Foolish one

Chapter 1

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The day I signed my first contract for the FC Barcelona women's team was one of the proudest days of my life. I sat there and got my shirt, with the number 2 on the back and my last name over it. My sister stood against the wall, with tears streaming down her face. I knew she was proud of me, and she knew how much this day meant to me. When I was done with the signing, we went out to dinner. She paid for our meal, and we sat there for hours, just talking and eating. To start the dinner, we each had a glass of champagne. Something my sister insisted on. She continued the night with cocktails while I decided on mocktails. I had my first day of practice the day after and didn't want to deal with a hungover then.

The night ended with laughter and dancing on our way home. It was perfect.

When I found out that Barcelona wanted me in their team, I was 15. They wanted me to play for the B-team, the only problem was that I lived in Tarragona. It took longer than an hour to drive each way. It was not manageable. I moved in with my sister. She is thirteen years older than me and lives in Barcelona. That way I would be able to chase my dream, while my parents could stay in Tarragona. It was the optimal solution for my family. When my mother got diagnosed with cancer, I was relieved that I didn't live with her. It makes me sound like a horrible person. In reality it would be so much to have to watch my mother slowly fade away from cancer. Living with my sister Daniela got the two of us to have a better relationship. When I moved in with her and her boyfriend it was like a weight got lifted from my chest. She helped me a lot and was always there to watch my games. Of course, I wanted to be there with my mom, but for my mental health it was better for me to stay in Barcelona. Me and my sister rarely visited them, I was busy with football and school, and she was busy with her job. My older brother still lived in Tarragona and took care of our mother. He was fifteen years older than me and already married and had children when I moved in with my sister. I was way younger than both of my siblings and closer in age with my brother's children. Between us it was a ten- and twelve-year age difference.

Signing a contract meant that I would leave the comfortable place of the B-team for a more competitive A-team where I barely knew anyone. I had played a few games with them. I talked a bit with some of them, but not enough to feel comfortable with moving there alone. Not that I had anything to say about that, I signed the contract out of free will. It was the best decision for my career, and it was close to home. Not like Ona who signed for a Madrid team, moving six hours away from her family. Moving six hours away from me. I hoped that at least I wouldn't be the only new player in the team this season. I was still however the youngest which was bad according to me. They all had more experiences with football and each other from the national team. I didn't play with them yet. I was too young and not good enough. Someday in the future I would hopefully play for the national team. It would be an incredible honour.

Since I singed, I was in a constant state of panic. I spent the night crying. When I woke up the next day my eyes were red and puffy. What a great way to make a first impression.

The first thing I did was wash my face with cold water, that had a chance of removing the swelling at least. Not that it did. I wouldn't be that lucky today. After that I went down and made breakfast. Today I made scrambled eggs. I couldn't get them down and gave up after 20 minutes of trying. I packed a banana in my bag. I knew I needed to eat, but it was difficult because I couldn't get it down. It was the nerves, nothing else. Instead of eating I changed into my training kit and packed my cleats and shin guards. Then I started moving towards the field. It was a long bus ride. I had music in my ears to make it more bearable. When I finally arrived, I was relieved that the parking lot was almost empty.

Slowly I made my way inside, silent chewing on the banana that I had decided to eat now. I made my way towards the changing rooms. I knew the way around the training grounds. All Barcelona teams played here and that meant that I had been here a lot. Sometimes we had practice with the A-team, but most of the time we didn't. Most of the players were familiar to me, if I hadn't played with them they were familiar from the national team. This however was a new time for me to have practice and even though I was scared I couldn't help but to be excited. I was playing at the highest level in Spain. That was an achievement at 18, it was an achievement at any age.

I opened the door to the changing room and saw that I was in fact alone. There was a place there that had my name over it. Elisa García. It really hit me at that time, I was actually here, playing for Barcelona.

I took my time putting on everything and maybe I was a little bit in my own world. "Hola Elisa. Are you joining us for training today? I noticed we had a few new signings, know any of them?" Alexia asked. I jumped out of my skin. I didn't notice her coming inside. "Yeah, I signed for the A-team yesterday." I responded with a quiet voice. She was quite intimidating if I'm being honest. "Congratulations! We're going to be teammates Elisa, isn't that exciting?" she exclaimed and pulled me in for a hug. That was unexpected. She was older than me, and a great player. Why would she be excited to play with me? "It's exciting." I mumbled with a smile. "You get to meet Mapí today. She also signed for us and is one of my closest friends." Alexia continued. She looked excited at the fact, and I couldn't help but smile.

The room was soon filled with players, I recognized most of them and when they found out that I would be playing for them they were excited. I on the other hand was confused by it. They were older, better, and more experienced. Why would they care about me?

Practice went well. I managed to stop a few of the other team's attacks. My passes were great and so were my shots. I even got words of encouragement from my coach and teammates. That was awesome. After practice I got invited to team building. We would be going to an apartment and eat dinner. I didn't they would want me there.

I took the bus home as always. People turned around when I sat down, that was when I realized how sweaty I was. There were drops of sweat in my hairline and I probably smelled like shit. I was used to the Spanish sun, but I wasn't used to the tempo that everyone played in. I had to run faster and longer than I had done before in practice. I also had to concentrate on the new and more difficult exercises. It proved to be harder than I thought. I was happy to be on my way home.

As soon as I got home, I put on some music and stepped into the shower. I washed my hair and body as well as shaving. Even though I shaved yesterday. I would probably need to wear shorts or a skirt and then it didn't hurt to have clean shaved legs. I smothered my body in body butter and painted my nails in a dark red colour. When my hair was dried, I braided it into two Dutch braids to get it out of my face. I did some simple makeup, nothing fancy at all. Just concealer, mascara and some lip-gloss. I continued getting ready and decided on clothes. Ultimately, I decided on a shorter dress with a flower pattern and a cardigan over it. That was only necessary later in the evening. I also added my usual doc-martens and a black bag. I hoped it would be enough and that I wouldn't look bad in front of my teammates.

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What are we think about this?

I want to get to know you all better. So I was thinking that I'm going to be asking a question after each chapter and maybe you all can answer.

The first question is:
Where are you from?
I am from Sweden.

I  have a playlist for this book. It contains songs I listen to when writing and think fits in with the book.

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/0YKVq2DHLexYYlfu8lhTZP?si=54ea469183ea41a7

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