I was supposed to be playing a game, a soccer game

Thing is, i wasn’t concentrated

I mean, yes, I was concentrated

But not fully

My eyes were locked onto a girl I’d never seen before, sitting there on the stands. She wasn’t screaming like a fangirl, wasn’t trying to get all the players’ attention—she was just there, legs crossed, watching the game like it actually mattered.

I missed an easy pass because of her.

Coach yelled my name, my teammates groaned, and I forced myself to refocus. The ball at my feet, the grass under my cleats, the sound of the crowd. I told myself to forget her.

Didn’t work.

Every time I glanced up, she was still there. Calm. Curious. Like she knew exactly what she was doing to me without even trying. At halftime, I caught her eyes. She smiled—small, quick—then looked away.

Second half, I played better. Not because I stopped thinking about her, but because I wanted her to see me play like I actually deserved to be on that field.

We won.

After the game, I scanned the stands, heart thumping harder than it had during the match.

Her seat was empty.

Fucking hell

Fucking hell.

I stood there longer than I should’ve, pretending I was stretching while actually panicking. The stands were clearing out, people laughing, shouting names, parents already halfway to the parking lot.

She was gone.

I told myself to drop it. Random girl. One game. Whatever. My teammates were slapping my back, talking about the goal, about going out later. I nodded, smiled, played along.

Then, as I was heading toward the locker room, I heard, “Nice second half.”

I turned.

She was leaning against the fence near the exit, hair pulled back, wearing my team’s colors like it was on purpose. Closer up, she looked even better—real, not some distraction my brain made up.

“You missed an easy pass in the first,” she added, smirking.

“Yeah,” I said. “I noticed.”

She smiled. “You made up for it.”

I shrugged, trying not to look like my heart was sprinting. “You come to a lot of games?”

“First one,” she said. “My brother plays on the other team.”

I winced. “Ouch.”

She smiled wider. “You still won.”

Then she told me her name.

{{user}}

And when I asked where she was from, she said, “Argentina.”

So yeah.

I scored twice that day.