That question brings me back to earth. They’d been asking about Maya and me dating, about us being rival coaches.
‘They were saying … we were rival coaches. How would they know that?’ I ask, frowning. ‘They knew my name. How the hell did they even know who I was?’
Maya shakes her head. ‘I don’t know; they must have found out from somewhere.’
She takes out her phone and begins typing into it. After a moment, her face falls, and she looks up at me hesitantly. She turns the phone towards me, and I see what has made her face fall.
Former football star Maya Alam caught up in EXPLOSIVE match with rival coach.
Maya Alam vs Dina Chowdhury: the football rivalry of the decade?
The websites they link to aren’t theGuardianor theNew York Times. They’re just local papers, some that get delivered to our door for free every once in a while. But the fact that even local papers would know about me, or Maya, or the match, is so baffling that I don’t know what to say.
Maya turns the phone back around and clicks into one of the articles. I watch as her eyes scan it, her frown growing deeper with every passing moment.
‘It says that apparently there was some viral Instagram video talking about the match,’ Maya says.
Cold dread spreads through me.
‘Oh no …’
Maya looks up at me questioningly. ‘What?’
I don’t know how to explain it, or if I’m even right. I just take out my own phone and search for the one and only Instagram influencer that I know of personally: Jade. Her account comes up as soon as I search for it, and the pinned post on her profile is a video of her in her football kit.
I click onto it, and Maya comes close, looking at the video over my shoulder. I flush at the memory of the two of us this close last night in the dim light of Maya’s bedroom, trying to ignore the heat of her body, the familiar scent of her, as the two of us watch Jade on my small screen.
‘We’re playing the match of the century. The Divas vs Westbrook. Andweare in it to win it!’ As Jade finishes speaking, the video transitions to a montage of the team sprinting, passing and scoring goals. It certainly makes the team seem a lot more competent than they are half the time in practice.
‘This isn’t the only video,’ I say, as I scroll down, seeing multiple videos where Jade is talking about the match, therivalry between me and Maya, and more. Many of them have racked up hundreds of thousands of views, which I can’t even fathom.
‘I guess people know that we’re playing a match,’ Maya says, looking from the videos to me.
I step back from her and take a deep breath, trying to clear my head from the heady scent of her.
‘What are we going to do? Why do these papers even care about our match?’ I ask. It was enough pressure before, but now I’m imagining my failures as a coach being broadcast everywhere and I’m not sure if I’m ready to deal with that. What had Jade been thinking?
‘It’s not a big deal, I’m sure they’ll forget about it soon,’ Maya says, but her breeziness only serves to annoy me. Maya has been used to being in the limelight, used to newspapers writing about her. Me and my team don’t need that kind of attention. Especially when I’m sure that all it will do is magnify our failures and the fact that we aren’t a ‘proper’ team. They’ve already been heartbroken when accused of that by Maya’s team.
‘I should get going,’ I say, putting my phone away. ‘Do you think they’re gone?’
Maya looks like she might object to me leaving for a moment. I wonder if she’s thinking about last night too, and the thought that she might makes my face warm. I need to get out of here before we fall into a conversation about yesterday. Then, in the cover of the night, everything had felt easier. Now, in the light of the morning sun, it feels more serious and I don’t want to deal with that.
‘Let me check,’ Maya says. She shuffles to the sitting room and parts the curtains, peeking out. She turns back around and smiles. ‘All clear.’
‘Well, good. I’ll just … Thanks for …’ I drift off, not sure what to even say, or how to say it.
‘Will your flatmates be home, to let you in?’ Maya asks, tilting her head to the side as she takes me in. She acts like she doesn’t even notice how flustered I am. She’s probably trying to spare me the embarrassment of having to deal with the fact that I kissed her unprompted last night, and then told her that I missed her when she was away.
‘They should be, yeah. So don’t worry. I’ll … I’ll go. Bye.’ I twist the doorknob and step outside. The sun is bright but feels like an intrusion. I half want Maya to call me back, but as I start making my way back towards home, she doesn’t. And I don’t know if I feel relieved or disappointed.
Chapter 28
Maya
Four days to the match
The posts from Dina’s player – Jade – don’t stop. If anything, they actually get more numerous with each day that passes. She posts videos of the team playing, hanging out and even a couple of Dina coaching, though I doubt she consented to that. And yes, I may have watched those a few more times than necessary, but all in the need of monitoring media activity.
