The Goal Is Your Heart » Max Meyer

2. the first day

I woke up the next day feeling refreshed and ready for the day. I wasn't exactly sure what I was going to do today, but I did not want to stay at home.

I had spent yesterday unpacking and searching for the Wi-Fi password. Leon and Julian came home at about 8. They got me a new number to use while I was in Germany. For dinner we had a huge serving of sushi, while I got to know Leon more and told Julian how mother and father were doing back in England. Leon was a funny guy, and I had a feeling we would be close friends. After dinner Julian and I Skype-ed mother and father to tell them I was safe with my big brother.

"Don't worry, he'll take care of me perfectly fine," I had said, putting my arm around him and beaming at the camera. Mother and father smiled. "That's good to know."

~

I climbed out of bed, yawning. I walked to the living room lazily where I found Julian in front of the television eating a bowl of fruits.

"Morning big brother," I jumped on the couch beside him.

"Good morning. You had a long sleep," He said, his mouth full of fruits.

I nodded, "Jetlag probably."

He held out his bowl of fruits, "Here have some."

I took the bowl from his hand and ate some of the fruits. For the next two minutes we sat in silence.

"So," I broke the silence, my mouth full of fruits, "what's the Wi-Fi password?"

Julian laughed. "You're funny," he said pulling out his mobile phone. I smirked, "I know."

I took out my phone and quickly copied down the password.

"Anyway, what will you be doing while you're here?" Julian asked suddenly. I frowned, "I haven't thought abut it yet."

"You could just laze around here. Maybe visit our training ground some days. You could cook for me some of mom's recipes; I miss them," he sighed.

"Yeah, I have some of her recipes with me," I nodded, popping another piece of apple into my mouth.

"Maybe you could work!"

"Oh yeah!" I chewed on the apple in my mouth.

"There's a cafe near our training ground that's hiring. Maybe you could check it out," Julian said, taking the bowl of fruits from my hand. "Anyway, you are coming to watch us train right? Cause then I could show you the cafe and maybe you could meet some of the other guys too."

"GOOD MORNING!"

Julian and I turned to see Leon standing behind the couch wearing nothing but pyjama pants. "Does he always do that?" I whispered to Julian loud enough so Leon could hear.

"Almost," he whispered back. We giggled.

"What? I like to make a grand entrance. Besides, this perks me up so I will be ready for the day. Don't judge me. Kyra. Kyra, you're not judging me right?"

Julian and I stood up and walked past him, still giggling to each other.

"Aww come on guys!"

~

We drove up to their training ground which was really just a fifteen minute walk away from the apartment. The carpark had different spots reserved for different players. Leon and Julian had their names on parking lots beside each other.

We got out of the car and I slung my bag over my shoulder. "We could have just walked here right?" I asked.

"We're a little lazy," Leon said, locking his car. Julian chuckled and then pointed to the gate towards the left of the carpark. "That will be where we enter. I requested for a pass so that you can come visit me everyday."

"Yeah I'll probably do that," I muttered, smiling.

We walked to the entrance and for the next ten minutes, Julian showed me around the place, from the locker rooms to the fields to the stands to the canteens. We had reached about an hour earlier so the other players hadn't arrived yet. I followed them to the locker rooms, which were empty at the time, waited for them to change and then headed onto the field.

"We should try yesterday's drill again," I heard Leon say to Julian.

"Man, that drill is tough. Did you see when Kevin tripped because he lost his footing?" Julian exclaimed and they burst out laughing.

We walked onto the field where a cold gust of wind blew past us.

"Oh, Kyra, the cafe I was telling you about is just a few metres down the road from that exit," Julian said when I sat on the bench beside their bottles. "If you get bored, maybe you could have a look. Although, my skills are too good you will never get bored of watching me."

I laughed, "in that case, I'll go right now so I wont miss any of your skills."

He smiled, "you're good, I like you."

"See you later," I waved, and headed for the exit Julian had pointed at.

~

That was easier than expected, I thought to myself as I walked out of the cafe, slipping my cards into my wallet. When I walked into the cafe, it had just opened for about half an hour so I went up to the counter and they told me they were hiring. In fact, I could be interviewed today. Before I knew it, I was a staff at the cafe. They told me to come back the following day for training and I was pumped.

I slipped my hand into my pocket. Crap! I think I left my keys in the shop. Without thinking twice, I just turned to the direction of the cafe and BAM I literally banged into someone. For a split second, our faces were inches away and I blushed.

"Hey," he backed up and frowned, "watch where you're going."

"I'm sorry," I mumbled. He shook his head and walked away.

I watched him go. "I really am sorry," I said to myself.

~

Julian was waiting at the gate when I arrived back.

"I forgot to give you your pass," he gave me a card with my full name, identification number, picture and some other stuff. "Always have that," he smiled as he lead me into the training ground. I was trying to squeeze the card into my wallet when Julian stopped in front of me. I crashed into his back.

"Hey!"

"Oh sorry kiddo," Julian laughed. A guy about my height was standing in front of him. Must be another teammate. "Anyway Kyra, this is Max. Max this is Kyra."

I took one look at his face and almost jumped. It was the guy I had bumped into at the cafe.