C O D E W O R D | neymar jr

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"So," he drew out the word, "what can you do around here?" He asked as we began to embark on the journey of buying groceries. "Any clubs or something?"

"Yeah, there's a nightclub down the street." I joked, yet by the desperation on his face, I'm not sure if he knew I was. I rolled my eyes at how his city lifestyle had corrupted him. "It's a village: there's a family-owned restaurant, a couple of shops, a church, and a park. Trust me. I was a teenager here; I understand."

We began to walk down the road, the lack of pavement prevailing as I lived further away from the main village. My sandals were not protecting against the boiling concrete, as evident in the fact that I sped up. "What did you do then?"

"Sneak out the house at midnight and smoke weed in the local park mainly," I said, and his eyebrows immediately raised in curiosity. "Sometimes we'd take a bus to Venice, but usually it was just weed and swings."

"Weed?" I brushed him off as I felt my knees begin to ache from the uphill climb. "You have weed here but no hospital." He gave me a look of confusion mixed with shock at his revelation.

"There's no weed here, but people had friends who had older siblings who'd buy it in Venice," I exclaimed as he tutted at my rendezvous activities. "What else did you want me to do here?" I gave up as I circled to face him, and he could only shrug.

"Now I know why they have a church," he teased, and I punched him in the arm as we ventured into the main area of the village. The centre had a large fountain alongside all the shops surrounding it: a pharmacy, a local shop, a bakery, and a post office.

The market was still packing up as we arrived, with older women placing unsold products into crates. The school was opposite the church, a large white structure with a wooden cross placed at the top.

I waved at some of the locals I recognised, their smiles backhanded, as I knew they were probably gossiping about me while I was away. Exhausted, I sat alongside the fountain, the residue from droplets cooling my legs, and Neymar awkwardly placed himself beside me.

Resting my fingers in the water, I allowed the sun to consume me. The only scent is that of fresh food, and while I could hear multiple things, I chose to focus on the silence. Cautiously, I watched as Neymar placed his hand in the water to attempt to cool down, or so I thought as he brought his hand towards me, splashing me with the dirty fountain water.

I wiped the droplets off my face as he laughed at his humour, yet all smiles stopped as I swiftly splashed him back. After a bit of back-and-forth water fighting, he didn't retaliate. A mischievous smile played on my face as I said, "Does this mean I win?"

He reluctantly nodded, and I began to stand up, my dress slightly damp. Yet I was quickly stopped by the large gush of water against my back, turning around to see him dying of laughter as he began to run away as I dipped my hand in the water.

"I think this means I win." He interjected as he placed his arm around me and led me away from the fountain. "What do we need to buy?" He questioned me as we began to enter the store, a waft of fresh bread blessing my senses.

"Milk, vegetables, fruit—we also need some pork," I stated, reading the list from the notes app on my phone. Violently, I pulled a cart out of the rows, attempting to unstick it but failing. "I think it's stuck," I said as I examined the trolley. "Maybe it's the wheel or something." Yet as I spoke, Neymar, without looking away from his phone, yanked the trolley from its jail.