Page 78 of Matched Up

‘Happy now?’he asked and looked at me with so much disdain I couldn’t speak.‘Have you seen this place?It’s an absolute mess, Lexie.’

I opened my mouth, but nothing came out.

‘Seriously?You’venothingto say?Nothing?’

And I didn’t.I didn’t even want to think about it, never mind talk about it, so I went outside and started to run.

I ran despite the nausea and the headache that got worse every time my feet pounded the fake grass.Desperate to feel anything that wasn’t Shane.

By the time we’d cleared everybody out and filled a few bin bags, it was time to leave.

We were playing at Blanchflower Stadium.

Through the nausea my stomach was filled with butterflies.A real-life scout was going to be there.I knew they were there for Megan, but I still wanted to impress them.And they were still coming, even though Shane had quit.

Niall was driving.Megan was in the front, and she wasn’t talking very much.Was she nervous?I never thought Megan got nervous about anything.

‘You excited for the scout?’I asked.

‘You know, I think I am.I keep telling myself I don’t want it, and I don’t care, but then I think about how good I look in a Man United kit.’She laughed and I watched Niall reach over and squeeze her leg.And it didn’t make me want to throw up this time.Now that I’d made up with Megan, the whole relationship didn’t seem as bad.I still didn’t like it, but it didn’t have the same effect on me any more.

When we got to the pitch Sadie was already there.She was talking to a woman in a black coat and baseball cap.The scout.The butterflies in my stomach were going mental.The rest of the team had started to arrive, and we walked over to join Megan and Sadie on the pitch.Niall went to watch from the stands.

‘OK, girls, this is it.Forget there’s anyone watching – just play the way you always play.’Sadie took our warm-ups.

‘Anyone heard from Zoe?’Sadie asked afterwards.

She wasn’t there.I’d been too distracted to even notice.

‘Nope, sorry,’ said Megan, sharing a look with me.

I shrugged.‘She’s probably just running late.’I wondered if she was too upset about Hunter, and even though I wasn’t Zoe’s biggest fan, I felt kind of guilty.

‘OK, we’ve only one sub now,’ Sadie said, and she looked me dead in the eye.A silent ‘You can do this’.

I nodded, trying to suppress the excitement that was exploding inside me.

I tried not to smile too hard so I wouldn’t look like a psycho, so I gazed at the ground instead, watching my new pink boots as I ran to the dugout to take off my jumper.

More of the boys’ team was there now, laughing on the sidelines.I noticed Hunter watching me and I looked away quickly.

‘Good luck, Meg,’ I said.

She threw her arm round my shoulder and squeezed.‘Thanks.’

I forced myself to push Shane out of my head.There was an actual scout here and I was starting.This is what I wanted more than anything.I didn’t need to think about him.

And from the first whistle I was on fire, tackling all around me, sending balls up the wing to Katie, to Megan; in fact, I definitely contributed to the first goal.And what a goal it was.Megan, of course, hard and low into the bottom-right corner.And when she scored, she scanned the pitch and then ran to celebrate with me.

Megan scored again.And again.The scout could not have picked a better match.

At half-time I felt like I was going to throw my guts up in the best way.I was shattered.Megan looked like she’d barely broken a sweat.

‘You’re doing great out there; keep up the good work,’ Sadie said before taking Megan off to the side to tell her somethingprivately.And this time there was no jealousy.Megan deserved all the attention.She was incredible.

‘Still no Zoe?’Sadie scanned the stadium.‘Lexie, brilliant job out there!’

I grinned.‘Thanks Sadie, loving it!’

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