AUTHOR'S NOTE: Hey guys! I'm back! And still not fluent in Portuguese or Spanish, so you're going to have to correct me if my translations are wrong! Remember, you all have the right to hit me in the head with a football if I say something stupid like "Lionel flipped his golden blonde hair back and forth as he celebrated another goal" or anything else is like that.
I JUST WANNA THANK YOU GUYS FOR ALL THE SWEET COMMENTS!! THEY MAKE MY DAY SOMUCH BRIGHTER!! HUGS FOR ALL OF YOU!
*ARIANNA'S POV*
I stared at the blender, half asleep; as I added ice cubes to the strawberry-banana smoothie I was making for breakfast. Cristiano had left for practice about 10 mins ago and Gabe is coming in 5ish mins. I put my smoothie into a cup with Cristiano's sweaty face on it and went to sit on the steps outside the house, waiting for Gabe. I was nearly done with my drink when Gabe showed up. I got into the car and we laughed all the way to Barcelona as I told him about practice yesterday.
As Gabe pulled up in front of the Camp Nou, I grabbed my stuff and then exited his car. "Thanks Gabe! I'll see you tomorrow!" I told him as I walked into the stadium. Continuing to my office, I opened the door and saw the stack of the team's home jerseys that I had asked for, was sitting on my desk. I took the package that was left over from yesterday and opened it. Inside there were 30 empty photo frames. I took each jersey and placed them in the frame; then, I carefully pinned it into place. Once I was done with all the jerseys, I hung them on the walls on either sides of my desk. Now my office was complete.
As I was admiring my work, Pep walked in, "Wow, um it looks nice, but you seem to be missing a jersey."
I quickly counted all the jerseys on the wall and looked back at him confused, "Um, no, I think I've got them all..."
"You forgot this one," he says, as he holds up a Barcelona jersey. I turn it around and couldn't help but smile when I saw my name of it.
"I'll hang it up now!" I tell him as I get another frame out; I put my new jersey right behind my chair.
"Well it's nice to see you settling in; I just wanted to remind you that we have an away game with Sevilla coming up."
"Yup, I'm starting to make up some tactics, but I'm not sure how you want me to go about doing this."
"Well for the first game I'll lead you through how we do things, and as for tactics, I want you to concentrate on defensive strategies against Sevilla; I'll take care of the offensive ones! You can work with Mia on the defense today; get to know them and how they work with each other."
"Ok! That sounds good! Let's get going!" Pep and I headed towards the locker room, where all the guys were putting on their cleats. I sat down on the bench next to Neymar and listened to Pep's instructions for the day.
Once he was done talking, we shuffled out of the locker room and the boys started their warm-up laps. While they were running around the field, I looked up old Barcelona vs Sevilla games on YouTube. After a couple laps, they started stretching and going through their warm up drills: zigzagging through cones, doing basic footwork on the ladders, making triangles and passing to each other. Once they were done warming up, Pep called them all to the center circle and explained how practice is going to go.
"Ok, today, I'm going to take the offense and work on set plays, and Arianna is going to take the defense-'"
"Woohoo! Yes! Told you she thinks I'm the best!" Gerard exclaimed as he jogged down to where the defense would be practicing. Marc and Dani jogged after him, shaking their heads and laughing.
"What! That's not fair!" Neymar said as he watched Gerard continue down the field, sticking his tongue out at Neymar. "I still need to get even for yesterday!"
"It's not like she's going anywhere! She's a part of this team; you can attempt to challenge her later! We will be playing as a team at the end of practice anyway. As I was saying," Pep said as he looked after Gerard, a little confused, "...Arianna will be taking the defensive and working on 1 v 1 and 2 v 1 situations that you encounter on break-aways." I nodded at Pep and jogged to my half of the field with the rest of my defense.
"Alright, I need you guys to split into four teams; there will be two teams of three and two teams of two."
I waited for them to split themselves up; as they were splitting up, Mia jogged across the field and hugged me, "hey, how's it going! So what are we doing today?" She asked.
"Pep said to work on 1 v 1 and 2 v 1 situations; so I've got a game for them." I looked at the groups they had made in front of me. In Team 1, there was Montoya, Marc, and Sergi; in Team 2 there was Mathieu, Douglas, and Adriano; in Team 3 there was Macherano and Gerard; in Team 4 there was Dani and Jordi.
"Ok, so when I tell you guys, each team will stand in each corner of this half. Then I will toss a ball in the middle and call out a couple numbers; if your jersey number is one of the numbers I call, then you will be playing in that round. Your goal is to get the ball and score on Claudio. The two groups on each side of the field are going to be a team; so if I call two numbers from the same side of the field, then you can work as a team and make it a 2 v 1 situation." I explained to them.
"That sounds easy! We can do that!" Dani says as he laughs.
"Hmm, how can we make this more interesting Arianna?" Mia asked.
"Umm, losing team runs laps?... Giving the other team a piggy back ride?"
"Oh! How many laps?" Gerard asks; I could see the twinkle in his eye.
"As many as the number of goals your team concedes. So, Team 1 and 4 on this side, 2 and 3 on the other." I tell them.
"Marc, you better get ready to carry me around this field!" Gerard says as he runs to his corner.
"I won't be on the losing team Gerard!" Marc replies, running to the opposite corner.
"How many goals do you think they are going to concede?" Mia asked me.
"4? Maybe 5? It shouldn't be too much...they're all even on skill...and Claudio is a good keeper..." I guessed.
"I already feel sorry for the losing team..." Mia said laughing.
"At least it's not us running the laps! Anyway, which numbers do you want to call first?" I asked her.
"Let's do, Dani, Sergi and Macherano"
"Ok! 22! 20! 14!" I yell.
I laughed as Dani scrambled to get to the first, knocking Sergi and Macherano out of the way.
"Dani! Sergi is on your team! This is a 2 v 1; use it to your advantage!" I yell at him. When Dani looks away from the ball to listen to me, Macherano swipes in and cleanly takes the ball away from Dani. Both Dani and Sergi run after Macherano. "You need to pay attention to the game being played, Dani..." I grumbled as I watch the ball hit the back of the net after Macherano kicks it from a close range.
"Ha! Get ready to carry me Marc!" Gerard yells from across the field.
"Geri you have to win first!" Mia yells at him. This is going to be interesting.
**********
"NOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Gerard yells as he throws a tantrum on the grass. He's lying on his stomach, with his hands covering his head. I turned around to look at Pep from across the field and he, along with the rest of the team, gave me a confused and slightly concerned look.
"Mia, could you go down there and tell them everything is alright, and Gerard isn't injured or anything?" I asked.
Laughing, she replied, "Yeah, of course, the look on Leo's face though...I bet he thinks you tortured Gerard or something. They are all going to be scared of you now!"
Shaking my head, I return to Gerard, who was now sitting up, "Come on Gerard, you lost, so you have to run the laps," I tell him.
"I can't run that many laps! Especially with a grown man on my back!!"
"Well I didn't know you guys would concede 36 goals! Should've thought of that when you were playing!"
"But we scored 34!! PLEASE I DON'T WANT TO BE SQUASHED INTO A GERARD PIQUÉ TACO SPECIAL!" Gerard yelled.
"Wait, how much do you think I weigh?!?!" Marc asked, making everyone burst into laughter.
"I don't know! But I do know how much you can eat!" Gerard tells him.
"Ok, ok, calm down. How about you guys run the difference of the goals? 2 laps, ok Gerard?" I asked.
"How about 1 lap?" He pleaded.
"Actually, 36 doesn't sound like a bad number." I say.
"Marc come here, I've got 2 laps to do!" Gerard panics, looking for Marc.
"I'm behind you," Marc sighs. Gerard crouches down for Marc. All the other players find someone to carry and start on their 2 laps. I start to run all over the field; putting cones down in random spots until the field looked like a large game of connect the dots. Once I'm done, I walk over to where the offense was working on set plays.
Neymar looks at me horrified, "what did you do to them?"
I laughed, "Nothing, they had lost their game, so that was the consequence. They have to run the amount of goals they conceded"
"And how many was that?..." Lionel asked me unsurely as he watched a tired Gerard slowly jog by with a happy Marc on his back.
"36."
"What?!" Xavi exclaimed.
"Pep! They are going to die!!" Neymar said as he shrank behind Lionel in efforts to hide himself from me.
Pep looked at me with concern, "Arianna, I hope you didn't tell them to run 36 laps like that..."
"No, of course not!" I said as I heard many relieved sighs. "I changed it so they only have to run the difference of goals...2 laps!" I explained to him.
"Oh good, but Gerard looks like he's going to collapse soon," Iniesta said as Gerard was coming around for his second lap.
"Yeah, but he'll get through it." I smiled evilly at Neymar as I said, "I can't wait to work with you guys later!"
Neymar looked like he was going to faint.
"Anyway, looks like they are done with their laps, let's all get some water now," Pep said. We all walked over to the bench and Neymar went to each and every defender, asking if they were still alive.
"Neymar, they are fine. Nothing happened to them; I didn't put them through a survival course or anything. It was a normal practice." I tell him. All he does is give me an unsure glance and then he proceeds to check on the defenders.
"Ok guys, the last activity for today is a scrimmage planned by Arianna." Pep said.
"Just a scrimmage?" Neymar asked me.
"Nope!" I say and I flash him a smile. "I made it very special! Just for you!" I told him, bopping him on the nose on the last word. He groaned and sat on the bench.
"Ok, I have placed cones in random spots all over the field; it will be a normal scrimmage, except, every time you hit a cone, you MUST change direction. If you were planning on going straight, then you have to either go sideways or backwards. Or you could just pass the ball. Other than that, all the rules are the same! Ok?" I asked. Everyone nodded their heads, "alright, let's play then!"
The boys split into teams and got into their position. "Arianna, it's uneven, could you fill in as a left-back next to Macherano?" Pep asked me.
"Yeah, no problem," I said as I jogged onto the field. On my team, I had Claudio Bravo as keeper; Macherano, Dani Alves, and Mathieu as defenders; Ivan Rakitic, Sergio Busquets, and Xavi as midfielders; and Pedro and Neymar as forwards.
The other team had kick off, and almost immediately, Iniesta had to change direction because there was a cone right behind him. Groaning, he passed to Sergi. Sergi was dribbling up field, but as soon as Ivan put pressure on him, he ran into a cone. Ivan manages to steal the ball away, only to run into another cone. He crossed the ball to Xavi, who is met by Iniesta. After struggling to keep the ball, Xavi passes to Sergio, but in mid pass, Lionel runs out of know where and takes the ball with him. He's moving all over the field, making sure to stay away from the densely conned areas. He comes up my side of the field and I run out to challenge him for the ball. He makes a quick turn and goes around me, but when he was turning, Macherano slides in and pokes the ball towards me, giving me possession. I turn with the ball, running into a cone, so I roll over the ball, moving sideways. I feel another body behind me; sparing a quick glance over my shoulder, I see Lionel behind me, focused on getting the ball. We spent a good two minutes, twisting around each other, moving the ball in a circle, losing and gaining possession from each other. I didn't notice the circle the other players had made around us until Pep blew the whistle.
The other players clapped and I saw Lionel smile shyly at me, running a hand through his hair; I smiled back and gave him a hug, "Good game!" I tell him.
"You too," he replies, his face a little red, as we all go to the bench and get our stuff. They all go to the locker room and I head to my office. I take out my laptop and start working on my player profiles.
**********
One hour of working and I was nearly halfway done with Ter Stegen's file. I had forgotten how much work these actually take. I heard a knocking on my door; I looked up and saw Marc stick his head out from behind the door. His hair was wet, so I'm guessing he just took a shower. "Marc? What are you still doing here?"
"Well, I did promise you a ride," he said looking around my office. "Nice decorations," he says as he takes a sharpie from my desk, finds his jersey, signs his name, and sits down on the couch.
"Oh, no Marc, you don't actually have to say here. I'll be working really late and I don't want to keep you up." I told him.
"No, I told Cristiano that I would stay and make sure you got a ride; I don't want to get killed for not keeping my word." He said.
"But these player profiles take a really long time and they aren't very interesting...you'll get bored."
"Maybe I can help and we can get it done faster!" He offered.
I looked at him surprised, "Um, ok, if you really want to..."
"Yeah, I don't have anything else to do anyway, so don't worry!" He told me as he patted the seat on the couch next to him.
"Ok!" I said. This might make this easier. I got my laptop and sat next to Marc, "let's get started!"
**********
We had been working for hours and Marc was making things so much easier. He already knew a lot of the stuff I needed to know in the profiles, which left less for me to research. We had gotten through nine players; on my own, that would have taken me three days to do. It was easy to work with Marc; he would crack jokes and make my job so much more interesting. Currently, his arm was around my shoulder and my head was on his chest as I typed up Lionel's medical history. I was about to ask him how to spell Lionel's full name when my phone rang. I groaned as I got out of my comfortable position to get my phone.
Checking the caller ID, I smiled as Cristiano's name flashed on the screen. It was about time that he called.
I picked up the phone, "Hello? Yes Cris?"
"Have you left yet?" He asked immediately.
"Umm, well I told you that I was going to be late...I had a lot of work to do..." I tried to skip around the question.
"Arianna, have you left Barcelona yet?" He asked again.
I groaned, "...no"
I could hear him huff into his phone in anger, "is that boy still there with you?"
I shook my head smiling, "yes, Marc is still here and he refuses to leave, so don't worry."
"Good." He says, "Have you eaten dinner yet?"
"Uhhh..."
"Arianna!? Do you know what time it is?? Why haven't you had diner yet?!" Cristiano yells at me.
I look at Marc and whisper, "What time is it?"
"11:50," he whispers back; surprised, I go back Cristiano yelling at me.
"He's starving you isn't he!" Cristiano exclaims.
"What? N-"
"Nope, don't argue, I'm already in the car!" He says.
"Cris, why were you sitting in the car at 12?" I ask. He was probably sitting there since 8:30.
"Don't ask questions; just be ready to leave when I pick you up."
"Cristiano, listen to me!" I raised my voice so he would pay attention. "Marc and I were about to go eat diner anyway, you don't have to come here.
"He hasn't ate anything either?..."
"No, neither Marc nor I have eaten and he wasn't starving me. In fact he tried to make me eat multiple times; I just kept pushing it off until later. So why don't you get out of the car and go to sleep. You have an early practice tomorrow, so don't expect me to wake you up." I tell him.
There was a long silence, and then Cristiano replied, "nope."
"Cris!"
"I'm not sleeping until you eat."
"I'm going right now, for real, so go sleep," I pleaded.
"Nope, text me when you've finished eating, bye," and he disconnects.
As soon as I put my phone down Marc bursts into laughter, "It's not funny!" I tell him smiling.
"It's like you're his child and he's the worried mother!" He says as he continues laughing.
I feel my eyes burn with tears at the word 'mother.' I look down at the floor as I try to blink the tears away. My brain floats back to the scarce childhood memories I have with my parents.
"Arianna?..." Marc asks quietly. I look up at him, unable to stop my tears. He looks at me shocked, standing up; he walks over to me immediately. "Arianna, what's wrong? I'm sorry if it was me, please don't cry." He says wiping away my tears.
I shake my head, "it wasn't you."
He seems relieved as he pulls me into a hug, "what is it then? You can tell me; I won't tell anyone else."
I buried my head into his chest, "both of my parents died when I was seven, Cristiano is all I have."
He looked down at me with caring eyes, "that's not true, you also have me." He says as he tightens the hug. "You can count on me, anytime, ok?" I nodded at him. "Now smile for me!" I smiled.
I guess that wasn't enough because he started tickling me. "Marc! Marc, stop! Marc I'm smiling!"
He smiled back, "now that's a smile! Let's go have dinner, shall we?"
"Yeah, let's go." We stepped out into the dimly lit hallway, "Marc?" I said looking around.
"Boo," he whispered into my ear; I jumped.
"Marc!"
He laughed, "Ok, let's go." He puts his arm around me and asks, "What do you want for dinner?"
"Let's grab some pizza!" I say as we enter the cafeteria.
He raised an eyebrow at me, "are you sure that's ok for me, coach?"
I poked his stomach, "I'm sure you'll be alright for one meal!"
"Pizza it is then!" He says, "I'll go get us some, what do you want?"
"Cheese!"
"Ok," he laughs. I'll be right back.
I sat down at the table closest to me; Marc came back with two plate of hot cheese pizza. We both take a bite and watch the cheese stretch off the slice; I take my phone out and we take a selfie that way. I sent the picture to Cristiano so he could sleep in peace. A couple seconds later he replies with a "Fine." Once we are done eating, I grab my bag and get into Marc's car. As we drive off to Madrid, we talk about different types of music and movies we like, which footballers would make great actors, and other things like that.
Pulling up in front of my house, Marc announces, "Here we are!"
I smile at him, "thank you so much Marc."
"No problem!"
I give him a hug, "for everything," I whisper before I get out of the car and shut the door.
"See you tomorrow! Buenas noches!" Marc says as he drives away.
YESS DONE! Wow, that took some time! Thanks for waiting for this chapter! I hope you guys enjoyed it! Right now I'm just in a Piqué mood, if that makes sense....anyway....
Guess who's not single anymore...MARC BARTRA O.o
But...guess who is single...CRISTIANO RONALDO O.o
And me of course ;)
And Cristiano Ronaldo won the Ballon D'or! Somehow I knew Cristiano was going to win it this year; he just had a better year than Messi...oh well, I love them both! Cristiano Ronaldo Jr. is so cute!!
And Marc turned 24! EEEP! Stop getting older!
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Please leave me a comment telling me what you think of this chapter, and maybe click on the 'vote' button?
Love y'all,
Slytherin_Princess13 :)