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Chapter Eight

Chapter Eight
"Hey Beautiful" I said to her as she walked in the park. "Hey Handsome" she replied hugging me. Within moments we eye bubbling with conversation, she could be heard giggling from the streets as I told her about my day in a way only I can. We spent about 4 hours talking until hunger started to set in, do we decided to get something to eat. It was a pleasant stroll to the nearest restaurant that just happened to have exactly what we wanted at the time.... Pizza. It's like life had a plan for us that afternoon as the restaurant had a romantic setup from someone's engagement earlier, the chef made us the exact pizza we wanted. It was really romantic...... But nobody wants to hear that sooooooooooooooooooooooo, I'll just count to 100 on French, in 10's sooooooooooooooooooooooo please enjoy. Zéro (There was flowers), Dix (The pizza was nice), Vingt ( I can't talk with my mouth full), Trente (Still chewing), Quarante (We sang together, it was like a Disney movie................................................. Moving on), Cinqante (We danced to Ed Sheeran music), Soixante (We got free food), Soixante-dix (I got a free rose), Quatre-Vingts (We kissed............ so there's that........, Quatre-Vingt-Dix (I can't even believe I'm still doing this) and finally after forever and a day Cent. We thanked all the people at the restaurant and started to head down the road to get a taxi. "Are you okay?" I asked noticing that she was staring at the sky. "Baby I'm alright" she replied. "With just a kiss goodnight" I added before - (un, deux, trois, quatre, cinq, six, sept, huit, neuf, dix). She waved and blew a kiss at me as the taxi sped off. It seemed like that night was supposed to be romantic as we arrived home at the same time and spoke on the phone for hours until she eventually fell asleep after agreeing to meet again next Friday. I hung up the phone and tried to roll over and sleep but unfortunately my insomnia wanted to review how amazing the day was.

When I finally fell asleep it was 4........ pm and it was for all of 35 minutes as I shot up realizing that I had a match in 25 minutes. Thankfully the venue was 15 minutes away. I jumped in the shower, changed into my kit and jumped in a taxi. I arrived on the field with enough time to put on my boots and march on with the rest of my team. "Got a bit of sea water in your ear bro?" joked Ethan as he, Daniel and Nathaniel snickered. I gave a rushed speech before we went on to play a team coincidentally called the Sea Lions. Within minutes there actually was sea water in my ear as the shirt of the defender who seemed intent on injuring me read "C Water". I eventually shook him and sprinted down the right wing setting up the first goal of the match with Nathaniel volleying in my cross, the keeper had no chance. By halftime the score was Saints 4 - 3 Sea Lions, my teammates called me Nicozil as I had assisted 3 and scored one of the four goals. We entered the locker room where I was finally able to give my proper motivational speech. With a more inspired team and a more inspired me we started heading back on the field but as I reached the tunnel Coach José stopped me. "I know that look, you've got a girl in your life, I've been there before but let her be on your mind off the field. Ball is life Nico and remember football over girls" he said to me his wedding ring blinding me. I nodded and out to meet the rest of the team. As I arrived on the field the ref blew the whistle signaling the start of the second half so I had to sprint to get in position. The first breakthrough of the second half came at the 69th minute through a sloppy counterattack which opened a gap in the midfield.

"It's Ajem on the ball" shouted the commentator "Ajem to Ménu, Ménu to Guerra, Guerra back to Ajem, Ajem looking for Davis crosses to him and Davis flicks to Santiago who sprints down the center, cuts left cuts right and penalty!!" As I was about to fire off a trick shot into the top corner my feet were swept out from under me. As my momentum propelled me into a barrel roll I caught a glimpse of the defender who tackled me, non other than Mr. C Water himself. He was yellow carded instantly but jogged over to "make sure I was okay". I dragged myself off the floor as he came to help me. "Are you okay buddy?" he asked feigning concern. I got to my feet and he patted me on my back while saying "If you don't stay away from Ariel your team will be looking for a new captain. I still love her and if I can't have her nobody can!" We looked each other dead in the eyes before going back to our respective teams. I was going to suggest that Daniel take the ball but an even better idea hit me. I called my team together and watched broad grins spread across their faces when I told them the idea. I stepped up to take the penalty with the weight of the world on my shoulders. The referee blew the whistle and with all my heart I........... back passed to Daniel who rifled it into the top corner. Over the roar of the crowd I could hear the commentator say "What a beautiful display of teamwork." I looked directly at Water before making a 'A' with my hands followed by a heart and I could see the rage building inside him but I didn't care. I played out the rest of the match in a more defensive position as we were already winning 7-1. When the match was over a photographer ran across to take a picture of my friends and I. The four of us lined up in descending order according to our numbers, Nathaniel our number 19 was first followed by number 12 Ethan then our number 10 Daniel and lastly our number 4 me.