Total Freakout

It was a Tuesday afternoon that day. I walked out of my apartment and headed towards the subway entrance I always took, because it was the closest one to me. I went downstairs into the station and got my ticket. A few minutes later, I was in the underground train heading towards a very familiar destination. One I had taken many times before.

I got my phone out of my pocket and sent my brother a text message, informing him of my arrival.

To: Carles
Hey Carles, I'm on my way to the training grounds right now. I just felt like giving you and the guys a quick hello, I hope you don't mind.

My phone vibrated about a minute or two after that. Well, that was a quick response. He usually takes about half an hour to answer back.

From: Carles

Of course I don't mind. The boys will be happy to see you. I just informed the security guards that you were coming. But hurry up though, practice is almost over.

---

I finally got to the training ground where the whole team of Barcelona was supposed to be training today but only saw an empty field. I came up to the conclusion that the boys were done with their practice and were now in the locker room, showering and getting changed. That was actually convenient for me since I wasn't really keen on greeting smelly and sweaty players. Trust me, I would know, I've done it a lot in the past.

The thing is, with the obvious exception of my brother, I hadn't seen the team in almost a month since they were in Madrid until last week and I've been too busy with my studies to come visit before today. The reason why they went to Madrid was to play an El Clasico. It was a great game and they were incredible as always. Although it was a really close match, thankfully Leo managed to score at the 67th minute and the team won 1 to 0.

Alright, so I was just going to wait for the boys to come out from the locker room then. Maybe I'll go wait in the building across the field. There was no way I was going to just stand there all alone in that empty field.

As I was walking across the pitch, I heard a voice behind me, calling my name. I quickly turned around and saw Gerardo Martino, the team's coach, coming my way, a smile on his face.

"Well, if it isn't Little Puyol"

I beamed instantly and went up to greet him "Hola Gerardo! How are you?"

"I'm alright. What about you chica? We haven't seen you around here for a long time'' he said.

"I know, that's why I felt like passing by today, I just wanted to say hello to everyone and congratulate you all for winning the El Clasico."

"Thank you hija. You can wait in the cafeteria if you want, the players are in the locker room, they'll be out soon I think"

"Yeah I figured they were, thanks coach!"

"No problem cariño. I must get going now, but feel free to come by anytime you want in the future, okay?"

"Sure, thanks again Gerardo!"

"Anything for Little Puyol" he smiled "I'll see you soon chica" he waved and walked the opposite direction.

Yeah, like you might have guessed 'Little Puyol' is the nickname I've been cursed with ever since my brother made it big in football. Although my actual name is Catalina, "Little Puyol" is what most people call me around here. That or "Puyolita", sometimes even ''Little Puyi", it depended on what the mood leaned to.

I'm probably exaggerating though; I actually quite like these nicknames. I mean yeah, my name is Catalina Puyol and sometimes I wished people would distinguish me by something other than my last name, but I can't lie, being Carles Puyol's sister did have its advantages. And the biggest one was getting to know the whole team of Barcelona on a personal level. I mean, let's face it, I am incredibly lucky to be able to treat these boys like my brothers. I've known some of the guys like Xavi, Andrés, Leo, Gerard... for years and they were literally like family to me. Others, which I got to know more recently, I considered them as close friends... And then, there was that one player that didn't fit into either of these two previous categories... but more about that later.

A familiar voice brought me out of my thoughts; I looked up and saw my brother walking on the pitch, coming my way. I ran to give him a hug, he messed my hair slightly and said "Hola Catalina, you're right on time, the boys are coming out" and just as he said that, I saw the players slowly coming out of the locker room and to the pitch.

"Hola! Yeah I know, Gerardo told me. But you know what Carles, I was just thinking of-"

He cut me off with a smirk on his face "Well first of all, you thought about something, congratulation hermana, I'm proud of you'' he said jokingly.

"Cállate, I got the brains in the family."

''I'm gonna have to disagree with that'' a voice said behind me, I turned around to see a laughing Gerard Piqué.

"Geri!'' I said shocked "I was planning on giving you a hug, but not any more'' I said faking being offended.

''What a loss'' Gerard said sarcastically and him and Carles started laughing like idiots.

"Whatever, I'm going to go see the other guys'' I said as I started walking away towards some of the players that were scattered across the field.

"Come on CatCat, don't be like that, it was a joke" Gerard said pulling me into a hug "Of course I think you got the brains in the Puyol household."

"And the looks" I added laughing "I got the brains and the looks."

"But I got the legs, the success and the money'' Carles shrugged, smiling brightly.

"I'm gonna have to give you that one" I said laughing.

"So anyway, are you going to tell me what you were thinking of or am I going to have to guess?" my brother asked me.

"Well I was thinking about how we barely hung out since you came back from Madrid so how about we have dinner tonight, at that restaurant we both like, you know the Japanese one called Zuma?''

"Sure, we haven't done that in a while" Carles said and I smiled.

"Great then. I can expect you to pick me up, right?"

"What happened to your car Catalina?" my brother asked furrowing his eyebrows.

"Oh nothing, just a slight technical problem, it's under repair at the moment" I said with an innocent smile.

"Did you run into your garage door again?" he asked rolling his eyes.

"Woah, how did you guess? It's like we have some kind of telepathic connection or so-"

"Dios mio Catalina, I still don't understand how they gave you a driving license..." Carles sighed.

"The last name always helps" I said smiling widely and walking toward the other players.

I saw Ibrahim talking with Alexis and Marc so I went up to them.

"Hola chicos!" I said cheerfully giving each of them a quick hug "Congrats on the El Clasico!"

"Thanks Puyolita. It's nice to see you by the way" Marc said smiling at me.

"Yeah I can't remember the last time we saw you around here" Alexis added.

"Still terrified of the WAGs, aren't we Caty?" Ibi asked with a shrewd smile.

"Well, you know how I feel about these girls and there's always one of them around during the practice sessions..." I said cringing and they all broke into a fit of laughter "Cállate feos, stop making fun of me, I'm serious, these girls are absolutely insane."

"Come on, you don't even know Laia. She's a lovely person" Alexis said referring to his girlfriend.

"I know, I'm not talking about Laia. She seems fine. But other WAGs, like Neymar's girlfriend, Bruna, and Leo's baby mama, Antonella, or as I like to call them Bruja and Tontonella, are beyond annoying!"

[In Spanish bruja=witch and tonto=stupid]

At this point Marc, Alexis and Ibrahim were practically choking with laughter. Although there was nothing funny about the WAGs, trust me.

"Seriously you guys haven't seen how they start acting up during matches. It's a miracle that I kept myself from knocking either of them out with a frying pan. And don't even get me started on Geri's girlfriend. I still see her in my nightmares, dancing the Waka Waka!"

Marc managed to calm down a little, unlike the two clowns next to him who were still laughing, and said "You're really something Catalina."

"Glad to know the trauma these girls have caused me is such an entertainment to you guys. But if you don't mind, I'm gonna go say hi to the other players" I shrugged waving at the three boys and walking away.

"Oh I almost forgot, do you guys know where Cesc is?" I asked turning around. They all shook their heads negatively and I thanked them, walking away.

I saw Andrés and Leo discussing something a few meters away, so I headed towards them. They both greeted me cheerfully with a hug.

"Little Puyol, what a nice surprise!" Leo said smiling at me.

"How are you querida? It's been a while" Andrés said.

"I'm fine, thanks. Congratulations on the big win by the way!"

"Gracias Catalina" Leo said smiling widely. And then I noticed Andrés looking at me in a weirdly shrewd way so I turned to face him.

"No need to say anything Andrés, I know what you're thinking about. And the answer is no, I haven't dry cleaned your shirt yet."

Two months ago, a gala was organized by some charity association to which the entire team of Barcelona was invited. Carles had proposed that I accompany him since his girlfriend couldn't make it. The evening went fine... until I accidently spilled wine all over Andrés' 500€ Armani shirt.

"Catalina" he said shaking his head, giggling a little "I don't know why you're so stubborn about this. I told you its fine; I'm not going to miss that shirt, I have about a dozen other in my closet. Plus the dry cleaning is going to cost you half the price of the shirt!"

"It's okay" I shrugged "My brother is paying anyway, so no worries" I smiled brightly and they both laughed.

"It's really not necessary Caty" Andrés said between chuckles "I have more than enough money to buy myself a new one."

"Yeah, I figured as much. But Puyi keeps showing off the fact that he's the one with the money and the success in the family, so I don't think it would hurt if he got the big bucks out to help the less fortunate, aka me."

"But you're the one with the brains and the looks" Leo noted shrugging.

"Exactly!" I exclaimed "That's what I told him, thank you Leo." I said with a satisfied smirk.

"Well one thing's for sure; Modesty is not the biggest asset in the Puyol household" Andrés said casually before him and Leo started laughing.

"Hey hey hey" I said jokingly pointing at the two of them "You guys better not tease me too much. Let's not forget that very compromising video I have of the both of you."

In 2013, when Barcelona won the Copa Catalunya, Leo and Andrés got so drunk at the celebration party that they didn't realize I filmed 3 minutes of their wasted nonsense. Seeing as they are both happy drunks, the video was absolutely hysterical. And I always took a mischievous delight in blackmailing them with it, since then.

"Catalina, you've been threatening to make this video viral for over a year but we all know you'd never do it." Leo said shrugging.

"What makes you so sure, Lionel?" I said smiling shrewdly.

"Well, mainly because you love us too much" Andrés answered for him.

"Exactly" Leo agreed "You love us too much so you'd never actually do it. You just like the idea of being able to do it."

I paused and realized he was right a 100%.

"Ok maybe that's true" I said and two satisfied smirks grew on their faces "Honestly, why the hell do I like you guys so much, I'll never know."

"Easy. We're awesome." Leo said shrewdly and Andrés nodded agreeing with him.

"Okay, sure" I said with a sarcastic laugh "And I'm the one who lacks modesty."

We carried on chatting and teasing each other for a few minutes until I saw Xavi on the other side of the field.

"Hold on chicos. Not that the conversation isn't highly interesting or anything but I haven't said hi to Xavi yet. Adiós!"

"Adiós Caty" Andrés said.

"Later Puyolita" Leo added.

"Oh, one last thing" I said "Have you guys seen Cesc?"

They shook their heads negatively just like Marc, Alexis and Ibrahim had.

"Never mind, thanks anyway" I said.

I waved at my boys and walked across the other side of the pitch where Xavi was. He beamed as soon as he saw me and I basically jumped on him.

"Catalina!" he exclaimed hugging me "I really missed you querida, como estás?"

With the exception of Carles, out of all the people in the Barcelona team, Xavi is, without a doubt, the one I was closest to.

I've known him for so many years; he is literally like my second brother. It's actually weird how much he resembles Carles. I'm not sure that's entirely a compliment though...

"I missed you too hermano. And I'm alright, what about you?"

"I'm great actually, especially after winning the El Clasico game." He said with sparkles in his eyes.

"Oh yeah, I was actually going to congratulate you. Felicitación!"

"Gracias Puyolita" he said messing up my hair "So tell me, how are your studies been going so far?"

We chatted for a while, just catching up on what has happened in the last month, until I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. Which meant someone had just sent me a message. A smile instantly grew on my lips as I opened to see who it was from.

From: Cesc

The locker room is awfully empty, care to keep me company? ;)

"I know that smile" Xavi said out of nowhere making me jump.

"What smile?" I asked innocently trying to adopt a neutral expression.

"You just got a message from Cesc, didn't you?" He said glaring at me.

"Not at all" I said.

"Don't lie to me Catalina."

"God, I hate that you know me so well" I sighed rolling my eyes.

"Yeah I know" he said shrugging "So don't even bother trying to hide anything from me."

"Sure... But anyway, Cesc just told me he was in the locker room. Can I please ask you to cover for me if Carles asks where I am?"

"I'm getting tired of you, sneaking around with Cesc all the time, and me having to cover for you Catalina..." He sighed running a hand through his hair.

"Por favor Xavi" I begged with puppy eyes.

"Fine, go. But this can't go on forever you know. You're going to have to tell Carles about you and Cesc someday."

"I promise I will tell him when the time is right. Gracias Xavi, gracias, gracias!"

I gave him a hug before running towards the building. Once I got there, I quickly opened the door to find an empty locker room with the exception of Cesc, who was sitting on one of the benches, wearing only his football shorts. My heart leaped when he raised his eyes at me and a wide smile appeared on his lips. I had to hold myself from jumping into his arms, although it was the only thing I wanted to do.

"Hi" I said softly.

"Hi" he said chuckling.

To be continued...