Reunion - Mapi Leon x Reader

Chapter 18 - In the Stands

I wake up on game day, and I finally no longer jet lagged. Yesterday was rough, and I think I may have outed Lottie’s name to her entire team, but hopefully, I can make up for it today. I can’t remember the last time I went to a football game as a spectator. It honestly may have been with Lottie when we were teengers. This morning, I take it slow, finding myself a nice little coffee shop to start my day. I call Ale to try and annoy her into telling me what she’s been up to, but she’s frustratingly mum on her situation. Once I’m finished with my coffee, I make my way back to the hotel, and then pack my backpack for the day - sunglasses, cap, sunscreen, and a light sweatshirt for the off chance the weather gets cooler. Then I find myself an Uber and head to the stadium.

Walking in with the rest of the crowd feels strange but weirdly familiar. There’s a real buzz, with people of all ages wearing jerseys to support their team or waving around club flags. When coming up with this plan, I thought about buying one of Lottie’s jersey’s online , but I couldn’t bring myself to have the name Moore on my back. Instead, I found a website that printed custom orders and got one made with Aguila written on it. People are probably going to read it and be confused, but I see the ones kids get with their own last names printed on them, so they’ll probably just think that it’s my last name.

I find my way towards my seat, having given myself plenty of time, and watch the crowd of people gathered here. It’s relatively small compared to some crowds I’ve played in front of, but it’s still a crowd, and it still has energy, and I still find it amazing. We all remember when women’s football never would have dreamed of this many supporters at a game. It’s not hard to forget it, but when it’s now the norm to have bigger crowds, it becomes easier to expect them. Football, or ‘soccer’, isn’t nearly as big in the States as it is in Spain, so I’m not surprised that there’s less people.

I’m sitting a few rows back from the pitch and near the middle. It’s a good spot for seeing everything. After walking, photo taking, and a toss of a coin, the girls are ready to begin the match. Lottie’s in the starting lineup, and I watch her jump up and down a couple of times like a spring, as she makes her way to her starting position. She plays in attack, generally left wing, although she makes a killer number 9 when she gets the chance. Of course, I was interested once I found out where she played, so I’ve watched a heap of old game footage. There’s still aspects of how she used to play when we were younger, built upon by years of training and dedication.

I can’t see her very well, as she stands on the opposite side of the pitch to me, but I can imagine the look on her face. The serious concentration in her eyes and the nervous way she’ll be biting at her lip. I remember she used to shake all of her limbs once before a game to, “shake off any bad thoughts”, and wonder if she’ll do that today. She doesn’t, and then the whistle blows, her bright pink number 11 visible from the distance.

Angel City - the Wave’s opponent - shows they mean business almost as soon as the game begins, and Wave conceding a goal in the second minute. Knowing Lottie, she’ll be frustrated. She always used to let it get to her when we were children. We spent a long time as teenagers working on her ability to move on to the next thing and not get caught up on what already went wrong. You can’t change that, but you can change what happens next. One of my favourite Lottie moments (although I’d probably say every Lottie moment is my favourite moment), is when during a game at the local park I mucked up very badly which resulted in me scoring an own goal. She looked at me with such determination in her eyes when I was about ready to give up and said, “let’s fix this”. That’s the attitude I know she’ll have for the rest of this game, so I’m hoping for an exciting one.

She does put up a fight, and so does the rest of the team, but there’s something that just isn’t working. I’d say possession is pretty equal, shots on goal equal, passing accuracy equal, but Wave just isn’t getting the ball into the net. In the 18th minute, they concede a second goal. They play more defensively from then, and a possession game is never as fun to watch. As much as I appreciate the footwork required to keep the ball, it sort of feels like they’re time wasting, and wasting time feels like you’ve admitted the other team is better than you; that you’ve given up.

As the whistle blows to close the first half, Wave is looking as if they might admit defeat already. I stand up to stretch my legs as the players run off the pitch. Lottie runs past where I am, and I’m tempted to call out to her, but know it’s probably not a good idea. However, fate says this is the time she was supposed to notice me, and she looks up directly into my eyes. The way her face changes upon recognition makes however long we’ve spent a part disappear. There’s a million words shared within that one look.

She doesn’t acknowledge me beyond that, walking off the changing rooms, and I understand why. If the roles were reversed, I wouldn’t either. We know we’re together, but we haven’t exactly talked about who we want to know and when we want them to know it. I sit back down and check my phone for any messages. There’s a text from Amalia who knows about the plan, asking after her sister, and also one from Ale telling me to make the most of my time. A third one pops onto my screen. It’s from Lottie just now.

Next half I’m scoring a goal for you.

I can barely contain the smile reading it brings to my face. I’m looking forward to this next half, and no matter what happens, I’ll get to talk to Lottie afterwards. I just hope her teammates aren’t involved in any way.

(That was too quick, does1tmatt3r. I'm not sure I like you being on the dot because now I have to write my chapter, and I can't be bothered!! Please leave a comment! Love ya<3)