Number on me

5. Cygnus

'Hi?'

A tall girl with red hair stood in front of the door. Max took a second to compose herself, being not only surprised, but a bit flustered standing in front of the girl in her work out attire.

'Hi, sorry, I wasn't expecting anyone.' Lie. She just wasn't expecting anyone that pretty.

'It's okay! I'm Sadie. I live across the hall! I can come back another time if, if you're busy.' The girl, or Sadie, quickly looked Maxine up and down, clearly noticing her clothing, or lack of clothing.

Taking just a second too long to answer, Max managed to talk.

'Yeah sorry, nice to meet you Sadie, I'm Maxine. I'm kind off in the middle of something, but I would love to meet you properly sometime?'

'Of course, let me give you my number!'

Closing the door, Maxine felt the blood rush in her cheeks. Trying to shrug off the feeling in her stomach, she walks back to the living room. She finished her work out with an even higher intensity than before, having found energy in her short conversation with the girl next door. Just as she did her last push-ups, the bell rang again. This time, Max put on a sweater before opening the door.

After a quick dinner, thanks to the food delivered by the very nice driver, Maxine got her black book.

Ever since she started football, Maxine had a black book. She started with using one per season, but now has three of four every year. In her black book, there are hundreds of notes, made while watching film. She kept every single one of those books, wanting to be able to read the tips she wrote herself when she was 12. Now, at 18, they were still relevant.
So, there was a special section reserved in Max's ginormous bookshelf. That section consisted of 17, identical looking, black notebooks. The one on the right was only half full. The one the right was the one she picked up.

Max hadn't played a single game since her injury, but that didn't mean there wasn't more to study. She pulled out a, to anyone else seemingly random game. World Cup 2014. Spain 1 - 5 Netherlands.

It was a game Max would never forget. She and her sister, 8 years old, were invited by their uncle Harry, to come and visit Brazil for the men's World Cup. Maxine and Fay had never been in a stadium, and had never seen a football match before. No one in their family played football, they were basketball through and through.

It was the first time Max saw a football match. It was the first time she thought about quitting basketball, to become pro in a different sport, though it took her 4 more years to realise this faint dream.

Today Max analysed the first half of the match. Finding herself smiling, when the camera panned to the fans, and an ecstatic set of twins and their beloved uncle was shown on screen. She was remembering her uncle when the sound of her phone took her back to reality.

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Arsenal WFC 23/34 (no coaches)

Leah Williamson
Hey Max, I (as vice cap as Kim doesn't do announcements or smth) wanted to welcome you to our girls only group chat!

Beth Mead
Geez Leah don't be so formal she is a literal child.

Max
Thank you Leah! And I am almost 19 Beth..

Beth Mead
Yeah that's what I said
Dinner tomorrow at 7 guys!

Katie McCabe
What we havin?

Vivianne Miedema
Don't worry guys, I'm cooking,

Kyra Cooney-Cross
Thank god, be there!

——————————————————

Max put her phone down, and muted it after getting several more notifications. She didn't have the energy to participate in whatever conversation was happening right now. Instead, she called her sister.

Talking to her twin was like a breath of fresh air. She didn't realise how much she missed her voice until she heard it again. She felt silly, feeling this lonely after just two days on her own, but moving out really was difficult.
She ended up talking to Fay for hours, talking about everything and absolutely anything. It was Fay who told her sister they should go to bed.

Max didn't sleep well that night. In fact, she barely slept at all. After replaying the days events in her head, she couldn't help but picture every single game of the upcoming season. She saw herself making mistakes, and she saw herself fixing them. She saw them winning games, she saw them winning trophies. She eventually didn't see anything at all, when she fell asleep around 6 in the morning.

Of course, her alarm was set at 7. Groaning in her pillow, Max cursed her brain. A cold shower woke her up, although she wondered how long she would stay awake. Breakfast was oblivious, she would eat in the canteen.

Max got dressed and looked at her phone. Besides about 40 texts from the arsenal group chat, there was another notification.

~Sadie McIntyre
Hey Maxine, just wondering if you had time to get coffee over the weekend?
Xx Sadie

She walked out of her apartment, smiling. Ready to face the new day.

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Hey guys!

You might have noticed that not everything in this story makes sense. In this story, Kyra and Vic have been at arsenal for longer, as it was just more easy.

Also, some games will be different and stuff, because I'm writing a new player in.

Lastly, I don't know where I'm going with Sadie, let me know what you think!

Xx Belle