Through the Dark

I can’t believe that just happened

Did I really do that?

I whispered a silent prayer, thanking God for everything.

I walked over to Pep, Xavier and Jose and they all smiled at me.

“Well, Ms. Messi, we’ve seen a lot of amazing performance from you and we’re proud to welcome you to the Femenì club.” Xavier said.

I nearly fainted right there and then. My jaw dropped to the floor as I heard cheers from my friends.

“Thank you so much, Mr. Llorens! I won’t disappoint! I promise.” I said, unable to contain my huge smile.

He nodded and grinned at me, walking away.

I turned to Pep who was shooting me a thumbs up.
“Thank you so much as well, Pep! I wouldn’t be here without you.” I smiled, tears rushing up to my eyes.

He chuckled, “It’s my pleasure, Ariana. You remind me so much of Lionel, he was exactly like this when we told him he was playing his first game as one of the starting elevens.”

I grinned at him and he smiled back at me.

“Hope things work out for you, see you!” Pep added, walking over to join Xavier.

I then turned to Jose who was beaming at me, “You did really well out there, Ms. Messi.”

“Please, coach. You can call me Ariana.”

“And you can call me Jose,” He nodded, “I’ll see you after the long break when training starts. Nice to meet you again, Ariana.”

“Nice to meet you too!” I grinned.

As he left, Leo instantly crushed me into a hug. “You did so well, mi Hermana!” he squealed like a teenage girl, making me laugh.

More people joined the hug and I felt myself get pulled into a Barca hug. I pulled away from all of them to see Sofia smiling at me from a distance.

I jogged towards her and gave her a small smile.

“You did good out there, Messi. Welcome to the team!” she giggled, bringing me into a hug. “Thanks, Sofia!”

We talked for a few more minutes and we decided to exchange numbers in case we wanted to hang out. I gave her one more hug and jogged back towards the gang

Neymar grabbed my hand and pulled me into a big hug. “Who was that?” he whispered into my ear.

I pulled away from him and smirked, “You like her?”

He quickly blushed and I laughed, “That’s Sofia Cortez, I think she’s a forward too. You should get to know her.” I winked before running over to Gerard and giving him a huge hug.

I didn’t care that my heart beat one thousand times faster when I was around him or if my legs turned to jelly. I just needed to hug him.

“You did great, nena.” He whispered, making me blush and making my heartbeat even fasted. Nena. He called me nena.

“Thanks for teaching me.” I grinned, looking up into his blue eyes. We almost got lost in the moment just staring into each other’s eyes until Cesc pulled me away from him.

“YOU DID SO WELL! You need to teach me how to do that trick with the ball! It was so cool!” Cesc gasped before bringing me into a hug, making me chuckle.

Before I even pulled away from Cesc, I got pulled into another hug from Ibrahim.

The two of us were never as close as Gerard and I were, but he was one of my close friends and he was super nice. We used to watch the video of those two Dutch men feeling labor pains together and I used to always joke that I was going to hold him down and hook him up to those machines when he was sleeping.

“You did so well, Messi!” he grinned at me, making me smile at him. “Thanks, Afellay!” I chuckled.

After a little more small talk, he walked away from me and I grabbed my iPhone, immediately calling my home back in Rosario.

Today was Saturday, meaning Maria Sol was probably at home with Madre. I would be lucky if Rodrigo and Matias were there with them too so I wouldn’t have to make three more calls.

After few more rings, Madre finally picked up the phone.

“Hola?”

“Madre!” I squealed into the phone.

“Ariana! How have you been?" she asked.

“I’ve been good, Madre! Is Maria with you?” I asked.

I heard shuffling and a beep, meaning I was on speakerphone.

“Hola, Ariana!” I heard my sister’s sweet voice ring through the phone. “Maria!” I giggled.

I heard some more people talking and a few more voices.

“Hola, Ari!” three people chorused at the same time, making me gush. It was Matias, Rodrigo and padre.

I beckoned Leo over and attached earphones to the phone and plucked one earbud into his ear so both of us could hear over the shouts and excited cheers of our friends.

“Hola! It’s Leo.”

The family all said hello and Leo nudged me, telling me to tell them.

I took a deep breath, unable to hold the smile in.

“Guys, I’ve been accepted into Club Femenì Barca!”

There was a moment of silence before everyone started talking and asking questions at the same time.

Madre was freaking out and asking me why I hadn’t told her sooner, Padre was congratulating me and he couldn’t stop asking me about details and Maria, Rodrigo and Matias were just chattering amongst themselves about how they knew I was going to be a footballer one day.

“Madre, I’m really sorry I didn’t tell you sooner. I was just caught up in the moment. Padre, I’ll Skype you all the details later. Maria Sol, Rodrigo, Matias, thanks guys. I love you all. Now, I must be getting back. I smell terrible.” I chuckled, making everyone chorus in ‘Te Amo’ before I hung up.

“Yeah, you do smell.” Leo chuckled.

I glared at him and jokingly shoved him before walking back to the crew.

It was now 2:13 and I was really looking forward to the rest of the day since I was already so hyper now.

Alexis ran over towards me and tackled me in a huge hug.

“YOU’RE IN A FOOTBALL CLUB NOW!” he yelled into my ear, making me laugh. “Yes, Alexis! I am!” I yelled back.

After a few more small talk, we had to leave Camp Nou but we made plans that night to go out to a club.

Leo, Anto and I piled into the car and the whole way, they were all gushing about how I was going to be a footballer.

I smiled when I thought about it in my head.

Wow.

The Messi Twins playing for one of Spain’s finest team. I couldn’t help but fantasize how my life would drastically change.

I would probably get fans, I would most probably be great friends with the girls of Femenì, and I would probably be on several sports magazines and sports channels. I would probably get quick access to get into hype new clubs.

I’d probably a few guys…but the one I wanted was a certain defender for Barcelona.

-

After taking quite a long shower and just thinking about my life in general, I hopped out and wrapped a towel around me. I blow-dried my hair and left it in its natural wavy curls.

I ran back to my room and put on my undergarments and opened the door to the huge walk in closet and decided on what to wear.

I decided on a denim bustier top and a white high low skirt.

I put the outfit on and started braiding my hair and clipping it to the side of my head like I always did.

I applied mascara and eyeliner and lipstick. I looked at myself in the mirror and smiled. Hopefully, this would be enough for tonight.

After Leo and Anto were ready, we walked to the car and Leo drove us to the club—La Danza.

Leo and Anto started walking around on their own. I went up to the bar to see Gerard sitting there by himself.

I grinned and sat down next to him, giving him a wink. I ordered myself a beer and the bartender brought it to me.

“Why are you all alone?” I chuckled.

Gerard turned around and pointed at Cesc who was dancing with Daniella, the two of them couldn’t keep their hands off each other and I giggled, knowing Cesc would be getting some tonight.

I rested my hand on Geri’s shoulder, giving him a sympathetic look. Everyone knew that the two had been friends ever since they were nine years old and it was adorable how close they were.

“You did really good out there, you know.” Gerard smiled at me. “Thanks, Geri. You were the one who taught me.”

He grinned, “Yeah, but you had skill. If I didn’t teach you today, you’d still do really good.”

I raised an eyebrow at him, “Are you seriously not accepting a compliment?” I joked.

He smiled, “Okay, okay. I know I’m the greatest. “

We sat there the whole night just talking and laughing, totally sober.

“Can I get a beer please?” I heard a gruff familiar voice from beside me. I quickly turned my head and I nearly collapsed right there.

“…Lucas?”