Somewhere in the Haze - Pablo Gavi

6. The Club

After our fast food run, Jasper and I pull up to the club Gavi sent me the address to. We finish up eating and head inside.

Inside of the building the lights are flashing overhead and the music is deafening. At first the crowd is thin as we get let in. People encircle the bar as the bartenders pour drink after drink.

As we push further into the room, people bumping into one another left and right, spilling drinks all over clothes. I take hold of Jasper's hand behind me to not lose him in the crowd.

I pull him to the center of the room, trying to snake through the people in the darkness and find someone I know. We pass by a few Barcelona players I recognize, but don't know personally. Here, they don't recognize me, but if we were in better lighting and they were expecting me they probably would. 

I keep peering through the crowd, but apparently my coordination isn't as good as I thought because I bump into someone.

"Sorry," I say, looking up to see who it is.

"Hey Adri!" he yells over the music. "I didn't know you were coming!"

"Gavi invited me!" I yell back. Ferran bends down to hear me better.

"Ooou," he says before taking a sip from the cup in his hand. Then he notices Jasper. "And who's this?"

"My friend," I tell him. "Jasper."

Ferran sticks out his hand. "Nice to meet you, kid."

Jasper shakes his hand. "Nice to meet you, you've been playing great so far this season."

"You a fan?"

Jasper nods proudly.

Ferran pats him on the back. "Good to hear." He looks back to me. "We've got a giant booth over in the corner," he points across the club, "if you guys want to head over there. You'll probably find your brother and Gavi in that direction."

"Okay, we'll catch up with you later." I wave to Ferran as he continues on in the opposite direction.

Jasper and I dare to venture over to the Barcelona booth, but only make it halfway when we run into my brother.

"Adri?" he asks, squinting his eyes. "What are you doing here?"

Gavi didn't tell him? He was definitely with him because my brother is his ride to everything.

"Gavi invited us," I tell him.

"Us?" He finally notices Jasper and gives me a very questioning look. But then he closes his eyes and shakes his head slightly before opening them again. He puts his fingers to his temple. "Not tonight," he murmurs before raising his voice. "Gavi's over--" he waves his arm around, kind of attempting to point behind him-- "there."

I've seen my brother drunk before, mostly when he's drug home after a long night, usually at his 'I can't walk by myself anymore' stage rather than whatever word slurring stage he's at right now.

"When you see him," Pedri grumbles, "tell him to leave me out of your guys' shit. Meaning no re-directing questions to me." He tries to point at himself, but his finger doesn't land on his chest.

"Okay," I assure my brother, taking his arm to steady him.

"I'm going to get another drink," he murmurs before wandering off. 

Okay then. I look back at Jasper and he shrugs. We're about to go through a big crowd again so he re-takes my hand. The music's a little quieter over here and I see the blue and red lights alit above the Barcelona booth. We're almost there when suddenly Gavi's in front of us.