[ seven ] 

April and her sisters had been in Brazil for a couple of days now. It was the eleventh of June and the three sisters had tickets to the opening ceremony in Arena Corinthians as well as the football game that would take place after. 

Her two sisters had left the hotel together to go shopping. They invited April to come with her, but she had made plans to meet with Nev and Max at the hotel cafe.

Before heading down to wait for them, she thought about the information they had given her a dew days prior. Lucas' real name was Giovani, and that depended on whether or not he was the one talking to her. Ever since she arrived in Brazil, April avoided talking to him. But on this particular day, she got her phone out and wrote him a text message.

'hey, luc ^.^'

'hey april, where've you been? i missed you :*'

'kinda busy, but i missed you too :)'

'luc, can i ask you a question? :$'

'sure :)'

'do you have a middle name? :)'

She hoped he would say his middle name was Giovani and then maybe she could find some relief, but when he replied, a frown formed on her face.

'i don't have a middle name :p why is that important?'

'no reason.'

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.

She walked into the small cafe and saw the two men were already waiting for her. April instantly recognized them because Max was holding a camera in his hand as always. She approached them nervously and with a small smile. "Hello." She said awkwardly.

"Sit down." Nev gestured to the chair across from them.

April pulled the chair out and sat down. They waited a few seconds before Max finally spoke. "We have more information about this guy."

"So the boy from the pictures, Giovani, he plays for a team in Spain called Villareal. Its not a second division team like he told you, but it is in Spain. Though we haven't been able to communicate with him because he's quite famous in his country. But we sent him a message on his official facebook and we're awaiting a reply, hopefully soon." Nev explained. 

At that, April's eyebrows knitted together in confusion. "His country? He told me he was Brazilian."

The two shook their heads. "He's only half Brazilian." Nev informed her.

"His dad was a Brazilian soccer player and his mom is a Mexican former sports reporter. He's had a really good football career; winning the world cup for seventeen year old boys in 2005, the regional gold cup tournament in 2009 and 2011, and the summer olympics in London 2012. Apparently he joined the football club FC Barcelona in 2006 and debuted with their senior team in 2007 at age nineteen. And now he plays for Villareal." Max said, giving her the full report on the boy they thought was Lucas dos Santos.

Looking from Max to April, Nev gave a polite smile. "I think this is the guy you're looking for. Everything seems to connect. We read some articles and it is confirmed that he's here in Brazil."

"Yeah," Max nodded, "He was called to represent Mexico."

"Ooh, well I have tickets to the Brazil vs. Mexico game in the second game of the group stage next week." April informed them, her eyes filling up with hope. If it was true that he had been lying to her all this time, she wanted to know why he did it. 

"Okay, perfect." Nev said. "So if he replies, we'll have a talk with him and let him know we want to talk to him in person. But don't tell him about it by text." He warned April. "We want your meeting with him to be a surprise. We'll message you when everything is set and ready for you to finally meet Lucas."

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One week later...

It had been so long since he and April talked. But today was the day he knew the truth needed to be told. Today was the day when Mexico and Brazil will go head to head in the Castelao Stadium in Fortaleza. They were already one week into the world cup and if she wasn't onto him now, she would discover his lie today.

Today she would see the boy she believed to be Lucas dos Santos on the pitch, but wearing a Mexican national team shirt. 

April would probably be watching the game and immediately know he's been lying to her when they show the starting line up and Giovani dos Santos shows up as the player's name. He knew it would break her heart. Especially after explaining to her that it was someone else she's bene talking to.

As he got out of the bus and followed his team mates into the stadium, he pulled his phone out of his pocket. He composed a text to her.

'april can we talk?'

'uh...sure.'

'but not right now. i have something important to do. i just wanted to make sure you weren't busy.'

'okay...um, i have something to do this moment. but text me later and we can talk.'

He was walking down one of the hallways, lost in his own world when he bumped into someone. "Sorry." Neymar murmured in Portugese without even looking at the person. His finger clicked the send button at that moment.

'i love you.'

"Don't worry." She assured him, equally distracted.

A few seconds after sending the message, he heard a ringing sound coming from the phone of the person he bumped into. He finally looked up and let out a shakey breath when he realized it was April. Still distracted, he watched her click away on her cellphone a short reply. She hit send with a forlorn sigh before finally lifting her gaze to look at him.

Neymar felt his cellphone vibrate in his hand, but he didn't dare look at it.

He was frozen.

April was right in front of him and she looked at him in surprise. The young woman couldn't believe she had bumped into Neymar. He was so shaken by seeing her in person for the first time that the only thing he could think to do was walk past her like he didn't know her.

Once in the safety of the locker rooms, he opened her text message which consisted of her reply to thephrase he often said to her.

And it was a one worded reply.

'right.'

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So far everything was going according to plan. Nev and Max had finally been able to set up to meet with Giovani after the game and he was unaware April would be there.

The game was the most exciting of the World Cup up until that point. April and her sisters only had tickets for the Brazil games along with tickets for the final and were left to watch the rest of the matches on tv in their hotel rooms.

June and April were the ones who watched them. May was mostly busy begging to go out on the beach or go shopping. But April wouldn't let her younger sister go alone.

By the end of the game, April found that she had been impressed with the Mexican's great defending and goalkeeping, as well as the fact that she was staring at Mexico's number ten throughout the entire game. It was the boy in the pictures she saw when she was talking to Lucas and it was the face she had fallen in love with. Her sister June noticed the half-Brazilian wore the opposition's shirt and asked her sister during the game. "Hey," she squinted, trying to get a better view. "Isn't that Lucas on the field? Why is he wearing the Mexico jersey?"

April sighed. "Its a long story." 

The game ended up in a zero zero draw for the Brazilians and the Mexicans, but many people around her argued the performance of the Mexican side had been better. Some commented on the fact that the Brazilian team hadn't been doing so well over the past year while overs mentioned that the Mexicans were making a miraculous recovery after a horrendous qualifying campaign in 2013.

April and her sisters waited until most of the fans piled out of the stadium. Then the three walked out towards the parking lot. At the entrance of the Castelao, Nev and Max were waiting for her.

The twenty year old girl asked her sisters to go wait for her at the car and they nodded silently. 

"Okay, so Lucas--Giovani, said he would meet us out here." Nev informed April and she felt as though she were about to throw up. Never in her life had she felt so nervous. It was like her stomach had become a washing machine on spin cycle. "You can go hide back there behind that corner and we'll ask him some questions and see if he's our guy."

"Okay." She gulped, walking a few steps and then turning a corner. 

Curious, she couldn't help but peek at them. It was a few more minutes of an agonizing wait before he finally emerged from the stadium in a black suit with a green tie and the Mexican football logo on the left side.

April felt her heart speed up and she thought she might pass out.

Her eyes watched them carefully as they talked to him. At first, he was smiling and nodding politely but the more they talked, the more confused he looked and his smile dropped.

And in a matter of five minutes, they shook hands with him and the conversation was over. Nev and Max returned to where April was, while the football player remained standing there. They had asked him to stay. 

April could see by their faces that it was bad news. Still, they were hopeful. "So...?" She asked.

"He's not the guy." Nev blurted out the news, knowing how impatient she had been the first time they tried beating around the bush.

That was the very moment half of her heart fell apart.

If the face she fell in love with wasn't the person she'd been talking to, she knew she could only expect more heartbreak on her journey to find out the truth about Lucas dos Santos.

-

isn't it frustrating that ney had the chance to tell her face to face who he really is and he blew it cause he was too afraid? still, i can understand him cause sometimes fear is more powerful but yeah. he needs to be brave and tell her already. he's only pushing her away. :/

anyway, yeah.

made this one extra long because you all deserve it.

thank you for getting this story so many reads and votes. from here on out, i'm guessing there will only be five to seven more chapters. its a rather short story.

but i hope you guys enjoy it.

thank you for all your support. it means a lot.

and keep reading and voting.

i love you!

-clary xx