'Til It's Done (Ellie Carpenter/ (Fem) You)

-Chapter 3: The Team-

After putting a few things away and changing into our own sports clothes, along with the Matildas jacket that was put on our bed, we head out and into the car where Ollie drives us to the training venue. "Nervous?" He asks, noticing how fidgety we are. "Oh yeah, definitely." I reply, looking out the window. In my head, the letter replays again and again on repeat. "I can't wait to meet you!!!" I'm going to meet the Ellie Carpenter in a few months. I can't believe it. "We're here." Ollie says, breaking me out of my trance. "Go kick their asses. I'll see you two again later when I return with the bus to take the team back." He says, handing us our sports bags before waving and taking off.

I stare at the building in front of me, looming over us, menacing but also an invitation to so much adventure. "We're here." Alycia says, staring too. "That we are....we're here. We made it...." I say before glancing at my phone. "And we're late, come on." I say, grabbing Alycia's arm and dragging her with me...not before taking a pic of the building. As we enter, the person at the desk glances up. "Names?" She asks. "Y/N Y/L/N." I say, looking around. "Alycia Lewis." Aly says. The lady nods, pulling out passes and handing them to us. "You'll need these to enter and exit as you please. Just scan them at the gates and they'll open."

We thank her, taking the pass and scanning them, entering the building properly. We walk down the hallway, towards the door at the end which opens to the pitch. Before we even walk out the door, we can hear shouts, cheers and laughter from downstairs, telling us the team is there. I feel nerves overcome me as we step outside and start our descent down the stairs. The cheers from the team told us how close they were and the loud thud of the balls told us their skill and talent.

I watch as Mackenzie Arnold, commonly known as Macca, successfully blocks and catches multiple attempted shots by the players. It was until Sam Kerr stepped up to the penalty shot line that she got through, hearing the calm swoosh of the net as her shot sails just shy of Macca's hands and into the top right corner of the net. I see Sam cheer, running around and grinning from ear to ear, pretending she just shot a winning goal and looking around the stadium at the 'fans'. That's how she spots us and waves. "Girls, they're here." She shouts to the others, causing each and every Matilda to look at us.

I wave awkwardly as we reach the field and Alycia just grins. The whole team makes their way over to us as Tony does too. "Y/N! Alycia! You made it. Welcome." He says, patting our backs. "Girls, this is Y/N Y/L/N and Alycia Lewis, both from Sydney FC where Vine is from. She'll be joining us tomorrow." He says. Each girl says their greeting as Sam Kerr steps forward. She grins, holding a hand out. "Samantha Kerr. Or just Sam, Sammy, whatever." She says. "I'm one of the Co-Captains of the Tillies along with Steph Catley over there." She says, nodding to the girl in question. I take her hand, shaking it before Kerr grins and tugs my arm, causing me to fall into a hug from her. "Welcome to the family."

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Meeting the girls is a dream. They're all so welcoming and lovely. Alycia immediately got dragged away by Kyra Cooney-Cross and Charlotte (Charli) Grant to one side while Sam Kerr and Steph Catley dragged me to another side. If I said I wasn't intimidated by the fact the two co-captains of the team dragged me aside, I'd be lying. "What's your position?" Steph asks, passing the ball to me. "Um, Forward. Or more specifically, right wing." I say, passing the ball to Sam. "Nice. You're with us then." She says. "What?" I ask, confused. "Oh, Tony told the team that we're playing a game against each other tomorrow and basically, there's Sam and I's half of the team and then there's Kyra and Charli's half." Steph clarifies. "You two were the only ones left over to pick from so...yeah."

"Who's on which team?" I ask.

"Of those who are here for this training...our team consists of Us, you, Macca, Alannah, Caitlin, Mini, Chidiac and Gielnik. They have Kyra, Charli, Mary, Lydia, Polks, EVE, Raso, Micah and now Alycia." Steph says, listing them off her fingers. "Usually they also have Luik, Hunt and Nevin and we have Ellie, Vine and Logarzo. The others either haven't been assigned or have left." Sam adds. "But this year these were the teams. We have this thing where each year, the first time we meet up, we get into teams for practice matches here." Steph goes on. "Obviously, some of each team are either not here yet or are injured, so yeah." Sam adds. "It's just a silly game we play. Keeps us competitive but also aware of our weaknesses." She goes on, laughing. I grin, wishing I'd have been here earlier and be able to be on their team while Ellie was here.