Fever Dream ~ Neymar Jr

Chapter 88

2018

Neymar's POV

"Kylian Mbappé has scored!" I heard across the stadium, as I saw Kylian run to the side of the goal and execute his signature celebration, with his arms crossed. And then he ran to the bench, looking for me. I hugged him tightly. 1-1 with half an hour to go and even if things remained as they did, we were champions.

But they wouldn't. I knew it, when I spoke to my teammates in the locker room and saw the determination in their eyes.

"Something has changed." Toly, who was sitting next to me, told me.

"They remembered who they are." I told him, as we saw Thiago advance with the ball, without losing possession, all the way from our goal almost to the opponent's box. He passed to Cavani, who caught it midair and threw a strong kick that just missed the goal by inches. So close!

The opponents tried their best to mark our team, even illegally sometimes, resulting in a tackle a few minutes later that took Verratti out. He got up limping and signaled to the bench that he needed to be taken out.

"Kid?" Emery said approaching the bench. "How about it?"

"Me?" Toly asked disbelievingly and Emery nodded.

I put my arm around Toly. "This is it. This is the moment you've worked so hard for, all these years. Think back to your makeshift field in Siberia and all it took for you to be here today. And make it happen." I told him and he nodded, purpose reflecting in his eyes. I saw Emery, who had heard me, nod to me appreciatively.

Toly looked determined and fearless and, in that moment, I remembered Liv telling me that she saw a bit of me in him, that we shared that fearlessness. That in a way, Toly learned it from me. I didn't know if that was true, but if Liv saw in me, what I now saw in Toly, then I must be doing something right. He got up and started warming up.

I looked at my phone, calling Peter's number again but it went straight to voicemail. I hoped Liv would get here in time. I knew she'd want to see Toly play and she'd want to be here to celebrate this with all of us.

When Toly walked into the pitch, the people in the stands applauded both for Verratti and for him. It was only his second time playing, but the first had been minutes. Now he had almost half an hour to prove himself. And I knew he would, after he got the ball, almost right away. He managed to evade two defenders and throw an accurate pass all the way across the pitch towards Kylian, who with explosive speed, drove the ball quickly towards the box.

The opposite team's defenders fell on him like bees, knocking him down. The referee was quick to award a foul and a free kick. I saw Cavani walk towards it, sure and steady, as only years of experience make you. The wall of defenders in front of him complicated things, so Cavani elected to pass and he found Di Maria on the other side of the box, who had a clean path ahead of him and sent the ball to the net. We all got up and celebrated like crazy. The championship was so close we could taste it now.

~*~

Olivia's POV

When we left the center of the city, the traffic was better and when we reached Camp des Loges, the time on the dashboard showed that the game would be over in about 10 minutes. So much for promising Neymar that I'd be there to celebrate with him. Peter's phone was dead too and with mine still missing we had no way of communicating with anyone at Parc des Princes. At least I had found a radio station that covered the game live and Peter and I heard when Di Maria scored and put us in the lead. In ten minutes from now they would be champions, unless something very bad happened in those last few minutes. But I knew nothing would.