"Faster Schweinsteiger!" Pep calls. "Catch up to her."
Bastian growls from behind me and picks up his pace. The goal was to catch up to the person in front of you, and Bastian was not doing well against me.
"Come on Bastian." I laugh. "Pick up the pace. I thought pigs ran faster!"
Bastian chuckles evilly. He then really speeds up. I hear him just behind me, so I pick up my pace. We have to keep running until he catches up with me.
I continue to run faster. I focus on my breathing. Two steps forward. Three steps forward. Two steps forward. And so on. That's how I counted my steps because I inhale then run two steps then exhale three steps.
Next I focus on my form. I start lengthening my strides as I pick up the pace. The farther my legs get from me, the farther I want to go.
I next focus on my arms. I shake them out slightly to avoid any cramping in the shoulder area. Then I focus on making sure they're pumping straight and I'm not swinging my hips as I run.
I don't notice that Pep blew his whistle until Thomas Müller runs in front of me.
"You can stop running, Freud. Pep decided that Bastian wasn't going to catch up to you after you gained 50 meters on him." He says with his goofy grin. I read somewhere he was the jokester of the team. And Bundesliga as a whole.
That's a hard title to accomplish.
I shrug. "Do I have to stop? I'm already warmed up!" I whine. I'm still running and Thomas is barely keeping up.
"I'm not the coach! I'll go ask though." He decides. He drops off and heads in Pep's direction.
I continue to run. All my moping around had prevented me from doing this. It felt good and very therapeutic to take a calming run. Even though I'm 99.9% sure everyone's watching.
"Yo! Freud, get over here." Pep calls. I nod and run over to him. "I've decided I want you to lead the forwards in a fun run. Tomorrow, we'll focus more on football."
I nod. "I can do that."
"You heard her. All forwards follow her. If any of you slack, you'll get a nice surprise. Freud, take them anywhere as long as you're back in an hour and a half." Pep instructs.
"Anywhere?" I ask.
Pep shrugs. "As long as you aren't spotted, then yeah."
I nod. I can do that. An hour and a half is a long enough time to run. "Alright. Follow me." I say.
Robert Lewandowski, Thomas Müller, and Claudio Pizarro follow behind me. They were the three main forwards after all.
"I'm taking you guys on a tour." I say.
"I'm not sure that's a good idea." Thomas jokes from behind me. He pants heavily.
"Lighten up your feet Mule, or you'll injure an ankle or two." Instantly Thomas lightens his steps. I smile to myself because he listened. "Let's talk. Hi, I'm Bella and I don't want to be on Bayern."
"Hi Bella." Thomas recites like this is some sort of Alcoholics Anonymous therapy meeting.
Despite the silliness of it, I laugh. "I come here from a women's team, I enjoy long walks on the beach, and I'm a saggitarious." I say.
Thomas laughs with me. "I'm Thomas Müller."
"Hi Thomas." All three of us reply.
"I'm a brunette, I enjoy a nice beer, and I'm a Virgo." Thomas says.
"I didn't know you were a brunette." Claudio says. He's the farthest back but isn't too far behind. "I thought this was a tour by the way. Where are we?"
"We are on a tour. Welcome to the outskirts of Munich!" I laugh.
"Wait! You live here?" Thomas asks, curiously.
I nod. I lead them into the street that leads to my neighborhood. Mine and the devil's.
"I was born and raised here." I tell them. "Okay this is my street." I say.
"These homes are nice." Robert says, speaking up for the first time.
"Okay here we are. This is my house. Would you guys mind taking a pit stop?" I ask.
"Are you kidding? I'd love to stop running! It's been almost an hour." Thomas cries out dramatically. I roll my eyes at him.
As we jog up the steps of my house I smile. Papa is so going to freak. He lives for Bayern, despite my hate for them because of the stupid kid who grew up across the street. We used to bond over Bayern before him.
I open the door and motion for the guys to be quiet. They nod in understanding and follow behind me. Lewandowski closes the door behind us.
"Papa? Mama? I'm home!" I call.
Papa grumbles. "Back already? What happen-" He freezes as he sees the guys. Then he suddenly becomes a fangirl. "Thomas Müller? Viktoria! Thomas Müller, Claudio Pizarro, and Robert Lewandowski are in our living room!"
"Robert Lewandowski?" She asks. She's always been an underground Dortmund fan I think. I've seen the DVR Recordings of their games.
I watch as she comes into the living room and freezes. "It's Robert Lewandowski! You traitor!" She calls, lunging for the poor Polish guy.
Papa grabs her waist laughing. "Look! It's Thomas Müller. Thomas Müller!" Dad says. His favorite footballers in order are me, Bastian, then Thomas.
Then Mama cracks because she loves him. "Can I get a hug?" She asks poor Robert.
"I'm kind of sweaty but yeah." He replies. He holds his arms open for her to accept the hug.
Papa hugs Thomas without any warning. "I love you!" Dad says to him.
I laugh. Then I pat Claudio's shoulder comfortingly. Poor guy isn't one of my parents favorites.
"We have to get pictures!" Mama says. She disappears to find her ancient camera. She comes back a few seconds later grinning.
And to think I was their favorite footballer.
"Group together! My book club won't believe me if it looks photoshopped in anyway." Mama says. We laugh as we form together.
"Mama, you get in the picture. I'll take it for you and Papa." I say.
She easily hands me her camera. I take a few pictures and smile. I'm glad I could make my parents so happy. They've raised me so well and they deserve more moments like these.
A few autographs later, we head back out of the door.
We all take off running again. "We have to pick up the pace if we want to make it back in twenty minutes." I say. "It's a four mile run back, and I'm not sure you guys can handle 5 minute miles." I say.
"I can so!" Thomas laughs. He even picks up his pace so he's running beside me. We formed some sort of square where Thomas and I lead, Robert is behind me, and Claudio's behind Thomas.
"You're mom was nice." Lewandowski says from behind me.
I laugh. "She's secretly in love with Dortmund. If you'd been Marco Reus, she would've murdered you with kisses. You betrayed her though, so she had to settle with hugs." I explain.
Thomas laughs uncontrollably. "Dortmund fans need to chill and start rooting for the right team." He says.
I slap the back of his head. "Have you met a Dortmund fan? They're literally crazy. I'd avoid any contact with them until you fade away from their vengeance." I say the last part to Robert.
He chuckles quietly. I kind of like his quiet exterior. It's calming in a way.
"You guys are five minutes late." Pep announces as the four of us sprint into the stadium.
"That's because these guys aren't capable of five minute miles." I say. "We'll improve though."
Pep nods. "Good job guys. You can head to the locker rooms. Practice is now over." He says.
We all nod and head in the direction of the locker rooms. I split off from them and enter my locker room.
I enter absentmindedly then stop at the sight in front of me.
"No way!" I shout. "Get out."