Tyrese sat in the crowded History classroom, his hands against his forehead as he looked down at his desk, staring at the open textbook spread across it. Even though he was looking right at it, he didn’t see any of the words on the pages.

His mind was elsewhere, drifting into another reality, where he was on the football field, and the Vikings’ star Receiver stood across from him.

There had to be a way to stop Marshall and his bullshit fingertip catches, Ty thought. And he also thought he’d found the perfect method to shut him down.

All he had to do was stay right in front of Marshall. This was a lot easier said than done, of course, but if Ty couldn’t do it, he didn’t deserve to call himself the best.

He thought he knew exactly how it would go, like he was running a simulation inside his head.

The ball would be snapped, Marshall would come forward, pushing through Ty’s press arrogantly, not backing down from the challenge. Marshall would feint this way, then go that way instead. Ty would be right there.

He’d stay in front of Marshall, never allowing him a free run or jump at the ball, and when it was thrown towards them, Ty would be in the better position, and with his long arms he could swat the ball away before Marshall got his fingers to it.

The ball would roll to a stop … and then a yellow flag blanketed it.

Too much contact. It was no good.

Ty tried again, his brow furrowing in concentration. He could do the same thing, but instead of physically impeding Marshall, he’d occupy the space in front of him. He wouldn’t touch him, but he still wouldn’t give him any space to move freely.

The play happened again, this time Ty hadn’t been bumping Marshall all the way. The ball spiralled towards them.

‘…rese … Tyrese Samuels!’

The teacher’s voice snapped Ty out of his daydream. He lowered his hands and looked towards the front of the class.

‘I asked you if you could recite what I had just said, or were you not paying attention?’

The teacher’s—whose name Ty couldn’t recall for the life of him—droning voice, along with the murmur of the classroom had melted into the buzz of the crowd in Ty’s dream field. He had no idea what the teacher had said.

Ty told him as much.

‘Hmph. You can stay behind after class, Tyrese. I need to speak with you.’

There were some snickers from the other kids but Ty looked away, doing his best to ignore them.

The teacher didn’t want anything important, he only urged Ty to do better and pay more attention in class, giving him some spiel that he was only hurting himself by not paying attention.

Ty promised to do better. The teacher threatened him with detention then sent him on his way.

When the final bell rang, Ty waltzed out into the halls, and started towards the practice field, his mind once again elsewhere.

This time, “King” Denzel was the opponent of his daydreams. It was just Denzel and Ty, on a wide field alone, and it was up to Ty to stop the runaway freight train that was Denzel in the open field.

But Ty could only envision himself being run over. He might as well have been trying to stand against a speeding truck. Every which way he tried to tackle Denzel ended with him splatting against the turf like road kill.

And then Ty ran into a REAL brick wall.

He stumbled back, suddenly in the real world again, laughter ringing out all around him. He’d walked face-first into the wall right beside the school’s back exit.

Ty ground his teeth. He would’ve liked to say that he didn’t hear the laughter at all, but he did. However, as he ducked through the door and out of the main building, he didn’t look back. He didn’t need to see the laughing faces to know they weren’t important.

Like clockwork, JJ and Rabbit arrived at the field around the same time as Ty did. As Ty was stretching, he looked over at the other two. JJ, the mass of muscle that he was, was a similar size and build to Denzel.

“Maybe …” Ty shook the thought away and stood up, continuing to warm up in lonely silence.

As practice officially got underway, Ty couldn’t help but focus on the LBs as they went through their drills. Of course, every defensive player went through tackling drills in every practice, but never with the intensity that the LBs did.

Ty watched them closely. They moved like they were hunting; like predators stalking their prey, and they waited for that perfect moment before they went in for the kill and pounced.

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But how did they spot that moment of vulnerability? And did Denzel even have any openings?

‘Samuels! You gonna participate? Or just sit there looking stupid?’ Coach Hoang shouted.

Ty blinked, he was suddenly at the front of the line. It was his turn to go through the drill. Currently, the DBs had to sprint forward to a cone five yards ahead of them, then they’d stop and turn around, and dive to either the left or right, whichever way the QB had thrown the ball, to swat it out of the air.

Ty watched the ball bounce along the ground after his failed attempt to pluck it from the air.

‘Oh, and go ahead and run a lap while you’re at it, Samuels. Maybe next time you’ll pay more attention.’

Ty huffed but didn’t say anything as he turned away and got started with his lap, running through it quickly. There was one thing he was sure of now—he needed stronger legs. Still.

During one of the drinks breaks, Ty sought out Coach Hoang.

‘Come to complain, Samuels?’

Ty shook his head. ‘Actually, this was about our personal training. It’d be good if we could focus on my jumping and leg strength during it.’

Coach Hoang looked up at him. ‘What’s brought this about?’

Ty shrugged. ‘It’s always good to have stronger legs.’

Coach Hoang stared at him silently, wanting more of an explanation.

Ty frowned. ‘And what’s wrong with being faster? I won’t have to worry about deep threats as much. If I can jump higher I can make up for the size differences easier. And, it helps my tackling too if it ever comes down to that.’

‘Tackling, huh? I thought it was better to stop them from getting the ball at all?’

‘Sometimes you can’t,’ Ty said. ‘Sometimes you need to help stop their rushing attack.’

‘So you want legs strong enough to wrestle a bear?’

Ty cleared his throat. ‘…Maybe. Either that, or strong enough so I don’t die trying.’

‘I’ll keep that in mind. And I’m glad you’re taking the initiative to think of your faults and the things you want to work on. But for now, focus on the rest of the practice in front of you, no more distractions.’

Ty nodded and went back to get a drink, though found another distraction waiting for him.

‘’Sup,’ Ricky said.

Ty scowled down at him. ‘What do you want?’

‘I see you didn’t get a lot of action last week.’

‘Because they were scared. Strange to be scared by a seventy-five, don’t you think?’

‘Hey, I did say you were looking more like an eighty, now. But… no, why wouldn’t a bunch of loser fifties be scared of someone like you? Anyway, don’t you want to hear about the next team?’

‘No.’ Ty sat down, grabbing his water bottle. He didn’t care about whatever small fry team was put before him this week.

‘Uhh, well, I mean, you probably won’t get much action again this week, um, whether they’re scared or not. They’re another run-heavy team.’

Ty grunted in response, then set his bottle down. ‘Have you found out more info about #14 from the Bears?’

Ricky gulped and shook his head, already inching away from Ty.

‘Well hurry up!’

‘Hey! Fuck you, asshole! I’m not your damn slave!’ Ricky jumped aside as Ty swiped at him. He flipped Ty off and ran away.

Ty watched him go, frustrations simmering. That dopey-headed fuck #14 was still an enigma, but he didn’t have time to worry about the unknown. Nor did he care about whoever would be put before him this weekend—after he crushed them, they’d just be another stepping stone to propel him closer to his revenge.

Ty finished the rest of practice without any further disturbances or distractions. After it was over—there wasn’t any team weight training in the school gym that day—he found JJ getting ready to leave, a few others surrounding him.

‘Hey, JJ,’ Ty said, cutting through the current conversation, which caused Deshaun and Stephen to glare at him more harshly than usual.

‘What’s up, Tyrese?’

‘We going to the gym after this?’

‘Ahh, sorry, I can’t.’

‘Huh? Not like you to turn down a session at the gym, you’re a junkie for that shit,’ Deshaun said.

JJ laughed. ‘I got something else to do today, sorry. Promised mi chica I’d take her on a date.’

There was a moment of silence throughout the group. Even Jay, who had been taking his customary after-training nap on a bench nearby, lifted his hat off his face to look over.

Stephen was the first to break the silence. ‘Your what?’

‘You mean, Monica?’ Deshaun asked.

JJ shook his head. ‘Nah, nah, you guys wouldn’t know her. She goes to a different school.’

‘Hah! Yeah, sure bro, and I’m going out with a supermodel,’ Deshaun said.

Stephen snickered.

‘What? It’s true. I met her through work, she’s my supervisor's daughter.’

‘Hahaha, shit, I hope you weren’t too attached to that job then,’ Stephen laughed.

‘Ah, screw you guys.’ JJ waved them off dismissively. ‘But, sorry Ty, I can’t make it. I’m busy today… though, maybe you can take Max along, I’ve been meaning to show him the ropes.’

Ty looked over at Rabbit sitting nearby, who quickly found the most interesting blade of grass to stare at.

‘Uhh, no thanks. I’ll just head home.’

‘Hmm… eh, probably for the best. I don’t know if you’re ready to show a newbie around yet, and I should be there for Max’s first time.’

‘Right. Sorry, forget I asked. Have fun with your date or whatever.’ Ty turned away.

Rabbit bit his cheeks, keeping quiet as Ty wandered off.

“Talk about distractions,” Ty thought. “What good is a girl when we’re trying to conquer the nation?”

However, instead of leaving for home, Ty veered towards Coach Hoang, who was still helping clean up.

‘Could we do some extra training tonight?’

Coach Hoang stopped what he was doing and turned around. ‘It’s late, Samuels. You should get some rest, rest is just as important as any actual training you do.’

Ty clenched a fist by his side. ‘But—’

‘I don’t want to hear it. Go home. Run for all I care.’ Coach Hoang turned away again.

Ty grumbled but didn’t push it any further. His chest tightened with every step he took away from the field. The season was coming to an end, which meant his showdown with the Bears and/or Vikings was drawing nearer … and he didn’t know if he was ready yet. He hoped the upcoming game would be a better test.