Chapter 56 - 54 - On Record II

Chapter 56: Chapter 54 - On Record II

"I have to ask about the chance near the end."

Rafael shifted back in the chair. "I thought you would."

"When you hit it, did you think you had your first goal?"

"Yeah. I thought I’d put it far enough across him."

"And when he saved it?"

Rafael’s mouth tightened briefly at the memory. "I wasn’t happy."

"You looked fine afterwards."

"There was still a match going on."

The interviewer nodded once and left the chance there.

They spoke briefly about the final whistle before the page of notes dropped lower on the man’s knee.

"So you’ve made the debut. What do you want now?"

Rafael had used enough safe answers during his first career to know exactly what came next if he wanted the easiest version of the interview: keep learning, keep working and take every opportunity. None of it would have been false, but he did not want to stop there.

"More minutes."

The interviewer looked up fully.

Rafael continued, keeping his voice even. "I don’t think fifteen minutes means I should suddenly start. There are players ahead of me who’ve done a lot more at this level. But I want to contribute regularly, and eventually I want to start first-team matches."

The interviewer glanced at the paper, though Rafael doubted the next question was written there.

"You think that can happen this season?"

"I don’t know when it’ll happen."

"So that’s the target?"

Rafael rested his forearms on his thighs. "Playing regularly is the first target. Starting is where I want to get to."

The interviewer studied him for a moment.

"You’re seventeen."

"I know."

A smile appeared at the edge of the man’s mouth. "Just checking."

Rafael smiled too, but the interviewer did not turn it into a joke.

"What makes you comfortable saying that after one appearance?"

Rafael considered the wording before answering.

"Because wanting it and deserving it aren’t the same thing. I can want to start without pretending I’ve already earned the place."

For the first time since the interview began, the cameraman looked up from behind the screen.

The interviewer nodded and made a small mark on his notes.

"Fair enough."

They finished with two shorter questions about the academy supporters and what he had learned during senior preseason. When the cameraman finally lifted a hand, Rafael stayed seated while the microphone was removed.

"That should do it," the communications employee said, gathering his notes. "You were easy."

Rafael stood, then hesitated before stepping away.

"The answer about starting was all right?"

The man looked back at him.

"You worried about it now?"

"Just checking."

He considered the question for a second. "You said you want to earn it. You didn’t say somebody should lose his place tomorrow. I wouldn’t have let you walk out if we’d created a problem."

Rafael nodded. "Good."

The cameraman was already coiling a cable by then, so Rafael thanked them and left before the conversation could become another review of what he had said.

The answer stayed with him only until he reached the changing room and realised most of the others had already gone.

Perrin found the video before Rafael did.

When Rafael entered on Wednesday morning, the room was already busy. One player was speaking to a physio near the showers, two defenders were comparing something on a phone, and Renaud was tying his boots while listening to Caron complain about traffic on the way in.

Perrin looked up from his own screen.

"Morning. They’ve posted your interview."

Rafael put his bag down. "Already?"

"Last night."

He turned the phone enough for Rafael to see the paused frame of himself against the Metz backdrop.

"You look very serious."

"I was answering questions."

Perrin watched him for another moment, then shrugged. "Fair."

The video started again while Rafael changed. Nobody gathered around it. Caron left to speak with one of the coaches, another player asked Perrin to move his bag, and by the time the clip reached Rafael’s comments about wanting more minutes, Renaud was already standing.

Perrin paused there.

"You really said you want to start?"

"Eventually."

Renaud glanced across as he pulled on his training top. "Would’ve been stranger if he said he wanted to stay on the bench."

He picked up his boots and headed toward the door before Rafael could answer.

Perrin looked at the screen again, then locked his phone and followed.

Training kept the same shape it had all week. Renaud took most of the central repetitions with the likely starters, Loïc remained part of the senior attacking group, and Rafael worked through the middle and left without anyone treating Saturday’s appearance as a promotion.

Later, as Rafael was packing his boots, Perrin came back over with his phone.

"Local site picked up the interview."

Rafael held out a hand.

The headline sat above a still image from the club video.

MORALES ALREADY TARGETING A STARTING PLACE AFTER LIGUE 2 DEBUT

Rafael read it once, then scrolled to the quoted section.

The full answer was there. Fifteen minutes did not make him a starter, other players were ahead of him, and he wanted to earn the chance eventually.

Renaud passed behind him on the way out, slowed when he noticed the screen and read the headline over Rafael’s shoulder.

"That was quick."

"Yeah."

Renaud looked lower on the article. "They’ve got the rest of it in there."

"They do."

He nodded, adjusted his bag and continued toward the corridor.

Rafael handed the phone back to Perrin and finished packing. The headline irritated him more than he expected, not because it was false, but because he remembered this part of football too well. A longer answer could sit untouched underneath while the sharpest six words became the version people carried away.

His phone vibrated before he left.

Lucas had posted the article in their school group.

One league game and you’re in the news now 😭

Hugo replied beneath it.

Did you actually say you want to start?

Maxime answered before Rafael could.

He said eventually. Read the whole thing.

Rafael stared at the exchange for a moment.

A few weeks earlier, he had been the one missing conversations because football kept dragging his attention elsewhere. Now his classmates were passing around an article about him before he had even opened it himself.

He typed a short reply.

Eventually. That’s what I said.

Lucas reacted almost immediately, but Rafael locked the phone before the conversation could pull him in and headed out.

By Thursday, Guingamp had disappeared from the screens around Frescaty and Grenoble had replaced it.

The squad’s final work stayed short. Rafael completed the same centre-forward and left-sided rotations he had been given all week, and once the session ended, attention shifted toward travel, recovery and the following evening.

He had changed and was nearly out of the building when the communications employee from Tuesday caught him near the corridor.

"Rafael, got a second?"

Rafael stepped aside while one of the equipment staff pushed a trolley between them.

"Yeah. What’s up?"

"The local outlet that used your comments yesterday has sent in an interview request."

"For when?"

"Next week. Tomorrow’s out because of Grenoble, and they only sent it today anyway."

Rafael adjusted the strap of his bag. "That’s fine."

The man began putting his phone away, but Rafael glanced at the open email.

"What do they want to talk about?"

"Your debut, getting into the senior group, where you think you are now."

Rafael waited.

The communications employee noticed and gave him the phone. "There’s an angle."

The first part was ordinary enough. A seventeen-year-old academy striker making his Ligue 2 debut and trying to establish himself around the first team.

Then Rafael reached the section built from Tuesday’s answer.

The reporter wanted to ask whether his ambition to start matches meant he already believed he was ready for more than substitute minutes.

Below it sat the proposed feature line.

Rafael Morales — academy prospect or genuine first-team challenger?

Rafael read it once more before handing the phone back.

"Still okay with it?" the communications employee asked.

"Yeah."

"I’ll sort the time after Grenoble."

Rafael thanked him and continued toward the exit.

The equipment trolley that had passed them earlier was parked near the doors now, loaded with bags for the following day’s trip. Beyond the glass, another member of staff was gathering the last equipment from the training pitch while the light outside began to fade.

Rafael adjusted his bag on his shoulder and walked past the Grenoble tags on his way out.