him and i - joão felix

one

my parents and i normally get along but i've never been more mad at them.

"beatriz," they called for me, "come down here." i stormed downstairs from my room. a few minutes ago they informed me that we were going to move to portugal to be closer to our family and that i'd have to finish college there too. they didn't like the idea of me being in a different country than them even if it was for school.

when my parents met, my dad was on vacation in portugal, where my mom is from. my dad is from the united states which is where i'm living now. i guess you could say they fell in love at first sight. i don't really believe in stuff like that. it's your basic romance novel plot but everyone knows that the stuff that happens in those never happen in real life.

they moved to the US before i was born but they lived in portugal for a while before. when were at home, they speak to me in portuguese so speaking there wouldn't be a problem. i still didn't want to go though because it meant that i would have to restart my whole life.

i stomped down the stairs to let them know i was mad and turned the corner into the kitchen.

"bea, we're sorry we're doing this to you but your grandma is sick. we're the only ones who can take care of her."

"why can't uncle pepe?" i questioned.

"you know he travels too much playing football. plus he's gonna have to go to qatar for the world cup later this year. she can't be left alone that much."

"okay fine. if it's for grandma." i gave in. i love my grandma dearly. she used to travel to the US to see us before she got too old, then we had to start going to her.

"thank you for understanding. we know it will be hard but we're always here for you. you'll be just fine in portugal." they really are good parents even though i'm upset right now.

-

a few days later, my parents told me to start packing because we'd be leaving in a week. i ended up packing about two suitcases of clothes. i could pack a third along with some other belongings but i was keeping those out for now so i would have them while i was still here.

i didn't have to pack anything more because my grandma already had furniture and other things i might need.

my uncle pepe is a professional football player for the portugal team. when he's not playing there, hes playing at fc porto. he's also a big part of my life. even though he lives in portugal, he comes to visit quite often. he pretty much comes whenever he's free. he might be my moms brother, but he's also my dads best friend. he's here right now helping my parents finish packing up everything. in just a few days, we'd use his private jet to fly us and our belongings to my grandmas house.

-

the day came fast. uncle pepe is on his way here right now. he brought a few of his teammates to help us get some of our stuff. we i was grabbing my suitcase, he walked in. standing beside him was two men, one of them i had never seen before. he didn't look much older than me and he was pretty cute honestly. the one i did recognize though was cristiano ronaldo. even if you don't watch football, you could have still probably recognized him.

i'm a huge fan of ronaldo. he's a big inspiration for me on the field. when i was younger, my family would be watching portugal play and they would wear pepe's jersey. i didn't. i wore ronaldo's. i wasn't gonna act like one of those weird fan girls they probably encounter every day so i smiled at them and walked up to my undle and hugged him.

"hey guys! thanks for helping us!" my mom spoke, rounding the corner.

my uncle hugged her and began to introduce us to his teammates. "you guys might have seen him on tv before, but this is cristiano. cristiano, this id my sister and her daughter, beatriz."

"nice to meet you, you can call me bea." we exchanged pleasures with him.

"and this," i waited to hear who the other one was, "this is joão felix. he's newer on the portugal team, but honestly, he's one of the best we have."

me and the boy, now known as joão, locked eyes. i smiled at him and said, "nice to meet you." he came up to me and shook my hand.

the men started taking our things out to the cars so we could drive to the airport were his jet was waiting. my parents drove with pepe and ronaldo, leaving me and joão in the other car.

the entire backseat was filled with suitcases so i sat in the passenger seat. joão offered to drive and i let him because even though i have my liscense, i just don't really drive that often.

"again, thanks for helping us out." i said to break the akward silence.

"of course, it really wasn't an issue." he replied. it got awkwardly quiet again. i was afraid he could hear how fast my heart was beating. he is really attractive. this time he broke the silence.

"are you excited to move to portugal?" he asked.

"not really. i mean i love my family and all but it means i have to leave my whole life behind and start over." i admitted. i hope he doesn't think i'm weird because i just spilled so much.

"i get what you mean. i'm sure you'll be great in portugal. and if no one wants to be your friend, i guess i will.." i laughed at his joke.

"that's so kind." i said sarcastically, punching his arm lightly. "so you play football with my uncle?"

"yeah. i've been playing my whole life but i'm really excited to be able to be playing in this world cup. i've dreamed of it since i was a little kid."

"you don't look old enough to be playing in the world cup. you look like you're still in high school."

"actually i'm 23."

good to know. "i'm 21."

"do you play football?" he asked

"i played when i was younger and when i was in high school. sometimes i play with a few of my friends from when i used to play. i miss it a lot."

"well someday you've gotta show me what you've got." he smirked as we turned into the airport.

-

guys i don't know any portuguese so this whole story will be in english even though it's set in portugal. don't judge 😒