Home is Where the Heart is - Pablo Gavi

Chapter 10: Game Day

The next day the game isn't set to kick off until the evening, giving Xavi and the players hours in their day before they need to be at the field. The entire morning consists of me sleeping in, calling my friends back home to check in, and hanging out with a 'zen' Xavi.

Arriving at the pitch with the sun high in the sky I follow Xavi around like a puppy, taking everything in. The pitch, the empty stadium, it all looks so different on game day. The air itself is full of anticipation and excitement, alive and buzzing with energy.

Xavi has a lot of people to talk to this morning, and even though most of the conversations I'm allowed to hear, eventually I get bored and wander off. Still being new to Barcelona, I get very lost very quick. Somehow everything looks the same yet I recognized none of it.

At some point I am up in the stands and I have no clue as to how I got here. I keep wandering, ultimately afraid I won't be able to find my way back to my uncle or the players.

Somewhere in between two painted blue cement walls, I hear a familiar voice approaching from behind me.

"Isla?" I see Pedri approaching me as I spin around.

"Oh, hi Pedri," I say, waving shyly. Yesterday I had been bold, showing up at his house holding a dozen bananas in trade for my shoes. Now I am alone and lost and want to find my uncle or Gavi or someone I trust.

"What are you doing out here?" he asks, coming to a stop beside me, hands in the pockets of his skinny jeans.

I'm not sure if he means at the stadium or in this particular area so I respond, "I was trailing Xavi earlier but his conversations got repetitive so I wandered off and have been making my way around the stadium for a while."

"Gavi is looking for you," Pedri tells me. His eyes look curious as he says it.

"He is?" I didn't tell him I was coming to the stadium so early.

"Said he has something he wants to give you before the game." Pedri leads me in the opposite direction I was headed in before. Eventually we get to the familiar hallway outside of the changeroom. Pedri doesn't pause outside, just leads me straight in.

Pretty much the whole team is here. Everyone still in the clothes they arrived in.

Scanning the room I spot Gavi and head in his direction. When I walk up to him his back is to me, his shoulders are shaking from his conversation with Balde and Pablo Torre. I look over my shoulder and see Pedri who nods for me to go up to Gavi. I turn back to him and I slightly awkwardly tap him on the shoulder.

He turns around and beams at me. "Mi Princesa, you're here!" He scoops me up in a hug and I put my hands around his shoulders. He lifts me off the ground and twirls me in half a circle before setting me down in-between himself and Balde. I see the faces of his two friends and their both trying to disguise their smirks.

"I was told you had something for me," I say, pulling back from the hug.

"Oh, si." He turns away from me and heads for his cubby. He comes back with his jersey, the main kit. He flips it around to show me the signed number 6.

I raise my eyebrows. "Your jersey?" I had not been expecting this.

He nods, his eyes crinkling at the corners. He looks so proud of himself.

"Don't you need it to play?" I ask.

He chuckles. "We're wearing gold today," he explains, "and I have many copies of each kit." He hands it to me and I take it. "Go on, put it on."

Having been unprepared for this entire day, I slip the jersey on over my plain black shirt. "Thanks Pablo," I say, looking down at the jersey. I wonder briefly if he has ever worn this one for a game. Considering the fact that it doesn't smell, I'd say probably not.