Out of bounds -Neymar fanfic-

Chapter 9:

It was the day of the opening match of the 2014 Fifa World Cup. The game was Brazil versus Croatia.

Alessandra and I were both dressed up in official Brazil fans gear. She was wearing a green top with a pale yellow skirt that showed off her amazing legs. Her shoes were golden sandals and she had her hair up in a bun (www.polyvore.com/cgi/set?id=12885...). I on the other hand was wearing a crop top that said Brazil on it and I paired that with high waisted shorts. I had rope style gladiator sandals on my feet. I braided my hair last night and let it out this morning so I had a crazy wavy look going on (www.polyvore.com/brasilia/set?id=...).

It was an hour until the opening ceremony when Alessandra and I left for the stadium. She pulled into her reserved parking spot and we got out and showed the ticket people our special passes. Alessandra went to the private box right behind the Brazilian player's sideline that belonged to her father. I on the other hand was escorted right on to the field, Scolari keeping his promise of me being able to watch the game from the sidelines. The players were inside the over way, waiting for the opening ceremony to begin when I took a seat on the bench.

Finally the ceremony began a short while later. Everyone listened to both national anthems and the captains tossed the coin to see who would have the ball first and which side they wanted to defend first. After that the players came to the sidelines where the coaches and I were. Thankfully Neymar was in game mode so he didn't try to make eye contact with me once. Scolari said a few words in Portuguese and the players did a chant before the starters ran out on the field. I was completely shocked however when David Luiz came up to me before he went on the field.

"You will be my good luck charm." He said. He took off the headband that he was wearing and gave it to me.

Before I could say anything, he turned his back to me and ran onto the field. I felt the camera zero in on me as people realized that some random girl was sitting on the side of the field. I tried not to focus on them and instead looked at the pitch.

The game finally started.

The opening goal of the 2014 World Cup made history. It was the first own-goal scored by a Brazilian in the history of the tournament. Ivica Olic somehow managed to maneuver his way through Brazilian players, still keeping the ball even through hard challenges. When he reached the outside of the penalty box he crossed the ball towards the goal. Marcelo was running towards the goal when the ball ended up between his feet. He ended up tipping the ball into the Brazilian net.

I, along with the rest of the crowd, was stunned. How could something so bad happen so quickly?

Before half time, things started to look up though. Oscar worked hard to regain possession for Brazil in the middle of the field before passing to Neymar. Neymar dodged the Croatian defense, steadied himself, and fired hard and low with his left foot across the Croatian goalie. The ball rebounded off the post and nestled into the back of the Croatian net.

The crowd erupted as the other players on the bench and I jumped up and cheered. I may not like Neymar but I wanted Brazil to win so I was ecstatic about his goal.

Half time was called and the players and coaches got off the field and went into the locker room. I went to visit with Alessandra in her box and gushed about the game so far with her until the second half started. I returned to my seat on the sidelines and anxiously watched the rest of the game.

Fred ended up getting fouled in the penalty area which had the arena stomping on their feet. Neymar was picked to kick the penalty kick and he didn't let Brazil down. He sunk the ball into the right hand corner of the net. Brazil was ahead 2-1.

The last goal was scored by Oscar towards the end of the game. He was at the top of the penalty box when he took a chance and made an attempt on goal instead of passing. His risk payed off when the ball slipped past the goalie's hand.

Brazil beat Croatia, 3-1.

Brazil celebrated and the players respectfully got off the field before showing their excitement. Neymar started walking towards me with a giant smile on his face. I reflected one back at him until I remembered that he used me to cheat on his girlfriend. I sought out David Luiz instead and found him coming towards me as well. I ran at him and launched myself into his arms.

"Congratulations!" I yelled his ear to be heard above the crowd.

"Thank you," He said, "I told you that you were my good luck charm."

"I don't know about all that." We finally released from our hug.

"After a game we usually go to the locker rooms to discuss what happened and how we can improve. Want to skip with me?" There was a crooked smile on his.

"Definitely." I replied.

David grabbed my hand and led me through the over way and out of a gray door that was marked "emergency exit: do not use". When he opened the door, I expected to see the parking lot. Instead I saw a beautiful garden area. The stadium was built next to one of the nature preserves in Brazil so I'm guessing that someone decided to bring some of the forest to the stadium. David led me to a bench and we sat down.

"This is gorgeous, how did you find it?" I asked him.

"Sometimes I get here early for practice and take walks around the stadium. I saw the 'do not use' sign and of course felt the urge to see what was behind it. I found this."

"Lucky find." I acknowledged.

There was a pause in the conversation.

"'So...you and Neymar huh?" He asked. He tried to play it off as a casual thing but I could tell that he was very interested in hearing my response.

"We're friends, actually friends might be a stretch. We're friendly." I told him.

Somehow I didn't think it was appropriate to say that we had had a one night stand together. So I left that part out.

"He seems to like you, and that's saying something since Neymar doesn't usually show his feelings. He always looking for you and trying to get you alone. I thought something more was going on." David Luiz was relieved.

"Trust me I want nothing to do with Neymar." I probably said that with too much conviction but I couldn't it take it back.

"Why is that?" David mused. "He gets the most female attention on the team so I'm surprised to hear that you don't like him."

"We just don't get along." I shrugged. "I come from a place where I've had to work hard for everything in my life. When I started playing soccer, it didn't come to me naturally like it came to Neymar. I pushed and pushed until I made something of myself. I feel like he's had things handed to him."

"I understand where you are coming from. It was always my dream to be a professional football player growing up and I didn't make the first team that I tried out for. I could have let that stop me but I was determined to reach my dreams." He explained.

"So we both have fighter personalities." I admitted.

"It seems that we do."

David's brown eyes met my own. And in that moment, we didn't need words to fill the silence. It was just enough that we were there and we were there together.