Chapter 20: A Goal For Me

Under the purple of the night sky, behind a small terraced house down a suburban street, there was a blonde boy that looked about eighteen years old in the backyard which was basically a mini football pitch with a goalpost on both ends.

The boy was currently dripping with sweat. In front of him was a football and there were several training cones scattered about on the grassy surface of the pitch. After taking one more look around the pitch, the boy released a small sigh and collapsed onto the floor.

"System, I want to see my stats," Will whispered before wiping his face. A few stray drops of sweat were threatening to fall into his eyes.

[Ding! Downloading Host Stats]

[Ding! Download completed]

[Host identified: William Smithson]

[Age: 17]

[Club/Affiliation: Middlesbrough FC Academy (U18)]

[Position: Attacking Midfielder {Second Striker/Central Midfielder/Right Midfielder}]

[Status: Academy scholar]

[Current Rating: 54 > 59]

[Potential Cap: 72]

[Credits: 175]

[Core Stats]

[Pace: 58 > 60]

[Shooting: 51 > 55]

[Passing: 55 > 57]

[Dribbling: 53 > 60]

[Defending: 47 > 50]

[Physicality: 48 > 49]

[Endurance: 60 > 65]

[Mental: 61 > 65]

[Set Pieces: 44 > 46]

[Leadership: 39 =]

Will smiled slightly when he saw his stats. He had made progress from the first time the system showed him his stats. He was only 54 rated then but in the space of a week and a half, he had managed to get his player rating up by 5.

He knew that it wouldn’t be proportional growth as he advanced but it made him happy to see how quickly he was progressing.

"Don’t you have a match tomorrow?" Will turned his face to the side and saw Janet walking out from the house.

"Oh, right," Will muttered.

David had mentioned a few ’minor improvements’ that he wanted to see in Will’s game the day before. When Will got back home from the training session, he immediately started practicing, using the recovery potions that the system provided.

The day after, they had a long tactical session and they were released on time so that they could get ready for the friendly the next day. From when they were released till the current time, which was around nine in the evening, Will had been training, only stopping now as he felt like he was going to collapse.

"I’m no football expert, but aren’t you supposed to be relaxing before a match?" Janet crossed her arms as she walked over to where Will lay down. "Also you’ll get ticks if you keep lying down on the grass. Can’t have you bringing them in like a dog, can we?"

"Shit," Will muttered as he dragged himself up, and glared at Janet. "I’ll be fine for tomorrow. It’s not like I’m starting anyways," Will said.

David had announced the starting lineup when the training session was over, and Will wasn’t starting. It was the strongest lineup that was being fielded, and Will wasn’t part of it. At least for now. With the rate at which he was improving, he’d dust everyone very soon.

"Sucks to be you," Janet said.

Will groaned, then picked himself up before following Janet to walk inside the house. His mom had already prepared breakfast so they just ate and talked while eating. When they weren’t fighting or taking unnecessary jabs at each other, Will and his sister were actually very close.

After a couple of hours, Will excused himself and went to his room so that he could rest properly. Even if the system took care of his recovery and physical fitness, he still needed to be well rested and physically sharp before the match took place, if not things could end badly for him.

Will lay on his bed staring blankly at the ceiling of his room. The faint glow from the streetlight trickled into his room through his window, shining on his face but the reflection was marred by a few shadows that were also cast on his face.

All Will could think about was the match that was going to happen the next day, even if he was just a substitute. The match and whether or not he was going to have as much of an impact as he wanted to have.

The system’s mission just got a lot more difficult to complete unless he had a special cameo later on in the match, or if he even had any minutes at all. Well, it was a friendly and given the progress he had made in David’s view, then he had to get a few minutes to work his magic.

Will fell asleep, lost in his thoughts. By the time he woke up, it was to his alarm waking him up in the morning, telling him that it was time to get up. Usually, it would give him a daily mission, but as he was having a match later in the day, the system didn’t give him a mission.

Will still decided to go early. He wanted to practice a little, not enough to strain him physically, it was just something that would get him in the groove for the match.

While he was still practicing, he heard a feminine voice sound from behind him.

"You’re here again."

Will turned around and saw Chloe walking towards him. He smiled and waved at her, but she didn’t seem to share his joy.

"Did I do something?" Will asked immediately.

"You didn’t. That’s the problem," Chloe said. "We had a date, and talked in the night after, and that was all. You didn’t text, you didn’t call, you didn’t write a letter, you didn’t send a smoke signal, nothing!"

Will sighed lightly when he heard Chloe’s complaints. Thinking about it, he did do her bad by not communicating with her at all. He was so locked in over the past couple of days that he had forgotten all about her.

"You’re right, I’m sorry. I was busy the past couple of days and I should have let you know that I wasn’t going to be available," Will said. "How can I make this up to you?" Will asked earnestly.

Chloe smiled when she saw Will’s remorse. She wasn’t an unreasonable person and knew that Will was probably busy when he didn’t communicate with her, she just didn’t like not being told about it so when he apologized, all was well.

"Nothing really, I just need a goal today dedicated to me," Chloe said with a smile.

"Consider it done," Will said.