Alana's POV
"Alana!" Gabby called up to me from the lower floor of my apartment, "Alana are you nearly ready? We're going to be late!"
"I'm coming, I'm coming," I made my way down the stairs, a smile spread across my face to see my sister waiting at the bottom for me.
Gabby, or Gabriella as my father still insisted on calling her, was two years younger than me, she'd recently turned twenty-one whereas I was nearing my twenty-fourth birthday. I still thought of her as my baby sister, and I think I always would, even if she was the slightly more rational one of our duo. I'd look after her forever; as a big sister, that felt like my purpose and responsibility, my world could be wrecked but as long as Gabby was okay, I'd be fine in the end.
"I see you've already used your keys," my smile grew.
Gabby rolled her eyes, never able to stay annoyed at me for long, "Well I had to! You were taking ages up there, what were you doing?"
"I have to look good for the first day," I shrugged, grabbing my bag and opening the front door which led into the hallway of the apartment complex we'd moved into just yesterday, Gabby's apartment was on the floor below mine. Jonatan recommended this building to us seeing as a few of the Barcelona girls already lived here and it was so close to the training facilities; the views of the city were also beautiful.
Gabby chuckled, "I doubt anyone would ever think you look bad."
I quickly turned around, the energy coursing through my veins like a child after eating an entire bag of sugar. I pinched Gabby's cheek, it was a habit I found highly amusing and she hated, "You're just too sweet."
Gabby swatted me away, climbing into the passenger side of my new car which Phil, our cousin, had picked out for me. It was a slick black Mercedes, which was probably slightly impracticable for the size of our new kit bags, but simply too beautiful to resist once he'd sent the recommendation to me. It was shiny and had a convertible roof; two things which seemed impossible to resist in my rather simple mind.
I turned on the radio, frowning when I heard it was the Spanish station, I tried to turn it over but Gabby pushed my hand away.
"I'm listening!" She defended herself.
I rolled my eyes, not able to hide my smile, "Well just fill me in if anything important is happening I guess," I chuckled.
My sister could speak perfect Spanish and fairly fluent Catalan, whereas I struggled to pick up even the shortest sentence.
This move to Barcelona had been in Gabby's sight since we first kicked a ball in Phil's back garden, to say it was her biggest dream, would have still somehow been an understatement. My dream club? I had never been sure as a child, but Gabby's dream became my dream and that led us here today, pulling up in the car park of the Barcelona training grounds for our official contract signing and first day.
"You ready?" Gabby braced herself, she was less confident than I'd grown to be; it felt like because I was the older sister, I needed to be stronger, not in terms of competition, but to protect Gabs.
I nodded, seeing the excitement in my sister's eyes filled me with such joy, my heart growing by at least two sizes because I knew today was the day when her dream became a reality. When our dream became a reality.
We walked into the building, it was much larger than the Manchester City facilities, but that was to be expected, this was Barcelona; the club with the richest history in the world and in many eyes, the most iconic badge to wear on your chest.
Jonatan, the manager, met us in the reception, greeting us both with a warm smile and hand shake.
"How are you feeling? Is your rehab going well?" He asked me, clearly referring to the injury I'd sustained in the World Cup final, little under two weeks ago.
Thankfully, it hadn't been as major as the medics first expected, I'd been able to take off my boot a few days ago, though it would be a week or two more until I could join in on training. "I'm feeling much better, thankyou," I nodded.
My injury honestly wasn't a subject I liked to dwell upon because as much as I tried to push all of those maybes away, they found a way to take ahold of my thoughts time and time again.
"I'm glad," He smiled, begining to lead us down the hallway and towards where we'd be signing our contracts.
This transfer period had already been busy for Barcelona, last week they announced the signing of Ona Battle, who was technically returning home to Spanish football, and then the Australian striker, Charlotte Henley, was on loan here; she played on the right wing, whereas I played on the left.
Gabby and I sat side by side, given a stack of papers each which we signed on every page, we'd sorted out all the details at a prior date, signing ourselves to the club for three seasons.
I could sense the joy radiating from my sister, her heart was probably about to burst and honestly, mine was too. When I flipped that final page over, I let out a sigh, the smile breaking through onto my face, knowing that we'd made it.
I thought back to when we got gifted those matching Messi shirts for Christmas, I could've been no older than six, we barely took them off for the entire year, which my father of course hated but I saw the quiet pride in my mother's eyes. That very Barcelona shirt still travelled with me everywhere, a good luck token that held the fondest memories from my childhood.
I leant across, pulling Gabby into a tight hug, she squeezed me back until someone walked into the room, passing over two Barcelona shirts.
Alana. 10.
Gabby. 23.
We always played with our first names on the back of our shirts to avoid confusion.
My smile faltered as I stared at the shirt in my hands, it still didn't feel real even as my fingertips glided across the lettering, finally pulling it over my head and standing there for the group and individual photos they took to announce our signing, though most people already suspected it after we denied City's offer of an extension.
Jonatan expressed his excitement for us joining the club and then walked us out to the pitch, wanting Gabby and me to meet the squad, some of which would then take us on the tour around the grounds. He told us how important the connections we made were, that the closeness of the team off the pitch was part of the reason for their success on the pitch.
Gabby was quick to nod, whereas I just hummed, I loved the idea but seeing as I already had a foe in the squad, I held some reservations. But I hoped Putellas and I could be civil and maybe she'd admit her foul had been wrong, maybe one day we'd finally be able to move past it. Not yet though, the loss was still too raw.
Lucy and Keira were first to catch sight of us, bounding over towards Gabby and I. Keira wrapped my sister in a hug whereas Lucy picked me up and spun me around, making me chuckle. The four of us were close, especially after spending summer with the Lionesses and our prior period all together at Manchester City.
"You're here!" Lucy cheered.
I laughed, "We made it."
"Aw I'm so happy," Keira pulled me into a side hug, her eyes brightening to see us in the Barcelona tops.
Gabby stood there, smiling so wide it looked like her cheeks would crack, she was completely and utterly speechless as we stood on the training pitch, only a few meters away from the rest of the squad.
"Come on," Lucy wrapped her arm around my shoulder, "You've got to meet all of the girls."
They walked us towards the squad, who all turned, many of them waving, though one person in particular seeming to ignore the fact of our existence. Putellas had looked in our direction and then turned back, from the distance her eyes looked close to being black, her expression was cold and it was then that I realized even civility between the pair of us would be pushing it.
But when Ingrid pulled me into a tight hug, I found it difficult to care about Putellas' scowl, for I was reunited with one of the kindest and best people I knew, "Finally after all these years, we're on the same team!" She squealed.
Ingrid and I always had the same energy, it was probably the reason we'd clicked so quickly and kept in constant contact, always visiting one another when we could. Ingrid was probably my best friend, she had this energy that brightened my day and a laugh I found completely infectious, to spend more time together was the dream.
I pulled away, smiling at her for a moment before she suddenly jumped again, "Oh you'll have to meet Mapi."
"We've already met," Mapi chuckled, pulling me into a short hug.
Ingrid furrowed her eyebrows, "What? When?" She clearly felt left out.
"You introduces us at your birthday last year," I reminded her.
"Oh yes!" She agreed, probably pretending though, "I wonder how I could've forgotten."
Mapi and I shared a knowing glance, remembering how much she'd drunk that night, "I wonder why," we both hummed.
I looked back to the group to see Gabby already greeting everyone, so I decided to do the same and they were all very welcoming, either shaking my hand or pulling me into a soft hug to introduce themselves. The squad had a warm feel, they seemed eager and full of energy; it felt like a place which would suit me well.
Though Putellas didn't look my way once, she'd trailed off towards the edge of the pitch to practice her shooting. I knew I already had a problem with her, but I'd assumed it would be one sided and she'd be professional like I'd planned to be, but clearly not. Her and I hadn't even spoken one word to each other yet, not that day and not this one either, so it was undeniably the fastest I'd ever made an true enemy of someone.
It was strange to not know someone, yet still be so very annoyed by their existence, but from the little I'd seen of the captain, I'd already seen too much.
Putellas had chosen it to be this cold between us, I'd been willing to try and be civil but her actions proved that, for some reason, she wasn't.
But I wouldn't let her dim the brightness of this day, this very special day. Because I looked to Gabby and was proud of how far she'd come, I looked to Ingrid and was overjoyed that I'd see my best friend everyday and then I looked at the rest of the team and was excited to be here.
This was the start of a new chapter, I'd make sure it was a good one.