Snap Out Of It - Alexia Putellas

No One Else Was Around

Alana's POV

A few days of recovery had passed since Lucy and Keira's birthday party for Narla; the one at which the dog being celebrated hadn't even attended. It was also the party where had Putellas sat deep in the shadows as someone I didn't even recognize. 

"Okay I love you," I kissed Gabby's forehead, "I've got to go now."

"Bye," Gabby smiled up at me, her mouth full of the oats which I'd made us for breakfast; my younger sister was hopeless at cooking so came to my apartment for every meal, it was probably my three favorite times of the day. Breakfast. Lunch. Dinner. 

I grabbed my car keys from the island and began to pace away, I was already running late and I didn't need Putellas clawing at my throat before we'd even began our dreaded training session. 

"Lana!" My sister called, I paused and could hear the sound of her footsteps running towards me, "You forgot your water," she passed me the bottle. 

"Always keeping me in check," I laughed, "Is charlotte coming round today?" The two had grown rather inseparable; Gabby either spent her time with me, charlotte, Jana or on the phone to Kyra, whom she was now officially dating. 

"No, I've got to go shopping for the awards next week," she grinned.

"Good luck," I ruffled her dusty blonde hair which she hadn't yet tamed this morning, before snapping out of my head and remembering reality existed, "I've really got to go."

"Go on then," Gabby chuckled. 

I pulled open the door, not even waiting for it to close as I made my way down the hallway which was always painfully bright. 

"And don't kill Alexia!" Gabby stuck her head out of my front door, yelling, "We need the captain alive!"

I just rolled my eyes and chuckled, Gabby was always going on about our feud and she seemed convinced I never stopped talking about Putellas, but I always reminded her that she was the one to bring the topic up; once Putellas' name was mentioned, a rant of mine always followed. The two came hand in hand. 

The lift took longer than usual to arrive, I was stood there with my arms crossed and glaring at the metal doors as if they'd suddenly open because of my intimidation tactics. Putellas had probably already arrived at training, her perfect time keeping skills were painful to someone like me who was usually late for one reason or another. 
Finally, the doors opened and I was quick to step inside and press the button. I turned around and looked in the large mirror, running my fingers through my hair; it was a mess, in fact I as a whole was a mess. 

Though just as the doors were about to shut, I saw a hand push them back open in the mirror's reflection. Putellas stumbled in, her breathing was heavy and hair was in more of a state than my own. 

I turned around, my lips parted in surprise as my eyes turned cold towards the girl who I hadn't seen since the party; the girl who I knew for all of the games and all of the lies. 

"Great," I muttered, leaning my head against the wall; this was just my luck. 

Putellas finally stood up straighter and her gaze fell upon me, those dark eyes of hers widened, "What did you say?" She asked me, leaning her hand against the railing.

"Nothing," I shook my head, counting down the seconds until we arrived in the carpark. 

But those seconds were painful, each grew longer and the silence seemed louder with every passing moment. It felt like I'd walked into hell and somehow Putellas had also squirmed her way in here; it was fitting honestly, my idea of hell was a world where her and I were the last two people left alive. 

Finally those doors opened and I practically ran into the lobby, not even attempting to look back as I paced towards my car and rushed to unlock it. My heart was racing, I knew she was somewhere behind me but I didn't even want to look so I climbed into the front seat and started the engine before my eyes were left to wander. 

The drive to the training ground was spent with me tapping my fingers against the steering wheel and peering in the rearview mirrors to see if Putellas' car was somewhere behind my own. It wasn't. In fact her Cupra was nowhere in sight, I couldn't tell if I was disappointed or glad, then fell into the trap of wondering why on earth I'd be disappointed. Why would I ever want to see Putellas outside of training? I didn't even want to see her inside training, in a perfect world she'd just vanish and everyone would forget she'd ever existed; my life would become worlds easier. 

When I pulled into the carpark, I slammed my foot on the breaks after I saw Putellas walking through those large glass doors, her kit bag swung over her shoulder.
Even if driving here wasn't a competition, I'd somehow gotten a head start and still lost. 

I walked into changing room B, as I knew Putellas was always in A, and threw my kit on, muttering to myself in annoyance at how the captain had somehow managed to arrive before me. Everything she did drove me insane. Even just the mention of her name could've driven me to argue with the person who'd said it. 

"Glad to see you've arrived," Jonatan smiled at me when I jogged onto the pitch, "Both of you get warmed up and then we'll go through the drills for today."

Putellas nodded and was the first to start running, though it wasn't long before I overtook her and even when she pushed herself to run faster, I was still bounds ahead of the captain. I knew it was annoying her. I stole a quick glance back and saw the frustration carved into her features, the effort in each of her strides and that look of defeat when I'd finished miles before her. 

Jonatan explained the training drills for today, it was much like the main sessions but focused on the relationship between Putellas and I, the relationship on the field between midfield and attack. 
A few minutes passed by and I realized I hadn't received a single glare from the captain today, she hadn't shot me with one dirty look. Putellas hadn't even looked me in the eyes, her head was always lowered to the floor.

We began passing back and forth, making runs and shooting towards the goal; it was all easy skills which kids at grassroots level could've done. But I knew these sessions weren't truly for improving our football skills, but they were arranged because Jonatan hoped one day the captain and I might be able to find a mutual respect for one another. I doubted it would ever happen. 

Jonatan's phone began to ring as he walked us through the next drill, "I have something which needs attending to, I'll be back at the end of the session."

"What should we do?" Putellas called out, sounding desperate for our manager to stay. 

"Just continue with the drills I've already shown you," Jonatan was quick to say before pacing back into the building.

Silence fell upon the pitch for a few moments longer than I was comfortable with, though I'm sure a conversation would've been much more awkward. 

I cleared my throat, walking to collect the stray ball, "We should just get on with the drills."

"Yes," Putellas nodded, wiping a hand over her face; it was the first time she hadn't argued with a word I'd said. 

I looked up at her for a moment and was very aware it was only the two of us out here. It was a strange thing to fixate over but for a few seconds I found myself stuck with the idea of the fact no one else was around; the rest of the team had a free day, Jonatan had left, the staff were all inside. 
It was only Putellas and I here.
I guess it was much like the hell I'd described but there wasn't a devil or stream of larva in sight.