Through Her Eyes - Alexia Putellas

Chapter Four

After the conference had ended, Valerie was desperate for fresh air—to her disappointment, she and Alexia were told to stay behind by Jonatan.

"First of all, congratulations Valerie for signing and answering them questions. Alexia...?" The coach seeked out the captain who was suddenly in a daydream, he began to notice how she was acting out of character.

"Oh...Yeah. Well done." Alexia congratulated dryly, which Valerie could tell was oh-so-heart-felt, not. She couldn't begin to understand why the captain would hate her, for her own bad driving skills.

She made a mental note to ask Lucy and Keira about it later on.

"Alexia, are you feeling okay? You look awful right now," Valerie smiled innocently, laying her hand on the captain's shoulder in front of the coach who was oblivious to the fire burning behind the Catalonian's eyes.

"Just remembered that Aitana needed help with something...To do with a football. Yeah." Alexia spoke brokenly, offering a quick smile to the coach and a glare to Valerie shoving her hand off of her shoulder before rushing out of the conference room.

In the opposite direction of the training area.

"Sorry she's not usually like that, this month is personal to her." Then Jonatan left it at that, leaving the athlete to wonder. But not for long, as the man led them out of the room and down the hall, heading towards the changing room.

As they entered, Valerie was overwhelmed by the amount of eyes that laid upon her. Searching her up and down. Looking for any faults that may re-surface. The blonde was quick to notice Lucy and Keira waving at her in the corner, to which she nodded back.

"Girls, this is your teammate Valerie. Treat her with respect, she's talented." The coach boasted which caused the girls to smile at his antics, before walking towards Valerie hugging and kissing her cheek (which was definitely something she had to get used to).

Mapi neared close to Valerie and teased her by pouting her lips, before she could touch the woman's skin. Her face was pulled back by a tall brunette with a menacing glare directed towards the tatted blonde.

"¿Puedes actuar normal durante dos segundos?" (Can you act normal for two seconds?) She scolded Mapi like a mother, flicking her ear before turning to the conflicted Valerie with a bright grin, "¡He estado tan emocionada de conocerte!" (I've been so excited to meet you!)

This was the first time that Valerie was reluctant to hug someone as the pair embraced one another as if they were life long friends, "¿Supongo que eres Ingrid?" (I'm guessing you are Ingrid?)

To which Ingrid nodded happily, then walked over to Mapi sitting down on the other side of the room. Once Valerie became acquainted with everyone, she sat in between Ana-Maria Crnogorčevič and Mariona Caldentey, laughing at the two as they jokingly teased one another about a match a few weeks ago.

"So you're Leah Williamson's sister?" Mariona asked, attempting in English which the athlete appreciated, it was nice to see her new teammates make an effort like she had done.

"Yeah, we both play for England and I used to play for Arsenal." Valerie opened up, glad that she was bonding with the girls whom she was quite intimidated by at first glance.

Training started in fifteen minutes though all the girls began to put their boots on, changing into their kits.

"I watched a clip of you at Lyon, if that's what your bringing here, then you're more than welcome." Mapi pointed out and laughed when noticing the pink blush across Valerie's face.

"El entrenamiento ha comenzado, chicas." (Training has started, girls) Alexia strolled confidently into the changing room, gaining the attention of her teammates who smiled at their captain before heading out of the room, "guarda la conversación para más tarde." (Save the conversation for later)

Her voice had dropped, piercing right into Valerie's eyes as if non-directly telling the woman to shut up, before following after the team.

Keira and Lucy came up behind their English friend as they walked out together, "Why's our captain giving you the death stare right now?"

Valerie looked up and met eyes with Alexia, stood at the opposite end of the pitch with her arms crossed over her chest. Realising she had been caught in the act, the captain was angered as Valerie tilted her head mockingly.

"Aliens don't understand manners." The woman said out of context, though the pair behind her shared a confused look, they opted to stay silent.

✰

Brutal.

Valerie could only describe training in one word. Brutal. The English athlete expected that it would be difficult, after all Barcelona was one of the top women's teams and filled with many talented players. Though it didn't compare to Lyon, which she thought was harsh at the time too, Valerie could only wish she was back there.

It also didn't help that the captain hated her entire being.

Valerie convinced herself that Alexia Putellas was the devil herself, she didn't fail to notice the grin on the captain's face everytime she ordered the woman to run an extra lap or shoot fifteen more free kicks or do bonus press ups.

Every one on the team noticed that Alexia was pushing their newest addition to the max, farther than she had ever treated them.

Even Mapi was concerned.

"Ale, don't you think that is enough?" The tatted blonde grabbed hold of Alexia's forearm to look her in the eye, as the captain said Again for the almost hundredth time when Valerie missed a goal.

Her legs began to feel shaky and vision began to cloud.

Though the pair believed that there was nothing between them that could connect the two. Their stubbornness was almost identical, Valerie was always known as a hard worker and if someone challenged her, she wouldn't stop until they were proven wrong.

Alexia was the same in some remark, except when she challenged others, she expected them to do it without fail; like she could.

Both of the women were disappointed when Mapi interrupted, as Valerie fell to her knees drinking out of the water bottle that Ingrid had thrown her way.

Training had been long over, half of the team had already went inside and the other half waiting to see what would happen between the two.

"No es mi culpa que ella no pueda hacer algo tan simple." (It's not my fault she can't do something that simple.) Alexia grumbled before walking past the exhausted Valerie, sparing a look of regret that the blonde took no notice of and inside the changing room.

She was also followed closely by Mapi, her scolding heard in the distance.

Valerie was then helped up by her best friends from England, as well as Ingrid who shared a look of concern with her team mates.

"You okay, champ?" Lucy asked, wiping back the stray hairs from the tired woman's face and giving her more water.

"Perfecto."

"Alexia nunca ha actuado así antes." (Alexia has never acted like that before) Ingrid justified, bewilderment on her face thinking of how her captain had treated Valerie for the past three hours, "La temporada es pronto. ella debe estar abrumada" (The season is soon. She must be overwhelmed).

That day, Valerie left Sant Joan with only one thought left in her mind:

Prove Alexia wrong.