Chapter 4:

First Meeting

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Two days after (Broken & That Pass)

The weekend went by faster than Joe had expected, he did nothing except for eating crisps and watching YouTube compilations of Manchester City wonderkid & English generational talent Phil Foden.

Woken up by the sound of his booming alarm, it was 7 o'clock in the morning...

''Wake up, come down here breakfast is ready'' his mum alerted

''Fuck it's already Monday morning'' ''I'm coming'' Joe trudged down stairs

''Quick eat, is gonna get cold''

His mum made a classic full English breakfast with beans, bacon, sausages, eggs and toast... Joe never enjoyed the taste of beans, but never complained about it as he didn't want his mum to be let down.

''Yes mum it taste great, thanks''

As last time Joe complaint about his mums food...she went into despair and his dad got mad about Joes complaining on the food.

''I'm done now, I'll get ready for school mum''

''Okay enjoy your day sweetie''

Finishing his breakfast, Joe rushed upstairs to take a shower, brushed his teeth and put on his casual fit to get ready for school... as he hurries down stairs to put on his shoes. School was not far from where Joe lives, maybe a 10 minute walk give or take would get him there.

Ruben pulled up beside Joe as they walk together to school...

''Fridays game was insane, why were you not there?'' Ruben spoke with enthusiasm

''I went home early to catch up on the latest episode of One Piece'' Joe lied

''You still watching One Piece, I just read it man''

''But about that, that exchange student Eric...his passing is insane, the dude is fucking insane''

Joe still wondered how good this Eric person is and why everyone is giving him praise... this shit was annoying the fuck out of him to be honest.

''How is a exchange student who came over to England a couple of days ago, that came off the bench... better than me already'' Annoyance filled in Joes head

As Joe and Ruben both arrived at school together... they went into form (A class to take in registration whenever you enter the school) they were both in form G with Auriel Academys target man & goal machine Austin.

Austin went up to Ruben with excitement still from Fridays game against Daimon High.

''I still can't believe that we manage to score last minute to seal that victory'' Austin said ''It's still so surreal to me''

''The fact that we were evenly matched against a top 5 team in Manchester was insane'' Ruben replied back to Austin

Auriel Academy football team has never gotten any higher than top 7th in Manchester, so the fact that they played and won against Daimon High, which has always been a top 5 team in Manchester...filled them with joy also levelled up their eager to play against better teams.

''Daimon had all these insane players, their two midfield maestros were insane what were their names again?''

''Aaron and Brad'' Austin responded back to Ruben

''Also that speedy winger that was giving our defence a headache what was his name again?''

''Taylor'' Austin responded again to Ruben

''Ruben you are never good with names are you'' Austin signed at Ruben

''Yes those players were a right headache to deal with''

Joe didn't say anything so he listened to Ruben and Austin talk about the game.

It was the end of form time and they had to go to separate classes now, Joe had English for his first period/class... he strolled into class and sat at his usual sit for the sitting plan. He sat with Eily in the sitting plan.

''Erm so this is awkward'' Joe thought

''So.. good morning Eily''

''...'' no response from Eily

''The um... weather is sure great today''

''...'' still no response from Eily

''Umm... how was your weekend''

''You must have figured out that I don't want to talk to you now'' Eily spoke in frustration

''You two at the back calm down'' English Teacher yelled

English went by quicker than expected... but it was awkward for Joe who had to sit next to his ex girlfriend, who he had to look away and stare at a wall for the whole time... luckily the class was just to write out from your imagination so the wall kind of helped Joe, it had a poster of a black cave and a dragon so that's what he wrote about.

As the bell rang, Joe rushed straight to period/class 2... which was science, the people entering the lab were stood outside to wait for the teacher to allow to be let in... Michael and Dean were both in the same class as Joe for science.

They both mentioned about the match with Daimon, but Joe ignored their conversation about it... but he had heard a mention about Eric.

''That pass from Eric to Ruben was so clutch'' Dean boasted

''Yeah, I need to learn how to pass like him'' Michael commented

''Is his passing really that good that even Michael is complimenting the kid'' Joe thought

Science went by pretty slow compared to English for Joe, they were doing biology and learned about animals and evolution which Joe didn't understand as Joe was a religious person and believed that god created everything.

Bell did eventually rang for breaktime which they had 15 minutes... Joe's friend circle was made up of Ruben, Austin and John as John was in form H they couldn't be all together for form time.

Once again they were talking about the game on Friday and Eric... Joe couldn't stand it and went to the cafeteria to buy a bacon & sausage sandwich.

While he was there he saw a person who was around the same height as him with tanned skin speak to one of the cashiers with poor English.

''Can I have that'' points with his finger

''How much I pay''

''That will be £2.40'' cashier responded

''I only have £2'' spoken with stress

''You have to have the 40p or I can't give it to you'' cashier replied

''Wait I have 40p'' Joe gives two 20p's to the cashier

''Thank you, how may I repay''

''You don't need to It's fine, it's just 40p''

''Hello I'm Joe what's your name''

''My name Eric, good to meet you''