Playing Pretend (Pablo Gavi)

Chapter 13

"Carolina! Wait!"

Carolina turned to see Gavi by the door, walking towards her. She stopped walking to allow him to catch up to her.

"Sorry I missed the match".

"It's ok. Fermín told me you had to go to a doctor. Everything ok?"

"Yes", he said, smiling. "It looks like I'm making more progress than what I should have so far but I have to be careful too".

"Cool, that's good news".

"I'm sorry about your injury".

"Well", shrugged Carolina. "It's annoying but I can't really complain in front of you, can I?"

Gavi laughed and Carolina couldn't help but think about everything Fermín said the other day. She hadn't been able to stop thinking about his words since he surprised her telling her all of that. Telling her so many things she wasn't still ready to face.

"You got Fermín looking after you, though".

"He was really weird the other day".

"Weird how?"

"Just...weird", said Carolina, not wanting to tell Gavi about what Fermín had said.

They both noticed they were scheduled to do a gym session at the same time, so they walked there together after changing into their kits.

"Morning!"

Carolina turned to face the annoying little voice that had saluted them. Not what she needed right now...or ever.

"What do you want?", she said to João.

"I'm here to do my rehab".

"Do it away from me. The gym is big enough for you to not be near me so I don't have to see your face. Actually, the city is too so...bye bye!"

Gavi stared at the two of them, fascinated. He had never seen them talk before so it was a surprise to see Carolina be so harsh with the Portuguese player.

"Why do you hate João?"

"I know him. I hate him. That's all you need to know".

"But...".

"Let's start warming up. Believe it or not, we could still get more injuries so let's not risk it".

During their workout, Gavi focused on his exercises and tried not to be distracted by Carolina's presence.

Ok, he could admit Carolina was really pretty. And there was something so intriguing about the way she exercised. It was like she forgot there was a world around her. She was so focused on her task. She had always been like that. And she now smiled at him too...

"Stop this", he told herself and said goodbye to Carolina before heading to the dressing room to shower.

"Careful who you hang out with, Gavi".

"What do you mean?"

"Her", said João, looking at Carolina. "I don't like her".

"She doesn't seem to like you much either".

"Probably just mad I never flirted with her or something. She's not even that pretty. I don't know what Fermín sees in her".

"They're not together".

"So he says...".

"They're not together", repeated Gavi.

"Ok. Don't care. You should both stay away from her".

I can't, thought Gavi. And seeing the way Carolina looked at João made him realise she had never hated him. The hatred he saw in her eyes had never been there when she argued with Gavi. And he was thankful for that. She could be very scary.

He also wanted to defend Carolina too. Because it was stupid to believe she disliked João because he never paid attention to her. As stupid as it was believing he thought she wasn't pretty. But he didn't take rejection well, so...

"You flirted with her and she turned you down, right?"

"What? No...".

But the way the Portuguese player blushed said it all. "Ok, I'll believe you".

"I'd die from embarrassment if she turned me down".

"Why?"

"That Espanyol guy, Fermín, ...she spent too much time with a few guys at Atleti too. Even the married ones. Imagine the shame if someone so easy turns you down".

João's words achieved just what he wanted...to make Carolina look bad. Even if what he said was a lie. But they also achieved something else...they made Gavi want to punch him. But how could he explain that to the team?

Once again, he did nothing. Once again, he failed her.

Sevilla, 2014

"She's just weak", said one of the boys from their team, sneering at Carolina.

"Yeah".

Gavi knew Carolina could hear them but didn't say anything. He didn't want to say anything but they always noticed and made him participate in bullying her. He hated them for that so much.

"Right, Gavi?"

"What?"

"I said that Caro just got injured because she's a weak girl who shouldn't play with us. You agree too, right?"

The tone used made it clear he better agreed. But he could see Carolina starting to tear up and just nodded, hoping she didn't see it. But she did. Of course she did, because her eyes were only on Gavi.

They saw her getting up, rubbing her eyes with her hands to get rid of the tears, before walking closer to them.

"This weak little girl will have a career in football while you won't even finish highschool", she told the main bully.

"Maybe you could become a cheerleader. I would like to see you jumping around and wearing a skirt while you cheer us on".

Carolina's reaction was to spit on his face and Gavi's eyes opened wide. "Try to injure me again and see what happens. And that applies to all of you".

Everyone was too shocked to do something and Carolina took that chance to leave. She pretended to be tough but she couldn't fool Gavi. He had seen the fear in her eyes. Carolina feared being hurt by the other players...and Gavi didn't do anything to defend her, even if he wanted to.

Barcelona, present time

Gavi had made plans with Fermín for after training and saw his friend waiting for him by his car.

"I found someone who Caro hates more than me".

"She doesn't hate you but who?"

"João".

"Knew that already", said Fermín, snorting.

"How?"

"I don't know. Something must have happened but they don't want to tell me. They just bitch about each other and I ignore them".

"I think she turned him down and he's mad about that".

"I wonder why that's your first thought...and why you smile while saying it", laughed Fermín.

"I'm not smiling".

"Sure. But also, he should have seen someone like Caro would never date someone like him. Like, João is my friend but...yeah, no way".

"How do you know that?"

"Because I know Caro. Do you want to know if she'd date someone like you?"

"I already know the answer".

"She would".

Gavi stared at Fermín before getting inside the car. Could what he said be true?