I dribble the ball away from Leah, who tries getting it off me. I pass the ball over Kim's head to Caitlin, who doesn't hesitate to shoot.

"Nice pass, Elena!" Caitlin calls after me and I thank her. I'd been at Arsenal for nearly 2 weeks bow. My first game with Arsenal was on sunday, 3 days away from now, and I was excited, but also nervous. Jonas had shown an interest on putting me in the starting 11, but I wasn't actually expecting since I was new.

Caitlin had slowly stopped being shy and welcomed me with a slight push from Lia, who I'd learnt was her girlfriend. I'd felt a bit weird when I'd found out they were dating, but I wasn't sure why. Maybe because I didn't expect that them two would be together, but it was quiet obvious by how they'd never be too far from one another during training.

"Okay, to finish the day off, I'm going to put you into partners for passing drills." Jonas tells us and we nod. "Katie with Steph, Leah with Viv, Elena," I hear my name and look up, "with Caitlin."

I turn and look at the brunette australian and she gives me a smile as we find a space and grab a ball to begin passing to one another.

"So, you're first 2 weeks at Arsenal, how have they been?" Caitlin asks me with a smile that warms me up.

"It's been good, everyone here is so welcoming." I say while I look around at all the girls laughing with one another.

"Yeah, they are." Caitlin smiles back at me.

"Is it weird that I still kinda miss Houston?" I ask her in a quiet tone.

"No, not at all. You were there for years, it's normal to miss it." Caitlin reassures me. "Hey, Lia and I are hosting a dinner for the team tomorrow and a few of the Matilda girls that are close by, wanna come over?"

"Steph will be there, right?" I ask, already knowing she will be since she's both a Matilda and in the team.

"Yeah." Caitlin nods.

"I'll be there then."

"Steph?" I knock on the girl's door and she hums to let me in. "Exactly which Matilda girls will be at this dinner?"

"Oh, just me, Caitlin, Sam from Chelsea and Hayley from Everton since they're playing Chelsea on saturday and are here a bit early." Steph tells me.

"Can you introduce me to Sam and Hayley?" I ask.

"Of course, don't worry about it."

"Thanks."

'That's one weight of my shoulders' I think to myself.

Steph and I arrived to the dinner in only 15 minutes since Caitlin and Lia's apartment wasn't far from ours.

"Steph, I'm nervous." I admit. I'd grown really close in the 2 weeks I'd spent staying with her. I felt as though I could share my feelings with her and not feel like an absolute fool for doing so.

"It's alright, don't worry." She reaches out and takes my hand on here as she leads me inside. "You've already hung out with the team a few times and for Sam and Hayley, both of them are welcoming and I'll be beside you while you talk to them. I did say I would introduce you."

"Thanks." I smile up at her.

Steph reaches up and knocks on the apartment door infront of us. Lia opens the door with a bright smile, welcoming us in.

Most of the girls are already here. I see that Leah, Katie and Beth are sitting on the sofa, flicking through channels on the TV while talking to one another. Some of the other girls are stood around the apartment talking. I don't see any new faces so, I take it that Sam and Hayley haven't arrived yet. My eyes wonder to the dining table where I see Caitlin setting up the table.

I slip my hand out of Steph's and walk towards the table. I quickly grab one of the glasses in the stack she made that was about to fall. "Hold up there." I laugh.

"Thanks." Caitlin smiles at me as I set all the glasses down in their places. "Some of the girls that don't mind will have to sit on the island." Caitlin tells me when I reach the extra glasses. "We can probably squeeze 5 girls there." I nod and set the glasses out.

"Where's Lia?" I ask, wondering why Caitlin's having to set up the table all on her own.

We hear the door open and then shut. "I think she's welcoming in Sam and Hayley." My stomach turns.

I would say I'm a fairly confident person, but first impressions were never my thing. If you initiated the conversation first, I'd be able to carry it on, but there was no way in hell I'd be starting it. How do you even make small talk?

"I'm gonna find Steph. She said she'd introduce me to them." I tell the Australian and she nods as I set down the last fork where Caitlin was setting down her last plate. Our hands brush against one anothers. We instantly look up at each other, our eyes meeting in the middle. We let out a chuckle. Caitlin's sounds so light and free, a contrast to my deeper one.

I make my way to where I see Steph talking to Kim and just plant myself beside her, not wanting to interrupt their conversation.

"Are you alright, Elena?" Kim asks me after watching me stand there for a good two minutes, looking around the apartment, but avoiding eye contact with the two new guests.

"Yeah, sorry. Do you want me to step away?" I ask, not wanting to invade their privacy.

"No, that's okay." Kim looks up at Steph.

"I promised her I'd introduce her to Sam and Hayley. I'll be back." Steph tells Kim and she nods, giving me a comforting smile before we leave.

"I hate introducing myself to people." I whisper to Steph.

"I can tell." She smiles down at me as she guides me to the two girls talking to Lia. "Hey, guys." She instantly greets. The two Australians hug the girl beside me, their eyes setting on me. "This is Elena, our new midfielder." Steph puts her hands on my shoulder and moves me to stand infront of her. "She's transfered from Houston."

"I see everyone's played in the NWSL then." Sam says as she reaches forward to shake my hand.

"Yeah, 8 years." I nod my head while I move to shake Hayley's hand.

"Different clubs or all at Houston?" Hayley asks me.

"Houston."

"Wow, that must be tough moving to a different club and league." Sam says.

"Yeah, but it's also nice to be back home in England after so many years and I've always dreamt of playing in the WSL. People like Steph also make it easier to settle in." I say, looking up at the girl behind me with a bright smile.

"You're welcome." Steph says with a chuckle.

"It's your first game against Man City. How do you feel?" Hayley asks me as I feel Steph's hands slip off my shoulders. I look behind me to see her already making her way back towards Kim.

"Nervous, but really excited. I hope I get some game time. I know City has some good players and a lot of them are my England teammates too."

"They'll be happy to see you." Sam says. "I'm gonna go find Beth." Hayley and I nod, watching the brunette walk away.

"Okay, be honest now. How's it actually been moving?" Hayley asks me and I feel startled but then I know she already knows.

"Hard." I admit. "I miss my girls back there and everything worked so differently at Houston. I feel like I'm completely new at football here at Arsenal, but Jonas thinks I'm doing well."

"That's a good sign." Hayley smiles at me. "It takes time to settle so, don't worry you'll get comfortable and Steph does seem to be helping you." I nod. "Don't stress yourself out too much though. That's when everything starts going wrong."

"Thanks, Hayley." I smile at the brunette while she gives me a bright smile back.

"No problem. I struggled moving leagues and countries, being so far away from my family and all, but you get used to it and your teammates help a lot too."

"Yeah, they welcomed me straight away. I still feel out of place, but I don't think that's something they see since I've started getting comfortable with them."

"That's alright. You can talk to me if you need." Hayley offers and I grow a wide smile.

"Dinner's ready!" Caitlin calls.

"Let's go, I'm starving." Hayley grabs my hand and walks me to the dinner table.

"Not everyone will fit so, around 5 of you guys will have to sit on the island and maybe a few on the sofa." Lia tells us as everyone agrees on who will sit where.

I slide my hand out of Hayley's and take a step back. I was still new so, I shouldn't take someone's seat. I'd be fine with sitting on the sofa if I needed to anyway.

Everyone who can takes a seat at the table and just as we suspected, some of us had to walk over to the island. I followed behind the group of girls, but as soon as I realised I wouldn't fit on the island, I stepped away and walked over to the sofa.

I was the only one that didn't fit anywhere.

I opted on not to eat since I didn't want anyone to notice I was an extra person when I would stand up to grab my plate.

I pull my phone out of my pocket and go onto instagram, scrolling through posts from my old teammates.

I stare down at the picture of my two bestfriends back at Houston having the time of their lives. I really missed them. It was nice to see them still being civil even after the break up.

"Elena," I look up from my phone, pushing the tears that were starting to well up in my eyes away, to see Caitlin holding a plate of pasta infront of her, "here."

"Thanks." I force a smile at her as I take the plate from her.

She returns the smile, though hers seems more genuine than mine and turns back around to leave again.

I sigh and turn my phone off, pushing my phone back into my pocket as I snuggle into the arm of the sofa. I pick up the fork and begin stabbing lightly at the pasta, not really in the mood to eat. I feel homesick despite being born in England and growing up here, my life was back in America.

I pick up my head from my hand when I feel the sofa dip beside me. I turn my head to be met with the familiar bright blue eyes of Caitlin Foord.

"You haven't touched your food." She tells me as she begins eating hers.

"I was just about to." I say, looking back down at my food. "You don't have to sit here, I'm fine alone. Go have fun with the girls."

"Nah, it's alright." I see Caitlin smile at me from the corner of my eye. "Are you okay?" She notices me still stabbing at my food and not eating.

"Yeah, sorry, can I just use the bathroom please?" I ask, placing my plate down on the coffee table.

"First door on the left down that hallway." She points in the direction. I only manage to give her a nod before I hurry away.

I open the bathroom door and close it behind me. I slide down the door, bringing my now shaky hand over my mouth.

I pull my phone out of my pocket and dial a number.

"El, what's up?" I hear the familiar, comforting voice.

"Rachel." My voice shakes. "I wanna come home." Tears leave my eyes.

"Hey, it's okay." Rachel says. I feel like I'm going crazy when I feel like she's beside me, her hand on my leg in a comforting way. "Is Arsenal not good?"

"No, it is, but I don't fit in. I don't wanna hastle the girls." I breathe heavily.

"Elena, deep breaths. 1... 2... 3..." She counts for me and I follow along, controlling my breathing. "You've spent 2 weeks at Arsenal and you said it's good. Give yourself time and you'll fit in. You were shy when you joined Houston is what I heard."

I let out a chuckle. "Yeah."

"And you became the most loved girl there. The same will happen at Arsenal, trust me."

"Thanks, Rach." I thank the girl before she says 'no worries' and we cut the call. I pushed myself off the floor and walked to the sink and splashed water on my face.

I take one last deep breath before repeating Rachel's words to me and walked back outside to the sofa. Surprisingly enough, I see Caitlin still sat there eating her food.

"I'm back, sorry." I walk around the sofa.

"It's all good." Caitlin tells me as she picks up the TV remote from where I was sitting before. I grab my pasta back up and this time actually begin eating it.

"This is nice." I hum in delight. "And I don't usually say that, I'm picky."

"I'll take it as a compliment." Caitlin smiles, sitting back and I do the same. We look up at the TV as the highlights of the Wolves v Arsenal game.

"2 red cards, wow." I watch the ref hold up the red card twice for two of the Arsenal players.

"We don't get as many reds as them, yellows however." Caitlin shakes her head and I laugh.

"Let me guess, Katie?"

"Right on." Caitlin nods. "What are you like on the pitch?"

"Not that different from her." I confess. "I get too competitive sometimes, start yelling at the ref and the other team. What about you?"

"A bit more calm." Caitlin lets out a chuckle. We finish our food and stand up to take our plates to the sink. "You can go sit down, I'm gonna wash these."

"Well then I'll dry them." I pick up the cloth.

"Elena, you're the guest." Caitlin tries turning me around, but I stand firm.

"I have nothing better to do, so why not?" I shrug.

"Fine." The Australian gives in and begins washing.

Caitlin and I finish up washing and drying the dishes. Lia joins us in the kitchen and I take it as my oppurtunity to leave the couple alone, though I didn't really want to leave Caitlin.

"Elena, you ready to go?" Steph asks me as I make my way to the living room.

I look back at Caitlin talking to Lia in the kitchen, though the former's eyebrows seem to furrow in a way that makes me think she's annoyed. My eyes scan over Lia, her hand rises as she points at Caitlin in a harsh manner. I turn my head away, deciding it's not my buisness and finally nod.

"Bye, Elena." Hayley waves at me, which I return.

"See you at training, Elena." Kim says to me with a warm smile as Steph and I grab our things.

"Bye, guys." We say together before we leave and make our way down to the car.

"You and Caitlin spent a lot of time together." Steph says to me as she gets into the driver's seat.

"I thought I'd help her out with the dishes." I shrug. "Her pasta was really good."

"You never said that about mine." Steph raises an eyebrow at me.

"Maybe you didn't hear me say it."