Secret embraces || harry lewis

24

twenty-four

The cheers were surrounding us. I could barely hear my own thoughts. I had my hands thighly wrapped around the camera whilst walking outside. The screams got louder. ''Joan, do you copy?'' Johns voice made me turn around until I noticed that it came through the headphones. ''Yeah, yeah, copy or whatever.'' I muttered whilst taking in everything around me. Kon wasn't with us for the game. He was actually in it. I felt the fans eyes on me. Fingers being pointed. ''Kristy, are you on the left wing?'' Turning on the camera, I listened to the people talk over the headset. ''Yes, fucking hell, this is crazy.'' I smiled, knowing how she was feeling. ''Sold out in under 24 hours.''

Music was playing but the fans were louder. I could barely make out which song was being played. ''The boys should be here in about a minute.'' John was right, as I turned to look at the big screen, a countdown started. The Allstar and Sidemen FC logo in the background. I quickly took some pictures of the people around me, some were posing, others were focused on the screen. 

''Ladys and gentlemen. Welcome to this year's Sidemen charity match!''

The hair on my whole body went straight. A smile appeared on my face. ''Please welcome with us on the pitch, the Youtube Allstars!'' I looked to the tunnel through which I just walked to see the team dressed in red jog onto the pitch. I quickly ran up front to take pictures, smiling at them. Some of them smiled at me and the camera, the others waved at the fans. ''And now, the moment we've been waiting for, winner of the latest match, Sidemen FC!'' The screams got louder, as the team dressed in black followed close after the Allstars. They jogged past me as I tried to take as many pictures as possible, some with the crowd in the background, some close up. Suddenly, I felt a hand touching my shoulder, it went by fast but as I turned around, I saw Harry sending me a big smile.

He's been talking about the match for the past two weeks. After we decided to ignore all the questions and post about us, we realised that none of it actually mattered. I realised why Harry staid off social media most of the time. If we can't see it, it won't bother us. That's how we've been living for the past three weeks. Today was the first time we were out in public, knowing that fans were keeping an eye on us. And neither of us gave a fuck.

''Joan! Joan!'' I spun around to see some kids leaning over the railing of the tribune. Taking one last look at the teams, I quickly jogged up to them. ''Hi.'' I smiled up to them. ''Is it true? You and Harry are dating?'' I smiled, nodding. ''Guess you could say that.'' The smiled. ''How'd he manage that?'' I laughed at the boy, maybe around 16 or 17. ''A lot of luck.'' We laughed but were interrupted by the announcer again. ''I see, the boys are ready. Well, let's get this show started. Steven, are you there?'' Seconds later, Steven appeared on the screen, a minute countdown next to him. ''I'm more than ready. Oh look, Ethan is running just as fast as his dad!'' I couldn't hold back a laugh. ''Enjoy the game.'' Waving at the fans, I jogged back to the side of the pitch.

''Thirty seconds, guys.'' John said, making me run faster. The fans were counting down the last ten seconds and then the whistle appeared. I watched the ball being taken by Simon, who passed it only seconds later. I used to be a big football fan but had no time to actually go to a game in a long time. I watched the teams pass the ball to their teammates. Only three minutes into the game, Speed had a chance to score, but missed by a good meter. ''This could have been a dream goal, but it's only Speed. Dream didn't reply to Josh's messages.'' I enjoyed Steven's commentary. He made the game even more enjoyable than it already was. ''Oh, Mr Beast lost the ball. Shouldn't have eaten that much of the Feastables.'' 

Walking up and down the sideline, I stopped to take a look at the pictures I've taken up until now. Checking if the lighting was good, if I had to change the setting. And during that, I lost focus of the game but was brought back by cheers. ''Miniminter, he's got the ball. Run, Simon.'' I looked up to see the tall man running right past me. The wind blew through my hair. I noticed that I was only a few meters away from the Alllstar goal. Completely forgetting what I was here for, I followed the ball. ''Simon to Ethan, Ethan back to Simon. He's looking for a clean shot. Harry's free. Simon to Harry! Here's the first change for Sidemen FC, do they take it? Do they take it!?'' Cheers erupted, I couldn't hold back a scream before jumping up and down. ''Wroetoshaw scores! He scores!''