Foolish one

Chapter 3

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I was standing on the edge of the usual cliff with my mom. Her hand was in mine, and we looked out over the city. The hike here had been so worth it. I sat down to tie my shoe. That's when it happened. She lost her footing and fell down. Not caring about my shoe anymore I grabbed hold of her hand. I tried pulling her up, tears were flooding my eyes and I screamed loudly at her to hold on. "I can't anymore!" she called out and let go.

"Elisa wake up! Wake up!" I heard someone yell. The noise was enough to pull me out of my dream and into reality. I was in an unfamiliar bed, with Alexia holding me in her arms. That was unusual. "Thank God you're awake. I heard screaming and then you kept talking about holding on. Are you okay?" she asked. Clearly worried about me and what was going on. "I'm fine, why are you wondering?" I responded without looking at her. "You clearly aren't fine. Otherwise, I wouldn't be in here right now." Alexia continued. She was indeed worried, her tone told me as much as her words did. "It was just a nightmare, don't worry." I told her. Even though I hated them, and they always left me feeling drained that was all they were. Nightmares. I couldn't control them, and they were probably a result of my mothers' death. I wouldn't tell her that. The only people who knew about my nightmares were my siblings and their significant others. People would pity me if they knew. They would treat me differently and I didn't want that. I wanted to be defined by the things that love, not the things that haunt me in the middle of the night. "Do you want to talk about it?" she asked. "No" I answered her honestly. I didn't like talking about it, she had no business knowing what it was about. "Okay, do you want me to stay?" she asked again. Her voice was weak, and I knew this wasn't just about me anymore. She was worried. So, for her sake I asked her to stay.

It took me seconds to fall asleep again when she was there with me. After that I didn't wake up until it was morning. I was all alone again. Slowly I made my way towards the kitchen where I heard Alexia cooking something. "Hola" I said as I sat down at the dining table. She let out a loud yelp and jumped a bit, clearly scared by words. "You scared me, how can you be so quiet when walking?" she exclaimed followed by a small laugh. "It's one of my many talents." I told her with a smile. "You want anything special for breakfast?" Alexia asked without turning around. "Do you have any oatmeal, I can cook it myself." I asked her. "Don't worry about it, I'll make you some." she told me before going through the cupboards for oats. I felt really bad at that. It was enough that I was sleeping at her apartment, had woken her up in the middle of the night. Now she was cooking for me. "You don't have to, I can go back to my own place, give me ten minutes and then I'll be out of your way." I told her frantically. I didn't need her to see me as a bother yet. "You are staying here. It's no problem for me at all. We can get to know each other better and you should not leave on an empty stomach." she responded calmly. And for the first time this morning she looked at me.

She was wearing a black tank-top and a pair of shorts with that. It was way less than what I was wearing, and she looked great. Way better than I would ever look. It was something about her that was so effortlessly hot. Alexia had the confidence of someone who knew they were a star. Who knew they were important and who knew they looked hot.

We spent the next few minutes in silence. Some music was playing in the background, I hadn't noticed that before. She sat down next to me, some pancakes on her plate and a bowl of oatmeal for me. Don't ask about my choice okay. It was something that I always ate, even though I hated both the texture and taste of it. Somehow it had made its way into my daily routine, and it was there to stay. I hated change. My breakfast was something I never changed, even though I barely ate anything for it, just because I hated the taste. It was something about eating in the morning that I hated. Hotel-breakfast was fine, I never went down just after I had woken up. It was a more special occasion than regular breakfast.

"Are you not going to eat any more, you can have some of my pancakes if you want." Alexia asked me. The worry in her voice from this night was back. "Gracias Alexia." I said as she handed me a plate of my own. The sweet pancakes were there, covered in Nutella. I ate one off them and that seemed to satisfy both Alexia and my stomach. The silence was there, we barely spoke a word to each other. I enjoyed it, the silence was comfortable. Most everything was comfortable with her. That was strange, we had only know each other for about a year. We barely spoke at all during my time with the B-team. She tried to when I played with them. It was during that time when I barely spoke with anyone. Too hurt about what had happened in the past.

After I finished my breakfast, I volunteered to do the dishes. Alexia on the other hand was not happy about me doing it all alone and dried everything. We stood there, just small talking about everything and nothing. It was mostly Alexia who was talking, I added my opinion when necessary but kept quiet when I could. She drove me home after, waiting outside when I changed into my training gear. I grabbed my boots, shin guards and a banana on the way out as well as a hairbrush and my makeup bag. While Alexia drove the two of us, I put my hair up in a ponytail and braided the entirety of my hair. I quickly did my makeup, skipping most of my usual steps. It ended up with me only putting on concealer, highlighter, mascara and of course some brow-gel to tame the brows. I don't even know why I liked wearing makeup to practice. The sweat always made it heavy, however I always thought I looked better with makeup, more put together. "You don't have to do your makeup for practice, it's a closed training today. That means no cameras and no fans." Alexia complained. "I know. I just like wearing makeup Miss. Putellas." I answered cheekily. "I totally get that, but wouldn't it be nice to just relax while I drive you?" she asked. "No" I told her and looked out of the window. We were a few minutes away now and I couldn't wait to get there. The rest of the way we joked with each other. Going back and forth about who would be the best in training.

It ended up being Alexia who was the better one in training. Not that I had any faith in myself being better than her. She was La Reina for a reason, and it showed.

This practice we had a new player, she had previously played for Sweden and was an incredible central midfielder. I watched in awe as she made shot after shot. She made everything look easy that girl. After practice she introduced herself to me and the rest of the group, showing more confidence that I had shown the previous day. In a way she was a lot like both Mapí and Alexia, confident in her ability to succeed. "I'm Ottilia Jansson, and who are you? I just want to get to know my new teammates better, believe me I don't want to sound like a stalked and I probably do." Ottilia told me, dropping the previously confident face she had on. "I'm Elisa García, and you do not sound like a stalker. I would want to do the same thing if I didn't already know everyone when I moved here." I confessed with a small smile. Now it was my turn to feel confident. "When did you transfer here?" she asked me. "I had my first practice as a part of the A-team yesterday, I have played a few games with them before. I was a player for the B-team for three years and sometimes got the chance to be on the bench with the pros." I answered her honestly. "And another question, sorry for being so annoying but how old are you?" she asked me. I could get a hint of who she was under her façade and maybe she wasn't as confident as she showed. "I'm eighteen, so I was born in 1999." I answered her, glad to finally be the more confident in the conversation. "Me too, I'm so delighted at that fact if I'm being honest. I thought I would be the youngest here." Ottilia confessed with a smile. "You are probably the more mature of the two of us, living in another country alone, while I still live with my sister." I joked. "I don't live alone, I have two cats." she told me, and that was the end of our short conversation. At that point I didn't know she would become one of my closest friends here in Barcelona.

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Who is your favorite character so far and why?

Anyways Elisa is loosely based on me and my feelings. Making her super socially awkward and always eating the same breakfast is a tactical choice. And might be a hint to my own life and possibly autism. 

Also Ottilia coming here. I mean she plays with Elisa for 5 years and they are friends so it kind of makes sense. I should have started with this story, but didn't so you will have to suffer from the consequenses of my actions.

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