Chapter Text
21:31.
So read the clock.
The game had come to an end, the scores settled.
A team has scored its first win in the season, whereas the opponents face an opening loss.
On the stands, a girl was checking her phone.
"9:31, Saturday, 14 October."
She refocused on the scene before her, as the winning players gathered in a circle in the midst of euphoria. The teams then exchanged handshakes, officially concluding the match in a display of sportsmanship.
It was already quite late in the evening. She had spent the whole day doing a day trip in Modena, having visited the bustling walkways of the Albinelli Historical Market, taken selfies before the Ducal Palace and the Cathedral Tower, even taking a detour to the Enzo Ferrari Museum outside the old town. Modena was a fun place for her, but by evening, she was already wanting something different.
And that volleyball game was what she needed.
She did not know which teams were traditionally strong or weak in the Italian Volleyball League. She did not even care about who the opponents are. All she knew, is that her favorite volleyball player was there, the most valuable player and the best opposite spiker of the French League last season. And in Autumn 2017, she was playing for Savino del Bene Scandicci, in her first match ever in the Italian League.
When planning the trip months ago, she had looked all over the net about the upcoming match schedule, about when and where the games would take place. Savino del Bene Scandicci would play their first two matches in Modena and on home arena respectively, and so, the girl planned her itinerary around the two games, focusing specifically on Bologna (with a day trip to Modena) and Florence in her autumn trip. Unlike her short tour stopover in Milan in late spring, her second stay in Italy in the year was private in nature, a time for her to take a break from recording and touring, and just travel like a tourist.
As the teams get ready for a post-match autograph session, the girl stood up, waiting in line among other supporters of the winning team. With every step closer, the girl could feel her heart beating faster in a mix of anticipation and anxiety. She was about to reach a completely new girl that she didn't even know, from a completely different circle. She was an American girl in the performing arts, while the girl she was about to meet is a volleyball player from across the Atlantic. They do not know each other at all, and they do not have anything in common at all other than being born on the 11th of a month in 1999, or so she thought.
The players signed on the various objects presented by the fans, some of them being notebooks, others being bags. The atmosphere in the arena was loud and energetic, even as the match ended. Despite being the away team, Savino del Bene Scandicci still had many fans taking their time to Modena for a Saturday evening, and they lined up for autographs from their favorite team.
After having her scrapbook signed by many players that she didn't even know, the girl's gaze finally met the player that she was most focused on during the game.
It was her. Number 11.
There is no doubt that the volleyball player the girl had admired looks the same as the French League MVP and the one who made her country's senior national team at 15 she saw in the news reports.
The player's name, the name of the volleyball player the girl had been fangirling over all those months, was Isabelle "Bella" Haak.
Her face and hairstyle were exactly the same as she remembered — the light silver eyes, the distinctively Swedish high sleek ponytail in a shade of blonde... Her smile was one of great elatedness, perhaps with some excitement that the girl could sense.
I couldn't believe it... I'm meeting the Isabelle Haak that I usually get to see in news reports, match clips and media photos — in person?
The girl laid down the scrapbook, signed by many players she didn't know, as she gazed upon Bella's equally excited face. Bella then picked up a marker, seemingly bracing herself as if this signature was more important than her signatures on other fans' items.
Bella swiftly signed her stylized name on the scrapbook, while the girl watched in awe as if a great dream of hers has come true.
As soon as Bella finished signing, the girl looked at her scrapbook. There was a special message below her signature!
"I'm so excited to see you here!! Feel free to text me," followed by a phone number with a +46 prefix.
She knows me?!
For a moment, the girl was at shock. Back home in America, she was famous for being one of the main characters of a very popular Disney Channel show. She had become a celebrity of some sorts, though not as famous as her senpai Miley Cyrus, let alone Taylor Swift. Sure, she might be less known in Europe than in America, but she had just toured there in May, and that Disney Channel show was still aired all across the world.
She could see, in some way, that Bella's gaze towards her was just as fangirling as hers was to Bella. It appears that Bella really knows her.
Having collected the autographs of all the players at Savino del Bene Scandicci, the girl left the energetic and lively warmth of the PalaPanini's interior, as the quietness of the dark night greeted her. She walked on her way to the train station, listening to some of her own songs from her previously released album.
The road was flanked by trees, far away from the old town and devoid of any buildings. She continued walking at a brisk pace, occasionally checking her phone to make sure that she would not miss the train back to Bologna.
As she crossed a railway bridge, she could feel that she was approaching closer to the old town and the train station, buildings lit by warm streetlights appearing in front of her. Cars drove by sporadically on the mostly quiet road at night, as she continued going straight towards to the train station.
The train station should not be far away, the girl thought, as the tall and illuminated Maserati Tower and a few equally tall and modern towers in orange appeared in front of her. She was halfway through this long walk.
Minutes later, she had reached the end of the street. Following the instructions of her phone's navigation app, she turned left to see a roundabout. She could see the train station, right in the center of her vision.
Making haste to the station building, the girl let out a sigh of relief, looking at the train schedule to see how much time she had to make it to the platform where the train to Bologna would depart.
23:00.
She still had six minutes to board the train.
Making sure that she went to the right platform, the girl waited patiently for the train to take her back. She took her phone, entering the digits of the phone number that Bella gave her as she mustered the courage to add a new contact.
First name: Isabelle. Last name: Haak, the girl filled in the contact details carefully. Save contact!
The hour got closer to the train's arrival, as the girl tapped the Messages app open, and typed,
"Are you Isabelle Haak, who gave me your number at the match tonight? It's me, Sabrina."
She stared at the text. Should I send it, or not?
After all, she took a vacation off her professional performing arts career to go on a solo trip to Italy. She could have picked somewhere near and convenient in California, like Santa Barbara or Palm Springs. She could have went for more "touristy" cities in Italy like Venice and Rome. She did not plan a twelve-day vacation in specifically Bologna and Florence, and specifically taking a day trip to Modena on the 14th, just for nothing. She had planned so much for meeting this volleyball star, and at the arena, she was given her phone number when no one else was. This golden chance was there for her to take.
And yet, she was a professional singer from America. Bella was a Swedish volleyball player, who plays in Italy. There weren’t really many things in common between them, other than being born in 1999. It just felt, a bit, awkward? For her to approach a professional volleyball player from Europe who played at the match they met, a stranger that has completely nothing to do with her career as a rising star in the performing arts?
In the midst of pondering, the girl got her attention caught by a glaring light approaching from afar.
The train was coming.
Still having not decided whether to send Bella the text, the girl got herself ready for the train's arrival. No matter what, her day trip in Modena was definitely over, and it was time to go back to Bologna.
The train gradually decelerated, making approach by the platform. The doors open, as the girl got onto the train.
At such late hours, she was the only one in the carriage. The train was full of empty seats; the interior illuminated against the dark landscape outside the windows. She was alone on a train, in the dark of the night.
As the doors close, the train began to pick up speed, leaving Modena.
She looked at her mobile phone as it gave a short vibration. Tapping her finger on the home button, it confirmed what she thought it was:
Bella has replied to her texts!
"Yes it's Bella Haak here 🇸🇪🏐"
She then sent a selfie of herself, still in her high sleek ponytail, her smile radiating joy.
"Never ever would I have thought that Sabrina Carpenter would have came a long way to Modena, Italy to support us! 🇺🇸🤩"
Yes.
She was the Sabrina.
The girl who sat alone on the late-night train from Modena to Bologna.
The Sabrina that Bella remembered as Maya from the series Här är ditt liv, Riley.
It was the first time she saw the Swedish volleyball star Isabelle Haak calling her by her full name, Sabrina Carpenter. Thinking back at the moment they gazed at each other in the arena, Sabrina realized how Bella was trying her best to not out her identity in an arena with many volleyball fans, despite her sheer excitement.
Perhaps Bella watched Girl Meets World... from Sweden? Sabrina thought. Her TV series was very American, it literally took place in New York City, specifically Greenwich Village. To think that Girl Meets World was one of Isabelle Haak's favorite shows...
"And never ever would I have thought that I would get to have Isabelle Haak sending selfies to me!" Sabrina typed.
"I have a free day in Florence tomorrow," Bella replied. "Wanna meet up somewhere?"
Sabrina thought about it, as she looked around her navigation app for the best places to visit with Bella at Florence. She could imagine her and Bella crossing the Ponte Vecchio together, eyeing the sparkling jewelry displayed at the store fronts, or perhaps having a very authentic Florentine lunch together in the Mercato Centrale while chatting about their careers as a singer and a volleyball player...
The hours are running late, as the train blazed across the Italian fields on its way to Bologna. Sabrina thought about the remainder her itinerary, as she prepared wrapping up the Bologna leg of her private trip to Italy and moving on to Florence tomorrow.
For Sabrina, receiving a text from Isabelle Haak herself was something she would never have expected to happen.
But perhaps for Bella, would getting a reply from Sabrina Carpenter herself be something even greater?