My eyes dart open and I look over to my side to find João still asleep. I roll over trying to go back to sleep but I can't. I move around a little more trying to find a good spot, closing my eyes for a few minutes but I couldn't go back to sleep. I groan getting out of bed. I grab my phone off the nightstand and see I've got messages from Gio.
Mother <3
Mother: I'm sorry about Shadow baby, I know how much he means to you
I know you're tired, but we're at the hotel buffet if you wanna come join us
Me: Can't sleep :(
I'll be down in a few <3
I sigh and kiss João on the forehead careful not to wake him. I walk out of the room and head up to my room. I walk inside and put a Portugal jersey on and some jeans, I then walk into the restroom to brush my teeth and my hair. Once I'm presentable, I head down to the buffet.
I grab a plate and head over to Cris and Hugo. They both acknowledge me and Cris subtly looks between me, and my dad and avó who were standing together.
"What is it ?" I ask.
"They're hiding something," Cris says.
"What ?" I ask confused.
"At least I think they are," he says, as he places some food on his plate. "They're being kinda weird and secretive. What do you know ?"
"I just got here," I laugh.
"Yeah, but you picked up avó, she didn't tell you anything ?" He asks.
Internally I'm panicking, I can't tell him about Shadow and ruin the rest of his time here, but on the outside I somehow manage to keep my composure. "About what exactly ?" I ask grabbing some food for myself.
"I don't know," he sighs, "anything."
I Shake my head, "I can try to go figure it out though."
He nods, "don't make it obvious."
I laugh, "I won't."
I walk over to where my avó and my dad are standing looking at the options of food. My dad glances at me giving me a knowing look.
"Stop it," I tell him, "Cris knows you're hiding something, you two have awful poker faces."
"Sorry," my avó says, "this stays between us for now."
"So stop talking about it," I tell her, "you two are making it obvious that something is wrong."
"How are you holding up ?" My dad asks.
"Dad," I groan, "I don't wanna ruin the rest of Cris' time here. I think it's best if we don't talk about this here, I'm fine."
"You're not," he says.
I grab a spoonful of something random and place it on my plate. "I am, It's gonna be tough to process, but I'll be okay. João said something to me this morning that made me feel at peace with it all. Now can we please not talk about this now ?"
He nods, "it's the final that's got us worked up."
I nod in agreement, and walk over to the table to join everyone. "Something about the final being rigged," I tell Cris as I take my seat next to him. "Dad was filling avó in," I lie.
"Where's João ?" Gio asks.
"Sleeping," I shrug, "I didn't wanna wake him, he has a very important game tonight so I didn't wanna disturb him. I couldn't sleep," I sigh.
We continue eating and making small talk with the huge group. It's my family, João's, and then my friends. Most of the conversation revolves around the game tonight. I feel my phone vibrate in my pocket and I pull it out to see it's João.
"Phone away," Cris says as he looks over at me.
I ignore him and read over João's message. "Dad," Cris says snitching me out.
I glare at him, "it's João," I say holding my phone out.
My dad nods at me allowing me to respond. I stick my tongue out at Cris and then I get in trouble by our avó. Cris snickers to himself while I finish replying.
João <3
João: Where'd you go :(
Me: Sorry baby, couldn't sleep, came down to breakfast with our families.
João: Where ?
Are you guys leaving already ?
Me: Hotel buffet
Come down please 😚
João: Omw 🫡
Me: Send a kiss back :(
João: 😘
Me: Nvm
João: What ?
Me: I don't like that kissy face :(
João: 😚
You're such a child
Me: I love you
João: I love you
A few minutes go by and João arrives greeting everyone. I get up and head over with him so he can fix himself a plate.
"You haven't eaten ?" He asks as he sees me grab a plate for myself.
"I have, I'll grab some dessert to join you though," I tell him.
"How are you feeling ?" He asks.
"Fine," I shrug, "but I'm not playing a World Cup final today," I laugh, "how are you feeling ?"
"Ready," he says picking at my brownie as we walk back to the table.
I smile at him ignoring the fact that he just picked at my brownie. I take my seat once again in between Cris and Hugo and João sits in an empty seat directly across from Hugo.
"You're not starting," my dad says to João.
"We know lineups ?" I ask.
My dad ignores my question waiting for a response from João. João clears his throat before speaking up. "Yeah," he shrugs, "but you're starting, and so is Leão, so I think we're in safe hands."
"He told me he'd start you," I say confused.
"Stating on the bench was my idea," João shrugs and I look at him with more confusion.
"Are you insane ?" I ask.
"We'll be fine," João says.
"Yeah, but you and my dad have been such an incredible duo this tournament," I say, "why in the world would you want to start on the bench if he's starting ?"
"I have to agree with Sofia," my dad says.
"Thank you," I say looking to João.
"I'm not trying to take nothing away from any of the other players," my dad says siping his drink, "but, your style of play works well with me."
"You guys are making me feel like I've messed up," João groans.
"You have," Hugo says flicking a small piece from a cookie he stole from my plate at João's forehead, "big time."
"How are you feeling ?" My dad asks. "Well how were you feeling, before we got in your head."
"Cool, calm, confident," João shrugs.
"Yeah ?" My dad asks.
"Yeah," João nods.
"I trust you then," my dad nods at João.
"Thank you," João smiles at him, "besides, Roberto has allowed me to chose whenever I go in. He decides who comes out, as long as it's not you," he tells my dad, "and I go in whenever I want."
"That settles my concerns," my dad smiles at João.
"Not mine," I huff.
"That's okay," João says, "you've had faith in me for the both of us my last few games, I'll have faith in me for the both of us this time."
I groan, "don't say it like that, I have faith in you," I say, "too much, even, that's why I want you on that field."
"I will be," he says, "when I'm needed."
"You're needed at the start," I groan.
"Sofia, drop it before you make him overthink it and get nervous," my dad warns, "he's confident, and so am I."
I huff, "so am I," I say, "I trust you both."
"Idiot," I hear Hugo mutter under his breath. I fight the urge to laugh and lightly kick him in the shin with the side of my foot. "You know im right," he whispers to me and I shake my head trying to suppress a smile.
We all finish our food and everyone heads upstairs to their rooms to get ready for the game. Since I'm pretty much ready, I allow my grandma her space for her to get ready and let her know I'll be in the next room over. I knock on the adjoining door to João's room and Ruben opens.
He steps aside and allows me to walk in. I sit down on what's meant to be João's bed. "How are you feeling ?" I ask.
"Ready," he shrugs.
"Uggghhhh," I groan, "you're all so nonchalant."
He laughs at my comment, "what'd you expect ?"
"Nerves," I shrug, "that'd be normal."
"And confidence is not ?" He asks.
"I suppose it is," I say, "but you guys are overly confident for playing a final in a tournament that is far from being in your favor."
"We either win, or we get screwed over," Ruben says, "but we're gonna give it our all."
I nod "yeah," I say.
Just then João walks into the room, "I was looking for you," he says.
"I thought you'd be here," I laugh.
"Everyone is heading up to the suite until it's time to head to the stadium," João says.
"What would you like to do ?" I ask.
"Whatever you'd like," he says.
Just then there's a knock on the door and again Ruben gets it, it's my dad.
"Figured you were in here," my dad says to me, "let's go."
"I wanted to hang with João for a bit," I say.
"That's fine, but not alone," my dad says.
"Why ?" I ask confused.
"I don't need you making my teammates anxious and nervous," my dad says, "I need you where I can see you."
"Yeah, take her," Ruben laughs.
"You can be nervous for all of us, Sofia, but keep it to yourself," my dad says.
"Yeah, yeah," I laugh walking out of the room.
For the remainder of the time we hung out in my parent's suite waiting for it to be time to head to the stadium. Some of the players came over as well and my dad tried to keep conversation away from the final as much as possible because I was gonna give everyone anxiety... his words.
The clock finally hits 6:30 and we all decide to start filing out. I take a deep breath and then exhale.
"What's your deal ?" Gonçalo asks.
"Releasing the nerves," I say.
"You're not even playing," he says confused.
"Yeah, but you know how Argentina has been screwing everyone over," I sigh, "I'm slightly worried."
Gonçalo gasps, "don't let your bestie hear," he laughs.
"Did you see the way he treated Sofia after the semifinal ?" Antonio asks.
"What happened at the semifinal ?" My dad asks, his interests clearly peaked.
"Nothing, just Lisandro being dumb," I say.
"It's not like you to downplay," my dad says.
"I know, he was just being a jealous idiot," I shrug. "He tried to hug me after the game but I rushed over to Luka and he got annoyed and then I asked Dybala what his problem was."
"And what is his problem ?" My dad asks.
I don't say anything, but my eyes trail over to João.
"I see," my dad says, "he needs to get over it, and himself."
"I agree," I say.
Everyone continues to head out and I grab my bag containing a jersey with João's name and number on the back and the Portugal flag coat that was gifted to me.
"What's in the bag ?" My dad asks holding the door open for me to walk out.
"João's Jersey," I say, "I plan to switch off."
"Why don't you just carry it ?" My dad asks.
"Because that's not all I have in here," I say in a duh tone.
"Well what else is in there ?" He asks.
"Surprise," I smile at him as we walk down the hall.
"What is it ?" He asks.
"You'll love it," I say.
"What is it ?" He repeats.
"You'll see," I laugh as we step into the elevator.
We make our way down to the lobby and then outside to the streets to head towards the stadium. As soon as we step outside, there's people singing, 'waving flag,' a classic World Cup anthem. There's people from all around the world walking towards the stadium in either a Portugal or an Argentina jersey, enjoying the last few moments of blissful football paradise in Qatar.
We make our way down to the stadium and the players head to the locker room while I head out to the seats.
"You guys go ahead, I'm gonna get a water," I say walking over to the private store for the fans who had their seats in the private sections. "Does anyone want anything ?"
They begin telling me things they want so Hugo accompanies me so I don't have to carry everything on my own. When we arrive, we order and I pay.
"Is it just me or am I getting dirty looks ?" I whisper to him as we wait for the worker to hand us our things.
"The stares are heavy," he nods.
I ignore it, thank the woman who helped us and take the bags from her.
"What's wrong ?" Nessa asks as I hand her her snacks.
"I was getting weird looks," I laugh it off.
"You haven't been on social media, have you ?" Gio asks.
"No, why ?" I ask.
"Twitter," she says looking over to me waiting for me to check.
"What the," I cut myself off becoming aware of my surroundings and who is in my presence.
I open my messages app to text Nash only to see there's already a message from him.
Nash 💙
Nash: Sofia, I am so sorry. I don't know if you've seen it yet, but I'm talking about the post my mom made on twitter. I don't know why she would post that or think it's okay to post. Hayes is the one that fucked up and she knows that, I don't know why she's helping him play victim. I'll talk to her, again, I am so sorry.
Me: Nash, I feel like shit. I never blindsided your mom. I told her straight up the way that your brother treated me. I did blindside your brother I will not lie, and perhaps that makes me a shitty human being, but I truly felt like my back was against the wall here, he was fucking tracking my every move. I'm not trying to make excuses for myself, I own what I did and I will forever own it, I will also not be apologizing for it. This is so ridiculous, she could have reached out to me privately like I did to her, and we could've had a civil conversation and handled things differently. I'm not entertaining this, I hope she knows that her tweets speak more about her than about myself :( I never expected this from her :( I'm so sorry if this has affected you.
Nash: You have nothing to apologize for, I'm sorry, you deserve better than this.
Me: Love you :(
Nash: I love you too 💙
I show Gio and Nessa the messages. Gio nods, "hold your head up, don't respond, this does speak more on her than you."
"I'm at a loss for words," Nessa says, "the audacity that they posses is insane."
"You didn't reply ?" I ask Gio, "did you ?"
"In my own way," she laugh pulling out her phone and showing me her tweet. "I was ready to rip that woman a new one, but I kept reminding myself I'm better than that. I wrote it down on my notes," she says opening her notes app and showing me, "took a deep breath and wrote that simple statement I tweeted."
"Thank you for having my back," I giggle hugging her.
"Always," she says hugging me back.
I type out a small tweet and take the bag, pulling out the gift, "can someone take a picture of me please for Instagram," I say putting it on.
"Dad is gonna go nuts," Cris says as he sees it.
"Daddy," Alana says as she notices my dad's face on the robe thingy.
"Is this the gift from the other night ?" Hugo asks.
"Yeah," I laugh.
"This is dope," Cooper says, "you have to let me borrow it for insta pictures."
"You all can take photos in it, but I'm definitely singing the national anthem in this," I laugh.
"Epic," Nessa says.
We take a few photos and they all put the robe thingy on for pictures on Instagram and I make them all tag the creator in the caption for credits. I take photos with everyone as well I clouding João's parents. I take a photo with just João's mom and she asks for my permission to post it on her Instagram which I obviously allow. I repost it on my story being my petty self.
We continue taking a few photos until João comes in telling me it's time to go. I say my goodbyes to everyone and they all wish João luck. Gio has the coat on, she takes it off, places it carefully in the bag and hands it to João.
"What's wrong ?" He asks as we walk down to the locker room.
"Nothing," I smile at him, "just more Hayes stuff, but it's stupid, I'm not feeding into it," I laugh.
"More Hayes stuff ?" He asks in disbelief.
I groan, "right ?" I laugh, "his mom just made some stupid comments on twitter, it's stupid and she's only looking for a reaction, which I will not give her the satisfaction of receiving."
"Good girl," he says pulling me into him and kissing the top of my head.
"What did we say about the good girl," I groan.
"Only in the bedroom," he laughs.
I push him away pretending to be annoyed but failing, "I'm right," he says and I hit his chest.
We make it down to the locker room and everyone is ready to go. We wait out the last few minutes and then head under the tunnel.