Protect the ball

Chapter Two: Day Two

Chapter Two: Day Two

“Ellie, c’mon its time to get up.” My cousin announced, practically pulling me out of my bed. I whined and cringed when I landed on the hard carpet floor.

“Five more minutes please.” I groaned turning my face further into the carpet.

“Nope, if you don’t get up you’re-no we’re going to be late. Now c’mon on- up and at’em.” He continued, dragging me out of my bed room; the carpet leaving a stinging sensation on my skin.

“I don’t wanna.”

“Too bad, get up.” I could practically hear the grin in his voice. I groaned and kicked free of his grip. He laughed before leaving me alone in the middle of the hallway. I pushed myself onto my elbows and looked for the digital alarm clock in the room.

“5:15. Ughh!” I slammed my head onto the carpeted floor. After a restless night full of worries about my first day on the job as being ‘the ball’, my cousin rudely awaked me. I put my clothes on and put my self together, my reflection in the mirror looked just about as exhausted as I felt. I exited the bathroom and made my way downstairs, tip-towing the way down. No one in the house was up this early so I had to try my best not to wake them up.

“You ready?” Gavin asked, walking into the garage; I frowned and followed him. I headed right to the passenger side of his ford f-450.

“Is that really the question that you want to ask me right now?” I retorted, hopping into the seat. I buckled myself up and leaned the seat back to get comfortable.

“Well someone’s in a great mood this morning.” I hummed in response, making an ugly face at him. Gavin backed out of the garage and the driveway, the sky a dusty grey blue color. As we drove to the football stadium we probably passed by four other cars. No one was on the road this early in the morning; neither should I.

“Ellie, we’re here.” Gavin said, snapping me out of my trance.

“Okay.” I replied unbuckling my seat belt and opening the door. I hopped out and slammed the door shut before trailing after him. We walked a good distance before arriving at the stadium; it was much easier to wake up during the walk than sitting in the car. In no time we were on the field watching the players finish there warm ups.

“Boys, c’mon over here.” Head coach Bobby yelled, waving the boys over to the sideline. I let out a whine before taking a deep of sweaty air; gross.

“Hey sweet girl, where have you been all my life!”

“Justin keep it in your pants.” A player yelled out, slapping Justin on the back of his head. I bit my lip in order to contain a laugh.

“Now that our ball is here we can start. For the first part of today we are starting the psychological portion of our camp.” Bobby called out, pointing at the bleachers. All the players went and sat down but when I tried to I was pulled right back to the front.

“I know all of you have someone or something that is important to you; am I right?” He began, waiting for a response from his players. Most nodded their head and a few gave a ‘yeah’. “Well this girl, is now you’re most important thing. She’s now your ball and you gotta protect her.”

“Offense, here’s what you do.  Protect the ball.  You need to make sure that only you touch the ball.  This is your ball, and she is the ball.  The other team wants to take her away from you; to score with that ball.  You can’t let that happen.”  Gavin supplied, trying to rile the offense up.  Surprisingly enough the little pep talk speech was working. 

“Defense you gotta want that ball more than the offense does.  Offense can’t treat that ball like you can.  You have to go that extra mile to get it back.  You have to know that only you have the power to get the ball back.  The other team thinks that they can walk all over you, it’s up to you to prove them wrong.  Every time they get a first down they are trying to steal your ball – the girl.  Every time they score they taunt you with the fact that they now have your ball.  So what do you do?” the main defensive coaches yelled, causing most of the defensive players to look offended.