Leonor

     The banquet was just as boring as I had originally expected. Lots of unfamiliar faces grinned at me, and I tried my best to grin back at them politely. My parents were striking up conversations with random people, and my sister was gushing to a woman about who knows what. I looked like a loser standing all by myself, so I decided to join my sister.

     Immediately upon my entry to her conversation, the woman bowed and gracefully shook my hand, smoothing out her skirt afterwards.

     "What a pleasure to meet you, Leonor," the woman beamed from ear to ear, clasping my hands in hers. Sofia shot me an annoyed look out of the corner of her eye, hoping I wouldn't see.

     "The pleasure is mine," I smiled, looking to Sofia for help. I had no clue who this woman was.

     "Leonor, this is one of my former soccer coaches. The best in the league, I may add," Sofia laughed, pushing a piece of her hair out of her eyes shyly. The woman laughed and patted Sofia on the shoulder lovingly.

     "Ah yes, Sofia is quite the soccer star," I laughed, which broke a laugh from both Sofia and her former coach.

     "It was a pleasure to see you girls. The banquet is about to start, so I'm going to take my seat. See you around soon I hope," she crowed, dropping my hand and scurrying off. Me and Sofia were left standing in the open dining hall. People were gravitating towards their seats slowly but surely.

     "We should probably sit," I muttered to Sofia, nudging her shoulder for her to follow me.

     As we took our respective seats between our parents, a man in a navy blue suit, like my father's, took the stage. He tapped the microphone quickly to test it and plastered a smile onto his tanned face. He was handsome, and looked to be about 25.

     "It's my great pleasure to welcome you all here today for our annual banquet! We are so lucky to have all of you here today with us. Please, feel free to grab some food and gather amongst yourselves. That's what we're here to do after all," the man laughed, and a few stray audience members laughed along with him. He set the microphone down, and people began to mingle freely.

     I was starving. I hadn't eaten all day, because I had been in such a rush. Usually I ate a lavish breakfast every single morning, compliments to our private chef.

     Standing to my feet, I made my way over to the food table and started to help myself. I may be a princess, but I'm also starving.

     I took a styrofoam plate and loaded it with mashed potatoes and gravy. I plopped some fresh fruit and a bagel with cream cheese on also.

     As I was about to turn around, somebody slammed into me at full speed, knocking me into the table and causing me to stumble headfirst into the big bowl of punch. Red punch. I was fuming. Somebody seriously had the audacity to push their future queen into the food table. People these days.

     As I spun on my heel angrily, I spotted the culprit. A young man who was about my age. He was wearing a black suit and his hair was combed back out of his face. He had piercing blue eyes and freckles. I would have been taken aback if he hadn't just done what he had done.

     "I'm extremely sorry, Miss. Somebody pushed me, and I happened to stumble into you," he stuttered, looking sorry with his big blue eyes.

     "It's.....fine," I rambled, shooing him away with my hand. He sulked off, without another word. Men.

     I was covered in red punch, the sticky substance coating my black suit. Great. Just what I needed. When I was trying my best to look presentable, everything had gone all wrong.

     When the banquet was concluded 2 hours later, my parents said their goodbyes to the host and some of their other important friends. I had no clue who any of them were.

     By the time we exited the restaurant, it was mid afternoon. The hot sun shone down on me, and I immediately regretted wearing all black. The late July sun in Madrid was terrible. We would be home soon enough though.

     As I settled into the back seat of the limo, I heard my father say, "Are we still going to stop, dear?"

     My mother took his hand in hers and smiled.

     "Of course. Sofia has been bugging me for weeks on end," my mother whispered, glancing over her shoulder and catching my eye.

     "Leonor, Sofia, me and your mother have a surprise for you," my father smiled, glancing back at my mother. They both smirked. I knew that look; they were up to something.

     Sofia leaned forward in her seat.

     "What is it?" She questioned quickly.

     "We know how badly you two have been dying to go to a Barcelona game. Well, me and your mother decided to take you girls tomorrow evening. It will be a great family trip," my father laughed, and Sofia's eyes instantly lit up.

     "We are doing to a Barcelona game?" She squealed, immediately starting to shake me out of my trance.

     I knew nothing about soccer. I just knew they were good. One of the best teams in Spain. Sofia was obsessed with them. She had a João Felix jersey that she wore at least once a week.

     Both of my parents nodded. Sofia reached over the seat and gave them a hug, jabbering on about how excited she was. I thanked them quietly. Even if it would be a fun trip, a change of scenery, I wasn't looking forward to the actual game.

     "Don't worry Leonor, I'll teach you everything I can about soccer when we get home this evening," Sofia laughed, relaxing back into her seat a little.

     I just nodded to myself. Praying she couldn't see the strain behind my smile.

     That evening when we returned back to the palace, Sofia barged into my room carrying her laptop. I was freshly showered and in my pajamas. My hair was a tangled mess and I had been struggling to unknot it before she arrived. 

     "Are you ready to learn about my favorite team ever?" She asked, plopping on her stomach beside me. I rolled my eyes, but I had to laugh a little. Sofia loved soccer more than anything. She had been playing since she was a little girl.

     "Sure, why not," I said.

     Sofia opened her laptop to the team's website. She pulled up all of the player profiles and introduced me to everyone. There was her fan favorite, João Felix. Good looking guy. It was the last guy who caught my attention the most. His name was Pablo Gavi. A youngster, only 19.

     "That's Gavi. He's one of the youngest players on the squad. Right here from Spain. Near Sevilla, to be exact," Sofia rambled. She caught my eyes as I was busy staring at him.

     "You think he's cute?" She prodded me.

     "No," I lied.

     "Let's watch a match now!" She exclaimed, and eagerly pulled up Barcelona's latest match from May. Their new season was starting tomorrow, and we were to attend the first game of the year.

     I got ready while I watched. Many of the players were very good. In between combing my hair and applying my skincare, I caught glimpses of their faces. I could see why she liked this team so much.

     Sofia explained the rules to me, and I tried my best to retain the information. It wasn't too hard to remember.

     When the match concluded, Sofia closed her laptop and stood to her feet.

     "It's going to be amazing, Leonor. Just you wait and see!" Sofia laughed, skipping out of my room and slamming the door behind her. I visibly cringed at the loud banging sound it made.

     I drew my curtains closed, taking one last glance at the bustling nighttime streets of Madrid. My home sweet home.

     I drank my ice water, brushed my teeth, combed my wet  hair some more, and eventually climbed into bed. I put on my favorite TV show, Euphoria, and dozed off with the slight background noise. It was enough to help me entirely forget about the day ahead of me tomorrow.

INSTAGRAM

princess.leonorrr

Tagged: infanta.sofia

Caption: busy day but guess where we're going tomorrow!

View Comments

username: Barcelona?????

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username: the food bro

Chloe.ortolano: come visit me in Barcelona!

↳princess.leonorrr: yessssss😻

username: ooooooooo

Sasha.Lewis: omg u get to see Barca haha

↳princess.leonorrr: you bet I doooo

username: Leonor being a soccer girl was not on my 2024 bingo card fr

username: let's go Barca

username: take lots of pics pleaseeee

Bit of a longer chapter for you guys. Hope ur enjoying I PROMISE it will get better but we gotta build up the story ykkkk