A/N: Heyy! This is not a very long chapter, but I'll post the next one tomorrow/ on Monday! We're starting with a sneak peek into the future!
Enjoy <33
Sneak peek into the future:👀👀
I know I promised my mother not to do dangerous things. I promised her I would come back to America alive. I promised her to be responsible and to think with my brain. But as you guys know, I'm not very good at keeping my promises. I'm doing the exact opposite right now.
My left hand still clings to the iron beam. While my foot rests on the bottom of the ladder. Don't look down... don't look down... don't look down. Shit. I looked down and there I see the city, Barcelona turns completely yellow in the light of the setting sun. I take a deep breath in and a deep breath out. Only three more steps and then I'm there... then I'm there... then I'm there...
A strong gust of wind blows through my hair and I press my body as close as possible to the stone building. Then I pull myself up onto the next ledge. I don't want to anymore, I just want to go back down, with solid ground under my feet. But I have to go on. I need to find him and this is the last place he can be. 'PABLOOOOOO!' I scream as loud as I can, but my voice is carried away by the strong wind. 'PABLOOOO!!!' I scream again. I gasp through the long swipe. Suddenly I hear a soft voice above me. 'Nina?'
Back to the present:
Every day a strange feeling gnaws at my stomach. In a few days, it will be my third show, which means that from then on I only have two months left here, in Barcelona. Nicole keeps talking about 'normal' life in America. She pretends this was some kind of vacation, but secretly Barcelona feels like my 'normal' life now. The beach, Camp Nou, our office, Pedri's house... going back to America now seems absurd.
'Nina, are you still there?' a stern voice asks. When I look up I see Arnold standing right in front of me. 'Uhh yeah...' I say cautiously. 'So you just heard you're going to London as well?'
'Wait what?' Rickey looks at me all excited. 'There is a special hairdresser there. For our third runway show, he is the only one who can make the right hairstyle for us. So we have to go to him, in London! MY home city.' Rickey squeals. 'Yes, but there won't be any time to meet up with family. You guys will take a plane to London and immediately will fly back.' Arnold says.
Pretty environmentally polluting, but okay.
Rickey nods fast, but she still looks super excited. 'You guys have around 4 hours in London, but two of those hours you'll be spending at the hair-dresser.' Arnold explains.
When he is done giving us all the information we needed, we could finally go downstairs again.
It was the first time our waists were getting measured. I was pretty nervous, but Nicole told me that they weren't very precise and that if you deviated from the beauty standard, that would be okay.
After we got downstairs and finished all our appointments, we go back upstairs to get our things. Rickey can't stop talking about London and how much she likes it. I expected that I would miss America very much and that I would like to go there for a weekend. But all I miss about America is some of my friends and that's it! Hearing Rickey talk about England like that, surprises me about how little I feel when I think about having to go back to America. Of course, it's different for Rickey, since her boyfriend lives there and I don't have one.
As we walk outside the sun is already shining brightly, although it is only 9:00 in the morning. I'm jealous of Lily as her session doesn't start until 11am! Rickey and I walk down the street and I suddenly see a recognizable car.
It's Mikky's car. Then I see her waving from the steering wheel. I say goodbye to Rickey quickly and run over to it. 'What are you doing here?' I ask. Mikky smiles. 'Get in! We're going to watch the training.' she says. 'The what?' I ask. 'Just get in.' Mikky says.
I quickly sit next to her in the car in the cool air of the air conditioning.
'So what are we going to do?' I ask. 'We're going to watch the training.' Mikky says.
'No.' I say. Mikky looks at me uncomprehendingly. 'Why not?' she asks. 'Because I look like this.' I say and I point to my outfit.
My outfit:
Mikky rolls her eyes. 'Shut up your outfit is cute.' she says and she starts driving. 'Mikky I'm not going I woke up at 6AM, I haven't done my make-up and I'm wearing something that looks like a pajama with shoes.' I say. Mikky keeps driving and completely ignores me. 'You look the same as always.'
'Thanks.' I say sarcastically.
'No! I mean that you look great, just wear my sunglasses if it bothers you.' she says and she hands me her glasses. 'No thanks.' I say. Mikky laughs.
My outfit could've been worse, but it smells and I'm way too tired to socialize with anyone right now, however, Mikky looks like a freaking model. AND I AM THE MODEL OF THE TWO OF US.
When we arrive at Camp Nou I try one more time: 'We could also grab some Starbucks.' I say. I know I'm hitting a weak spot because Mikky is addicted to coffee and she adores Starbucks, but she shakes her head.
Together we walk from the car to the large entrance of Camp Nou. Inside Mikky walks up to a woman and shows something on her phone, the woman just nods and then walks with us to the elevator. I quietly follow the two. The woman takes out an elevator key from under her jacket and holds it against the elevator buttons. Then the elevator doors pop open and she smiles kindly. 'Thank you.' says Mikky and then we walk inside.
'What did you show?' I asked Mikky. 'Proof that I can enter.' she says. 'That's what you get when you're in a relationship with one of the guys.' she says. I nod. The elevator goes up at a rapid pace and for a moment I think my muesli bar from this morning will soon be on the floor, but then we're there. 'Where are we going?' I ask Mikky. 'We'll go to one of the front rows.' Mikky answers and without any warning, she pulls me through the hall. We walk through several corridors and then I finally see the entrance to the stadium. We walk without a few queues or other people to the very front row of the stadium. I've never seen it so empty here.
Then I see the guys, they all run around the field doing different exercises. Xavi stands on the side of the field and waves to Mikky. Mikky waves back happily and then she sits down next to me.
'Nice right?' she says. I sigh. I have to admit the weather is very beautiful and sitting here is better than at home but it would have been a lot nicer if I hadn't looked like I had just risen from the dead. Mikky chuckles. 'Listen this is the perfect test. That way you can see something VERY important.' she says mysteriously.
'What?' I ask her. 'You can see if he can run well.' Mikky says. I raise my eyebrow. 'Excuse me?' I say. 'Listen, if a guy is handsome while he RUNS then he's real boyfriend material.' Mikky says as if it's the most normal thing in the world.
'Just look at Frenkie.' she says. 'I can just see that on TV...' I say. Mikky nods. 'Yeah okay, but now it's in real life! And that is much better evidence.' she says.
I nod and look around the field. 'He's right there.' Mikky answers and she points to Pablo. I look at him. He sure looks good while running...
'Hey girls!' we look up at the same time and there is Sira. She smiles and gives both of us a hug, then she sits down next to me. 'You are late.' Mikky notes. 'Yes I wanted to sleep a little bit more, how long will the training last?' Sira asks. 'Five more minutes.' Mikky answers. Sira takes a deep breath and then puts on her sunglasses.
'Nina, is this the first training you've come to watch?' she asks. 'Yes, do you guys do this more often?' I ask. 'Yes, but only if we both have time and have nothing to do, which is usually not the case.' she says and smiles.
'Let's hit the field and we'll introduce you to Xavi right away.' she says and I follow Mikky and Sira. When we arrive on the field, the boys had just finished their training-session. Pablo comes sprinting towards us first and immediately puts his arm around me. He's all sweaty, but I don't care. I like him close to me...
Then I see Pedri and he ruffles my hair as I slap his hand away. 'How did you like the training?' Pedri asks. 'I don't understand football but it looked good.' I answer.
'Who looked good?' Ansu asks, who now also arrives. I roll my eyes. 'Not you.' I snap back.
Soon Ferran and Frenkie also come running and then the trainer Xavi also joins us.
Pedri immediately takes the floor. 'Xavi this is Nina, I live with her.' he says, that sounded strange. Xavi shakes my hand and smiles. 'Well done boys, but change quickly, I don't have all day.' he says. Pedri groans and he and Ansu already start to go back to the group. Ferran and Frenkie give Mikky and Sira a quick kiss and Pablo slips his arm off my shoulders. Xavi taps his foot impatiently and Ferran and Frenkie quickly sprint back, but Pablo quickly whispers something in my ear.
'Wait for me okay?' he says. I look at him confused. 'Why?' I ask, but Pablo is already running away again. 'You'll see!' he calls over his shoulder.
Xavi looks back at Pablo running away, then back at me. And then back to Pablo, and then back to me. 'How old are you Nina?' he asks. 'I'm eighteen.' I answer. Xavi nods and I see him thinking. Then he shrugs and says goodbye to us.
'Well, the boys are changing, let's go! We could go to the beach!' Sira suggests. 'I think I'll keep waiting here.' I answer thinking about what Pablo just asked me to do. 'Are you sure? You can also come with us...' Mikky replies. 'No, I'll wait, they'll be ready soon, right?' I answer. 'Yeah...just a few more minutes I think.' says Sira. I nod and say goodbye to the girls while I wait for the boys to finish.
Soon they walk out of the locker room. To my chagrin, Pedri immediately puts his arm around me and I see Pablo walking uncomfortably behind us. 'Where's Lily?' Pedri asks. 'Ooh, she has some work right now.' I answer. Pedri nods and then we arrive at his car. I'd like to ride along with Pablo since he just asked me to wait.
'Ehm I think I'm going with Pablo today.' I say. Pedri looks at me confused. 'Why?' he asks. 'Ooh, it's just... I'm meeting Aurora.' I say... Damn, I really hate lying... Pedri nods and doesn't seem to care.
As soon as he gets into his car I quickly walk to Pablo. He smiles as I approach. As soon as I'm within reach, he grabs my waist and pulls me against him. 'Pablo what are you doing.' I hiss. Pablo shrugs. 'Take a closer look at you.' he answers.
'Pablo we're in this parking garage and everyone's still here. They could see us!' I whisper. Pablo smiles and says nothing else. I roll my eyes because he's ignoring me... 'You're cute when you're annoyed.' he says. I smile and then we hear a voice.
'Gavi, I had another que-' we look around and there is Xavi.
Within a second, Pablo lets go of my waist. 'Question...' Xavi says and he looks from me to Pablo and from Pablo back to me. 'What... ehm... what was your question.' Pablo says and looks nervously at Xavi.
Xavi looks at me again and then raises his eyebrows. 'What were you guys doing?' he asks. 'Um... we were.' Pablo clears his throat to buy time. 'We had just bumped into each other.' he says. Xavi raises his eyebrow even further. 'Is that so...?' he asks and I see him thinking.
'Yes... very clumsy of us.' Pablo says and he forces an awkward laugh. I try to swallow my nerves. Xavi sighs. 'Listen kids, don't do it without a condom.' he says.
I am shocked when the word condom comes out of his mouth. Pablo also stiffened next to me. 'Sorry... what did you just say?' I ask. A silence falls. Then Xavi starts laughing very loudly. Pablo and I look at each other confused for a moment, but then we laugh along, not sure about what...
'I'm just teasing you guys! Just watch where you're going next time, then you won't collide again.' he says and he coughs. Once again Pablo and I force a laugh. 'Good joke.' mumbled Pablo.
'Okay, Pablo...' Xavi begins to ask Pablo a question, but I'm not listening anymore. I don't know if Xavi realized how close we were, or if he didn't notice and thought he was making a funny joke.
'Good. I'll see you tomorrow.' Xavi says to Pablo. 'And I'll probably see you later too.' he says to me. 'Yes, thanks Xavi.' Pablo says and then he goes back inside. As soon as the door is closed behind Xavi's back, Pablo and I can breathe easily again.
'That was close.' I say. Pablo sighs in relief. 'Indeed.' he says. Now the parking garage is completely deserted, there is no one left and it is completely silent. 'So what was I waiting for?' I ask. Pablo smiles. 'Did you still want to go on that date?' he asks.
I smile. 'Always.' I say. Pablo first looks around and then pulls me against him. 'Are you free tonight?' he asks. I nod. 'I can come to pick you up.' he says. '8pm?' I nod. 'Where are we going?' I ask. 'You'll see.' he says. I sigh. 'Can't you just say it?' I ask.
'No.'
'Please?'
'No.'
'Pleaseeee?' I put on my biggest puppy eyes. He smiles and I see him doubting for a second.
'No.'
I sigh. 'But what should I wear?' I ask. Pablo laughs. 'I do not know. This?' he says looking at my outfit. I look at him confused. 'Pablo I'm literally wearing my pajamas.' I say. He shrugs. 'You look good in everything, so it doesn't matter.' I can't help feeling butterflies.
Hopefully you liked this chapter! The next chapter will be more fun. Please comment/ vote/ follow if you liked this chapter.
Please let me know your opinion or predictions about the book so far! I love all of you and I also love all your comments and messages. So thank you very much for that❤️
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