Carson and Amir led Elian to a field not far from their previous location.
Elian was surprised to find out that a field even existed in that location. From here, he could see Manchester City's U-19 team's stadium. It wasn't the biggest stadium around so it was quite small compared to other stadiums in the city, especially the Manchester United stadium in the same city.
Elian shrugged as he turned around, facing Amir and his friend.
To be honest, he still found this quite weird, especially because he didn't know who they were and his impression of them was already quite bad because of the article he read on their indiscipline.
Somehow, he didn't still want to be judgmental. After all he was a sports man too, and he knew just how difficult the life could be. One little mistake and you get paraded all over the internet, being described as a very indisciplined player, no one but your teammates would know the real story. It was quite difficult indeed.
"What did you want to do?" Elian asked sincerely. He actually didn't quite understand what his reason for being here was exactly.
Amir tapped his watch slightly. "Emm…wait a moment…he'll be here soon."
"Who?" Elian asked, a bit puzzled.
Carson shrugged a bit. "Aiden. He's a new signing, he just came into the city and we planned on meeting up."
"Who's Aiden?" Elian asked, feeling the matter get complicated.
Amir spoke. "He just got signed to Manchester City's First Team, that's why we're here in the first place, to see him. He's our childhood friend, so we all decided to meet up here today, but since we saw you here too, we have decided to make it a football game…and see how much we could improve on."
Meta immediately looked it up. "I have found who they are talking about on the web, the story is really true. His name is Aiden Enzo and he's eighteen years old. He just got signed two days ago. The signing really got very popular, how come you didn't know that?"
"Ohh…Elian thought inwardly. That kid? He's just around my age, but he has already made it to our first team, I have to do the same thing too, and immediately."
Elian nodded slowly. It was all making sense now. He suddenly felt the courage to ask the question that had been lingering on his mind and he didn't waste any time to ask, lest his confidence gets zapped away.
"Why were you both suspended?" Elian asked.
Amir rubbed his nose embarrassedly. "Ummm…to be honest…"
"Or to be fair, rather." Carson chipped in, complementing Amir's talk.
Amir nodded approvingly. "Yes that's right. To be fair. I'll just say that we were suspended because we weren't the better player. Because we are average players in the team."
"What do you mean?" Elian asked, finding their excuse a little confusing.
Amir shook his head. "It's a bit embarrassing to say, but…we kinda got into an argument with a fellow player, Carson got into an argument with a fellow player, and before you knew it, it escalated into a fight. I tried to help and the player started picking on me too, so I joined in, and we both beat up the player…"
Amir said this last part very quickly, as if scared that Elian might hear him.
Elian didn't ask of the other part, he knew what it was about already. The player was probably better than them so the club chose him over them, dismissing the matter as a case of bullying and intense indiscipline among the two friends and this, they were suspended.
It was such a sad story indeed.
Just then, the gate of the field opened and somebody walked in.
Elian couldn't see the face clearly due to the sun shining right behind him and blocking Elian's eyes, but some features were still visible.
Elian quintet to have a better look. It was a boy with blond hair and blue eyes that glowed through the darkness of the shadow cast on him. He had a backpack slung over his shoulders as he walked towards them.
"Is that him?" Elian asked.
"Yes, it has to be." Carson replied.
Enzo walked up to them and they all exchanged pleasantries, before Enzo turned to Amir.
"Who's this?" Enzo asked, referring to Elian.
Amir spoke. "This is Elian, the boy we just told you about."
Enzo shrugged. "The one you say you wish to learn from?"
Carson and Amir's face flushed red, a bit embarrassed to admit something like that in front of Elian. Even if they wanted him to knowX he didn't have to be so brazen about it.
"Err...yes."
"Which team does he play for?" Enzo asked, looking Elian up and down.
"Manchester City's U-19 Team." Carson replied.
Enzo first looked puzzled, then a grin appeared on his face, he looked Elian over again, making Elian feel uncomfortable.
"Please is there a problem?" Elian asked, not liking the stare Enzo was giving him at all.
Enzo shook his head amidst laughter. "How could there be? There are problems! Not one not two, but many! And I'll only list the major ones…"
Carson immediately understood what Enzo was getting at, and he tried to stop it immediately. Enzo had always been the proud one, over domineering and condescending.
The relationship between the trio had been deeply rooted and sustained by the fact that Enzo always managed to prove himself. No matter what anyone else thought, no matter what the situation was like, he always managed to shine and draw everyone's attention, being the star of the day.
"Enzo please, it's enough." Carson said, grabbing Enzo by the shoulder.
It had been a bit long since they last saw Enzo, so they had forgotten this side of him. This was certainly not the meeting they were expecting. Couldn't he act mature enough and keep the unnecessary pride away at least for their sake?
Enzo slapped Carson's hand away immediately.
"I should stop?" Enzo asked mockingly. "How long will you two keep on embarrassing me?"
Amir looked downwards, he couldn't bear to stare Elian in the eye.
"What is that supposed to mean?" Carson asked, his anger welling.
Enzo shrugged. "Well, what else is it supposed to mean? We're finally meeting for the first time in so long, after I have signed to one of the biggest teams in European Football. First, you two are still mediocre players playing in an U-19 team. But I can overlook that, after all your still my friends. And since we're back in the same country, it won't be long before you guys would improve if you keep on following me like you always did…"
Amir raised his head and shot Elian a look of apology. Surprisingly, Elian looked interested, he stared at Enzo as if he was some top star, he couldn't wait to see what super skills Enzo possessed to make him get so cocky. Surely, he couldn't be all mouth, he had to possess some really incredible skills.
Enzo continued. "Yes, I tried to overlook all that. But what did you do? You instead brought a fellow mediocre player, no even worse. Someone I've never heard of or seen before. And what did you just say? You're hoping to learn from him? And you've turned our reunion into a sparring session? If it was with a notable player, I wouldn't have much objections as I would be able to learn from him too. But…"
Elian had heard enough, but he wasn't still angry. "So what do you want?" Elian asked.
Enzo turned to look at him. "What do I want?" Enzo then laughed in a condescending manner. "Of course I want nothing more than to leave this trashy place right now!"
With that, Enzo turned to leave. But Elian stopped him. "Wait."
"For?" Enzo asked in his rude manner.
Elian shook his head. "Nothing much. Just…don't you think it'd be a waste to just leave like that? After all you're here already."
"What are you trying to say?" Enzo asked, irritated.
Elian shrugged. "With all that long and boring talk, I thought you'd be quite smart…I guess I was wrong."
Enzo's eyes twitched at that. It was a balatant insult from a person was completely inferior to him. A player that wasn't even twice as good as him.
"What did you just say?" Enzo asked, his face turning purple from anger.
Elian smiled at him. It was normally a cool smile, but today, Enzo found it totally repulsive.
"Relax." Elian spoke. "Let's go on 1V1, if I win, you have to apologize to these two…"
Enzo was ever ready for this, and he quickly cut Elian short, dropping conditions of his own.
"And if I win, you three will have fo grovel at my feet."
Elian paused, he wasn't sure if he wanted to accept that. After all, he wasn't confident of winning against Enzo, news had it that he was a pretty remarkable player and excellent on 1V1 situations with a very high success rate in dribbles. But Enzo was getting ahead of himself and he quickly changed the terms.
"No, infact, if I don't win with more than three goals, then you three will have to grovel at my feet and clean it with your clothes. That's the least you can do for wasting my time, don't you think?"
Elian was now even more confident. At least, if he didn't win, he was sure Enzo wouldn't win against him with that much of a margin, so there was no need for him to do anything if Enzo didn't win with more than three goals. It was a win win for him.
Elian smiled. "Sure, deal."