Alright first thing you're probably gonna need to know; I’m a loser. “FuGuhuuuh,” after getting the wind knocked out of me for the seventeenth time, football practice finally ended. “Jaxton, Get your ass off the ground!”

That's me ‘Osiris Jaxton’ eighteen year old senior and what I wanted to say was ‘I would if I knew where the ground was asshole’ but “Yes Coach!” came out instead. Hey, it means the same thing depending on how you say it, alright?

After a couple failed attempts to get my feet under me in a rush, I somehow manage to get over to everyone else and take a knee. Coach went on about something with the upcoming final game tomorrow with our rival team. It didn't even matter because even if we beat them we wouldn't take the league championship but they would after they beat us, which was a given.

I was just looking forward to the rest of senior year in high school without football, after the final game this week. Don't get me wrong I liked playing the game but with my skinny body and being less than fast on my feet I was kinda screwed to even get the chance to play. I liked the sport because I got to hit someone, and if I ever got to actually play during practice that's exactly what I did. If I could catch someone that is. Either way, the point is I like hitting someone but I hate the other side of the coin. Getting hit by a guy two, almost three, times your size is gonna be a bitch no matter how you cut it.

Anyways now that football was ending I can finally stop playing. I know what you're wondering ‘you just said you liked the sport, why are you happy to leave,’ well I'll tell you, you sweet intellectual. My Dad basically forced me to play ever since I was young, well ‘forced’ is a strong word. It's more like he looked at me like I spoke another language if I talked about not playing. So after years of getting my ass beat in football, it grew on me because I got to meet some great guys along the way, and tackle the crap out of the guys who thought they were the shit. Yeah, being taken down by the skinniest guy on the team takes you down a peg.

None of that really mattered now because I'm almost home-free and no longer have to deal with it anymore. I could finally focus on my hobbies and interests more. Oh and if you thought I was gonna be some dumb failure of a jock and that's it, you couldn't be more wrong. It gets much, much worse.

I was the biggest nerd I've ever known, and I know a lot. I spent all my free team reading fantasy novels, playing D&D, binging on video games, and when I had the time, the occasional homework. Honestly it was a miracle I was in honor and advanced classes. None of it helped me socially that's for sure, I barely knew a quarter of my classmates, and the guys I hung out with most of the time were the other weirdos who played football freshman year and quit afterwards. Any way you see it, I was a loser.

After finally changing in the locker room, I walked out and headed straight home without a single word spoken to anyone. Everyone's heads were elsewhere because they were thinking about the upcoming game. Me? I was thinking about which video game to play tonight. It was Thursday and the game was tomorrow so I could stay up till three and wake up at seven. Believe it or not that's more than my average amount of sleep. But all that has to come after I take a shower. I Reek!

…

After getting home and taking my shower I take a look of today's damage. I stood at just barely under six foot and with my very lightly tanned skin you could easily see the couple bruises on my arms, and a nice deep purple one on my left peck. Honestly I really was a pretty fit guy, being so skinny but working out so much takes out almost all the fat in your body. You could see my abs nicely displaying a decent six-pack and all my muscles were pretty clean cut, just not very big at all. After drying off and appreciating the abs that were my one proud achievement of my body, I shaved what little hair I grew on my face, more out of practice than reason. Can't have any terrible sideburns messing up my mop of hair I never have to worry about fixing. Along with my dark brown hair I had a pair of light blue eyes, and an apparently clean cut jawline since everyone comments on it.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

Everyone always asks why I don't have a girlfriend. Oh wait that's right, I'm completely antisocial while being a huge nerd and the only girls I ever have a shot with are weirder than me. If your saying ‘yeah right all you need is good looks and need to be a jock to get a hot girlfriend in high school,’ you couldn't be any more wrong. Rarely getting out of the house other than for school and football I had very little to talk about with others especially those of the finer gender. When you sit with a nice girl and the conversation hits a low after only a minute you’re basically screwed no matter what, and I never have any idea on what to talk about.

Making my way to my room my Dad overhears me going down the hallway, “Osiris how did practice go?” So close. “Fine, Dad.” I poke my head out into the living room where I see my dad watching a football game. Knowing that he won't let me go until he sees me I say, “I got to go in for scout defense and played at middle linebacker, definitely still my most comfortable spot”.

“Good,” he said, “maybe you’ll get to play in the game tomorrow.” Now from what I said before you probably thought my dad was a jerk who would look down on me if I didn’t start on the team. In reality, my dad was always pretty understanding, he knew I wasn’t that large or fast but he didn’t care because he knew that when I got onto the field I put everything I had on it, he just wanted me to play the sport because he thought it would make me strong and look back and have nice memories.

He’s always been someone I look up to, he’s a police officer and has always had great views of people and society that I could easily understand and follow. He could always explain the world in a way that simplified things that were immensely complicated and also how to determine what should be truly important. He taught me everything I know about reality.

“Maybe, just maybe” I finally said.

“Hey fucker what’s going on?” My older brothers said almost in unison while they walked through the front door. I could see they had a long day either working, drinking, or running around for their girlfriends.

My brothers; James the oldest and Tyler the middle child, are guys I always look up to while also trying to constantly get out of their shadows. They were legends on the football team and were popular in school, basically everything I wasn’t. Well except for the height difference between us, apparently I got all the genes for being tall because I overtook my two ‘little’, big brothers.

James, was shorter but brawny with a bit of tub but always seemed strong. He was the trouble maker out of the three of us, but after a while he grew out of it and became one of the most honest guys I know and if he’s gonna give you crap, he’ll give it to you straight. He made mistakes in his life but he learned from what he did, regretted it, and seems to want to make himself better.

Tyler being taller than James but still shorter than me was usually pretty fit and although not being as large as James you could still see he packed a punch. He on the other hand, was the smart one of the bunch but I was right next to him in that regard, he was perfect in multiple ways, the only thing he has going against him is his lack of motivation, I still love the guy though. If anyone can understand being lazy it’s definitely me.

With a shit eating grin I replied, “not much shitheads,” like a civilized man, “rough night huh?”

“You could say that again” and “yup” were the instant replies. Of course I could ask, but I had games to play. “Welp I’m headed to my room to game, see you in the morning”.

And with a pivot of my heels I left the room and headed to my door. As soon as I opened it I see my mom on my computer. “What’s up?” I said in a nearly aggravated tone. “The laptop broke and I needed to use your computer to finish some work. Don’t worry I just finished.”

My mom is a diligent worker as an accountant. She always worked hard and didn’t take shit from anyone, and she did her job knowing she did it well. I looked up to her as much as I looked up to the rest of my family because of her self confidence and ability to always laugh. She is kind and very understanding, I always thought I could go to her with any problem.

“Awesome, time to game!” I sped over to my chair as she stood up. With a ruffle of my hair she said goodnight and reminded me to get some sleep. I begrudgingly reminded her I’m not a kid in a mock pout as I fixed my hair and put on my headset.

Let the action begin.