.four.
alex: i know we've only been talking for like two months. but ur my best bro dani, i swear.
van daniel: u too man! its been great talking to someone who knows so much about football.
alex: u should come visit some time!
alex: i'll take u to one of my practices & maybe get u a spot for try outs. u would b great for the team.
van daniel: alex really? that would be great! its always been my dream to play footie professionally bt i was never able to do it bc of other things.
alex: i know man. i just wanna help u out bc u've been such a great friend.
And because I'm in love with you, Alex thought to herself. She would never say it to him though. Danny was clearly only interested in Alex as friends, mostly because he thought she was a boy.
van daniel: thx bro. ur the man!
He stared at his phone screen, reading the message Alex had just sent him about getting him a spot in Portland Thorns' tryouts. A small smile tugged at the corners of his mouth that he quickly willed away and was replaced by a puzzled look. "Why the fuck am I smiling so much?" He asked himself aloud, and soon responded, "Must be because Alex is gonna help me achieve my dream. He's the man." To him, Alex Smith was one of the best guys he had ever met and it was easy for Danny to become friends with him. The television was set to the MTV channel and a show called Teen Mom was on. "Ugh." He scoffed at all the nonsense they were saying and doing just for media attention, "I can't believe people actually like to watch this."
Her hand reached for the remote on the coffee table when the ending credits flashed on the screen, signalling that the show was already over.
Van Daniel decided to wait and see what would come up next, hoping that it was something remotely good. Then again, it was MTV. "Coming up next, Catfish: The TV Show!" He heard the television announce. Finding the name of the show interesting, he waited for it to start.
He had always heard about Catfish and catfishing people, but he didn't exactly know what it meant.
.
When the show ended, he was full of doubts over his friendship with Alex Smith. There were some things he would tell her that didn't add up at times. And the fact that she would send him photos all the time, while he didn't do the same was something she hadn't seen as suspicious until now. Would Alex be capable of playing with him? As he spent more time thinking about those things, he found it unlikely that he would meet someone online who was a real professional football player, but even that he would meet someone who was friends with Tobin Heath, Gyasi Zardes, Omar Gonzalez, or Giovani dos Santos. Now he was finding it oddly too good to be true.
He would never lie to me, he thought to himself reassuringly. But another part of his mind told him that what were the odds of it all being true? What were the odds that Alex Smith really wasn't lying to him? The odds were small.
He grabbed his cellphone that was on the couch next to him and unlocked it to send him a text. If he refused to video chat with him and clear things up once and for all, then he would try to contact Nev and Max from the Catfish tv show. They would be able to determine if Van Daniel Rodriguez was getting catfished by someone who claimed to play for the Portland Timbers second division squad.
van daniel: hey bro!
alex: hey DANI
van daniel: u busy today man?
