Julian’s fingers drummed a steady beat on the desk, the sound loud in the empty classroom.
He was seated in the usual spot, at the very front of the classroom.
‘Come to think of it,’ he turned his head to his floating friend, eyes narrowed in suspicion.
‘What are we doing here so early?
Classes only start at nine.’
[I like to be a hour early for the starting class of the day.]
‘Why?
That’s an hour’s sleep you’re wasting.’
[No particular reason.] Mini-ball would’ve shrugged if he had shoulders.
[Just a routine I started.]
‘Fuck this routine.
I’m getting my one hour’s sleep in starting tomorrow.’
The door opened with a soft creak and in walked the same girl from yesterday.
Her blonde hair fell in twisted waves over her left shoulder, while the rest cascaded fown her back.
She wore red lipstick on her full lips, making the urge to kiss her rise in one.
The light from the window fell across her, catching the subtle details—the curve of her jaw, the smoothness of her skin, the intensity in her emerald green eyes.
Eyes that locked onto Julian the moment she stepped in, as if expecting him to be there.
‘She really is beautiful.’
Julian removed his gaze from her before he was caught staring, but like always, the scene of her confidently walking to him was vivid in his mind.
The girl sat down next to him.
She propped a elbow on the desk and leaned with her cheek against her palm, staring at Julian’s side profile for a moment longer than necessary.
“Morning.” She finally greeted, the smile on her face undeniable, and warm.
Julian turned his head to her and was stunned for a moment by how a simple smile could amplify someone’s beauty like that, added with her strawberry scent assaulting his nose.
“Morning.” He greeted with a smile of his own, his expression calm, but he was in turmoil inside.
‘Mayday!
Mayday!
This girl is dangerous for the heart!’
“Oh.” She let out a surprise chuckle.
“You smiled? You never smile.”
“You’re a… very observant person.” Julian wanted to use other less polite words, but stopped himself.
“Only when it comes to you.” She blurted out.
“…”
‘Is this girl flirting with me?’
The girl’s eyes widened and a crimson flush crept up her neck and onto her face.
She suddenly sat up straight, eyes forward, not daring to make eye contact.
“I-I d–didn’t mean it like that.” She hurriedly stammered.
“I–It’s just that…uhh… we’re seated next to each other! It’s hard not to notice such things when you’re this… close.”
Her voice died out at the last word, eyes still staring straight forward, finding the empty whiteboard very interesting.
“Right.”
[Correction: she has a crush on you.]
‘True.
But I can’t deny it: she looked really cute just now.’
The atmosphere descended into a awkward silence, both of them staring ahead without looking at the other.
Julian threw a side glance and saw that her embarrassment was settling, her skin returning to its original paleness.
‘We can’t have that now, can we?’
Julian turned his head to her.
“And?”
The girl turned to him and raised a eyebrow.
“My smile. How was it?”
The blush returned instantly, giving the Julian the desired effect.
“You- you have a beautiful smile.” She managed to say through her embarrassment, burying her head in her hands.
‘Sigh.’ Julian released a satisfied internal sigh.
‘Kids these days.
So easy to tease.’
[Weren’t you the same guy that said he’ll stay away from the protagonists’ love interest?]
‘You just had to ruin the moment, didn’t you?’
********
Julian made his way through the sports grounds, dressed in casual clothes.
A shirt, loose trousers and with trademark white sneakers.
Sports bag slung over his shoulder.
He continued with calm, confident strides, drawing curious gazes from every student he passed.
He stopped in front of a 5-story building, the glittering steel spotless as the afternoon sun bore down on it.
Julian lifted his head upward.
“Sheesh.” He sucked through his teeth.
“To think this is just for the U/17A’s, I wonder how the senior team’s look like.”
[This is prove of the academy’s scale and its expectations, you shouldn’t forget that.]
“I know, Mini-ball.” Julian stepped forward, making the doors slid open automatically.
“You just handle your side of things and I’ll handle mine.”
The inside was just as beautiful as outside.
Spotless corridors with soft lighting, football posters plucked against the wall, conference rooms with transparent glass, employees diligently doing their tasks.
The place smelled like coffee and printed paper, the soft echo of keypads drifted through the air, people in tailored suits walked pass, too busy to spare him a glance.
Julian saw a few players walking in front of him, and he decided to follow them.
They went up to the second floor before turning into one of the small conference rooms with transparent glass.
Other players were already seated on the long burgundy table, some nervous, some excited and one bored.
Coach Irene stood at the head of the table, arms crossed in front of her chest, patiently waiting for everyone to arrive.
Behind her was a large television mounted on the wall.
Julian placed the bag down on the floor and took a seat in the comfy office chairs, leaning back casually, as if the place belonged to him.
A lot of players were stunned by his behavior, with the coach’s brow even twitching, but they said nothing.
“Good Afternoon everyone, and congratulations on your selection to the A-team.”
Smiles instantly spread on many of the players’ faces, the confirmation from the coach more real than a message could ever be.
“There are 28 of you here, and you got here by proving yourselves capable in one game, but what will keep you here is consistency.”
Coach Irene’s stern words reached everyone in the conference room, drawing them to her without her raising her voice.
“Just because you made it to the A-team doesn’t mean you get to be complacent. I must remind you that there are two more U/17 teams, and there are players on those teams that are better than some of you here and the only reason you are sitting here instead of them is because they had a bad game.”
She didn’t hold anything back, speaking her mind regardless if the players liked it or not.
“Just like how you will have a chance to prove that you belong here, so will they have a chance to prove that they should be here instead. Meaning, if your performance drops, you’re getting dropped.”
Silence descended when she paused, making everyone imagine the feeling of being demoted to a lower team.
No one liked the image they saw.
“With that out of the way,” Irene finally broke the silence.
“Let’s me show you what is expected of you.”
She reached for the remote on the table on switched the television on.
The screen showed a picture of Coach Irene standing in the middle of a team of children wearing royal purple kits with golden trimmings.
In front of them stood two trophies, both of them a shining golden color, with one larger and another smaller.
“This,” Coach Irene pointed to the screen.
“Is in my first season as manager, three years ago.”
She pressed the remote again, changing the image.
This time the screen showed Coach Irene standing in the middle of a different set of children, with the same two trophies proudly displayed in front of them.
“This is two years ago.”
The image changed again, showing Coach Irene with another set of children, with the same two trophies.
“This was last year.”
She turned back to the team that was in a stunned silence.
“This is the bare minimum of what is expected from you.”
No one said a thing, or no one dared to.
This was Coach Irene’s stage and they had to take a backseat.
“Let me tell you about those trophies.” The image changed on the TV, showing the bigger trophy in all its glory.
“This is the U/17 Prime Football League or U/17 PFL.”
“Like the name says, this is the league we’re going to participate in. The league has 24 teams including us. And all of those teams are the U/17 sides of the most elite teams on the continent. Teams playing in the Prime Football League–the continents top league–who has invested billions in their academies. We will face each team two times, making us play a total of 46 games.”
The image changed to the second trophy, smaller in size but better in grandeur.
“This is the U/17 League Cup. Until the round of 16 it is a 56-team single match knockout format competition. And when there are only 16 teams left you, will play in the Home and Away Elimination Matches format. But the final is played as a single match. We will make our first appearance on the Round of 32 when the lower league teams finished their cup matches and only eight of them are left.”
Coach Irene paused, letting everyone take in the torrent of information she just shared.
“The Cup Final included, we will play a total of 54 games in the span of the next 10 months. So we will play at least four or five games a month. The schedule may be hectic, but that is precisely why we have 28 of you here and two reserve teams.”
Coach Irene took a breath before continuing.
“Next up is your schedule. Each month you will receive a message of the month schedule along with your training schedule. You will get you first one later tonight.”
“Next on the list we have,” she pulled out her tablet and placed it on the table.
“Jersey numbers, and team captain.”
Everyone immediately leaned forward at her words.