Expect The Unexpected (Alexia Putellas x OC)

Chapter 44

July 7th, 2023, St George's Park

"Focus, girls!" I yell to my teammates as we aren't doing really good today.

"I don't know what is up with us, but we need to change things quickly." Leah whispers to me.

"What did you work on before?" I wonder.

"4 vs 4." Leah sighs. "It was a mess. Everyone seems worried or mad, or unable to focus for whatever reason."

"We should probably gather everyone after training." I suggest. "To get things sorted out."

"You're right." Leah nods. "Let's do this."

We end the training and warn everyone to be ready in 30 in the common room. Once we are all in the room, we close the door, and make sure everyone is listening to us.

"Okay, girls." I start. "We can all agree this morning was not good enough, right?" They all nod.

"Good." Leah sighs. "Now that we are all conscious about it, we need to address what is up in order to make things better."

"We aren't listening to each other, that is what's up." Luce starts. "When we are on the pitch, everyone is very self-confident, self-satisfied, but doesn't think about the team. We won't go anywhere like that."

"She is right." Rachel speaks up. "Ever since we know who is going to be at the World Cup, it feels like we aren't thinking like a team anymore."

"I think we are all tired." Keira says. "The season has been long, the last one too, we are managing a lot of things off the pitch, and it gets on our nerves."

"Maybe what we need is to have a team building time, without physical activities." Meado suggests.

"To try discovering each other and mainly understanding each other." Millie states. "We tried to act like we've got the same team as last year. But we don't, we can't just forget about all the things we did to build up our winning team."

"They are right." Tooney sighs. "I miss our daily dares, our tournaments, our blind tests..."

"Usually, Jill was the one starting all of this." Georgia points out. "We miss Jill..."

"I've got an idea." I smirk. "What about we create a Jill Time?"

"Sounds good, but what is it?" Alessia chuckles.

"Well, I'll have Jill giving us idea of games, dares, tournaments. We put all of this in a jar, each day at a specific time, we get one paper, and we do what Jill would have suggested." I explain. "It'll be the Jill Time."

"Brilliant." Fran smiles widely.

"Are you all up for this?" Leah wonders.

"Yeah!" The girls cheer.

"Then I guess I need to call my old friend Jill." Our captain smirks.

We end the meeting and Leah calls Jill to explain her. As she does this, I see Maya walking to me.

"Jayden?" She calls me unsure. "Can we talk about something?"

"Sure." I nod and gesture her to sit in front of me. "What's up, kid?"

"Well, this morning at training, something happened, and I feel bad about it." She sighs. "Before you think I'm just a young and emotional player, I want to tell you I am not coming to you to cry on your shoulder or anything, I just need advice on how to deal with it..."

"Okay?" I try to understand. "What happened?"

"Well, I was in your sister team during the 4 vs 4 thing..." Maya tells me. "I know I wasn't good enough, too slow, too sloppy, but Rachel told me something and it won't leave my mind."

"What is it?" I frown knowing my sister can be harsh sometimes even if she doesn't mean it.

"She said she can't understand why I am here if I can't fucking play." Maya chuckles sadly.

"Seems like a losing Rachel's comment." I smile a bit. "First, know she probably doesn't even remember telling you this, and she didn't think much about it. She is very competitive, since forever. Sometimes she just goes too far."

"But what if she is right?" Maya looks down.

"Okay, stop that." I state. "This is how I can help you, kid. You've got to address things that are bothering you, don't let it turn in circle in your head, it won't do good things. Go to Rachel, ask her if you can talk about it. You'll probably find out she is not hating you and you're not that bad in her eyes."

"You think so?" Maya smiles a bit.

"I'm sure about it." I nod. "You play with Millie all year long, if she hated you, I would have known already."

"You're right..." Maya nods. "So, I talk to her and then, everything will be better."

"That's what grown people do." I smirk.

"As if you're the oldest soul around." Maya laughs and I playfully mess with her hair.

"Go away, kid." I hand shake her. "And stop overthinking."

"Promise." She points at me and leaves.

"You should be careful with her, Jay." Leah states behind me.

"Why?" I frown.

"She is looking at you like I used to look at Jordan." She explains. "This kind of adoration can turn quickly to something else. And you don't want that to happen, right?"

"Of course not." I clench my jaw. "I'm happy with Alexia, I don't want "that kind of adoration" to turn to something else."

"Then, follow your own advice and address that topic with Maya quickly." Leah pats my shoulder. "Take it from a friend, Jay, it will only cause problems."

"Yeah... you're right." I nod. "But what if Maya never thought more than friendship? It'll be awkward as hell."

"But at least you'll be fixed." Leah shrugs.

"True." I sigh. "I'll talk to her."

"It's for the best, Jay." Leah kisses my temple as she hugs me. "You're too happy with Alexia to mess things up like that."

"I agree."

We hug a bit more and then we go back to our rooms.