The Rising Star - Alexia Putellas

Part 140

A/N: Happy Monday everyone! Sorry I have been gone for so long. A lot of stuff I needed to go through lately. Anyway enjoy the chapter!

We had one more rough training planned before we could focus on the last national game of the year. One more game and I could go back to Barcelona. 

The day off I spent with Alba helped me to sort out my negative thoughts about my coaches, but it only took a few minutes for them to resurface when training started. Although Vlatko was slowly coming around, the situation with Henry stayed the same. Both men kept pushing me to my limits. While one did it mentally, the other pushed me physically. By the end of training I was drained. 

We were doing a passing drill with the midfielders. I started the drill and executed it as fast and as precisely as I could. Every ball was right on target and my speed was uncannily, and yet it wasn't good enough. 

“Come on, Queen. You gotta be faster than that if you want to compete with the best!” Henry said sternly right next to me. 

One more push. Just a bit faster. 

“Those passes are way too weak. They need to be firmer, more precise. Come on, Queen!” He said during the next round. 

Come on. Faster. One more push. 

After I had dropped all of my stuff off in the locker room, I walked up to the ice bath where Carli was already doing her recovery. I got rid of my socks and slippers and slowly let myself emerge into the freezing water. A hiss left my mouth. Even though I don't mind ice baths, they're still cold as hell. 

Once I was completely under, I felt my muscles relax. I let out a breath that I didn't know I was holding and I closed my eyes. I could feel Carli burning a hole in the side of my face, observing every little detail of my face. 

“You look tired.” She finally broke the silence with her simple statement. Carli carefully inspected my face, noticing the dark circles forming under my eyes.

“Rough training.” I muttered with my eyes still closed. 

Carli chuckled at that and agreed. “You definitely went all out.” But her laughter immediately got replaced with worry. “You don't always have to push your body that much you know” 

I let out a deep sigh. “I know”, I mumbled, but it's hard not to when you have two coaches breathing down your neck. 

“You're important to this team. Don't forget that.” 

“You're important to this team. I need you to show up.” We were nearing the end of our training session and to be honest, I just wanted it to be over. 

Henry had been on my ass the whole time and now that we were going to do a scrimmage, I didn't see him leaving me alone anytime soon. 

“I need you to show me and the others why you are the star of the team. You need to lead the team during this little game. If you're not showing up, they won't win and that's on you.” Vlatko explained to me after he had taken me apart. 

It's on you. Those words kept running through my head. It's on you. He gave me one final big smile, patted me on the shoulder and walked over to where the coaching staff was standing. I walked over and took my place on the field. 

“Ellie”

I could feel Henry's eyes on me. When I briefly looked up, I could see him looking at me, a sick grin on his face, one that challenged me to fail.