I bought a few things from the market for Sofia and Clara and then headed home. When I arrived, I found Sofia sitting in front of the television, watching her usual program. I sat down on the couch, wanting to spend a little time with her. The show she was watching was a reality program—one of those matchmaking shows where men and women were brought together to form romantic relationships.
I wasn't particularly interested in such things, but as I watched, I asked Sofia questions about things I didn't understand. After a few questions, she looked at me with an annoyed expression and said,
"Why are you asking so many questions? And if you don't even like this kind of show, why are you watching it?"
I found her reaction amusing and replied,
"I just wanted to spend some time with you."
She looked surprised, clearly not expecting that answer, and said,
"You're talking nonsense again," before turning her attention back to the program.
A while later, Clara came home and we sat down for dinner together. After we finished eating, Clara asked how my first day at the club had gone. At that moment, Sofia also looked at me with curiosity, clearly waiting for my answer. I told Clara about my day and then explained what had happened at work as well. After listening, Clara told me, as she always did, not to push myself too hard. Sofia nodded in agreement.
After spending a little more time with Clara and Sofia, I went to my room, lay down, and fell asleep.
I woke up the next morning to the sound of my alarm. Before getting out of bed, I checked my system. I had 709 points. I was saving them for now. After spending some time on my phone, I went outside for a light running session. From now on, I would be following the club's training schedule, but since I was free until Tuesday, I decided to dedicate the day to light-paced running.
Two hours later, I finished my run, returned home, and took a shower. After grabbing a few things, I left the house to head to the club. When I arrived, I saw Liam getting there at the same time. I walked over and greeted him. Liam was always cold in his manner, but he was never rude and always returned greetings. Because of that, I was slowly getting used to his distant attitude.
After entering the club, we saw George and Mark waiting in the area near the field and went over to them. A little later, Alex and Ben arrived together. We chatted among ourselves for a while until we noticed the assistant coach approaching us. He greeted us and said,
"Come with me to the locker room. Today, you'll be meeting the technical staff and the players."
I could feel the excitement rising in my chest. It would be my first time experiencing the atmosphere of a team locker room.
When we arrived at the locker room, we were greeted by everyone, starting with Coach Connor. The entire team was present. After Coach Connor introduced the technical staff, we greeted the players we would be sharing the field with. Then he told us to wait in an empty area and observe the tactical and analytical discussion taking place in the locker room.
Coach Connor and the technical staff went over tactics and analysis, explaining to the players what they needed to do on the field. The players asked questions whenever they didn't understand something, creating an active exchange of information. After a while, the tactical meeting came to an end. The match was scheduled to start at 1:00 PM on our home ground.
As the players headed out to the field, we moved to the sidelines with the technical staff to watch the match. In this world, as football continued to evolve, watching matches had become even more popular. Because of that, even a U16 league match attracted around 200 spectators. One of the reasons was the affordable ticket prices. Nearby Greenfield Rovers supporters didn't miss the opportunity to watch youth matches either.
The match was about to begin. Shortly after our team walked onto the field, the players of Ravenford Athletic FC also entered the pitch.