CC7

CC7 - Part 1

I was running around the pitch like a crazy person but that was my job as a central midfielder. If my teammates saw me slacking they would do the same. But if I gave my all, so would they. I quickly adjusted my shorts after being tackled by Dinah near the halfway line. She helped me stand up before I saw Camila running down the left side line. With perfect precision, I bent the ball so the younger girl would receive it.

Camila, or CC7 as some of us called her in reference to CR7 (Cristiano Ronaldo), was by far one of the most talented young soccer players in the country. We all were. After all, we were at U17 World Championships and played for the number one team. But Camila was the little superstar due to her impeccable technique and her knack for implementing the most difficult tricks in her play. Not to mention she was unbelievable fast. So fast, that I had trouble keeping up with her as I sprinted towards the goal.

“Camz!”, I yelled because no one was around and I had a perfect opportunity to score if she passed me the ball.

But the girl wearing the number 7 on her back was trying to dribble her way around several defenders and eventually lost the ball. I sighed in frustration. This wasn’t the first time she had done this today and I wasn’t sure why she was being so selfish. Usually, we played together and no one stood a chance. We understood each other’s plays without much communication. I always knew what she thought, where she would run or what she would do and vice versa. For some reason, Camila was adamant about not wanting to play with me today.

I held my tongue for quite a while until she did it again; and again. Running over to the left side of the field, I had to confront her.

“What’s going on with you, today? Why are you not passing me the ball?”, I asked sternly and obviously angered.

“Nothing”, the other brunette just turned away and wanted to run off, back to her position but I grabbed her wrist.

“Get your fucking hands off me!”, Camila shot back and I was stunned at her heavy reaction.

“What is your problem?!”, I let go of her wrist but couldn’t believe how mad she was when I had every reason to be furious with her.

“YOU are my fucking problem”, she exclaimed in a tone that I had only heard when it was directed at our opponents or maybe the referee but not when it came to me.

“Watch your mouth, Cabello! I’m still the fucking captain of this team”, I hissed and felt my green eyes almost burning with fury now.

“What are you going to do, huh? Bench me?”, she spat, knowing that the team needed her for the next game more than ever and our coach would never bench her.

“Aren’t you all high and mighty today?”, I responded and felt her suddenly shoving my shoulder so roughly that I fell back on the green grass. I was shocked but my instincts were quicker than my brain trying to process why she was snapping at me. In a fraction of a second, I leaped up and almost wanted to tackle her but I felt several teammates holding me back now while others dragged Camila away.

“What are you doing?!”, I heard Normani, our defensive midfielder, yelling in apparent bewilderment. “Break it off. Do you both want to get benched for the final tomorrow? Get your head in the game and out of your asses! This is almost our last practice!”

My chest was heaving as I watched Dinah talking to Camila and trying to calm the sixteen year-old down. I had seen Camila get angry before. She was quite the hothead when it came to our matches because she wanted to win every single one. Her dedication made her one of the best. But I couldn’t understand why that anger was directed at me one day before our final match.

Our coach yelled at us for several minutes after our fight and said he would bench us both if something like this ever happened again. The risk of not playing in the final tomorrow was not even an option to me. So, I sucked it up and ended practice while ignoring the left midfielder. I never got yelled at. As the captain, I usually made sure everyone was calm and there was no tension. I was supposed to be a role model. I had to make sure that things wouldn’t get out of hand.