**Completed** Colby Byers and Wyatt Matheson shared an enviable love-at least, until that fateful day. Torn apart by tragedy, the stubborn ex-lovers struggle to come to terms with their desire for one another, while reconciling their feelings with t...
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Wyatt
The day we've been training for all season is here, and nervous doesn't even begin to describe the array of emotions flooding the locker room.
The North High Raiders are gathered in the Dallas Cowboy's locker room, having won the coin toss and been selected as the official home team for the upcoming game. We're wearing our home jerseys, clad in navy and maroon from head to toe. Our school's booster club even pitched in to buy us State Championship patches, sewn on the shoulders of our jerseys.
All around me, the excitement and anxiety are palpable, with some of the players handling the pressure better than others. I've seen a few tears, heard a few terse words, and seen more fist bumps and high fives than I can count. It's manic.
In less than twenty minutes, we'll be taking the field to face the Galveston Giants, and lemme tell you, their team name is no coincidence. These guys are enormous, and from all accounts, agile and strong. Here's hoping that this assessment is due more to poor competition along their way, rather than any real skill on their part.
Don't get me wrong. I know I sound pessimistic, but I have no doubt that we belong here. We've earned this, having had an unstoppable year. Only one loss to our names this season, and that game was stolen from us by the poor officiating.
Nah, this game is ours. It feels like fate.
"Ready, brother?" Nash asks. I smile when he pulls me into a half hug, knowing he's thinking the same thing I am: this is our last game together. Over a decade of peewee's, junior high, and high school ball with my sidekick, and this is the end.
"Hey," Ari grunts, making his way toward us. "Don't forget about me." He throws his arms around Nash's and my shoulders. "Damn, this kind of sucks."
"You gonna cry Aurelius?" Nash prods, even though, truth be told, we're all a little nostalgic today.
"Ha, ha, Nash," he intones. "Seriously though, we better make this one hell of a game."
"Oh, it's on," I say. "We're kicking some Giant ass today."
"To kicking Giant asses!" Ari shouts, and the cheers and laughter that follow are deafening, the humor of the statement not lost on anybody, despite our crippling nerves.
And just like that, out of nowhere, the anxiety is gone, making way for our intensely competitive spirits to thrive. Leave it to Ari.
"Alright boys, simmer down," Coach Castillo calls over the chaos. He takes a deep breath, and I see the pent-up emotions all over his face. This game must be hard on him too, as it's the last time he'll be coaching his son.
"You boys have done me proud this season," Coach continues. "I couldn't have asked for a better team or a better dynamic. This team is something special, I think we all know that." He sniffles, but plays it off as a cough. "Bring it in."
