The Referee

Chapter 33

(A/N: Hey look an actual update! Yeah... sorry about that!)

NICOLE'S POV

I stared at Jamie with wide eyes. Canada... versus the USA... women's soccer...

I punched him in the shoulder.

"What?" He laughed. "I thought you would like it." He rubbed the sore spot on his arm.

"I do, and I'm so excited right now, but I hate surprises, remember?" I laughed at him. "I'm not dressed for a soccer game. I don't have on any canada spirit wear, I'm wearing heels... how is this going to work?" I worried too much.

"Relax, Kiki" He smiled at me. "I've got another surprise for you, and it'll solve all those problems."

He took a hold of my hand and continued driving. About 30 minutes later, between singing along to the radio and me bugging him about surprises we finally arrived.

"Look in the bag on the back seat." Jamie told me as we got out of the car.

I pulled out the sports bag and looked inside. There was a Canada jersey with my name and the number 11 on the back. My lucky number. There was a pair of black shorts and black keds and even a canada hair bow/scrunchie type of thing. Exactly what I would've picked out if I had chosen the outfit myself.

"You know me too well, Jay." I wiped a fake tear and we both laughed. 

"Go get changed, there's more surprises." He told me.

"More?" I exclaimed. "but..."

"Relax, you haven't been disappointed so far, have you?" He teased me.

"No..." I agreed. I went to the closest washroom and changed out of my cute date outfit into the clothes Jamie brought. And I looked super cute, if I do say so myself. I walked back out to Jamie and he took my hand commenting on how cute I looked. See, I told ya ;) Anyways, we kept walking but instead of going through the main entrance, Jamie led me around to the back.

"Where are we going Jamie?" I looked up at him, confused.

"You'll see." he winked at me and I huffed at him. I really didn't like surprises.

We kept walking and went through a door that was marked Players and Officials only.

Wait.

Players and Officials?!

I looked at Jamie and he smiled back. "Surprise.... again..."

This was crazy.

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JAMIE'S POV

She was like a little kid in a candy shop. The way her eyes lit up when she realized we were going to be meeting some of the Canadian and American players was adorable. But, I still had a few surprises for her. And I know she hates them, but she's just too cute when she gets a good surprise.

We were met with a massive security guard that was going to lead us to our first stop. The Canadian change room. Literally, this guy was probably 6'7'' or more and about as wide as a train. I kid you not, he had to turn sideways to fit through the doorways.

We walked into the locker room and we were first greeted by  Karina LeBlanc, one of the goalkeepers. Friendliest keeper we've ever met. Well, Erin McLeod is pretty awesome too. That's who we talked to next. Christine Sinclair was also there, she talked to Nicole about soccer and following her dreams and stuff. Then we talked to Kaylyn Kyle and Lauren Sesslemen. Absolutely beautiful people... well, almost as beautiful as Nicole. Jessie Fleming was there, and she was so nice. She's only a year younger than Nicole and I, so it was nice talking to her. We also spoke with Desiree Scott who shares the same number as Nicole. Lastly, we talked to Kadeisha Buchanan, Nicole's favourite defender. I think she likes Kadeisha more than me to be honest. Not that I blame her, that girl is a beast on the field. It was amazing meeting all of the players. We even talked to coach John Herdman. 

But the crazy thing? I was more excited to watch Nicole than all of these famous soccer players.

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NICOLE'S POV

Meeting the players was amazing. After the Canadian Team we moved on the Americans. Meeting the legends that were Sydney Leroux and Alex Morgan was indescribable. The whole experience was incredible.

After meeting both of the teams, Jamie told me that he had another surprise ready. to be honest, I was starting to like Jamie's surprises. He led me to a door marked "referee."

"Seriously?" I asked him, excitedly.

"Yup." He smiled.

We knocked on the door and my jaw nearly dropped.

Two words.

Bibiana. Steinhaus.

The first female referee in the Men's Bundesliga.

In other words, my life goals in human form.

"Hi Nicole." She said in her thick german accent. "How are you today?"

"I'm... I'm great!" I could barely form a coherent sentence.

I talked with Bibiana and the rest of the referee crew for about 10 minutes. It was amazing. These women were doing what I could only dream of at the moment. I couldn't wait until one day I would be among their ranks. I knew I could do it. I just had to.

"Nicole, I've got one peice of advice for you." Bibiana told me before we left. "Don't let anyone put you down, on or off the field. If you act this way in all aspects of your life you are guaranteed to succeed."

I nodded. She was right. As of today, I was no longer going to be the pushover I was before. No longer the shy little bullied girl.

I was going to be confident.