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‘How do you know?’ Maeve hesitates.

‘We’ve been…’ Adriana nervously curls a loop of her hair behind her ear. ‘Well, we’ve been hanging out a bit.’

Maeve’s chest swells with a fiery jealousy.

‘ Hanging out ? What does that mean?’

‘You know, she doesn’t have many other friends here,’ Adriana speaks quickly. ‘It’s important for the team to feel like a unit, right? It affects our play so much if we have a weak link in the bonds between us – it’s like Coach said to you right?’

Maeve feels like Adriana has slapped her now.

‘–And when Kira first joined I think she struggled to make friends, because everyone just thought she was this arrogant, I don’t know, lone wolf – but really we were probably all a bit jealous right?

Because she’s so fucking brilliant on the pitch, and we were just scared of change, and her being Coach’s favourite.

But then Kira was telling me that in her old team, everyone was kind of nasty to her because she was Coach’s favourite, but that’s basically because Coach is like Kira’s most consistent family now, seeing as she’s followed her across different countries and teams… ’

Adriana trails off.

Maeve wants to throw her plate across the room.

Wants to tip up the table, and scream. She knows it isn’t rational to be jealous of her straight best friend and her former – well, whatever Kira was.

But she wishes it was her that Kira was talking to.

The thought that while she’s been alone, crying, feeling like no one in the world cares about her, Kira and Adriana have been sitting around bonding.

While Maeve’s been hurting about the captaincy, her friend has been chumming up to the player who took it away from her.

‘Look. I know you might not want to hear this, Maeve, but I say this as your friend. As your oldest friend. Your best friend.’

Maeve’s whole body tenses. ‘Best friend’ suddenly rings a bit false, which terrifies her.

‘If you want to win Coach Hoffman over, and get back in her good books,’ Adriana’s blue eyes are wide and earnest, speaking slowly and surely.

‘You have to mend your relationship with Kira. Whatever it is you don’t like about her, you have to learn to put it aside.

For the good of the team, Maeve. For your own good too.

At the end of the day, it has to be about the team, right? That’s what football is about?’

‘Oh yeah?’ says Maeve. Her hands are shaking. ‘Did Jacob Astor tell you that?’

Adriana freezes. ‘What– What do you mean?’

‘I saw the two of you yesterday,’ says Maeve. Her voice is harsh. ‘In the park.’

It’s Adriana who is the trapped animal now, her eyes searching Maeve’s. Maeve waits, to see what Adriana says in response. To give her friend this chance to be honest with her on her own terms, not just because she has been caught. Adriana grabs a handful of her hair in her hand, twisting it.

‘We… We just bumped into each other. And talked about… business.’

Maeve’s eyebrow shoots up. ‘Business?’

‘Jacob has nothing to do with decision making about who should be club captain,’ says Adriana hurriedly. ‘Remember, he said? After the first game, he said it’s just his responsibility to ensure the team is making a profit for his bully of a father.’

Maeve’s eyebrow arches. Bully of a father? She is pretty certain that wasn’t something Jacob said in front of the team.

‘He said he respects Coach’s expertise,’ Adriana continues, ‘and doesn’t plan to influence her decisions. It’s not him you need to worry about, okay? He has nothing to do with it.’

Maeve knows it’s hypocritical of her, when she hasn’t told Adriana about the true nature of her relationship with Kira, but she feels so hurt, so disappointed and confused by Adriana blatantly lying to her.

Not only lying to her about her relationship with Jacob, but using it as a chance to tell Maeve off about her own behaviour.

To act like she’s so high and mighty when really she’s what?

Sleeping with the boss? Of course Adriana doesn’t have to feel scared or worried about her future, when she has this insider information into the workings of the team, and his good favour to guarantee her place in the squad.

‘It’s Kira you need to concentrate on,’ Adriana urges. ‘She’s your way back into Coach’s good books. Not Jacob. Trust me.’

Maeve can’t stop herself from laughing cynically at that. That word that was always a given between them now feels broken.

‘Trust you? You want me to trust you ? Right now?’ She is so angry she stands up, collecting up their untouched plates, and pacing to the kitchen.

‘Why should I? You haven’t given me reason to trust you.

You haven’t been there for me when I’ve been going through all this change, you haven’t been there for me when my mum– You’ve been avoiding me for weeks, lying to me, patronising and insulting me, going behind my back to talk to Kira about me–’

Maeve’s shame and loneliness come out in one big wave of humiliation and anger.

‘You couldn’t even show up on time to eat a fucking galette ?’

Maeve opens the bin lid, and throws all their food in.

Maeve stares, shaking, as Adriana just sits there, in her chair where the two of them have had so many deep conversations over the years.

Adriana’s eyes are closed, and she seems to be doing some kind of deep breathing.

Is she seriously just meditating right now, as Maeve is going through all this?

As Maeve dared to try to share her feelings with her, finally, and Adriana doesn’t give a single shit enough to even listen and have a proper conversation with her.

Adriana slowly gets up, picks up her jacket, and walks out the door without saying a word.