Become A Football Legend

"What a way to get your debut goal! Last game: first touch, first assist. This game: first touch, first goal. That's got to be some kind of record!"

The crowd screamed together with the commentator as Lukas ran towards the stands to his left. He raised both of his hands and made a heart sign into the crowd.

Somewhere in the middle of the crowd was the gang, going crazy. The people around them watched in awe as the gang celebrated Lukas's goal even more than the first four goals combined. He held his hands up to them for a few more seconds before his teammates crowded him.

As they walked back down to their half to continue what was left of the match, Lukas turned back around, balled up his right fist, and gently raised it to the sky. The home fans erupted in applause. A player from their own academy had scored his debut goal for the first team — a beautiful goal at that.

At this point, they couldn't imagine they had just witnessed the first career goal of a player who would go on to be undoubtedly one of the two greatest footballers of all time. And he wouldn't be number two, either.

The match ended 5–2 to Frankfurt, with Freiburg scoring a consolation goal in extra time. Omar Marmoush was, unsurprisingly, named man of the match.

He received an ovation from the fans, who knew this could be his last match with them — and that he had given everything for the club.

Lukas stood, his hands on his waist as he took in the atmosphere. The Ultras down at the Nordwestkurve sang special chants for Marmoush as he waved to them.

"When am I gonna get my own song?" Lukas thought with a slight grin before going over to applaud the fans.

* * *

Lukas stepped out of Deutsche Bank Park wearing a black hoodie, black track pants, and white Air Force 1s. He was looking at his phone while occasionally glancing around.

"Are you waiting for someone?" Larsson asked as he walked out of the stadium with a little bag.

"Nah, I wanna get a cab."

"Aren't you going to the ProfiCamp?"

"Not tonight. My family are at the Steigenberger. I'm gonna meet them."

"Oh, alright then. Let me give you a ride," Larsson offered.

"Are you sure?"

"Yeah. I'm passing by, anyway."

"Alright thanks," Lukas responded as he walked with Hugo Larsson into the garage.

Larsson pressed the car remote attached to his keys, and the lights on a white 2022 Audi A5 S line coupé turned on.

"Nice ride," Lukas said as he ran his hand through the hood of the car before opening the passenger-seat door.

"Yeah, right. Don't flatter me." Larsson responded as he opened his door and got into the driver's seat.

On the ride, calm music played through the car stereo as Lukas was on his phone.

Lukas: "I'm on my way there now, what's the suite number?"

João: "We're not at the suite. We're at the restaurant downstairs. Hurry up, or there'll be nothing to eat. Also Joanna keeps looking at the door waiting for you to walk in. She thinks she's sleek, though."

Lukas: "Alright, I'm on my way. Also don't say anything stupid. She can't know that you already know about us."

João: "The nerve to think you guys could hide something like this from me without me finding out."

Lukas: "Okay Mr. Detective. I'll be there soon."

Just as Lukas moved to put his phone back into his pocket, another message stopped him.

Marco: "Congrats on your debut goal, Luke."

Lukas: "Thanks, Marco. First of many."

Marco: "Indeed. Speaking of 'many', I'm gonna need you to have many posts on your Instagram. You never post anything meaningful there. It's important for building your image. It's also gonna make you more tempting to brands for sponsorship deals."

Lukas: "Sponsorship deals? Already? Also I don't have anything to post."

Marco:"You have to plan ahead. If your performance keeps up, it won't be long before we start hearing offers from some reputable brands. Don't worry about what to post, I've got you."

Marco sent a shot of Lukas with his hands making a heart sign to the crowd. It was for his family, but the fans didn't know that.

Immediately, Lukas opened his Instagram and immediately posted the photo. He added the caption: "Valuable 3 points. First goal. More to come." And uploaded it.

* * *

He arrived at the Steigenberger Airport Hotel just after midnight. He bid farewell to Larsson and stepped out of the car.

The building looked modern and clean, with large glass windows at the entrance and a quiet drop-off area out front. A few travelers were still coming and going, some wheeling suitcases behind them, others waiting for taxis.

Inside, the lobby was calm. The lighting was soft but bright enough, with tiled floors, a few potted plants, and a long reception desk to the right. A couple of staff members were still on duty, talking quietly behind the counter. To the left, he could see the hotel restaurant through a wide opening — only a few tables still had people at them, and most of the chairs were already stacked or pushed in.

Lukas walked into the restaurant, and by before he could even turn to look around, he heard someone call his name, "LUKAS!"

He turned towards where the sound had come from and saw João waving frantically.

"This boy is gonna embarrass me," Lukas thought as he quickly walked over to the table to prevent his name from being yelled in the quiet hotel restaurant again.

After a short greeting with the gang, Lukas turned to João. "Bruh... Why would you do that?" Lukas asked as he sat down. It was a rectangular table for six. The twins sat on one of the longer sides of the table, and his soon-to-be parents — Anne and Javi — sat on the other side. Lukas sat at the head of the table on the seat adjacent to Joanna.

"I wanted to let you know where we were," João responded.

"We already ordered... I hope you don't mind?" Anne asked.

"It's fine. I am not as hungry as I thought I'd be. And I heard their food is great so I'll just eat a little of whatever you guys ordered.

"That's great. Congratulations on your debut goal," Javi chimed in. This facilitated another round of congratulations from the gang.

"How did you curl that shot, bro? The goalkeeper couldn't even get a touch in and it looked like there was no power to the shot," João asked, intrigued.

"It's more about accuracy than power, although there was some speed to the ball, else the goalkeeper would have gotten there on time. I knew where I wanted the ball to go so I just directed it there.

I was lucky, though. Ekitike made a run that dragged one of the defenders, so I was able to get a shot without any deflections. Otherwise it probably wouldn't have gone in.

Anyway, what about you? How's the U19 Bundesliga going? I'm sorry I haven't been able to come to your recent games. I look at the live scores sometimes, but I can't really see your contributions since you're not a striker."

"Yeah it's going well..."

As the conversation continued, Lukas felt something caressing his left hand just by the side of the table, but out of sight for everyone sitting at the table.

He looked down and saw Joanna interlock her right-hand fingers with his left. He looked up at her and she had the most unreadable poker face slowly and awkwardly eating with her left hand.

He turned to Javi and Anne, and they were both listening to João going on about how his time with the Darmstadt U19 team was going. He already had a few training sessions with the first team and was hoping to make a debut in the coming season.

Lukas, however, was registering none of that.

It was like all his other senses had been turned off and his sense of touch had been extremely magnified as he caressed Joanna's soft hands.

After about ten minutes, he put down the fork, and brought out his phone, "How are your hands so soft?" He typed to Joanna.

Her phone was lying upside-down on the table. She heard the notification, and flipped the phone over to check the message.

With a soft smile, she tried to release her right hand to type, but Lukas held on to her stronger.

Lukas: "Don't worry, you don't have to reply. Let me just keep holding your hands.

Jo: "My hands are getting sweaty. Gimme a sec to wipe them," she managed to type out something legible with her left hand.

Lukas: "That's exactly the way I like it, though. (⁠｡⁠♡⁠‿⁠♡⁠｡⁠)

After she struggled for a bit more, he finally decided to let her go and she immediately wiped her hands of the sweat.

"These guys aren't even trying to hide this stuff anymore," João thought as he looked at his sister and slowly shook his head with a smile.

A/N: Chapter of the day.

You all have a magnificent week. I hate Mondays, though.

Peace.

-Writ.