i kept thinking ≫ fernando torres

019

I take a seat in my car and put my bag on the seat next to me. I start the engine and roll back down the driveway. Unfortunately it's a 2 hour drive, but I'll be fine with music accompanying me. I'm glad that I left early, because I'm afraid that there will be a lot of cars on the road moving towards this game.

After about 3 traffic jams and 2,5 hours later, I arrive at the stadium. Finding a parking spot is the most difficult thing ever, but thankfully I found one in the end. It's busy, as if everyone is here. Some people are hysterical and super stoked to get inside. I park my car and grab my bag to get out of the car. I know that Fernando has been inside for a while, and I am pretty sure he did it effortlessly. I take the ticket in my hands, in case I won't be able to find it in my bag by the time I arrive at the ticket control. I stand at the back of the queue that seems to last forever.

By the time I get inside, I walk to my assigned seat. It's pretty far up front, which would've cost a fortune and I would have never been able to afford it at all. The girl next to me looks at me and then looks to the person next to her again and then back at me. I'm a little confused. I hear her ask me something in probably Spanish and I look at her, because I know so little of the language that I'm unable to understand and reply.

"English please?" I ask her and she repeats her question in English, wondering whether I want a Spanish flag on my cheek. I nod, and she starts painting it, and now I feel like a real fan, even though I know only a few of the players. Time goes too slow and I wonder how Fernando is doing. I fish my phone from my pocket and see that I have new unread message from Fernando. Coincidence? I think not.

"I'm in, without efforts, of course. I'm waiting for the team to get onto the field and I'll go on when they're singing the national anthem. Look out for me. FT."

I sigh, thankfully he's alright. I watch the clock that will soon also show us the scores. Another few minutes before it's time for the game to start, which means the players will soon move onto the field to sing the national anthem. I am nervous for him, but I'm pretty sure that he's even more nervous than I am.

My heart starts racing while looking at the clock. I'm it's only a matter of seconds left. I start counting down up onto the next full minute. Fernando's text made me feel a little less nervous, but I still am. It's just how I felt back in high school when I had to do tests or exams. It was the worst. 10 seconds left. 5 seconds left.

Five, four, three, two, one...

People are walking onto the field trough the tunnel. I can't recognize most of them, but one of them is taking the football and the teams are following. Right side has the Spanish team and left side has the Swiss team. They walk slowly, accompanied by little children, which looks adorable. It's always my favorite part of football games, if I have to watch it. The Swiss national anthem starts playing and I do not understand the language at all. I see the mouths of the players moving up and down, and I'm sure some of them are not even singing and are just play backing. I smile and hear the fans howling and screaming of excitement.

Time for the Spainish national anthem. I wish I could sing along, but I decide on mumbling a bit of the words so it's not too weird that I'm sitting here within all the die-hard Spain fans. I am really curious to find out what his teammates think of him returning. and I hope they will continue the game. My eyes glide down on the players and I recognize David. I look down at the tunnel to see if I can spot Fernando, but no sign of him yet.

"Go, Fernando," I mumble to myself, "Now." I close my eyes and try to focus onto something else. I'm very nervous. I see someone in black walking on the field and security guards are running after him to get him off. I'm sure that's Fernando.

The song continues on and I see Fernando running up on stage. He seems happy somehow. He takes off his hat and throws it down, so that people will be able to recognize him, and the Spanish team stops singing and look at Fernando. It looks like they are not sure what to do. They seem so surprise that he is actually here and still alive.