Change Your Ticket

Chapter 2 (Parker)

Summer training for high school football and summer training for college football were two entirely different things. I spent the last four summers training with Coach and the guys and nothing could have prepared me for the gruesome practices I had been enduring. 

As if that wasn’t bad enough, my roommate had decided to take over our room for the last couple of days. Leaving me to wonder around campus alone. Being away from home was a lot harder than I ever imagined it to be, and I’ve only been here two full weeks. 

All of my hard work was about to pay off though. Today was the day Steve, our coach, announced the season line up. I was pretty confident I had sealed my spot as quarterback, despite being a freshman. The other guy was a junior, he was good but he wasn’t anything spectacular. Plus, I was chosen to come to this school because of my performance on the field. I didn’t think I had anything to worry about. 

“Are you ready to go?” Derrick asked. 

Derrick’s dorm was adjacent to mine. He was a year above me in school but stayed in the dorms because that’s the only way to keep his financial aid. He didn’t mind too much but I knew that was a lie. Most of the floor was comprised of freshman who were making the most of their college experience. I was a freshman and even I was annoyed. 

“Just got to grab my bag,” I said. 

Derrick had been one of the first string wide receivers last season and was gearing up to start again this season. I naturally gravitated towards him because of his position truthfully. I always made the best of friends with the wide receivers because it helped in the game, but also because they’re usually the chillest people on the team. 

Aside from Derrick I had bonded well with Tommy and Alex. Tommy was junior and the lead center player. He reminded me a lot of Jason, in that they were both party boys. Alex was also a junior and played opposite of Derrick as a wide receiver. That was my new clique and as much as I liked hanging out with them I missed my boys from Mass High. 

***

With one week left until classes started most of my time was spent on the field. Being on the field was a lot better than sitting in my room so I didn’t mind too much. Something about the turf and jersey put me at ease. The field was the only place I felt I belonged right now. It was the only place where I could focus on football and nothing else. 

As usual, practice started with routine warm ups. Jumping jacks, sprints, stretches and some toss passes. I used to not mind warm ups in the past. At Mass High, most of our conversations that didn’t deal with football happened during warm ups. Here warm ups were dead silent, everyone focusing on doing each exercise perfectly trying to avoid injury. 

Sometimes it got to be too much. Football was supposed to be fun. A lot of hard work, but fun. That didn’t seem to matter to these guys, especially Coach Steve. All he cared about was getting the perfect team ready to win titles. I tried not to let it bother me though. When I found it bothering my I often glanced down at my forearm, a constant reminder of why I was here. 

After graduation the boys and I decided to do something that many would consider stupid. By many I mean Josylne who reprimanded all of us when we got home. She was just mad she wasn’t included though. Etched into my left forearm was the Mass High Logo. Within the thin borders surrounding the “MH” letters, were the boys numbers followed by 2011-2014, the years we won state. All of us got one, even Max who had turn eighteen just days before. His dates were different than ours of course. He was waiting until the end of the season to cap the dates off. There wasn’t a doubt in mind that if they won Josylne was going to get one too. 

After warm ups everyone broke off into their assigned groups. Since Steve hadn’t read off the roster yet we continued to run plays alternating between quarterbacks. Everyone was pretty much set in their positions but me. I never had to share a position with someone, not even when I was a freshman at Mass High. I always had alternates but never ones that threatened my playing time. That wasn’t the case here. Ben was a good quarterback and he definitely wanted the position, meaning I had to try just as hard.