𝓟𝓪𝓹𝓮𝓻 𝓡𝓲𝓷𝓰𝓼 ; 𝓟𝓮𝓭𝓻𝓲

Chapter 5

Excitement and anticipation lingered in the air, as thousands of fans started singing and chanting for the two teams. Mari and I both stood up, clapping loudly as the FC Barcelona players walked onto the pitch.

Both rival teams shook each other's hands as a sign of respect, before tossing a coin into the air to see who was going to start the proceedings of the match. "Yes!" Mari squealed happily next to me, as FC Barcelona won the toss. The referee then sounded the whistle, signalling the game had begun.
I watched closely as Pedri managed to stay in close possession of the ball, before then passing it back to Gavi. The first ten minutes involved light passing between the players, until the opposition suddenly took quick control of the ball, they were dribbling closer and closer to FC Barcelona's goalkeeper, Ter Stegen.

I gripped the edge of my seat, feeling my body tense as I crossed my fingers with the hope that the rival team, Atletico Madrid, wouldn't score. De Jong tried tackling the player, but he was harshly shoved to the ground which paved the way for the opposition to score. "Foul!" Myself and many other fans screamed but the referee disregarded it and announced that the goal counted. Shouts of disagreement echoed throughout the stadium, but the game continued.
A few minutes later Pedri managed to score an equaliser, giving everyone hope again. He slid across the grass in celebration and winked at the cameras, before returning back to the game.
"Do you think we're going to win?" Mari asked me.
"Hmm, I have a feeling we will."

We were minutes away from half-time now, and things had turned from great to horrible very quickly. Atletico Madrid  scored again and was now leading with two points, and FCB was behind with one. Pedri angrily threw up his hands in the air, clearly frustrated. He muttered something to himself, before storming off the pitch towards the locker room, with the rest of the team trailing behind him.

"Do you think I should go see if he's okay?"

I asked Mari, whilst squinting to see if I could spot any glimpses of him. She didn't say anything but instead smirked at me with a knowing look in her eyes. "Don't look at me like that! I'm just being a supportive fake girlfriend." I warned although that wasn't entirely true. At that moment, I felt like supporting him as a friend, not as his fake girlfriend.

I didn't understand why I suddenly felt like checking up on him, maybe it was because he had started being somewhat nice to me. I mean we were going to have to learn to get on with each other and be nice, in order to get through this contract.

"If you say so," She shrugged, "But if you ask me, I think it's very easy for fake feelings to turn into something real."
"That is total crap. We have kept this fake, pretend relationship going for a while now, and trust me when I say this ... Pedri and I are definitely not going to fall in love." I emphasised, crossing my arms. I didn't understand why everyone kept saying we would, just the mere thought of it was ridiculous.

After noticing that half-time was nearly over, I jumped up and began to make my way towards the locker room, where Pedri would most likely be. The security guards parted and made way for me as soon as they saw me coming. The loud cheers from the stadium began to fade as I got closer to the locker room.
The strong smell of sweat and body odour let me know I was walking in the right direction.

As I entered the locking room, I heard Pedri shouting at his teammates.

"We are not about to let ourselves lose to them. We don't lose.
So get the fuck back out there, and do better."

He fumed, breathing heavily. I stood a few steps behind him, not wanting to interrupt.
"He's in a bad mood right now, I wouldn't stay if I were you." Gavi kindly warned as he and the other players walked past me.