Judge My Skills, Not Me

Chapter 3: Where do I sign?

The month flew by, and Cristina was sad that she had to leave again for another year. "Don't forget to call as soon as you get to Orlando," her mom said as she hugged her for the last time before her flight.

"Si, mama, how could I forget? You told me about 3 million times on the way here," Cristina laughed. Even though Cristina went on flights millions of times, her mother still worried for her safety every time.

"Just making sure you heard me, mija," her mom kissed her cheek, "te amo mi cielito."

"Te amo tambien mama." Cristina said kissing her shorter mother on the forehead before turning to her dad. "Te amo tambien papa." She hugged her tall, large father.

"Quidate, mija," although her dad was intimidating at first glance, he had a soft spot when it came to his family.

"What am I? Chopped liver?" Camila exclaimed.

"Trust me, I couldn't forget about saying goodbye to you, Cami," Cristina laughed as she hugged her sister.

Camilla rolled her eyes, "I told you to stop calling me that." Camilla only let her close family call her that.

"What about us?" Ricky and Max yelled.

"How could I forget about you two? You guys wouldn't stop arguing in the car," Cristina laughed.

"Well, we'll stop arguing when you tell us who you think is better: Real Madrid or Barça," Ricky said crossing his arms.

"Dios mio, why do you guys want to know so badly?"

"Because you're one of the best soccer players in the world," Max said, "If you say one of them is the best, then they are the best!"

Cristina smiled, "You guys think I'm one of the best women's players?"

"No," Ricky said, "We think you're one of the best players in the world. I mean Cristiano Ronaldo is like my second favorite after you."

"Yeah and Messi and you are tied for my number one spot," Max exclaimed.

Cristina smiled and hugged both her brothers. She was glad that they didn't care if she was a girl player or not, they saw that she could play just like any other boy. "Muchas gracias chicos. You guys don't know how much that means to me." Cristina turned to Selena who was patiently waiting for her sister to say goodbye. "You going to keep these knuckleheads in check, Sel?"

"Oh course, who else is going to make them clean the house?" Selena said hugging her sister. "Come home soon, okay?" She whispered into her sister's ear.

"I'll try my best for you guys," Cristina said as she grabbed her suitcase and walked to TSA. She waved one last goodbye to her family before going through the security checkpoint.

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It's been a week since Cristina got home to her apartment in Orlando. Her apartment wasn't much of an apartment, more like a small house inside an apartment building. She had 2 large floors connected by a spiral staircase. She had enough room to house her entire family and then some. As she did every Friday afternoon, Cristina went to the Orlando City Stadium to get some practice. The stadium was empty which wasn't odd because who would be practicing at 6 pm on a Friday, especially during one of the few times the team had time off? Cristina threw her duffel bag on the grass and walked towards the equipment room. She got a ball and some cones that she usually used during training. She stretched and ran a lap around the field to warm herself up. She wanted to work on her penalty kicks and dribbling tonight. She started in the middle of the field and dribbled the ball through some obstacles she set up. At the end of the course, she kicked the ball straight to the net. She heard clapping coming from the bleachers. She hadn't noticed the three men standing there. She recognized two of the men that talked to Jill right before they left Canada. "That was a wonderful goal," said the man she didn't recognize.

"Thank you?" said Cristina coming out more like a question than a comment, "Can I help you, gentlemen?"

"Well yes, yes you can," the man smiled. "My name is Joseph Bartomeu, and I'm president of FC Barcelona, it's a pleasure to finally meet you, Señorita Diaz," he shook her hand as Cristina looked at him shocked and confused. "This is Jordi Cardoner, Vice President of Barcelona."

"Mucho gusto," said the bald man with glasses shaking her hand.

"And Luis Enrique the manager at Barcelona."

"Es un placer," said the Spanish man. He was the only one of the 3 men not wearing a suit, and, instead, wore a casual shirt and jeans.

Still confused Cristina just replied, "It's wonderful to meet all of you. But... what are you all doing here tonight? I'm sure Tom would love to show you around the place."

"We're actually here to speak with only you, Miss Diaz," said Luis.

"Please, call me Cristina."

"Well Miss Diaz, we were hoping to talk to you about joining us in Barcelona," Joseph said making it a point to call her by her last name.

A chance to play on a women's team in Europe, let alone Spain. Spain's league was one of the most competitive soccer leagues in the world. "I would love to be a part of Barcelona Femení!" The men chuckled confusing Cristina more, 'Were they not offering her a place there?' she thought.

"We're not offering you a place at Barça Femení, we're offering you a place at FC Barcelona," Joseph said. Cristina wasn't sure she heard correctly, FC Barcelona? The men's team?

"We're offering you a place on the men's team Cristina," Luis said seeing that she was even more confused than earlier.

"The men's team? But... I'm a girl," it was pretty obvious she was a girl. I mean she had boobs for one.

"We're aware of your gender Miss Diaz, and we are still willing to give you a place if you want," said Joseph.

"Why me?" Cristina asked.

"Well you've been on our radar for quite some time since we heard a 14-year-old took the US women's team to 3rd place in the World Cup," said Luis. The only reason they got to 3rd was that Cristina's coach took her out of the game at halftime because she was apparently 'done for the day'. They lost all because one stupid coach couldn't accept the fact that the best player on her team couldn't even have a driver's license yet. "We know you're a great player with a great reputation on and off the field. You reflect what Barça stands for."

"But why the men's team?" Cristina asked.

"We know Barça has a reputation of being a little... behind the times," Luis said, "But with you on our men's team, Barça could be the first integrated futból team in the history of soccer."

Cristina was astonished. Her... being the first female player ever to play on a men's team? "But why specifically me? I'm sure there are tons of female players that are better than me."

"No... there aren't," Luis said, "From where we stand, you are the best player for this position. You have the talent, the skills, the personality, and most importantly the passion that Barça wants." Cristina looked at the men. She knew this was a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity, but could she take it? Could she take the criticism and pressure from not only Barça fans but the soccer world in general? Luis saw the look on her face and knew she needed time to think. "We'll give you a couple of days to think about it," he said as he shook her hand. The men started to walk away and hoped she would say yes.

As they made it back to the limousine that was parked at the entrance of the stadium, they heard someone walking towards them, "Wait!" Cristina said holding the medallion on her necklace. She looked at it and prayed that she made the right decision, "Where do I sign?"

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