Don't Look Back In Anger ~ J.R.

Chapter 2

Bayern Munich Women, 2018

"Everyone, before we begin training I wanted to remind you of the new signing from Arsenal" Thomas Wörle, Bayern Munich's manager announced to his team. "She is coming here on loan for two seasons. Remember, we are a club, so we are a family; please make her feel welcome." 

"Who is it?" asked a young and shy Sydney Lohmann who had been previously sat quietly in a corner of the room.

"Her name is Juno Seton, you may know her from the England Lionesses, I think many of you have played against her." As her name was pronounced, the room erupted into hurried whispers.

"But coach, she is very good, how come they've sent her out on loan?" asked a curious Fridolina Rolfö.

"We have been informed that it was a requested loan, she decided to come." After this was said, the women on the team seemed to take a more relaxed approach, seeing as their team's ego had basically been boosted, and now they were quite excited to meet this particular player.

Juno, having just landed in Munich, was not so ecstatic herself, as she questioned why on earth she decided to leave her home country at 18 to a foreign nation where she could not understand anyone. That night she could not sleep, knowing that the next day she'd have to face and get to know so many people who would interrogate her. The young girl's restlessness came from the fact that her brain would not shut off; her mind formulated new preoccupations by the second: what if they don't like her? What if she's too intense for them? What if they don't get her humour and get offended? What if moving had been a bad idea like they had warned her back home?

Maybe calling someone would help, a way to calm herself down. But no, Juno was just too stubborn to ask for help. She had been warned it would be hard for her to settle in at first but she declined any opinion that wasn't her own, now was no time to accept defeat. 

So with that in mind, the girl fell into a light sleep, the intensity of the day finally catching up to her. If only it had lasted...

At 4:30am, the footballer woke up frantically, having forgotten where she was. "Fuck... Now I have to get up" she mumbled sleepily. 

Slowly, the zombie-like girl walked down to the kitchen to make herself some tea, English tea, with a splash of milk and no sugar, just like her coffee. But coffee was different to tea, one held memories and nostalgia, the other one held her capability of staying awake during the day.

She boiled her water and served her cup, watching the sunrise from her kitchen window. Germany was no tropical island, but their summers were definitely sunnier than England's. Maybe she could get used to this.

Juno Seton was a lot of things, and maybe some could say that she was immature, but one thing's for sure, Juno Seton was never late.

After her tea, later on in the morning, she drank her coffee, leaving breakfast for after training for she would probably have thrown up if any solid matter slid down her oesophagus. She left before she should have, in consequence bumping into the captain on her way in.

"Hello. You are Juno, right?" asked Melanie Leupolz, the captain of the team in a broken English, with a heavy accent, as she extended a firm hand towards the youngster. "Oh, yes. That's me, pleasure to meet you." 

 The skipper smiled, "You are early, that's good, it means you are reliable." She didn't know that she had simply been early because she could not sleep anymore, but who was she to tell her anyway. Juno was punctual, but that didn't mean she was an early bird, it only meant that she was never late.

As more people started to fill in the changing rooms, Juno began taking her things out of her bag, while she held conversation with the captain, who although had seemed very serious, had a funny way around her as well, something Juno just loved. Their conversation was cut up, and frases often had to be repeated for the other party to understand but the young star was completely amazed by her elder, not noticing the many stares of the rest of the team. 

Soon after, she began to change. Juno had never been one to be shy or insecure about herself, but she decided to play it safe, turning around and only showing her bare back. 

From behind, a chestnut haired girl  was watching the English girl intently, as if, if she blinked, she would disappear. From behind, we humans cannot see. And maybe it was better that way. Jill couldn't look at the new girl like that, it was an invasion of privacy. She shouldn't feel the overbearing necessity of seeing her back spasm as she pulled the number 22 on, or the way her hips were delicate but her legs were deadly, but she couldn't stop, not even as her best friend Sydney called her over and over again.

"JILL ROORD. Stop staring at her! You'll start drooling at any moment, God!" She exclaimed. Her words not strong enough for everyone to hear but perfectly clear to Jill. The slightly older girl almost gave herself whiplash as she turned to her friend.

"I was not staring. I was zoned out, I hadn't even noticed her!" Responded an exasperated Jill Roord. 

"Okay, sure, whatever. But if you had been listening to me you would have known that I am going to walk over right now to welcome her. Now, you seem to really not be interested in the new signing, I mean you hadn't even noticed her, right? So don't worry, you don't need to come with... unless you want to."

Defeated, the Dutch stood up and followed the German's trail.

Juno had noticed the two girls approaching her; she recognised Sydney Lohmann, she had seen her a lot in Bayern's instagram. The other however, she couldn't quite place.

"Hello, I'm Sydney! You are the girl on loan right? From Arsenal? How are you? Has everyone been welcoming you-"

"God, Sydney, you're gonna drive her mad." A much more composed girl extended her hand towards her. 

"Jill Roord", she said cooly, looking straight into the English girl's hazel eyes;

"Juno Seton" replied the foreigner, with a thick but gorgeous accent. Juno had noticed Jill's green eyes stuck to her own, almost as if she was challenging her into a staring contest, and Juno was not about to lose a competition. 

As the two internationals looked at each other without pause, a slightly concerned Sydney stood beside, confused by the sudden change in her best friend.

"Sydney Lohmann, sorry for bombarding you with questions, I got a bit excited. There is not a lot of people my age around here." With a hand outstretched Sydney waited for an answer as Juno tore her eyes off the older girl, accepting the German's greeting. 

"No worries, I'm glad I'm not the only one who's quite young here."

That training session was eventful to say the least. Not only did Juno know there was high expectations on her ability on the pitch, and that every coach was judging her every move; she also felt a pair of green eyes following her shadow, and she had no idea why.

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What do we think?

- Lola:)