Sempre

[Eight]

.:Chapter Eight - Children of the Sun:.

♚Neymar's POV♚

The party last night had ended with slurred speech and sleepy smiles as everyone made their way home at ungodly hours of the night. I got back to my own apartment at four am, meaning my sleeping pattern would be all over the place from then on.

I tossed and turned as I lay in my bed, unable to sleep. But then again, who would be able to sleep after having a day like today? The nation believed in me and hoped that I'd lead the country to a grand victory right in the heart of Brazil - their homeland.

After two hours of lying awake and staring at the ceiling, I gave up and lazily walked across the room to get my laptop. It turned on almost instantly, almost luring me into a sleepless night.

"You demon." I hissed at the screen.

I logged on to Skype to see if anyone was online, and was surprised to see Rafaella's icon turn green. Wasn't it like four o'clock in the morning in London?

"Hola hermana. Which boyfriend are you talking to at this time of the night?" I typed jokingly.

At once I received a video call request and accepted it. "Shut up hermano!" She whispered aggressively. "My flight is in four hours and I'm coming to see you. Unless, of course, you don't mind if I go to see Fernando first. Don't worry, I'll be back by August. Unfortunately, I'll have to miss the World Cup, but it's okay, Fernando sure does know how to make a girl feel special." She winked and I wasn't sure if she was joking or not - there was no telling with Rafaella da Silva Santos. Or should I say Beckran? Her infatuation with David Beckham reached new heights and she changed her surname.

My jaw hardened. "Okay okay I take it back I'm sorry! But don't talk about Fernando ever again. He was, uh..." I trailed off, struggling to come up with a word for the mother-loving female dog that is Fernando Montiero. He was Rafaella's first ever boyfriend, but all he did was show off his 'cool football tricks'. Sometimes he'd challenge me and whenever he lost he'd make up some lame excuse like someone kicked dirt in his eyes. To make it matters worse, he had a twin brother called Lucas. Lucas was a carbon copy of Fernando, if not worse. He went around having sex with innocent little girls around the neighbourhood, even though everyone knew he had a girlfriend at the time, but her identity was kept a secret. I kept Rafa away from Lucas and he didn't dare touch her, mostly because he was afraid of me, although I don't know why. I was a scrawny child with barely any meat on my bones, so I hardly looked menacing.

"Fernando was just... peculiar. I don't know what I saw in him to begin with. He wasn't exactly a looker. Sometimes I mistook his big bushy eyebrows for a caterpillar squirming on his face. Just one." Rafaella laughed, but I could see she was trying to keep quiet.

"Rafa why are you whispering?"

"Because Peyton is sleeping, and you know what will happen if she wakes up and finds you on my screen." She whispered, warning laced in her tone.

Peyton Adamson was Rafa's roommate and attended the same university as her. Unfortunately, she had a little... crush on me. Okay, 'little' might be underexaggerating it - by a mile. Peyton was practically obsessed with me. It was like she was the predator and I was her prey.

"Heeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeey Neymaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaar!" She'd say, batting her eyelashes and stretching her words so long she'd forget what she was saying halfway. And my name's not 'Neymaaaaar', it's just 'Neymar'. Why is that so hard to understand for her? Rafa told me she has a shrine dedicated to me in her cupboard with little pictures, action figures and even a used brush that once belonged to yours truly. I know I should feel, well sort of, flattered but I just can't help but feel creeped out. What if she clones me using the hairs on that brush?