That Pivotal Moment

Chapter 3

I walked to the field from the locker room and my good feeling changed to bad. On the field were the guys for tryouts.

Roy walked up to me with a disgusted look on his face. "Why is that second stringer back on the team? Thought coach got rid of him like the others."

Don't punch Roy in the face. Don't punch Roy in the face. "I talked coach into bringing him back. He's got potential."

Roy gave a short laugh. "Yeah, the potential to help us lose state. I thought you were on board with this thing, Hayden."

I looked at him and gave him a serious expression. "What you and coach did was wrong. The only reason I'm still here, is because the few non-assholes on the team deserve a shot at actually winning state. It would be unfair to them for me to quit." I wasn't being arrogant. It was the truth; and Roy knew it too. As much as he wanted it, he wasn't as good as me.

Roy glared at me. "What's your deal man? I thought we were friends."

Yeah, right. "You know what? We were friends. Looks like I woke up and decided to be a decent human being."

I started to walk away when a thought occurred to me. I turned towards him. "And Roy? Leave Alex Adamson alone. No hazing, no bullying, no nothing. You got me?"

Roy shook his head and scoffed. "Yeah. I got you."

I left him standing there and went to assist the guys trying out. There were actually a few decent ones. I threw some passes to some prospective running backs and wide receivers. We had a few that, unfortunately, weren't cut out for it. I ran a couple plays with Alex and he was better than I thought. He had the skills to make first string if he kept it up. I ran up to him to get the ball and patted him on the back.

"Nice job, man. Keep it up and just make sure when you're running you keep your eyes open for that ball. Whether you're looking or not, it could be coming at you."

He looked at me like he couldn't believe what I was saying. "Thanks, Hayden."

As I took my helmet off to get some water, I noticed Gabby standing by the concession stand leaning against the fence. When I took a couple steps toward her, she turned and left.

As I ran back to the field I yelled out, "Okay, ladies. Let's reset." The guys fell in formation as I called out the play and the ball was hiked to me. Alex ran long and was open for the ball. I threw it and he twisted his body to check for the ball like I instructed. His hands were in the air as he jumped high to catch it, and continued running to the end zone, scoring a touchdown.

The other players and I clapped for him as he stared at the ball for a moment. It was like he couldn't believe what just happened. I looked over to the coach who was giving me an odd look. One that Roy was also throwing at me as I clapped for the second stringer.

***

I walked into my house with a satisfied sighed when I smelled dinner cooking. My mom always cooked the best homemade dinners. She was about five and a half feet, with brown hair and brown eyes, and still looked like she was twenty. I got my looks from my dad. We were both equal height at six-feet-three-inches, with the same black hair and blue eyes. We both had our hair cut short, but I had the front of mine a little longer. I made my way to my room when my dad stopped me.

"Hayden?"

By the tone of his voice I knew it couldn't be good. "Yeah, Dad?"

His face was serious. "Your coach called me."

Bingo. Fucking football. I stared at him blankly. "And?"

He glared at me as he said, "Don't get smart with me, Hayden. Roy and the coach's idea is a good one. You need that scholarship. Why are you befriending a second stringer?"