Spain, Soccer, Love?

Chapter Thirty-Four

Mae's Flashback

THIS CHAPTER IS A FLASHBACK IN MAE'S PERSPECTIVE

I wasn't really thinking when I booked a super cheap flight to Valencia and was leaving my hometown of San Diego for the first time. I had never left the country before, yet here I was, wandering the streets of Valencia aimlessly.

The flight had gone smoothly, yet I was devastated to find that one of my suitcases had been lost and placed on some other flight. As if life couldn't get any worse, someone stole most of the money I had, snatching my wallet when I wasn't paying attention.

Luckily, I stored about $100 US dollars, my passport, and my ID in my backpack, and I still have one suitcase, which is filled with some clothes. Other than that, everything is going horribly.

I'm not really sure what compelled me to come to Valencia of all places. I guess it was probably since the flights were cheap, and considering I had to use my money and not my parents, cheap was exactly what I was looking for.

I guess I'm grateful to just be an ocean away from my family. Life back home wasn't absolutely terrible, but there was just so much pressure. When I told my parents I wanted to take a gap year before heading off to NYU for college, they pretty much flipped. I just needed to get out of there.

I've been walking around looking for a cheap place to stay for about 3 hours now. To my dismay, all the places that I can afford are booked, and all of the places that aren't booked, are too expensive.

I hear a soft rumbling coming from my stomach, and can feel the tiredness finally catching up to me. I notice the sun is only getting lower and lower in the sky, indicating I don't have much time before it's dark. I try to turn on my phone to check the time, but am greeted by the no battery signal.

Great. Just great.

I take a seat in front of a random building, and watch as the sun sets lower and lower, and my eyelids start to slowly close. I really shouldn't just fall asleep in the middle of nowhere, but I honestly don't have any other options.

I lean my head against the wall of the building, and let myself slowly drift off to sleep.

"Uh, excuse me? Miss, are you okay?"

I snapped awake from my slumber by a voice, opening my eyes to be greeted by a man standing over me.

He looks to be about my age, maybe a few years older. He's quite tall, with dark curly hair, and green eyes that stand out against his tan skin. Damn he's hot.

Um, are you okay?" he asks, a bit worried.

"Ya, definitely. Why wouldn't I be?" I respond, getting up quickly from where I was resting.

"Well, I came home to find a random girl with a suitcase sleeping on my front porch. That makes me a bit concerned," he smiles.

"Shit! This is your place? I'm really sorry. I just didn't know where to go cause someone took all my money and I was really tired so I decided to just sit down for a bit, but I guess I fell asleep-" I rant.

"Hey, hey. It's okay," he says, cutting me off from my rant.

He looks around for a moment, then asks, "How old are you?"

"18, but my birthday is in January so I'll be 19 in a few months."

"Hey, I'm two years older! My birthday is also in January!" he exclaims, causing a small smile to grow on my face.

"That's cool," I say, shivering a bit when a cold gust of wind blows past us.

"Listen, I think it would be pretty rude to just leave you out here in the cold with no place to go. I have an extra room in my place. Why don't you just stay there until you can find a place to go," he offers.

That's both a very kind and tempting offer, yet I would feel a bit bad invading his place.

"I- I can't accept that," I murmur.

"Why not? Do you really want to stay out here in the cold?" he asks, and on cue, another gust of cold wind blows through.

Damn I hate winter.

"Umm, you sure it's okay?"

"Positive," he smiles.

"Okay then. Sure, I'll accept your offer."

He helps me grab my suitcase, and shows me inside. He leads me to a small guest room, with a bed, desk, and closet, that connects to a bathroom.

He sets my suitcase down, and begins to give me a tour of his place. It's a nice place, with a full size kitchen, living room, and a whole other bathroom and bedroom.

He gestures for me to take a seat at the table, and begins to make some kind of hot drink.

"So what's your story?" I ask, curious to know a bit more about him.

"My story?"

"Ya, your story. What do you do, where are you from. That kind of stuff," I explain.

"Hmmm, my story. Well, my name is Christian Santos, and I am a professional footballer for Valencia Cf," he says.

"No way! That's freaking amazing!" I exclaim, amazed that I am literally in the house of a professional footballer.

"It is, isn't it. It took a lot of work to get here. I grew up in a pretty poor village in Brazil, as my parents weren't very rich. Luckily, the Gods had blessed me with some talent, and I was able to work my way out of there," he exclaims.

"What about your parents?" I ask, wondering if he brought them here with him.

"Um, after I left to come play here, our village got flooded, and um. Well- Well they didn't make it," he says, turning away from me.

"Shit, I'm so sorry," I apologize both for his parents death and for even asking that question.

"Don't worry about it," he smiles sadly.

I glance around the room for a moment, trying to figure out what to talk about next, when I notice an XBox plugged into his TV.

"You got Fifa? Because if you do, we should definitely play it," I smile mischievously.

You're on."

So, I decided to cut the flashback into two parts, just because otherwise it will be very long. There will be a little bit of a time jump in the next flashback! Next chapter is coming out on Saturday! (7/1/23)