The Last Wish - BoyxBoy

9. Magenta

Claudio the boor. Claudio, whose favorite insults were faggot and sissy. Claudio, who shoved Tiziano in the lockers. Claudio, who... knew Ovid?

Impossibile. It was impossible Claudio knew that latin motto was from Ovid's Metamorphoses.

Lucky guess. He named the first latin author that came to his mind.

"Anyway, I wouldn't back out if she hits on me" Gianluca added, hinting at the black girl.

"A piece of advice for you." The girl faced them, running backwards. "Keep your voice down if you don't want to be heard!" She winked at them and continued with her warm-up.

There were some embarrassed chuckles.

"Ok, now I feel like a complete dick" Gianluca said.

Andrea laughed. "I think I see some red under all that melanin."

"My face is burning! So glad I'm black, right now...»

"Oh, c'mon, stop acting so embarrassed! We weren't saying she's a dog, we were complimenting her!" Stefano remarked.

"Shut up, asshole."

After half an hour of warm-up, Valerio and Gessica, the coach of the female team, decided to team up boys and girls to practice some passing shots.

The black girl approached Tiziano. "I choose Buttercup!" she said with a cheerful smile.

Great. She had already learned his new marvelous nickname.

The guys went all: "Ooooh!" and "Aaah!" and the girls giggled.

Tiziano held out his hand. "My name is..."

"...Tiziano" the girl completed. She shook his hand and he frowned. "Don't you recognize me?" she added. And then she smiled. Two dimples appeared on her cheeks and Tiziano finally understood who she was.

"V-victoire?"

"About time! I thought you would have recognized me on the spot, there are not many black girls around here."

"Well, how could I know? You used to hate soccer!" Tiziano laughed. "My God, I haven't seen you in ages! How long?"

"Eight years. We were both ten! Listen, what about Buttercup? Does your mum still call you that? Or had it stuck since primary school?"

A whirlwind of memories and a sweet perfume of nostalgia overwhelmed Tiziano. She hadn't changed a bit: always the same cheeky expression and bright eyes.

"You hated soccer with all your heart, gosh!" Tiziano couldn't stop giggling.

She laughed as well. She then stopped with her thigh a ball her coach had just thrown at her. "You made me like it."

"I can't believe Tizio's gonna score before I do..." someone complained.

"Fuck my life!"

Tiziano pretended he didn't hear the comments.

Meanwhile, Vic had started dribbling the ball. "When I moved to Rome, I found out there was the training center of a female soccer club near my house. With all the balls you made me kick and catch I thought: I know the basics, why don't I give it a try? And that's how I became the best goalkeeper of the Under 18 female league!"

She was very skilled with the ball, something pretty unusual among goalkeepers, especially amongst lower leagues. She had nothing in common with the goofy girl who used to return Tiziano's kicks with a lack of grit, imprecision and a constant grudge. She had practiced. Definitely.