The Superstar Contingency (2018 FIFA World Cup Future Fanfiction)

Chapter 12- Misconceptions

"Zack...Hey Zack! Are you even listening?" Neymar waved his hands in front of me. 

"Huh? Oh...yea sure..." I only spoke words to move the conversation. 

I'm in Neymar's hotel room at the moment. Sometime after the game, he texted me asking if I wanted to hangout with the rest of the team to kind of celebrate their victory. Cristiano decided he wanted to go out to a dinner and that I couldn't go. And I really didn't want to be alone after what I...saw...So I decided to take Neymar's offer and come by. The guys drank a bit, we talked, cracked jokes, and I watched them play poker, for hours. Through it all, I tried to maintain a positive attitude. But instead, my composure is slipping... So here we are now. It's 1AM and we're still awake. 

"See you're not even listening." Neymar pointed at me. 

"What're you talking about?? I was!" I assured. 

"Oh yea? What was the last thing I said?" he challenged. 

"Um..It was...about..." I wasn't really sure what to say. 

"Ha! See, NOT listening." He shook his finger. 

I lightly groaned resting my head face down on the table we were sitting at. He got up and walked over to the couch, laying down as he approached it. 

"Alright. Go ahead. Spill it." He blatantly said. I turned my head to the side to face him while still resting it on the table. 

"I have absolutely no idea what mean. What're you talking about?" I raised an eyebrow attempting to throw him off. 

"You. David's right about one thing. Ever since I last saw you a little over a week ago you've been acting kind of different. You seem like you're more reserved than usual." He brought up.

"Is that a bad thing?" I questioned him. 

"Not at all, it's just unsettling. I've at least known you long enough to know that it's not your usual kind of mood. And tonight I noticed it even more." He wondered.

Damn...he's reading me... 

"Alright fine, I had an anxiety attack the week before we met again. So I'm trying to keep my attitude in check. I spent that whole week practicing with my ball and staying inside not wanting to be bothered by anyone cause I didn't want to risk it." I turned away. 

"I remember you saying something about that when we were at the amusement park with Maria. Does it still bother you? Not knowing who your real parents are I mean?" He truthfully asked. 

"Of course it does. But I still have to live don't I? All I can do is hope that I can find the answers myself sometime in the future. Right now I'm still trying to get on my own feet." I chuckled a bit towards the end of my sentence. "But you know, It's scary...not knowing who you are. Just knowing that you exist without a real purpose. Right now, I'm just Zack, No middle name, no last name, just Zack. And even that might not be my name. I'm no one special, just a guy in Moscow with bad financial stability." I said with less emotion. 

"You shouldn't talk about yourself like that, like you don't matter to anyone. You have a lot of people now who do care about you, like Cristiano, Maria, and myself included." Neymar spoke.

"You're right...the day before we went to Magic Russia, I thought I was ready to leave the house. Cristiano and I went to a game and that's when I found out I wasn't ready... Maria was the one who found me right as things weren't looking so good." I explained, Neymar acted like he was actually thinking. 

"Hmm...Well who knows? Maybe you're Brazilian like me!" He and I both laughed. But it soon got quiet. 

"Hey, seriously, be honest, you like Maria don't you?" he asked.