| Saturday morning.... Eating breakfast, I struggled to keep my eyes open. The tv was on. A Boyzone song blaring out. I smiled and hummed along to "Key To My Life" My Dad was rushing around, mumbling under his breath. He seemed stressed out "Dad. What is it?" "Huh! Nothing!!" "Okay...Are you off to the footie match today?" "No. I have to work" He groaned "But you've got your ticket haven't you?" "I know. Michael's phoning his friends, to see if anyone wants a spare ticket" "Oh..." I finished my breakfast and settled down to watch the t.v. My brother Michael dashed in the room. "Well?" My Dad asked hopefully "No joy" "No-one wants to go!!" He yelled "Nope" "Dammit!" Michael turned to me and grinned "Don't suppose you wanna come?" "Me? Go to a footie match!" "I wasn't serious. As if!" "Oh. So you can't see me in the stands" I say slightly offended "No. I can't picture it" "Well I can. I'll go" I smiled You what!!" He said in amazement "I haven't anything else to do today" "You won't enjoy it" Said Dad "We'll see" "20 pounds then" Michael held his hand out "Excuse me!" I look shocked Dad walks over to the couch. "Well. I'm out of pocket. Seeing as I can't go" I sighed "Fine" I take the money out of my purse "You're seriously going to pay for it?" Michael asked "Yeah. Now. I have to get ready. What should I wear?" Michael laughed "It's a football match Carol. You don't have to get dolled up" "I have to look half decent" "I just know I'm gonna regret this!" They fall about laughing as I leave the room Upstairs I put my jeans on and a red top. I brush my hair and apply lippy and mascara. I put on my trainers and grab my jacket and dash downstairs. "I'm ready" "About time. Right see you Dad" "Bye" "Bye" I close the door We get in his car and we drive to Elland Road. I gaze out of the window and wonder how today will go. We arrive at Elland Road and we make our way to the entrance. We make our way to our seats, near the bottom, a good view of the goal. There were some guys on the pitch, playing footie "Who are they?" I ask "Oh, they're from the youth team. We're early that's why they're still playing" "They're pretty good" "Not bad" My eyes fall on the goalie, he's slim with blonde hair, looks cute from the back, he dives for the ball but just misses it. He turns around and runs his fingers through his hair. Even cuter from the front. He spots me watching him and I look away embarrassed, I blush and sneak another look at him and he's back in the goal, this time he saves the ball. I immediately start clapping. Michael gives me a funny look, the cute guy looks at me and smiles. I stop clapping and feel daft as I smile back. "What you clapping for?" Michael asks me "He saved the ball" "Your point is" "My point is he's a good goalie" "Since when do you like football?" "Shut up" I mumble I look away and gaze at the blonde guy, fixated by him. Time passes by quickly and they leave the pitch, the blonde one gone. I look around the pitch wondering if he'll sit to watch the match. There's no sign of him, I sigh and don't look up until the match starts, the whole stadium starts to cheer, I focus on the match, cheering Leeds on, they're playing against Chelsea and I get into the game cheering loudly when Leeds score. By the end of the first half, Leeds are winning 2-1. We swap sides hurriedly, pushing our way to our seats. I spot the blonde one chatting to another bloke as I sit down, I can't take my eyes off him, I decide to try and talk to him after the match. Michael interrupts my thoughts "What are you staring at?" "What? Nothing" He follows my gaze "It's that goalie isn't it!!" "I have no idea what you mean" He laughs "You like him!" "Shut up" I yell The blonde guy hears my annoyance and turns to look at me, he smiles curiously. I return the smile and blush, luckily the match starts again so I don't have to look daft. Everyone cheers as Leeds score again, whereas i'm gazing at the cute one who's sitting in the box. All too soon the match ends. Leeds win with a victorious 5-2. Michael jumps up and spots one of his footie mad friends "Be back soon" "Okay" I say as I barely notice him leave his seat The blonde guy is on his own, picking up his sports bag. I decide it's now or never and I walk down to him. "Erm...Excuse me" He turns around to face me "Yes...Oh hello" "You don't know me, but I watched you earlier in goal, and I thought you were great" "Oh, thank you. I heard you clapping" I get embarrassed "Yeah, I thought you deserved a good cheer for the great save" He smiles and I get lost in his seablue eyes "I'm Nicky. Nicky Byrne" "Hi Nicky. I'm Carol" He extends his hand and we shake hands. I feel my heart skip a beat as his fingers curl around my hand. "So you're a fan of football I guess" "Not really. I just accompanied my brother. You're Irish right?" "Yeah. I'm from Dublin" "How long have you been in Leeds?" I smiled "About a couple of years I guess" "Must be hard leaving Dublin" He sighed "Yeah. I miss everyone, especially my Mum and Dad" He smiled "And Georgina" I had to ask "Georgina?" "Yeah. My girlfriend" My smile vanished. But what did I expect? He's gorgeous. "Oh right. That can't be easy" "What can't?" "Long distance relationship" "Yeah, it's difficuilt. But it's worth it. She's everything to me" "I hope you get to see her soon" His eyes twinkled "Me too Carol" "I better go" "Yeah. Me too! Are you gonna come back next week?" "I'm not sure" "I'd like it if you did" "You would?" "Yeah. So will you?" "I don't see why not" "Good. See you next week then. Bye" "Bye" He smiles sweetly and puts his bag on his shoulder and goes to meet his friends. I go back to Michael. He's waiting impatiently "Where did you get to?" "Nowhere" "You were chatting up that goalie!" "I was not! We were just talking. Nicky's very friendly He grins "Oh it's Nicky" "Give it a rest. Actually he asked me to come next week" "But there's no match next week " He says with a confused look "There isn't?" "No! He was probably messing you around" "He wouldn't do that" Trying to hide the hurt building inside of me "Well, why not ask him?" "What?" "He's still on the pitch" I turn around " What? Oh so he is. Okay. I'll be a moment" I walk onto the pitch again, he's sorting through his bag. I tap him on the shoulder, he spins round and smiles. "Oh hello again" "I need to ask you something" "What is it?" "Why did you ask me to come back next week?" "To see us play...Why?" He looked confused "My brother told me there's no match next week" "Oh yeah. There's no match, but we train here every saturday, you know we have a footie match" "Will I be allowed in without a ticket?" "Sure. I'll meet you outside okay. Sorry I didn't mention it before. It slipped my mind" "It's okay. My brother thought you were probably messing around" "I wasn't messing around" "I know" He smiles at me and he winks and we say goodbye, he pushes his hair out of his eyes and leaves. Michael comes over. "You ready?" "Yeah" "So what did he say?" "He told me there's no match next week, but he's training and playing a match" "And he wants you there?" "Yes" We walk to the car and get in. we drive home "He probably fancies you!" He grinned at me "Excuse me?" I laughed at his so off mark comment "Why else would he invite you?" "I don't know. He's not from Leeds, so he'll be missing home and stuff and he's really friendly" "So. Where's he from?" "Dublin" "Really!!" He grinned "Yes. Why what's wrong?" He put on an Irish accent "Oh nothing. Really" "Behave" "So, he fancies you right?" "No. He's got a girlfriend" "So you fancy him?" "Don't be daft" I blushed, annoyed at the conversation we were having "I can read you like a book!!" "Whatever" I sighed I gaze out of the window and think of Nicky. Michael's right. I do fancy Nicky. I melt when he speaks to me, he's got the sweetest smile ever, why is he spoken for? But what did I expect! We arrive home. I rush upstairs and put on a c.d. Boyzone Said And Done. I sing along to "Father And Son" and I open my diary and start to write in it. Went to the footie! Hah! Me at a footie match, but it was the best thing I ever did. I met the sweetest lad ever Nicky Byrne, he's dreamy and he's got a girlfriend but I hope we can be friends. He invited me back to footie next week. I love to hear him talk. Oh god! He's so kind and charming and he looks hot in footie shorts!! What am I saying!! It's only between me and my diary. I feel sorry for Georgina, been away from Nicky. Michael was teasing me about him. I can't let him think i'm attracted to Nicky. I'll never hear the end of it! I close my diary and gaze at my posters, Boyzone and Take That. I smile and wonder if he's ever seen Boyzone around Dublin. He probably won't like them. Not many lads do. I turn off the c.d and watch a bit of telly, as usual nothings on the box, bored I head into town. Town centre I arrive at the market and head over to HMV. I have a scan at the new releases, put some headphones on and some chart music blasts out. I hum along to the song and slightly sway. I feel a pair of hands cover my eyes. I jump in fright and turn around quickly. I gasp as I look into a pair of twinkling blue eyes. I smile and remove the headphones "Nicky! You scared me!" "Sorry" He grinned "It's alright" "What you doing here? You buying anything?" "I got bored!! I'm browsing. How about you?" "I bought this" He shows me Gary Barlow's debut album. I looked shocked. "You like Gary?" "Yeah. He's a great singer" "I agree. I just didn't expect males to be into it" "Yeah. But I love chart music" "Same here" "Are you busy?" "No. I've got nought to do. Wow I sound boring!" "Ahh. Nah you don't. You wanna get a drink or something?" "Yeah, that'd be good" "Come on then" We head off to a cafe down the road. We sit outside and order 2 coffees. I feel weak in his presence, he doesn't sense anything though. We drink our coffees. he tells me about his family and friends. I in turn tell him about my family and friends. "So. No boyfriend?" "No" I reply quietly "Anyone interesting you wanna date?" You I say to myself . " Not really .no. You're really lucky having Georgina" He smiled "Yeah, I am" "Has she been over to see you?" "No. I'm off to surprise her soon" "Aww. She'll be made up to see you" "You think?" "Of course" We finish our 3rd coffee and I look at my watch, it's 6:30 p.m. Nicky smiles at me "Is it getting late?" "Yeah. It's 6:30" "I better get home then" "Me too" We walk to the bus stop. Nicky surprises me "Can I have your phone number?" "Erm...Okay" "It's just so I can get in touch with you, if I need to tell you something" He smiled sweetly "I know that. But won't your girlfriend mind?" "I doubt it" "But you hardly know me. And I'm giving you my phone number. I'm practically a stranger" "Chill. She'd understand I need as many friends as I can get,and you're not a stranger. You're my friend" "Gee. Sorry" "It's okay. so can I have your number?" "Sure. Have you got a pen?" "Nope. Haven't you got one?" "No. Sorry" "I know. I'll put it in my phone memory" He takes his mobile phone out of his jacket and scrolls to the phone book section "Okay. It's **** *******" "Right. I'll put your name in" "It's Carol" He grinned "I know. Can I call you Caz?" "Sure" He taps my name into his phone, all too soon my bus arrived. "Take care Caz. See you saturday" "Can't wait. Bye" He smiles sweetly and waves as I sit on the bus. He waves until the bus is out of view When I get home, I have some tea, then spend the rest of the night in my room, singing along to my Boyzone c.ds, thinking about Stephen, Ronan and most of all Nicky. Thinking about seeing Nicky playing footie again, I smile and fall asleep picturing his sweet smile. |