"Who's idea was it to book such an early flight? I say we veto them out of our group." I groaned.
It was 4 o'clock in the morning and we were in a minivan on our way to the airport. Viv, Lisa, Daan, Beth, Katie, Ruesha, Leah, Jordan, Jen and I had planned a vacation to Ibiza. Now the season was over and with the world cup coming soon we had earned a well deserved break before all the madness would begin.
"Yours." Everyone said in unions. I crossed my arms over my chest and let out a huf.
"Who's idea was it to leave the youngest in charge of the booking?"
"Still yours." Leah simply stated.
"And I quote we can't take the flight with the normal hour of departure because it's the champions league final and Alexia is playing, so I need to watch it." Daan added to Leah's statement.
"She's a good friend." I shrugged not even denying it anymore because let's be honest it was the truth but now I was paying the price. The next flight we could take was two days later and was in the middle of the night.
"A friend my ass." Beth mumbled but I heard what she had said. I glared at her. "I would do it for either one of you." I pointed at everyone in the van.
"Sure you do." Viv patted my shoulder.
I just huffed and glared at my friends, still not over the fact that it was so early and I was getting hungry.
"Speaking of your girlfriend" Jenn started but I cut her off. "Not my girlfriend!"
"Whatever, how is she? You know after the loss?"
Flashback
They lost. Barcelona lost to Lyon. 4 to 1, there was nothing they could do. Lyon was simply too strong for them. There was no denying that but it was the images afterwards of the grieving Barca players that broke my heart, especially Alexia.
I had texted her to tell her that she did well but I knew that would not ease the pain but what do you say? What do you tell someone, who just came so close to realizing their dream and then have it ripped away from them.
It was later on in the night, I was already in my bed reading a book, when my phone went off. It was a FaceTime request from Alexia.
"Hey there, how are you holding up?" I wasn't really paying attention to the screen, instead I was putting my book away.
The silence, well more the sniffling I heard on the other end made me instantly focused on my phone. It was only then that I realized that the only face that was showing was mine. Alexia's camera was turned off, no doubtfully trying to hide the fact that she was crying but the sniffling gave it away.
"Oh Ale, it's not your fault." I knew that she was blaming herself for the loss. I knew because I would have done the same thing if it were me.
"I know there is nothing I can say to make you feel better or that makes it hurt any less but you played really well. You did a good job, they were just a bit stronger. There was nothing you could do. The only thing you can do is wear that medal with pride and use it to fuel your motivation to do better next time because there will be a next time. You will reach the final again and I know there is gonna be a day where you're gonna lift that trophy." I tried to console the girl but was still met with silence.
"Can you please turn on your camera so I can at least see that you're okay?"
For the first time since the call I heard her voice. It was barely a whisper.
"I look awful. I just wanted to see you."
"Ale you've seen me like that more than once and besides I highly doubt that you can look awful. I'm starting to think you're like a goddess or something." I lightly chuckled.
Apparently what I had said seemed to have convinced her because she switched on her camera.
"Eyeee! There's that beautiful face!"
She just rolled her eyes. I just smiled at her. It wasn't hard to figure out that she was crying. Her eyes were red and puffy and the tears were still streaming down her face. She must have just showered because her hair was wet and she was still sitting in what must be the locker room.
"I know there's not a lot I can do but what do you need? What can I do?"
"I just wanna hear your voice."
I smiled at that.
"I can do that." I softly said.
And so I talked to her for hours. I talked about my adventures here in London, about my family, about the things Leah and I had done today, I talked about everything and nothing. It was mostly me talking with her occasionally butting in.
Like I guessed she was still in the locker room when she had first called me but she took me along on the bus and eventually into her room. We, well more I, kept talking until she fell asleep.
"Goodnight Ale." I whispered to the sleeping girl.
End of flashback
"How would you feel if you lost the champions league final?" I looked at Jenn.
"Fair point."
"She's better now I guess. She'll leave for vacation today with some of her friends."
"Where is she going?" Rue asked.
"I don't know, I haven't asked." I shrugged my shoulders.
Okay, that was a lie. I did know where she was going and we definitely did talk about it. Just like us she was going to Ibiza and she was staying in the same area as we were. Maybe a five minute walk or so but they didn't need to know that. If they did I would never live it down.
"That reminds me, has she already told you what you said when you called her drunk?" Leah smirked at me.
Fashback
I woke up to the sound of a loud noise, making my head explode. It took me a second to fully comprehend that the loud, annoying sound was my phone. Without looking up or lifting my head from my pillow, I patted my hand around to find the device.
"Hello?" I answered the phone groggy.
"Nice to know you're not dead." It was Alexia and by the sound of her voice I could only imagine how amusing she must think this is.
"Shh, not so loud. Why are you so loud?" I still had my eyes closed in hopes that it would ease my headache.
She just laughed at my state, clearly enjoying this. I slightly opened one eye to look at her but that was a big mistake.
"Ugh, why is it so bright in here?" I groaned out. ""Ale, I love you but why are you calling me this early?"
Again I heard her giggle. If I weren't so hungover I would have loved that sound.
"Hermosa, it's already three in the afternoon. Besides you told me to call you last night, well technically this morning."
This grabbed my attention. I had called her?! It was safe to say that I don't remember a lot from last night and I definitely don't remember calling her. I shot up in my bed, eyes open wide which was a big mistake. I held my phone in one hand while I rubbed my forehead with the other, desperately trying to ease my headache.
"I did what now?" I groaned.
"You don't remember?" She laughed again but there was another emotion in her eyes. One that if I wasn't so hungover I would have definitely recognized as disappointment.
"Honestly, I don't remember much after my shot competition with Katie." I frowned thinking back to that specific moment it all went to shit.
Alexia lightly laughed and my confused self and hummed in agreement.
"I bet you don't but don't worry, you didn't do anything crazy." She smiled.
For some reason I wasn't totally convinced by the Spaniard. I felt like she was not telling the whole story. There was a foggy memory about me telling her something, like my body had felt a certain way and I couldn't remember what it was.
"So I didn't say anything weird or embarrassing?"
There was a slight hesitation and again if I wasn't so hungover I would have caught that but my recovering brain didn't.
"N-no, you didn't. Don't worry." She smiled.
"If you say so."
End of flashback
"Yeah, she said that I didn't do or say anything embarrassing so I guess I'm good." I told Leah.
"But?" I looked at Lisa.
"I just have this feeling that I did say something but I can't remember what." I said, closing my eyes, the early wake up time messing with my head.
Daan, who was sitting in front of me, turned around in her seat.
"Check your backpack."
I grabbed my bag and looked through it. In it I found a ham sandwich. A smile broke out on my face.
"I made you a sandwich because I knew you wouldn't eat anything so early in the morning like I told you to."
"Thanks Daan." I leaned forward over the seat and kissed her cheek.
We had just arrived at the airport and I was in desperate need of coffee. Have I told you already that I hated the fact we had to wake up early to catch this flight?
"Allright McCabe, let's go! I need coffee."
"Agreed, let's go." Katie patted my shoulder. We both turned around on the hunt for coffee when we got stopped right in our tracks.
"Oh no you don't. You two are not gonna repeat last time's shenanigans!" Daan intervened.
"What shenanigans?" Rue, who was not with us last time we traveled by a plane because she's not on our team, asked confused.
"Last time they wandered off like usual but those two idiots left their bags with us which held their phones. So when they didn't come back on time and we couldn't reach them, we had to ask security to help us." Viv explained.
"Why am I not surprised?"
"Okay, funny story. Can we get coffee now? I begged the group.
"Let's check in first." Leah agreed with Daan and so did basically everyone except for me and Katie.
After we had handed off our suitcases and got checked in, we finally got some coffee. We chilled a bit at the Starbucks till it was time to get to our gate. Once we got there, we had some time to kill, so I forced Leah to be my pillow and closed my eyes for a bit.
We were well under way when Katie apparently got bored and decided to annoy the shit out of me.
"I swear McCabe, if you kick my seat one more time, I will throw you out of this plane." I turned around to glare at the Irish girl behind me.
"Ooh, violent much?" She gave me a smirk.
"Leahhhh." I sat back down and whined to the girl next to me.
"Oh boy. This is going to be a long flight." She mumbled.
A couple of hours later, I was finally able to fall on what would be my bed for the next week. I fell face first onto it and let out a huf in the process, content with the comfort it gave me.
"Are you okay?" I heard Jen ask. She and I were gonna share a room together.
"Fine, just tired." I mumbled into the pillow.
Jen chuckled and grabbed a bikini.
"I'm gonna change. Wanna go explore?"
"Sure." This time I turned on my back so I could actually see her.
"Cool. I'll change first, then the bathroom is all yours." Soon she disappeared into the bathroom.
I sat up straight and grabbed my phone out of my pocket.
The Queen 👸
Just arrived at the hotel, I feel like I'm dead. When do you arrive?
La Reina 👑
We're gonna board the plane now. Wanna meet up tomorrow morning for coffee?
The Queen 👸
Sure. I'll send you my location. See you then.
I laid down my phone when I heard the bathroom door open. Jen walked out in a pair of shorts and a loose tank top.
"All yours."
Alright, time to have some fun and get drunk.