I stirred in my sleep as I heard a faint vibrating sound to my right. I decided to ignore the interruption, attempting to go back to sleep again but the noise got louder and louder. I groaned as though it would tell the noise to shut up.
VRRR.... VRRRR
"Ugh!" I opened my eyes and rolled over to my side finding my phone was receiving an incoming call. I snatched the phone from my bedside table. The force was enough to causes my charger to unplug and I looked to see who was calling me..
INCOMING CALL FROM
Andy
Accept Decline
Are you fucking serious?! I groaned again and pressed accept. "What...?" My voice came out groggy and tired.
"Did you just wake up?"
"Did I? What gave it away, Andy?" I said, my tone coming off a little harsher than I intended to.
"Why are you sleeping? It's 1 in the afternoon, sis."
"Can't a girl have a nap?" I rolled my eyes, "why are you calling me?"
I heard him laughing on the other end, "it's Saturday, Nora." He said like it was supposed to help me connect the dots.
"Yeah, that's why I'm having a nap, Andreas." He was beginning to get on my nerves with his vague answers. I tried to fight the urge to hang up on him right now and go back to sleep.
"Do you not remember what we bet on?" He took a short pause for me to process what was going on but when I didn't say anything he added , "the football game, Nora! How could you forget?!"
Dread immediately washed over my body at the realisation of today. I've completely forgotten about that stupid bet and it's supposed to happen today!? I whined, "what! Ugh, do I have to gooo."
"A bet is a bet and I'm already on the way to your place."
I jumped out of bed, "what! What time is the game?" In a panic I rummaged around my apartment, picking up and hiding random items found on the floor so the place looks some what presentable.. Don't want my brother scolding me about how messy my apartment is again.
"Kick off is at 2" like I know what that fucking means— "but I wanna go grab a bite to eat before we get there. I'll be at yours in half an hour." Half an hour?! That's not enough time for me to get ready. I needed to shower! And do my makeup! And find a cute outfit! I decided to cut the shower even though I always shower after my naps. I usually feel crusty and shit when I wake up from them but I decided to just wash my face instead.
"Fuck! Why didn't you call me earlier?!"
"Don't put the blame on me, sis. You're the one who decided to take a nap AND forget what was happening today." I rolled my eyes, mainly because I didn't want to admit it myself. We both bid our goodbyes when I told him I needed to get ready and ran to my bathroom.
I did all the basic things, brushed my hair, washed my face, did my makeup and even picked out an outfit with probably the cutest top I've ever owned. I was surprised to find that my brother wasn't here before I finished getting ready so I sat on my couch waiting for him. I tried making a list on my phone of things that could keep me occupied during the game.
Tik Tok
Instagram
...
...
Fuck I'm going to be so bored! As on queue, my brother barged in with two bags in his hands. "Please. Come in." I said in a sarcastic tone. I crossed my arms and rolled my eyes but unfolded them when I noticed what was in his hands. "What's with the bags?"
"These are groceries," he lifted one of the bags up, "I decided to stop by the store. I know how busy you get with your job." I smiled at him and took the bag to unpack in the kitchen.
"And what about the other one?" I glanced at my brother to see a huge smirk on his face. This can't be good.
"See for yourself." He hands the bag to me and I opened it to take a peep inside.
"Nope." I deadpanned, trying to give the bag back to him but he refused, laughing his head off. "I'm not wearing that! I'm already wearing such a nice outfit!"
"A bet's a bet Nora!" He said in between laughs and I sent him a sharp scowled.
"Wearing a jersey wasn't apart of the bet!"
"It's implied! Come on! Get in the spirit. The jersey will help with your cover. We can't let people around us know you don't enjoy the sport."
"I'd scream it at the top of my lungs if it gets me out of wearing that." I challenged him, squinting my eyes. He copied my actions and we stood there for a few seconds staring at each other. I knew he wasn't going to back down so I gave up, "ugh! Fine! Can't believe you spent money on this crap just so it can be worn once."
"I didn't buy it. It's one of my old jersey's from when I was younger, so it'll fit you better."
"Great! Hand-me-downs!" I exclaimed sarcastically before walking into my bedroom to put the stupid thing on.
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After many minutes of constant arguing about what to eat, we both decided on Nandos. It was the usual brother-sister bonding time. We ate, we talked, he tried explaining to rules of football but I was obviously disinterested and kept nodding my head, not taking in any of the information.
It wasn't long until kick off so we're now at the stadium sat at our seats with my brother's mates. We all quickly met up after our lunch. The seats were fairly close to the pitch, 5 or 6 rows in front to be exact. We were sat near the corner on the side where all the Chelsea fans were and they were already being annoying by doing their usual occult like chanting. I swear how does a whole crowd pick up on these chants? As if it's not an occult.
The players began to emerge from the change rooms and my brother kept nudging me, pointing and naming all the players that are starting for the team. "That one at the end is Azpilicueta and the one next to him is Kante, then there's Rudiger, then that one over there is Chillwell, love that guy. Oh! And that one over there is Jorginho, and the one next to him is Mou..." I quickly zoned out of his irrelevant rambling and looked around the place. It's surprisingly a sunny day out in London today and I looked up to admire the bright clear sky, embracing the warmth coming with it. The moment was unfortunately ruined as I heard a loud whistle being blown, insinuating the beginning of the game.
I tried watching the game, I guess owing it to my brother but it was really difficult. I found myself constantly looking around me, hoping to find someone looking as bored as me so I could talk to them or something, but everyone— and I mean everyone, was attentive to the game. I sighed and leaned back in my seat. Everyone was cheering, chanting and clapping. They were chanting about something being embarrassing and I noticed my brother and his mates had also joined in. I scoffed at how stupid it sounded but was soon interested when I heard everyone scream because of a foul that happened on the pitch. I looked over and saw a person dramatically rolling on the ground hold his left knee which caused me to roll my eyes. That's another thing I didn't understand about football. Why do you have to always over exaggerate an injury?
. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
I looked up from my phone as I heard a whistle being blown. "Is it over? Can I go home now?" I asked.
"It's only halftime sis. There's still another 45 minutes to go— not including the 15 for half time. I groaned. The boys were chatting about the game and how it was apparently bullshit how they disallowed that Werner goal. Whatever the hell a Werner goal is anyway...The first half ended on 1-1 and I couldn't wait for it to end.
Surprisingly, halftime went by quick. Probably because my brother was actually willing to talk to me instead of pushing me away because I was 'distracting him'. Well it's what he gets for dragging me along here.
The whistle went off to begin the second half and my brother leaned forward with his knee jumping up and down. From what I gathered from my brother's chat with his mates, it's important we get this win so we can secure 3rd place on the table. His state got me interested in the game but after moments of staring at a ball rolling around, I soon remembered why I found this sport so boring so I went back to starring at my phone.
My brother suddenly stood up in anticipation, but I decided to ignore it, expecting it to be those 'oh he's going to scor— shit nevermind' stand ups. So I kept my head down. But then loud roars and cheers greeted my ears, insinuating our team has scored a goal. Too bad I don't give a shit and kept scrolling through Instagram.
"YES MOUNT!" My brother screamed before joining in with the chants happening around us. My head quickly perched up at the name.
"Mount?" I curled my eyebrows... surely not..
"Have you not been listening to me Nora? I told you all the players names."
Curiosity got the best of me and I stood up to see if he was talking about the person I think he was talking about. Praying it wasn't.
As soon as I saw him, an unfamiliar feeling struck my chest. But I was still in doubt, so I asked my brother, "what's number 19's name?"
He looked at me with a knowing look, "The lad that just scored? Mason Mount. Why? You think he's hot?" Completely ignoring his statement, I stood there dumbfounded.
It really was him.. I had completely forgotten about him and that period where I saw him every day after school. I guess I never found any relevance to that time. Then things started coming back to me. His arrogance, how annoyed I used to get whenever I saw him, the time I told him he'd never make it to the first team... and here he was. Right in front of me after scoring a goal that secured his team an important position in the league. I was shocked he actually made it.
He looked a lot more mature then he did back then, for obvious reasons I suppose, and had a better toned body. His hair was all over the place which confused me because I remember he'd always play and try to fix his hair whenever he tried to talk to me. Maybe he just wanted to try and look good.. but then again he is playing football so that might also be the reason.. It was hard to take in his features from afar. His constant movement didn't help in the slightest but I couldn't help but notice the slightest bit of facial hair..
I watched him untangle himself out of the bodies that celebrated with him and faced the crowd to launch his fists up in the air.
And that's when we made eye contact. At least I thought it was, but judging by his sudden change in facial expression he must've seen me. His face quickly shifted from shock to realisation and he pointed towards me, showing that familiar cocky smirk. I didn't know how to react, or what to even do in a situation like this. I just bit my lip and kept on staring at him until he turned away and jogged to the middle of the pitch.
And for the rest of the game my eyes were glued to the number 19, wondering how the hell he managed to accomplish what I thought wouldn't be possible..
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Ok so now that I wrote that.. I don't have a lot of ideas for the rest of the book HAHAHA
But I will think of something soon!
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