Out of bounds -Neymar fanfic-

Chapter 1:

-Before the 2014 World Cup-

There are some perks that go along with being friends with the daughter of the man who owns the stadium that Brazil's national soccer team plays in. One of those said perks is being able to use the field when the team isn't using it.

I started playing soccer when I was 6 years old, so I've been playing for 13 years now. And I was pretty damn good if I do say so myself. I was the best defender in high school women's soccer in the US and I had even signed a contract to join the women's national team after I finished school. But that all changed on the night of January 14th 2013. It was my last game as a senior in high school. My team was facing the district champions and we were actually winning. The lead scorer on that team was dribbling towards me and I had my back to her, racing for my goal to protect it. The girl charged up a powerful kick to score but instead of her cleat making contact with the ball, it made contact with the bottom of my spine. I was taken off the field in a stretcher after I told the referee that I couldn't feel my legs. After countless weeks of physical therapy, I was finally able to regain control of my legs. But I was never able to play soccer as well as I had before. My dreams had abruptly ended.

It was at my treatment center that I met Alessandra Flores, daughter of Julio Flores, owner of the Maracana stadium in Rio de Janeiro. When we met we immediately clicked and she ended up inviting me to be her guest at the 2014 World Cup in her native home Brazil. I was shocked but nevertheless I accepted.

And that was how I found myself doing long passes on the Maracana field. Maria and I were ten minutes into our passes when the doors to the men's locker room suddenly opened and the Brazilian national team came out.

"Quem é você eo que você está fazendo em nosso campo?" Thiago Silva, the captain of the team, said to us.
(Who are you and what are you doing on our field) 

Seeing as I didn't speak Portuguese, I had no idea what he was saying. Fortunately Alessandra understood what he said and responded back to him. Apparently she said something good because when they finished speaking Thiago pulled her in for a hug.

"You are American?" He asked me in english.

I nodded my head.

"Do you play football?" David Luiz came forward.

I opened my mouth to reply, but no words came out. When I was a freshman in high school I saw David play for the first time and I was captivated. I hadn't seen someone play with as much passion and honor as he did. What do you say to the man who inspires you?

"Is she broken?" David joked. The other boys on the team let out jarring laughter.

"No, it's just hard for me to talk to the man who inspired me to be a better defender." I told him.

"Thank you for the kind words." David Luiz blushed. "So you do play football."

I looked down. "Yeah, a little."

Alessandra scoffed. "A little? Please, my girl here was signed to the US women's national team."

Thiago raised an eyebrow. "Was?"

My face fell. "I don't want to talk about it."

"How did you meet?" David asked Alessandra, successfully changing the subject after an awkward pause. 

"At a physical therapy center." Alessandra responded without thinking.

Everyone could kind of guess why I wasn't on the Women's team now and why I didn't want to talk about it. I was already getting sympathetic glances from the Brazilian players. Great, just great. I didn't need nor did I want their pity.

"In any event, you must practice with us today." Thiago announced.

"What? No, I couldn't. The World Cup starts in two weeks. You guys need to have serious practices, I would just get in the way." I shook my head.

"Please," Thiago waved a hand, dismissing my statement, "we have plenty of time for serious practices. And if you're as good as I think you are, you'll be helping us."

Before I could reply, the pitch doors were thrown open. Sauntering onto the field with shades covering his eyes was the infamous Neymar Jr. With his roughed good looks and spectacular forward skills, he was already dubbed the prince of Brazil and of the World Cup. Personally, I thought he was overhyped and couldn't ever compare to Pele (the greatest soccer player who ever lived).

"Atrasado de novo." Thiago shook his head.
(Late again)

I didn't know what he said, but even I could tell that it wasn't something positive.

"O que eu perdu?" Neymar said, coming up to us. He looked at Alessandra and me, and I noticed that his gaze lingered on me. "Quem são eles?"
(What did I miss)(Who are they)

Neymar still had yet to break eye contact with me. There was a confident smile on his face like he expected me to fall at his feet and kiss them or something. I hated it.

"Eles são convidados e aquele com o cabelo castanho é americano assim falar Inglês." Thiago spoke.
(They are guests and the one with brown hair is American so speak english)

Well I was able to pick out the words americano and ingles, so I'm going to assume that Thiago told him that I was American and spoke English.

"Ladies." Neymar greeted.

"We were just about to start practice and…." Thiago paused. "I don't know your name." He said to me.

"It's Jourdan." I exclaimed.

Thiago nodded and turned back to Neymar. "Jourdan is going to join us for practice."

"Why?" Neymar asked.

He probably didn't mean it to be offensive but something about the way he said it hurt. I felt less than, which was something that I hadn't felt in a long time. Because I was was poor growing up, I couldn't afford the name brand soccer gear that the other girls could. My cleats often came from thift shops like goodwil. I remember girls saying snarky comments about how the coach only let me on the team because I was a charity case. Hearing my teammates make fun of me drove me to become the best soccer player that I could.

"Because this is going to be a light practice and Jourdan here," Thiago pulled me into his side, "was signed to the US Women's team."

"Oh?" Neymar was clearly interested. "What position do you play?"

"I was a defender." I told him, emphasizing the was.

"Well what happened?"

I glared at him. "None of your business."

Neymar smirked and raised his hands in surrender. "Did I hit a nerve?"

Thiago stepped in. "Let's just start warming up. Jourdan feel free to join  whenever you're comfortable."

Alessandra and I took seats on the bench on the left sideline and watched the boys warm up. Neymar kept looking in our direction and winking at us with a cocky grin on his face. Every time he took a practice shot on goal, he looked at us to see if we were watching. I rolled my eyes, like we had never seen a goal before.

"Oh my god, Neymar is so into you." Alessandra gushed.

"Oh come on. He obviously thinks we're groupies and wants to see which one of us will put out for him first." I answered honestly.

Everyone had seen the headlines and tabloid stories about Neymar's playboy ways. Gone was the humble boy from Brazil who was grateful to make it big. Now he was a pretentious asshole who thought that the world revolved around him.

"Either way, he's hot. And he's not even looking at me. He clearly wants you."

When I saw the boys setting up for one v one plays (basically one player versus the other), I got a good idea.

"He's about to change his mind." I stood up from the bench.

"What are you gonna do?" Alessandra wondered.

"I'm about to embarrass him."