Living with 17 Players

Chapter 26: Almost Perfect

Janetta's POV

After a rowdy week and too much drama to even attempt to explain, it's finally Friday night. Which means FOOTBALL GAME TONIGHT!!!! I'm so excited. We haven't played in 2 weeks thanks to an early bye in the season for us. But coaches had us practicing twice as hard to make up for not playing last week and tonight I'm hoping it's paid off. We're playing the Western Branch Bruins. They're one of the best teams in the division and 4 time state champs. It's going to be a tough game, but Coach Ignatovich says we might have a chance this year. I hope he's right.

I throw my backpack in my car and grab my game stuff before running into the gym to go get ready. As soon as I'm all done changing, I redo my hair into a tight ponytail and head into the Aux gym where Coach Liakos is waiting for us all. It's so noisy in there I can't even hear myself thinking, but we're all super excited so I can't judge.

"Janetta!!!! Are you ready for this?!" Evan comes running over to me screaming.

"Am ready. Are you?" I shout back at him. He just screams and runs back over with his buddies from the defense.

"There's the female all-star." Mason says from behind me lugging his gear over his shoulder before he throws it to the ground. I do the same.

"You can't be an all-star if you can't throw." I reply with a smirk wiping the smile off his face.

"I was talking about you, dipshit." He replies

"The only dipshit here is you. Pretty boy."

"What did you just call me?" Mason says with irritation.

"Dipshit, pretty boy, and a female. All in less than a minute." I respond with a smile.

"Damn you're good." He says breaking the angry facade.

"I know. I've had a lot of practice since I've started living with all of you crazies." I reply with a laugh.

"That's very true. Our house is the kingdom of insults."

"Yeah, tell me about it. Yesterday morning I woke up to Danny and Patrick screaming 'lame booger' and 'fart butt' at each other." I say with a laugh. They woke me up better and more comical than my alarm clock.

"Mason! Get over here!" Coach screams and Mason gives me a sheepish smile.

"I've gotta go, as you can tell. See ya on the bus." He smiles and runs over to Coach Liakos. They talk in secret for a little while before Coach blows his whistle and we all quiet down.

"All righty guys,-and girl, we've got a big game ahead of us. Western Branch is by far the best and this year hasn't changed that. Tonight. We are. We're here to show everyone in Colorado that Hickory is coming back and we're better than ever. Got it?!" Coach Liakos hollers and we all go nuts in agreement. "Alright, alright..... Quiet!!!" He yells and we're quick to shut up. "Now our very own Mason Meyers has some wise words for you guys and then we'll get on our way." Coach introduces Mason and steps back letting Mason come forward.

"Don't lose. Now let's do this shit!!" Mason yells. We all go nuts again. After we all calm down a little Coach Ignatovich releases us to the buses and I quickly grab my gear and run to the back of bus 2. I plop my stuff in a seat and sit across the aisle. Before I even get comfy, the speaker is out and Dylan is choosing some rap song with a weird beat. Soon Mason drops his gear on top of mine and slides in next to me. A few minutes after that were on our way. It's a little bit of a drive over there so we enjoy the bus ride and have a good time.

"Ok Xavier, you're running flying hawk 2.0. Janetta, mess around with your partner. Wear him out. Gavin, make sure to cover the right a little tighter. I don't need a concussion again. Ready?" Mason says in a hush

"Break!" We ahoy before breaking off to our assigned locations. The guy that's been protecting me is really good and now it's my time to have fun with him.

"Hike!" Mason screams and faster than a bullet I'm off. The guy is right there behind me too. I dart around and try to throw him off but he's like a dog on a leash. Which is a good thing for me. Before he knows it were way out of range for Mason to pass it to me and now I'm just fooling with him. Trying to tire him out as much as possible. Soon Xavier is running but gets brought down pretty hard and pretty fast. The guy that was following me is now he's out of breath and I just smile before jogging back into the huddle.

The game so far has been really close. They scored early in the game quite a bit and we've slowly regained. After halftime coach called for us to go all out and it's working so far. The guys are really passionate about winning this game and I'm pretty proud of them. I've caught a few passes already, but the guy who's against me is really good, so that's why I've gotta try and wear him out so I can catch more often.

It's the 4th quarter.
The score is 49-47.

All we need is a field goal and we win this thing. Both teams have put up a good fight and now only Mike, our kicker, can decide who takes the victory.

We all give him slaps for good luck as he makes his way out to the spot of the kick.

He gets in position.

Readjusts.

The ball is snapped.

He runs up to the ball.
There's the kick.

It's going.

It's going.

This is the most stressful .30 seconds of my life.

It looks like it's going to be close to the upright.

It's gone.

Off to the right by a hair.

"That's the game, folks. 49-46. Western Branch. Hickory held their own, but no one can defeat the mighty Bruins!! Hope everyone has a good night and a safe drive home." the announcer speaks from the press box.

"Sorry coach." Mike mumbles.

"Hey hey hey, it was a great kick. Don't be sorry." Coach Liakos says with a smile.

"But I missed. That sucks." Mikey says confused and a little frustrated.

"It doesn't matter if you missed. That was a beautiful kick. Granted, it should've gone in, but I'm just so proud of what you, and what the guys did tonight. We put up a great fight and showed some more people that we're not playing around anymore. We're here to play some football!" Coach Liakos says excitedly.

"Let's grab our stuff and get outta here. I don't want to see another damn bear, bruin, whatever the hell their mascot is, until playoffs." Mason yells as we head back into the locker rooms. I break off to go grab my stuff from the girls room and then I head to the buses. Another quiet, long, tired ride back.
Good thing my bag makes a comfy pillow because I was out quicker than a light.

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Hey y'all,

I know a lot of you guys are super mad and me and I'm so so so so sorry for such the long wait. I don't really have an excuse as to why it's so late, just please forgive me and I pinky promise the next update won't take this long. I hope y'all are having a great summer and I'll try my best to update soon. Love y'all!

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~Surfer_Swimmer