Messi's Sister

Chapter 56

Adriana's POV

James had brought me over to his house, and then I found the nearest couch and flopped down with exhaustion.

And then I had slept. That's it. I was asleep.

I woke up to see James standing over me, and he was shaking my shoulder.

"Come on, Adri. Get up. We have practice today," He said softly, waking me up.

I grumbled and wanted to roll over and ignore him, but I knew practice was important.

I then sat up and rubbed my eyes.

"When do we have to leave?" I asked, fearing his response. "Do I have to go as Adrian?"

"You have an hour, and you can go as Adriana. I'll make sure that the cameras don't get in and you will be totally fine, got it?" He said, stroking my hair.

"Thank God for you, James," I said gratefully.

"Now, I have made some pancakes for breakfast, and we have chocolate syrup and all of those kind of things for you," He said.

"You really didn't have to do that," I said, but I was thankful that he did.

"Anything for my little Adri. Now go, eat. I prepared this, and I expect you to eat it and appreciate it. Got it?" He ordered.

There's the James that I know. 

I did eat his food, which was not poisoned, by the way. In case any of you were wondering if James was secretly a psychopathic killer, he didn't make his move now.

I ate my breakfast and put on some of Jame's clothes that he lent me, which didn't really fit, but I wore them anyway. It was one of his many jerseys that he had, and a pair of normal Adidas shorts, so he didn't mind parting with a pair.

Plus I didn't want to go to practice in my normal clothes, so I kind of stole them and he didn't care.

"Adri! Get in the car I don't want you to run to practice!" He called to me.

"I can run to practice if I want!" I yelled back.

"Fine. I'm leaving," He said, but then, instead of running to practice, I just hopped into his car, knowing that I really did not want to have to run to practice. I could, but that on top of an actual men's professional soccer team practice was just too much for me to handle.

I waited for James to hop in the car and drive me there, and when he saw me, he just rolled his eyes.

"I knew you would need a ride," He said. "Stop trying to be all independent and whatnot. You clearly depend on strong men like myself, so stop pretending you are fine without me."

"Strong men like yourself? I bet that you couldn't even carry me the full length of the soccer field," I challenged.

"How much do you bet that I could?" He asked.

"Winner gets bragging rights. That's better than any amount of money, am I right, or am I right?" I asked.

"And what do you have to do?" He asked.

"I'll carry you across the field, bridal style. If we both succeed, then the person who did it in the least amount of time wins," I said, knowing that this was not something that James could say no to easily.

"You have a deal," He said with a daring look in his eyes.

Then, James turned on the radio, which happened to be Adele, Set Fire to the Rain.

Neither of us knew the song very well, but we both knew the chorus.

"BUT I SET FIRE TO THE RAIN!"  We both sang at the top of our lungs, extremely out of tune. Hey, we are paid to play soccer, not give concerts. "WATCHED IT POUR AS I TOUCHED YOUR FACE!" We both yelled as loud as possible while he tried to put his hand on my face and I tried to swat his arm away.

Several very loud and out of tune songs later, we arrived at soccer practice, voices hoarse and tired, but we were all smiles.

The two of us got out of the car and were instantly greeted with stares. Apparently they heard of or heard the argument, which was not exactly something that I wanted to have happening. And then they saw James standing by me and helping me out, so I'm fairly sure that there were rumors flying every which way.

"Don't worry about the rest of the guys. I'll talk to them. You can go warm up and take some shots on goal," said James, scooting me towards the field.

"Thanks James. I don't know what I would do without you," I said.

"Probably die," he admitted, and I just smiled and then obeyed and walked over to the field. It's hard to imagine just how many memories I had made with Cris on this field. He taught me skills and was frustrated because I was a lefty, but he never gave up on me.

And now I feel a little guilty like I am giving up on him.

James then jogged over to me with a determined grin on his face.

"Are you ready for that competition now? You ready to get beat?" He asked, slapping his hands together, as if he was psyching himself up for something.

"Pick me up first," I ordered him. He then bent down and literally swept me off my feet and into his arms. I kept mine crossed so I wouldn't hold him because that would be an advantage.

He lined up on one side of the field, and then started charging down the field like his life depended on it, with me, bouncing along in his arms and screaming, part out of exhilaration, and partially out of sheer terror.

Kind of like a roller coaster.

He went all the way to the end without dropping me, and then he let my legs down carefully.

"Ha!" He yelled in my face. "Take that! There is no way you can beat that!"

"Maybe not, but I sure am going to try," I said. "Now, come on. My turn."

I sized up the man in front of me. He was taller, faster, more musclar, and heavier. There was really no way I could win, unless I tried a lot harder than him.

"Are you done yet, or do you want me to strike a pose?" He asked, catching me staring.

"Yeah. I was just thinking," I said.

"Aww, come on, Adri. Stop being all mopey. This is a competition! You love competitions, especially with me! Now, are you going to lose by forfeit, or are you going to lose because I did better?" James asked.

"Neither. I am going to win," I said. "Now, get over here. It's my turn."

He listened and then walked over to me, so then I swung him into my arms and tried to not fall immediately because of his weight.

"Ready," he said as I lined myself up on the line. "Set... GO!" He yelled, and then I took off at full speed. 

But, I didn't factor in one thing. This was James. James always has a trick up his sleeve.

As soon as I really got going, he started twisting and turning every which way in my arms, making me have to focus on holding him and running at the same time, which wasn't easy.

He didn't stop at squirming, though. He went right on and tickled me until I couldn't take it any longer.

I came crashing forward, on top of the Colombian that I was carrying, laughing hysterically as he exploited my every ticklish spot.

"No... James... Stop it!" I said between breaths and laughs. "Stop it!"

Then, all of the sudden, we heard a new voice. Cris's. "Yeah, James, please stop it. I would appreciate you not touching Adri like that."

We both froze.

He was not happy. Not happy at all.