Getting Ahead of Herself
"Haley, come here a second."
"Ugh... what is it?"
"Don't be like that—hurry up. I've got something to say in private."
"In private?"
"Just come. Please."
"One drink. Not from the school store."
"Fine."
Only after setting her condition did Haley look satisfied. Still face-down, she rose with a zombie-like slither.
She really does sleep a lot, Yohan thought, watching her. He led her out of the classroom and into a secluded alley tucked in a corner of the school grounds.
"What could you possibly need to say all the way out here?"
"Just a second..."
Yohan's head poked up over Haley's shoulder, scanning for anyone nearby. Only after checking behind them and confirming they were alone did he relax and turn to face her, ready to speak.
That was when—
"Hey. Hey."
Haley called out to him with a look that said she already knew.
"Yeah?"
"Haa... I figured a day like this would come eventually."
She folded her arms and let out a long sigh. At her baffling behavior and words, Yohan's eyes went blank.
"....?"
"Turtle."
"What?"
"Never mind. Fine. Go ahead. Let's hear it."
"Uh...?"
"Come on, spit it out."
Yohan had no idea what she was talking about. But since she was telling him to go ahead, he figured he might as well. Scratching the back of his head, he pulled something from his pocket.
Two white rectangular slips of paper.
He held them out, and Haley took them with a puzzled look.
"What are these?"
"Match tickets."
"You want us to go watch together? And you're saying it here? Confessing at a soccer stadium—that's a fresh approach. Or is this common in Italy? Ugh... but Turtle. You do know I'm basically your older sister, right?"
"Huh? We're the same age."
"No... I mean, do you know that I care about you like a little brother?"
"That I don't know. Feels more like you treat me like a subordinate."
"Well... fair enough. All right, keep going."
Haley nodded slowly with a magnanimous expression. Still a bizarre reaction. Yohan tried to make sense of her behavior, then remembered she did a lot of odd things and simply discarded the thought, turning back to the tickets.
"I'm on the squad for tomorrow's match. I'm a bench player, so the chances of me actually debuting are low, but the club gave my agent a few tickets. I only got a handful, so I'm giving them to my elementary school friends first—sit with Ciro and the others. It's a home game, and the seats are really good. You'll like them."
"....."
Haley's mouth clamped shut. She had just realized that what she'd been thinking and what Yohan had been thinking were completely different things.
As the situation dawned on her, her ears began to flush red—but Yohan, oblivious to the physiological reaction, kept talking.
"You've been in Italy this whole time and you've never even watched a soccer match. Free tickets fell into your lap, so go. It'll be amazing."
"....."
"And don't tell any of the other kids, okay?"
"....."
"Haley."
"Ah! Ik!"
Haley, who had been listening with her mouth hanging open, suddenly made a grotesque noise. Her whole body even twitched and shuddered—a reaction born of the sheer embarrassment flooding through her.
Startled, Yohan asked,
"W-what was that? What did you just do? Hiccups?"
"No... hey."
"Yeah?"
"You're playing in the match?"
"That's right. As a bench player."
"Ah, right. Bench player. So you won't actually get on the field."
"That's why I said I might not."
"When?"
"Just now, when I gave you the tickets."
"You did?"
"I did."
"You wanna die?"
"No."
"You're not even gonna ask why anymore?"
"I've adapted."
"Want me to make sure you never adapt?"
"Why are you suddenly like this? Did I do something wrong?"
"Is this the first or second time I've been like this?"
"Well, no, but today especially..."
"Whatever. Can you actually play in the match?"
Yohan's face turned doubtful. There was a microscopic chance of a debut, but fundamentally he was deeply skeptical. He might spend this entire season—maybe even the next—warming the bench before getting loaned out, or even sent back down to the Primavera.
The reason he was handing out tickets despite expectations thinner than a thread was the faint hope that he might get a short run-out in stoppage time. And since the club had simply given them out for a player's family and friends, he figured he might as well share the goodwill with his friends.
"I think the odds are incredibly low. You only get three substitutions, and there are plenty of players better than me—if anyone comes on, it'll be them first."
"Only three?"
"That's soccer."
"Hmm... sounds boring."
"Don't be like that—just come watch. You've been bored lately. It's a weekend match, so take your time, look around the stadium, grab some food, and enjoy the game. The atmosphere will be electric."
"Fine... I'll go."
"Give the other one to Aunt Carrie."
"I'll ask her, but Mom'll probably be busy then."
"Yeah...? Well, nothing we can do. And don't show up right at kickoff—get there early and go in."
"Why? So we can get in before it gets crowded?"
"No, it's just... anyway, do what I say. Just this once."
"Okay."
"Mm."
Haley's head tilted slightly to one side—a habit that surfaced whenever something didn't sit right with her.
"Aren't you going to say thank you?"
"Shouldn't you be thanking me? I gave you free tickets..."
"I'm doing you a favor by going to the stadium after your desperate plea."
"That's not... hmm... okay, fine. You're right. Thanks."
"Two drinks."
"Huh...? It was one earlier."
"One for dragging me out here, one for going to the stadium. That's two."
"You're a regular little tyrant."
"Deal or no deal?"
"Fine. Two drinks. Let's go."
As she left the alley with Yohan, Haley thought to herself,
I almost died of embarrassment.
Thank god Yohan was an idiot. If he'd had even a shred of social awareness, she would have been stuck as his personal punching bag for a solid decade.
"We can't accept the tickets."
"Because of the rules?"
"Yes."
Sister Caterina politely declined the tickets Yohan held out.
Nuns had cultural lives too. They could go to the movies, visit art museums, attend concerts—even watch a soccer match in person. Orders focused heavily on consecration might place some restrictions on such things, but they never banned them outright. After all, as human beings, people needed the occasional break from daily routine.
The Trigoria Convent was no different. Its sisters could enjoy cultural leisure activities. What they could not do was accept tickets to cultural events as gifts or donations. They had to pay their own way—and for the Trigoria Convent, that meant using whatever was left of their living expenses after selling jam.
The cheapest ticket in Rome currently ran twenty-three euros. The seats had poor sight lines, which made them relatively inexpensive compared to others, but even those prices tended to climb on match day if you hadn't reserved in advance.
Of course, a price hike was unlikely. Roma had been putting on eye-rotting performances lately, so fewer people were bothering to show up in person. Serie A stadiums rarely filled up as it was; ticket prices were more likely to drop than rise. Even so, it was still a burdensome sum for the convent, and Sister Caterina patted Yohan's back with a look full of apology.
"It's a shame... Why don't you give those tickets to your friends, Yohan."
"I wanted to do something filial even if I can't debut... Well, nothing we can do. Still, please watch on TV. If I'm lucky, the camera might catch me in my kit."
Sister Caterina answered with a bright smile, putting him at ease. After he went into his room and the door shut firmly behind him, she slipped carefully out of the convent.
Just then, Sister Melissa was coming up the narrow path toward the entrance. Caterina opened the gate for her, and seeing that Melissa's expression wasn't bad, she asked,
"Did you get them?"
"Yes. There were plenty of seats, but the price was short for four tickets—luckily there was a clergy discount, so we just managed."
"Thank goodness..."
"Should we tell Yohan?"
"Hmm... I don't think we should. He already believes he won't debut, and if he sees us there in that state of mind, it might make him anxious. Better to go quietly and watch without him knowing."
"Then that's what we'll do. Will you tell the other sisters?"
"Yes, of course."
Sister Caterina had never told Yohan she wouldn't go to the match. She had never said she wouldn't buy tickets, either. Yohan had simply jumped to conclusions on his own.
How could they possibly miss a match for the boy they had raised like a son? No matter how slim the chances of a debut, they had always intended to go.
To the nuns, whether Yohan debuted or not was completely beside the point. Seeing him stand inside that stadium as a proper player—as a member of society—was their absolute priority.
"Where are Carla and Maria?"
"They just finished dinner."
"Then shall we all pray together that Yohan's future unfolds well?"
"Yes, let's."
That night, a call came from Caroline. Having heard the news from Haley, she wanted to ask whether the nuns were going to the match. After hearing Sister Melissa's answer, Caroline said she would join them. With Haley's friends there, an older woman tagging along would only make things less fun for the kids.
Sister Melissa gladly accepted Caroline's offer, and Caroline immediately looked up the nuns' seats and booked the ones right beside them.
And so, without Yohan knowing a thing, the nuns and Caroline spent the days ahead counting down to match day.