spring season and the following 2023 autumn season before the world cup. something she was determined to be doing.

october 2022 is when she would physically be able to be on those courts again, and she counted down the days dramastically. waiting for the day her doctor would say she could be back, but until then she had to work her ass off to recover from the major injury.

she stayed at home often. when finding out she had done life-changing injury, her mother suggested she returned home. with odessa unable to really move for the first two weeks of her injury, she couldn't survive on her own.

she still lived with her mother to this day. odessa was slowly healing, but she wished the healing process was faster. she hated being locked in a house, march had been the first time she was able to walk without having crutches on.

odessa laid on the couch of her house, watching her mother scramble through the paperwork's the australian football league gave to her. being assistant coach, kat, odessa's mother, had more paperwork than the actual coach, he trained them and she provided injury assists and help towards the sidelines.

kat looked up from her spot on the dining table "is there something i can help you with?"

odessa scrunched up her nose with a light shrug "i'm bored, and i would really appreciate it if my darling mother would let me go outside to shoot some shots."

kat shook her head "not happening princess, i can drop you off at the pool — or the gym instead before i head off to practice"

odessa sat up in her seat "seriously? your best options for me are the pool and the gym? shooting some hoops isn't gonna cause me to collapse, i can't go back not being able to shoot because i haven't shot in months."

kat sighed "i know you dess, you're gonna end up getting too into it, and before you know it you'll be running around and jumping into those weird spilts and injuring yourself even more."

odessa threw herself back onto the couch harshly "i don't want to swim, nor do i want to go to the gym. but i don't want to stay home—"

"come to training with me then" kat proposed "and stop trying to hassle me about shooting, you can shoot when you're healed enough"

odessa scoffed "go to training with you?"

kat nodded her head while keeping her eyes trained onto the paperwork in front of her "did i speak chinese odessa? i said come to training with me, you can meet the matildas, make more friends. we both know you don't have many of those."

odessa rolled her eyes lightly "what are we supposed to bond over, mom? how rigged football is, and how it should be called soccer for all countries"

"you say every sport is rigged"

odessa shot up as her arms went into the air "because they all are! umpires suck."

kat picked up the pile of papers she was working on and neatened them up before placing them back on the table. she looked up at her daughter "you coming or what?"

*ੈ✩‧₊˚ ODESSA LOVED the feeling of the autumn sun on her face, it was never too hot, and never too cold as the season slowly drifted into the next. she loved her freckled olive skin, the way the sun beamed against her and the wind lightly blew against her cheeks.

odessa sighed rubbing her hands against her black cotton shorts, feeling a sense of dread washing over her as herself and her mother drifted closer towards the matildas team and their head coach.

"katrina!" the head coach, tony yelled. his thick swedish accent booming through the air. his eyes drifted towards the young adult behind his bestfriend "you must be odessa, what a lovely suprise to see you here."

he smiled brightly, extending an hand out to her. odessa swolled thickly, shaking his head with a small smile "thank you, it's nice to meet you tony"

tony nodded his head in return "girls!" he called out, alerting the matildas, who were all playing a small game of football on the field. "we have a very special guest here today."

odessa's eyes widened, she was in no way, a special guest. she was just a girl who played broadcasted netball.

"odessa!" ellie carpenter screamed. odessa and ellie had known each other for years, they went to highschool together in cowra and they stayed friends after school. they hadn't seen each other for long, ellie moved to england and played for the lionesses while odessa stayed in new south wales, continuing her netball dream with the new south wales swifts.

before odessa realised it, ellie's arms were tightly wrapped around her old bestfriend. odessa stumbled back at the unexpected force but nevertheless embraced ellie back. soaking in the football players warmth.

"oh my god, you're all grown up now" odessa smiled proudly, pulling away from the hug.

ellie scoffed loudly "you're two months older than me."

odessa laughed, embracing her bestfriend again.