Niall entered a VIP box full of an array of people. They were all around his age, as promised by the friend who had invited him here today, but he didn't recognize anyone aside from his friend.
He didn't watch much of the football match at first, electing to let his friend lead him around the room and introduce him to everyone who was there. Well, not everyone.
"Who's that?" Niall asked, pointing to a girl, the only girl who he hadn't spoken to yet and seemed to be the only one who was closely watching the game
"I... don't know," his friend replied, a confused look on his face. "She was the first one here, but I don't think she's spoken to anyone."
Niall hummed as he continued to stare at the girl's back. Her long dark hair was pulled back into a ponytail and partially covered by a cap, obscuring his view of her face, and she was wearing a sweatshirt, which Niall thought was odd considering it was July and extremely hot outside.
Well, only one way to find out, he thought to himself as he walked over to where she was sitting. Niall sat down in the seat next to hers, but she didn't really acknowledge him. In fact, he wasn't entirely sure she knew someone was sitting next to her at all. He glanced over at her, trying his best not to look creepy as he tried to see if he could place her, to see if something about her appearance would reveal some sort of connection to someone else in the VIP box, but he couldn't.
"They need to change their formation," she muttered. To him or just to herself, Niall wasn't sure, but he took the opportunity.
"What?"
She didn't flinch when he spoke, which told him that she was aware that he'd sat down next to her. With her eyes still on the field down below, she explained herself. "Our defense. I don't know why Jill decided three in the back was a good idea. We've always done four."
We? Niall thought curiously. Maybe this girl, woman, really, was just a huge fan, but something about the way she seemed so invested and knowledgeable about the team playing today told him it was more than that. "Maybe you should tell the coach," he suggested jokingly.
To his surprise, she took her phone out of her sweatshirt pocket, shooting off a text to someone before slipping it back in her pocket again.
"Did you really text the coach just now?" He asked her, his voice a little astonished.
"Don't be ridiculous," the girl replied. "Jill doesn't keep her phone on her during games. I texted the assistant coach."
Niall was stunned into silence after that, letting the girl watch the rest of the first half in peace. She would mutter things about both teams from time to time, if there was a bad call, or if one of the women on the field made a particularly good pass. Niall never heard her phone chime or vibrate in the girl's pocket, but he kind of wished it would, just to see if she was bluffing or not.
When the whistle blew and both teams walked off the field, the girl turned towards Niall with a friendly smile on her face and stuck her hand out. "Sorry if I came off a little rude, I can be kind of intense when it comes to these games. Soccer in general, really. I'm Luz."
"Niall," Niall said. Taking her hand and shaking it, he took this opportunity to look at her up close, having only seen her side profile so far.
She was pretty, beautiful, he would go as far to say, her smile now lighting up her entire face, her dark brown eyes crinkling a bit. It was almost a complete one-eighty to the girl he'd sat down next to a few minutes ago. Niall worried that Luz wouldn't be amicable and he would regret sitting down next to her in an attempt to start a conversation, but it seemed she was telling the truth about being intense about football, or soccer, as she called it.
