"MESSI! MESS! MESSI! YOU ARE OUR GOAT MESS!"
"WHO IS THE GOAT OF SHILLONG?"
" NONE OTHER THAN OUR MESSI"
"GOAL" "G O A L"...
"THREE CHEERS FOR MESSI! HIP HIP HURRAY!"
The stadium is filled with the excited voice of students of Shillong High School.
Messi is feeling the excitement with tearful eyes. Everyone is cheering for him. He saw teacher Raman smiling at him. Suddenly his eyes stopped on the individual. He didn't expect her to show up here. Even his sick mother is present in the stadium, cheering his name at the top of her lungs.
"you did it! Now you can easily get that sports scholarship. I will also start my treatment soon!"
"Maa, you start treatment, right? Look I won the match. I will get my scholarship also. Please don't delay any more and don't think about my career now. I just need you to be on my side."
"I will beta!".
Tears rolled down his cheeks.
"yo! Commander!" a hard slap on the back brings Messi back to reality. He looked back to BTS who just slapped him a few seconds ago.
"We need to win the match no matter what happens" BTS added.
Messi looked at him with blank eyes.
"If we win this time we will make the record to keep the cup in our team for three years in a row. You know they always lose in their return match! Commander general you need to lead us to victory! I have put my faith in you!" BTS continued dramatically. Messi is still looking at him blankly. BTS is always their drama king. BTS is not his real name, his real name is Pinaki Banerjee. There is a small history of why he is known as BTS.
In their seventh grade, on the go-as-you-like competition, he came to school with a weird hairstyle and dyed his hair chestnut brown colour and dressed in some baggy shiny clothes. When teachers asked him about his dressing style he answered proudly; Sir it's k-pop style. I'm just carrying their vibes.
"K-pop?" sir asked in wonder.
"Korean pop stars sir! You know!" he replied with confidence.
"So whom you are representing here?" sir asked again.
"You know BTS?"
No, after this, sir didn't ask anything more. Since then Pinaki becomes BTS to everyone. Even sometimes their principal also referred to him as BTS.
The situation is kinda the same for Messi. His real name is Mrinmoy Chatterjee. His father works in the Shillong tea house company as a manager. But that's not the only identity of Mrinmoy. Mrinmoy is a left-footed soccer player like Lionel Messi. He is shorter in height than his classmates and has curly hair. When he dribbled past four defenders and scored a goal, the field was filled with applause from the football-loving audience. They cheered for him and praised him by calling him Messi. The Shillong town is amazed by his skills.
Messi knows why BTS is talking about the match. Because BTS knows without Messi they can't make it. But soccer is a team game. He can't do anything alone.
"Are you crazy? Soccer is a team game. I can't do anything alone!" Messi whines.
"Didn't you watch this year's world cup? Didn't you watch how Messi performed? " BTS asked.
"Bro he is Lionel Messi! I am Mrinmoy". Messi sighed.
" But last year you beat them with four goals. Didn't you look at their captain's face? He turned red. Bro! You just handle the match, rest I will handle". BTS exclaimed.
Messi didn't understand the "rest" thing in a soccer game. He thought to ask him about it but couldn't. They get interrupted by the siren from the nearby manufacturing plant. One shift is over now. Messi looked at his front. They are standing on the culvert. The Tori river is flowing calmly. The reflectance of the settling sun is swaying with the river's wave. The chirping of birds is breaking the silence of the place. Messi let out a sigh. The upcoming match is not just a match, it will change their life forever.