Page 42 of Couple Goals

Elisa punches her goalkeeper gloves together in agreement. ‘Yes Coach.’

‘Remember what I’ve been saying this week,’ Coach reminds them, arms folded. ‘All eyes are going to be on you today, so bring your own highest level and start the season with a home win in style in front of the new owners.’

Adriana’s stomach flips. She wonders if that means Jacob might be in the director’s box. She’s been surprised not to see him around the training ground this week, although after how she messed up last weekend at Honey,it’s been a relief. She feels so confused still about how things were left between them, and wishes she could clear it up. She’s even considered texting him, very out of character for her, and found his name saved from when they’d met at the bar, as ‘Jacob NOT JAKE!! HOT!!’

Adriana’s chest feels tight all of a sudden, and she is grateful for the chanting from the crowd in the stands rousing her. She can’t go back into that spiral right now, she doesn’t want it messing with her otherwise sunny mood, or worse, affecting her performance.

It would make sense, for him to be in the crowd today, for their first proper fixture, wouldn’t it? She starts wondering if her hair looks good today and then gets annoyed at herself. Firstly, ofcourseit does, her hair always looks incredible. And secondly, it shouldn’tmatterif Jacob is in the crowd, except perhaps to be thinking about the squad and who might not be figuring in the club’s plans moving forward. Adriana is confident she’s been doing well in training – really well, actually – as long as she’s on her game today, she isn’t worried about herself being moved on. Unless Jacob really did have a specific axe to grind with her. She suddenly has a vivid mental image of Jacob, in an lumberjack’s open flannel shirt, sharpening an axe, and chopping wood, sweatily, before coming over to her and–

‘Oh, and one last thing,’ Hoffman announces, pulling Adriana from her reverie. ‘Kira, you’ll be Captain for today’s game. See you all for half-time, Tigresses.’

Hoffman says it like an afterthought, so it takes a moment for Adriana to register what she’s said.

The team all look to Maeve and Kira, who happen to be standing close, their arms almost touching. They look just as surprised as each other, and Adriana watches as something passes between them. To her eyes, it doesn’t seem like the look between rivals competing to be named Captain.

All the colour drains from Maeve’s face, but she manages to nod respectfully at Coach before looking at the floor. The recent strangeness between Maeve and Adriana suddenly seems unimportant, as Adriana longs to be able to pause time and comfort her friend. She can tell she’s having to work hard to keep her face impassive.

Kira does her two-fingered half-salute to Coach, looking like a rock star thanking her fans.

‘Yes Coach.’

Then Kira claps her hands together, unintentionally mirroring her coach, and says, ‘Okay everyone, you heard her. Let’s go and show them how sharp our claws are.’

The team’s cheers of agreement are somewhat half-hearted and confused because none of them expected Maeve to be stripped of the captaincy just before the first game. God, thinks Adriana, this last-minute destabilising could impact their playing if they don’t all rally fast. Could this have been another of Coach’s tests to see what they’re made of? And another fear runs through Adriana – could it be her fault in some way, with her conversation with Jacob drawing negative attention to Maeve?

The most Adriana can do, as they all run out to the pitch, is to jog fast up to Maeve, and squeeze her hand, just once, as hard as she can so Maeve knows she’s there for her. Maeve’s quiet smile back is pained.

Adriana usually feels she was born for this moment – running out onto the pitch to roars of the crowd but today Maeve’s sudden demotion and Adriana’s concerns about Jacob being there have taken some of her earlier sweetness out of it. As she arrives onto the pitch, she looks eagerly for that flashing sunny sign to steady herself.

Thank God, there it is, a golden sun, dancing happily in her direction. Even if it weren’t for the huge flashing sign, Adriana would be able to spot her family immediately from, not only their matching kits, but also their matching ginger hair, the same bright shade as her own (except for her dad’s, which is now greying a little).

Unsurprisingly, her parents and her older brother Felix are stood waving enthusiastically next to Maeve’s mum, Helena. She is the spitting image of Maeve, except that she wears more carefully applied make-up, has finely plucked eyebrows which give her a permanently critical expression, and her smiles, when they rarely come, are more strained. The closeness between the two families has developed from carsharing since the Academy days though it still seems that Helena holds herself a bit apart, even after all these years. Adriana has a moment of hoping that this year might be the year things thaw, and Helena and Maeve might join them for Christmas or something – but then her heart sinks. She’s worried that not telling Maeve about Jacob is the start of them beginning to drift apart.

No, she shakes her head. She runs to Maeve, deliberately smiling at her and pointing towards their parents. Maeve looks more than a little surprised, her usual colour still not returned to her face.It’s only then that Adriana sees her parents have made another sign – this time, for her friend. Her mum is trying to hand Helena one with a painted tigress wearing a pirate hat on the front of a ship. It says ‘Captain of our team, Captain of our heart!’

Adriana grimaces as Maeve jogs into position, not looking over towards her mum in the stands as the captains are called up to the centre for the coin toss. Adriana feels foolishly responsible, though of course there’s no way she could have predicted this sequence of events.

Adriana knows Georgia, the Captain of the Bristol Robins, from previously playing together through the years through national age groups, and they’ve even been on a couple of nights out together. Georgia looks surprised not to shake hands with Maeve but smiles at Kira. Kira doesn’t smile back, just grips her hand in what looks like a hard, intimidating shake. So it’s going to be like that – Kira’s the kind of captain who isn’t here to make friends, but asserts dominance from the off. Again Adriana can’t help but wonder if this is a tactic encouraged by Coach to intimidate opponents before the whistle blows.

Kira calls the toss. Adriana watches the ref flip it, and the coin glint for a second in the sun, then be revealed on the back of his palm.

‘Tigresses to kickoff!’

Kira punches the air, and leads them into a huddle before she takes her position on the halfway line with Adriana ready to kick off. Kira’s confident, aggressive energy is infectious, and as the referee blows his whistle,Adriana feels fire in her veins, wanting that win to get their campaign off to a good start.

Kira as Captain seems to be a lucky charm after all.

Within the first five minutes of the game, she has scored a brilliant goal, a rocket to the top left corner. The crowd whoop almost in surprise, but Kira takes it in her stride – quite literally. Before another ten minutes are up, she’s made another two attempts, always a real threat in front of goal.

Her boldness and confidence sets the Tigresses up for an aggressive game, inspiring the rest of the team to maintain their lead and push for a second goal to kill off the game. The Robins are on the back foot, rattled by the Tigresses constant pressing.

Adriana and Kira link up well together, along with Rebecca and Zuri out on the wings. Maeve barely touches the ball in the first half, not having to make a tackle as the Robins are never out of their own half.

Not long into the second half, Zuri scores a goal and it’s 2-0 to the Tigresses. The match feels very much in their control. The team all highfive and lift her up, as she celebrates by blowing kisses up to the sky.

By the time the final whistle blows, the home team fans roar in celebration, impressed by their team’s dominant performance today. Adriana squeals wildly and leads all her teammates into a huddle hug.

‘We won! We won!’

---