The bell rang, class was dismissed. Jackson stood from his desk, leaning on his crutches. He was still stuck on these clumsy, cumbersome sticks. When he bumped one against a desk on his way out, he groaned.
‘You alright, man?’ Marcus put a hand on Jackson’s shoulder. Eddie and Sachin were there too.
‘Uh, yeah, I’m…’ Eddie stared at Jackson intently. Jackson swallowed drily and then continued, ‘…No, not exactly.’
‘What’s up?’ Sachin said.
The boys moved out into the hall then Jackson said: ‘I mean, there’s some stuff going on with Jasmine.’
‘Bruh, don’t tell me she’s a bitch.’
‘She’s not a bitch. I think it’s something I did. But there’s also last weekend’s game, it was against these pricks the Coyotes—dirtiest bastards ever. During the game, they injured one of our players.’
‘Those motherfuckers,’ Marcus interjected.
‘We had the last laugh by winning at least.’
‘Serves them right, is this guy okay?’ Eddie asked.
‘Uh, yeah, Nick. The doc said it’s just a sprain … but without Nick, I don’t think the team will have enough members for this weekend’s game. That’s when I thought, maybe, I could come back and be that eleventh player.’
‘Are you even ready for that?’ Sachin asked.
Jackson forced a smile. ‘I tried. Tommy took me to the park over the weekend, and we did some running and stuff, you know, without the crutches.’
‘Ayo, should you even be doing all that yet?’ Marcus asked.
‘Hahaha, probably not. We didn’t do much, and we stopped as soon as it started hurting.’ Jackson looked down. ‘I’m…I’m not ready.’
‘I’m sorry, bro,’ Eddie said. There was a moment of silence before Eddie spoke up again and said: ‘But, didn’t some kid fill in for you? Like, he didn’t even have to try out or anything, they just let him in so they could fill up the numbers.’
‘Freddy? Yeah, Coach Otsen let him on the team. For the first few weeks he didn’t even need to train really, just show up.’ Jackson smiled. ‘Now he’s one of the most enthusiastic players on the team.’
‘What if, they let me sub in like that too?
‘Whoa, do you know what you’re asking, Eddie? What about Track?’
‘What about it? I can do both. They don’t usually line up on the same day.’
‘Mm, I don’t know man, I don’t think coach even likes anyone on the Track team playing football,’ Marcus said.
‘But basketball, soccer and everything else is fine? Bruh. That’s bullshit,’ Sachin said.
‘What if you get injured, Eddie?’ Jackson asked.
‘I’m willing to risk it. Especially if it means helping you. I never should’ve left you in the first place.’ Eddie’s eyes were fixed on Jackson’s.
‘O-Okay,’ Jackson said. ‘We can check with Coach Otsen and see what he says.’
‘Yo, what about this Jasmine stuff though, what’s going on with that?’
Jackson rubbed at his eyes and then pinched the bridge of his nose. ‘See … about that. You know how I said it was my fault?’
He explained what had happened when she learned about his “accident”, how cold she’d been the last time he saw her at Ms Cotton’s office, and how that was the last time he’d seen or talked with her. She’d left him on Read on EVERYTHING.
‘Sheesh … what crawled up her hole and died?’
Eddie punched Sachin.
‘Hey! The hell was that for?’
‘You can’t say shit like that. C’mon, bro.’
‘Bruh.’
‘Maybe it’s that time of the month?’ Marcus offered.
Eddie glared at him.
‘It’s been over a week though,’ Jackson said.
‘I heard they can last like ten days, man.’
‘Bruh, be for real. Ten fucking days? No way.’
‘Okay, I don’t think it’s THAT,’ Eddie said. ‘Look, maybe, you just gotta give her some space. Girls need that sometimes. Space, so they can sort stuff out. The more you chase her, the more it’ll push her away.’
‘Nah nah nah.’ Marcus flagged that idea down. ‘See, I know that girls WANT you to chase them, and if you don’t, it means to them that you don’t care enough. ESPECIALLY when they tell you they want space.’
‘Uhh… so which is it? Do I chase her or give her space?’
‘Chase.’ ‘Space.’ Marcus and Eddie spoke over the top of one another. They looked at each other, and then Jackson, who was looking more and more confused.
Sachin slapped Jackson on the shoulder. ‘Imma be real with you. I think you need to decide for yourself. ‘Cause if I know one thing about bitches, it’s that bitches are confusing.’
‘And you calling them bitches is why you ain’t EVER had a bitch.’
‘Ow…’
“Girls are confusing. Yeah, that sounds about right.” Jackson sighed.
After school, Jackson and Eddie went to the practice field, arriving nice and early. Coach Otsen was still setting up currently, so it was the perfect time to approach him with their proposition.
‘You want to join the team?’ Coach Otsen inspected Eddie, who stood tall under that inquisitive gaze.
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
‘Y-Yes, sir.’
‘Why weren’t you here at tryouts this summer?’
‘I … I thought I wanted to focus on Track throughout high school. … Sir.’
‘Track … you cleared this up with Coach Johnson?’
‘…No, sir.’
‘What events do you run in?’
‘Four hundred, eight hundred, and just about everything up of those two, sir.’
‘I see. Why the change of mind, now? We’re almost done with the season.’
Eddie looked to Jackson, then back at Coach Otsen. ‘Jackson told me about what happened with the JV team’s last game, and, I wanted to help out.’
Coach Otsen’s gaze drifted to Jackson for a moment, then softened before returning to Eddie. ‘I appreciate the offer, Eddie … but I’m going to have to decline. If you still want to join the team, good luck at tryouts next year.’
‘But, sir!’
Coach Otsen’s glare intensified as it fell on Jackson.
‘Um. You don’t mean you’re going to make the team play with only ten members, do you?’
‘As for that issue, I already have a plan in motion; don’t worry about it. You’re both more than welcome to wait around and see for yourselves.’ He gestured to the empty bleachers. ‘Now, if you’ll excuse me, I have to finish preparing.’ He turned away and resumed setting up the field.
‘Huh…’ Eddie and Jackson both trudged over to the bleachers and sat down.
‘Sorry it didn’t work out,’ Jackson said. ‘Thanks for the support though, it really means a lot that you’d do this for me.’
‘Don’t worry about it, bro. If he’s got some other backup…’ Eddie shrugged. ‘… it is what it is.’
He decided to stick around and watch today’s training, he needed to see what this “hell on turf” was all about, and if it matched up to how Jackson described some of it.
Jackson chuckled. ‘I hope it doesn’t disappoint.’
When all the players had arrived, Coach Otsen called them together. ‘I’ve got a bit of an announcement before we start. Don’t get your panties in a twist, it’s nothing special. I just need to say that we’ve got a changing of the guard. Nick, you’ll be joining Varsity from this week onward.’
No one was more surprised to hear this news than Nick himself. His face was one of bewilderment as his JV—former—teammates cheered loudly for him and slapped him on the back.
‘Nice one, Nick! Hahaha, don’t get too lonely, we’ll be with you soon enough,’ Petey said.
Kenny punched Nick’s shoulder, suppressing his jealousy. ‘I’m happy for you. But like Petey said, we’ll be there too, before you know it.’
Nick hid his bashful smile with a hand and lowered his head. ‘Thanks, guys.’
‘That’s not everything, calm down. Nick’s still injured with a sprained ankle, so he won’t be taking part in any training this week, and he’ll be sitting out the game too.’
Freddy’s spindly, pale hand shot into the sky.
‘Uh, yes, Frederick?’
‘Sorry to interrupt, sir. But, what about the JV team? We’ve only got ten members now.’
A few eyes locked onto Jackson and the newbie sitting beside him on the bleachers. Jackson squirmed and kept his focus on Coach Otsen.
‘Well, if you didn’t interrupt, Frederick—’
‘Sorry, sir.’
‘—I was about to address that. As for who will be filling Nick’s shoes on the JV team now that they’re down to only ten men … Rudy, you’re back in JV until further notice.’
‘WHAT?!’
The larger huddle of Varsity players parted to reveal an average-sized boy. One of his wild eyes twitched as he stared at Coach Otsen. His red hair was shaven short with a high fade along the sides, a slit was cut along the left side, and his left eyebrow had a slit too; his collar bones jutted out from his frame; a shimmering, silver chain dangled over his black tank top; he wore a compression sleeve along his left arm, unstrapped gloves adorned his hands, and compression pants under his baggy shorts; and his white and gold boots sparkled like they were brand new.
Kenny was thankful it wasn’t Grant or one of his lackeys who had been sent down to join them, but he didn’t know much about Rudy.
Jackson couldn’t recall much of him either. He knew Rudy was a WR, but he also knew he rode the bench most of the time. It made sense that Rudy didn’t get a lot of game time, it’s not like one of the starters or even second-stringers would’ve been sent down to JV. But with the way Rudy was dressed, you would’ve thought he was the main star.
‘Take it as motivation, Rudy, and a chance to prove me wrong. You might even earn yourself some playing time on the Varsity squad depending on how well you do.’
‘Such bullshit.’ Rudy sighed. ‘Fine, I’ll show out, don’t you worry. I’ll earn my spot back, and show you I’ve got what it takes to be a starter too. So don’t get comfortable while I’m gone,’ He spat the last message in Grant’s direction.
‘Won’t even notice you’re gone, Rudolph,’ Grant said, with an echo of snickers.
Rudy moved closer to Coach Otsen. ‘Does this mean I have to wear that shitty vest again?’
Coach Otsen's scowl was enough for Rudy to get the message.
‘Such fucking bullshit.’ Rudy grumbled to himself as he sluggishly went over to Coach Knight and put his old weighted vest on. His shoulders slumped further under the unfamiliar weight.
Freddy once again raised his hand, although more hesitantly this time.
Coach Otsen took longer to acknowledge it this time. ‘Yes, Frederick?’
‘If Nick’s gone, who will be our Kicker?’
‘I’ve yet to decide that. Don’t worry, we’ll use this week to find the best replacement Kicker. Now, everyone, get to work.’ Coach Otsen emphasised his command with a sharp cry of his whistle.
With his vest on, Rudy joined the JV side of practice, still trying to adjust to the weight as he shifted the vest around constantly.
Kenny approached him first and stuck a fist out. ‘Hey, man. I’m Ken. My friends call me Kenny.’
‘Hey, KEN.’ Rudy ignored the fist. He looked around at the others, most he knew from his time with the squad last season. His eyes lingered on Freddy.
‘I-I’m Frederick, b-but everyone calls me Freddy. Welcome to the team.’
‘Thanks for the warm welcome, Fred. Look, I’m not happy about being back here, you can all see that. I’m not going to be your friend, either, just don’t get in my way. I won’t be here long.’ He walked away, starting the warm-up laps around the field by himself.
‘Looks like making Varsity really went to his head. Never knew he was such a pendajo,’ Pete said.
‘You know that dick?’ Kenny asked.
‘Eh, he was on the team last season. He’s in the year above. He wasn’t the friendliest guy but he wasn’t bad. You should’ve seen how happy he was to move up to Varsity. I can’t blame him for being pissed off now that he’s back, but he’s only got himself to blame.’
Jackson watched the proceedings with some concern. ‘Hmm, I hope that guy doesn’t mess with the team’s chemistry. I wonder what’ll happen next game.’
‘I’m sure it’ll be fine. He’s just butt-hurt that he got dropped back to JV but he’ll get over it and work his way back to Varsity. Or he’ll become a leader for the JV team.’ Eddie shrugged.
‘What about you? … Are you going to try out next season?’
Eddie looked to the sky, leaning back against the bench. There was a long pause before he answered. ‘I don’t know. I mean, that’s next summer, right? I’ll have to think about it.’
‘Fair enough … it’s almost a year away, still.’ Jackson turned his attention back to the training.
Practice continued. The JV squad was surprised to find that Freddy was the best Kicker during the little competition to find Nick’s replacement. Though Rudy’s attempts weren’t very convincing.
That wasn’t the only surprise. Kenny was surprised to find someone outdo him in the Receiving drills. The only one to get through them more crisply and quickly, with fewer drops, was none other than Rudy.
“I’m not even better than a benchwarmer? Someone who got dropped back to JV?” Kenny bit the insides of his cheeks.
By the end of practice, Rudy hadn’t warmed up to the rest of the JV team at all. He was still cold and standoffish, getting out of there as soon as practice was over.
Whilst he might’ve had the skills, he was like gum in the gears of the reliable machine the team had built throughout the turmoil of this season.
In the lead-up to the final game of the season, the Titans were as tumultuous as ever.