Through the Dark

Today was the very first time I would be training with the team members of Femenì and I was really nervous. Leo was driving me and he gave me some pep talk on the way to the stadium.

We were training at Camp Nou today since the boys didn’t have training until tomorrow.

“You’re fine, just be nice and always smile at them. Don’t be rude and remember, give it everything you’ve got.” Leo grinned before handing me my gym bag and kissing me on the forehead.

I smiled at him, “Thanks, Leo. I’ll see you in two hours.” I muttered before getting out of his car and walking into the training grounds.

I was one of the first ones to be here. I grinned when I saw a familiar face.

“Sofia!” I called out. She stopped stretching and turned towards me with a grin, calling me over. “Hey, Ariana! How was Ibiza?” she asked with a smile.

“It was great. I can’t wait to start training though, I’ve been waiting for this ever since I was a little girl.”

She chuckled and stopped stretching as more people filled the grounds.

After Jose arrived, we all made a circle around him and he told us to do warm ups. We ran around the pitch five times and he told us to start stretching again.

I sat down next to Sofia and I stretched out my legs and bent down to reach my toes. We made small talk while we stretched and after another five minutes, we were done.

Jose told us to grab partners and Sofia stayed with me since she was the only person I knew.

We had to maneuver the ball around our partners as they try to kick the ball away from us. I held the ball in my hands, then set it down on the ground. Coach blew the whistle and I kicked the ball and brought it around Sofia.

She stuck her leg out, trying to get the ball, but I turned the other way and finally went around her.

She smiled at me and clapped her hands, “Not bad, rookie.”

I blushed and it was now her turn, she quickly ran around me, keeping her ball in front of her closely. I tried to block her, but the way she ran was amazing. She finished back behind me in about three seconds.

“Oh my gosh, that’s amazing!” I grinned. I saw a band on her arm and tilted my head to see the captain arm band around her upper arm. “Captain? That’s amazing.”

She chuckled and patted her own arm before we did more training.

Two hours later, we were done. Everyone high fived each other and I even got to know some of my new teammates.

“Messi!” Jose called. I got a few gasps and I shyly walked over to the coach. “Yes, coach?”

He smiled at me, “Come with me.”

He led us to the girl’s locker room and it was fine since nobody was in it yet and he showed me a super clean shiny red locker with a sticker on it. He pulled the sticker off and my jaw dropped.

‘A. MESSI’ was written on it in fine black block letters. “Oh my gosh, thanks so much, coach!”

He smiled at me and patted me on the back, “I hope you stay for good, Messi.”

I nodded, “I will.”

Jose grinned at me before walking out of the locker room. My home, away and training kit were already set neatly in the locker and there was a Barca ID card on top of it.

“Oh my gosh.” I gaped as I ran my hands along the material of the jersey. Sofia walked over to me and put her hand on my shoulder, “I was the exact same way when I first got into the team.”

We made small talk all the way to the showers and we got into our own stalls and I started showering.

After we were done, we headed back to the locker rooms and started getting dressed.

“Well, well…the rumors are true. We do have a Messi in the team.” Someone said from behind us.

I turned to face a girl with long golden hair that was tied into a ponytail that fell to the small of her back. She had piercing blue eyes and full lips.

“Yeah, I guess,” I grinned, extending my hand towards her. “I’m Ariana Messi.”

She eyed my eye warily before taking it but immediately dropped her hand back to her side, “Mia Fernandez.”

She glared at me and I blinked twice, knowing she didn’t like me. “Let’s see how you can really play. Or maybe Jose just wants you here because you’re a Messi.”

“Back off, Mia. Rookie’s got skill, and she knows it. Stop being a spoil sport.” Sofia snapped, putting her hand on my shoulder and squeezing it reassuringly.

Mia rolled her eyes and turned around to walk to her locker.

“Don’t worry about Mia, she’s all talk and no game.” Sofia whispered in my ear, making me smile gratefully at her.

After I got changed, Sofia and I walked towards the parking lot together where Leo was going to pick me up.

Sofia stood there accompanying me because she didn’t want me to run into Mia again and while we were talking about random stuff, the subject of Neymar seemed to waltz in the conversation.

“So what’s up with him?” Sofia asked with a small blush. “He’s really nice. Why? You like him?” I joked. Sofia’s eyes nearly bulged out of her eyes, “What?! No!” she rambled.

I burst out laughing and leaned on her for support.

“I meant as a football player, Sofia.”

She blushed again and closed her eyes, rubbing her face with her hands. “Oh! Yeah, I knew that. I think he’s a really good football player and—”

She was cut off by a honk. The two of us looked at the sleek white car that stopped in front of us, “I’m so sorry I’m late! Neymar here’s been nagging me all day for me to take him to pick you up.” Leo apologized.

I nodded and smiled at Neymar, then turned to Sofia, “Do you wanna come over?” I asked.

She hesitated for a moment but after I begged for a while, she nodded and the two of us got in the car. Neymar was sitting in the back so I sat in front with Leo while Sofia sat in the back with Neymar.

Neymar and Sofia seemed to really connect. The two of them started talking about football when the conversation suddenly lurched to their personal lives.

Leo and I quickly stopped talking as we listened in on Sofia and Neymar’s conversation.

“Yeah, I grew up with two elder sisters, Rebecca and Amelié…and when they were interested in boys and shopping, all I cared about was football. My madre always compared me to the both of them and I felt really left out. They often took me shopping but I didn’t really care much about looks, as long as I had a ball by my feet, I was happy.” Sofia smiled, making Leo and I grin at each other.

I looked at the mirror to see Neymar completely head over heels for Sofia. “And here I am now, and I don’t regret anything.” Sofia mused, leaning back on the seats.

Neymar nodded and ran a hand through his brown hair, “My mom and dad encouraged me to do whatever I wanted to do.”

Sofia sighed and looked down at her hands, “Lucky you.”

Leo and I looked at each other and I thought about how my madre and padre used to always encourage us to do whatever we wanted too.

I used to come home with Leo, Rodrigo, Matias and padre sweaty and dirty and I always used to have some sort of injury but madre never told me to act more like Maria Sol.

“I don’t really talk to my parents now.” Sofia sighed. I looked up at the mirror to see Neymar and Sofia getting closer to each other and soon enough, Neymar’s arm was around her as he comforted her.

I grinned and set my hands down on my lap as I thought about another job well done. We soon reached the house and Neymar quickly let go of Sofia, but she was practically sitting on her lap.

We walked in the house and I set my bag in my room and tied my hair up into a messy bun before walking back downstairs. Neymar and Sofia were sitting on the couch and talking quietly so I turned the other way and sat down on one of the chairs by the counter.

Anto was having a talk with Leo outside and I was all alone with my thoughts.

As I quietly sipped on my water, I could hear Neymar and Sofia softly talking and I turned to see Anto give Leo a small peck on his lips. I sighed and looked down at my hands, thinking about Zach, Lucas and of course, Gerard.

Lucas and Zach hurt me, they used me and Gerard was the one for me and I knew how I felt about him.

The door opened and I turned to see Alexis, Cesc, Xavi and Puyol walking into the house. I heard a few squeals from Sofia and I chuckled, getting off the stool to walk towards them.

Alexis threw his arms around me and sighed dramatically, “So I contacted her again.” He whispered.

I quickly turned to look at him, “No way! What did she say?”

He grinned at me, flashing his pearly whites. “Her name’s Selena. And you know about the upcoming Ballon D’Or? I want her to be my date.”

I raised my eyebrow at him and dragged him to sit next to me on the couch, “What did you do?”

He grinned sheepishly at me, “I bought her a ticket to come to Barcelona and we’ll be leaving to Switzerland.”

My jaw dropped and I quickly tackled Alexis into a hug, “That’s amazing! When is she arriving?”

Since the Ballon d’Or was next week, it meant that she would be arriving somewhere between the next few days.

“Tomorrow. I’m picking her up from the airport.”

“That’s great, Alexis.” I giggled, pulling him in to another hug. We talked for a few more minutes until Sofia said she had to go—after fawning over Cesc, Puyi and Xavi.

Neymar volunteered to drop her back off in the stadium so she could get back to her car. I gave her a hug goodbye and she left.