Chapter 12: A New Quarterback?

Date: September 20th, 2023

Location: Ellington Central High School, City of Ellington

Time: 4:00 PM (Local)

Sophomore Year, 1st Semester

“Hey Aiko, mind if we find my locker first before heading to the stadium?” Allen asks as Aiko walks up to him.

“Sure, know where it is?” Aiko asks. A green path pops up in Allen’s vision.

“Umm, yeah. It should be this way.” Allen walks off on the green path with Aiko on his heels.

“Thanks Eve.”

“No problem, Allen.”

After a few halls, they arrive at Allen’s locker. “Here we are, locker 235. Let me look at the combination.”

Allen retrieves his locker information out of his bag and Aiko leans against the lockers next to him.

“You’re pretty incredible. I m-mean what you did in Gym Class. Not that you aren’t incredible…I-I mean…” Aiko tries to recover but ends up sputtering and hopping from foot to foot while dry washing her hands. Allen chuckles and puts his hand on her shoulder and looks her in the eyes.

“Aiko, I know what you meant. I can come across as intense and cold, I know. But I already consider you a good friend and enjoy hanging out with you. I hope you feel the same and all I ask is that you just be yourself around me. I take my friends at face value until proved otherwise.” Aiko stops her sputtering and looks at Allen with wide eyes. “Friend.” Yes, she could work with that. She nods her head and Allen goes back to figuring out how to work the combination lock. He’s arguing with Eve in his head. She’s shouting out: “LEFT! NO, YOUR OTHER LEFT, SPACEHEAD!” and he’s quickly getting frustrated. Aiko sees Allen getting flustered and offers to help, and he lets her. Her curiosity about Allen grows as she tries to compare the confident and capable Allen in the gym to the muttering and clumsy Allen in front of her that can’t figure out a simple combination lock.

“Hey, flat chest! Who’s this?” A voice calls out as Allen was closing his locker. Allen and Aiko turn around and Aiko lets out a groan. A tall girl with a brunette ponytail and green eyes stands in front of them with two other girls flanking her. Aiko straightens herself up and glares at the newcomer.

“Hey, Sarah. This is Allen. Kayla’s new foster brother.”

“He’s cute! Hey Allen, ditch Aiko here and let me take you out.” Sarah says as she thrusts her impressive chest out.

“Don’t you have practice like, right now?” Aiko asks.

“Damn, she’s right, Sarah. We have to get going!”

“We’ll pick this up after practice, cutie. If you’re going to watch Kayla, check me out too!” Sara says before being dragged off by her friends. Aiko turns to Allen, and they walk in the direction of the stadium.

“That was Alice. She’s a senior. She’s also the team’s starting linebacker. She’s probably good enough to get a scholarship, I heard she was approached by Ellington College. She also likes to point out my small chest every time she sees me.”

“Ahh, alpha type. Got it. And Aiko?”

“Yeah Allen?”

“It’s not what’s in your bra, it’s what’s in your chest that I care about.” Allen says this nonchalantly while walking. He doesn’t tell her that he’s actually a leg man as he gets a good view of hers with the skirt she’s wearing. Aiko misses a step and Allen stops her from falling. He chuckles as she straightens herself out and they continue walking to the stadium.

They arrive and find an empty spot in the middle a few rows up from the field. The players are all dressed in white uniforms trimmed in silver and the numbers are red. Their helmets are also red and have comet decals on the sides. A banner hangs in front of the announcer’s box that says: “Ellington Central High Comets.”

“Eve, I swear this universe is messing with me….”

“Hmmm….” Is her reply.

Allen looks down on the field with Aiko beside him and he spots number #81 take off her helmet as she completes a sprint and recognizes her as Kayla. Kayla sees Allen and waves to him excitedly before joining the rest of the team as they line up. Aiko starts to explain the ends and outs as Allen watches the team practice.

“Eve, you have network?”

“Yes, connected through the cellphone. You have unlimited data so no one should notice your usage when I download large amounts. I’m just limited by this primitive network.”

“Good, please download the rulebook to the game and scan footage. Then give me the rundown.”

Eve carries out Allen’s request and soon she and Aiko are both walking Allen through the technical aspects of the game. Soon, he’s sure he has a nice handle on it.

“This highly resembles Arena Ball, Allen. You should be able to see the similarities.”

“Ahh! I thought it looked familiar.” Allen snaps his fingers as he makes the connections, slightly catching Aiko off guard.

The narrative has been stolen; if detected on Amazon, report the infringement.

“Sorry, I just remembered how football works. Thanks Aiko!” He smiles at her.

“Anytime Allen!” She beams back.

“LOOK OUT!” Without looking or thinking about it, Allen reaches out and snags a football that was heading for his face. Aiko looks at Allen with wide eyes and he suddenly realizes what he just did. Eve had warned him about the ball heading in his direction and he reacted without thinking. Now the stadium is quiet as all eyes are on him.

“HEY CUTIE, HAND THE BALL TO FLAT CHEST SO SHE CAN THROW IT BACK!” Allen hears a shout from the field. A tall player with the number #47 is standing on the track. He recognizes the voice, and his anger rises. He stands up with a growl. Kayla is watching on the field and recognizes the look in his eyes. “UH-OH!” she mutters. She had just gotten her stomach to stop hurting from earlier and it was already twinging in pain in preparation of another fit.

“Eve.”

“He-he…. Yes Allen?” He can hear the excitement in her voice.

“Juice me and then overlay me a firing solution.”

“With PLEASURE!”

*THHHHHHHWACK!* The sound rings out in the stadium and the wind even stops blowing to acknowledge what just occurred. All activity stops on the field. The wind stills. Eve had juiced Allen just like when he had fought in the food court and then he had followed Eve’s calculations and the green, simulated throwing path that overlayed his HUD. The ball travels through the air in a tight spiral before impacting Sarah right in her numbers. She stumbles back a couple of steps before staring at the ball in her hands in disbelief before her eyes travel the path of the ball back to its owner. Allen literally sees her brain stop functioning. Eve erupts into laughter in his head and Allen fights a grin. His lips twitch at the corners. Aiko needs to go home and have a good night’s sleep. Coach Selene, yes the gym coach, sports the same look on her face from when Allen had climbed the rope. She ponders the idea of cancelling practice early so she can go to a bar. Suddenly a voice cries out on the field. “NO-NO-NO-AHAHAHAHAHAHA!” Kayla doubles over again and she’s being tortured by simultaneously laughing and her stomach hurting. Tear stream out of her eyes as she collapses to her knees. The assistant coach slides up to Coach Selene and elbows her in the side to get her attention. Coach Selene glances at her assistant coach.

“We do need a quarterback.”

Coach Selene stops herself from swallowing her whistle again. She was starting to reconsider using one as she stares at her crazy assistant coach. “But he’s a BOY!” She yells while flailing her arms about. “AHAHAHAHAHA!” She hears in response. “SHUT IT, SUMMERTON!”

“Alright, let’s just get this over with!” Coach Selene finally relents and motions Allen down to the field. As all eyes track his descent down the stairs, Kayla finally recovers and runs over to the coach.

“I’ll receive for him, coach!” She puts her helmet on and stands by the coach as Allen approaches. Coach Selene nods as she watches Allen walk over. He takes off his leather jacket and places it in a free spot on the bench. Allen rolls his shoulders and hops a few times to loosen up. Everyone watches and judges his every move. Sarah walks over and throws the ball back to Allen in an underhand toss.

“Don’t ruin your manicure, we have plans after practice!” Allen cocks his head to the side at her comment and can’t help himself.

“What manicure?” Allen says as he slowly raises his middle figure and waggles it back and forth. Her eyes track the finger until she realizes what he’s doing. Sarah’s face turns red as snickers and giggles ring out in the stadium. Coach Selene even had to muffle a guffaw that almost escaped her mouth. The assistant coach speaks up beside Coach Selene. “Kid’s got tits.” Selene agrees with her.

I’ll snap for him. Shotgun, so he doesn’t feel uncomfortable.” A shy girl who’s thickly built pipes up.

“Alright, Anderson. Get in there.” Coach Selene says. She has #68 on her jersey and Allen observes her as she offers a bright smile and hops to a stop in front of him. She has Brown hair and eyes that show through her visor. Although she’s bigger than most women he’s seen so far, she’s far from unattractive.

“Hiya! I’m Millie Anderson! I’m the starting center. I’ll snap for you. Just back up in shotgun and we’ll get going!” Allen instantly loves her bubbly personality. Allen nods and smiles at her before tossing her the ball. Millie gets into a stance and then lowers the ball to the field with both hands before looking back at Allen between her legs. Kayla moves to the right on the scrimmage line and places her right foot in front of her left and moves her hands up towards her armpits with her fists closed. She then turns her helmet to watch Allen.

“What play do you want me to run, coach?” Allen asks Coach Selene. She ponders for a moment as she crosses her arms and stares intently at Allen with her whistle in her mouth. Everyone had cleared the field and only Allen, Kayla, and Millie are left on it. Aiko had moved down to the fence in front of the bottom row of seats because everyone else at practice had crowded the fence. She’s biting her nails as her eyes ping pong between Allen and Coach Selene. Coach Selene decides that she wants to see Allen’s range and makes her decision.

“Deep Post. On three.” She nods her head at her own call. Allen nods as Eve gives the breakdown. He looks at Kayla and she nods back. Allen looks at Millie.

“HUT…. HUT…. HIKE!” Millie snaps the ball. Eve overlays Kayla’s expected path in Allen’s vision as he drops back. After Kayla hits the 20-yard line, she cuts in towards the goal posts. As she is in stride, Allen releases the ball on a trajectory that perfectly intercepts her path and Kayla doesn’t have to break step. The ball whistles through the air in a tight spiral until it catches Kayla right in her numbers. The sound of impact rings out as Kayla hugs the ball and turns up the field for the endzone. She hits the endzone and spikes the ball triumphantly. Kayla takes her helmet off and whoops. The coach looks at Allen’s feet and see that he's standing on the 25-yard line, opposite Kayla’s side of the field. Allen just threw for 55 yards in the air and made it look easy. Allen thought it was quiet before he threw the ball. He looks over at Coach Selene and she’s flat on her back as her assistant coach waves a clipboard in her face like a fan.

He inspects the fingernail on his middle finger for a moment and then looks up at Sarah. He hits her with a cheeky grin.

“Manicure’s still okay.” He gives her a thumbs up. “But if I was going to go out on a Monday night, Millie would probably be the better company….” He hears a body hit the field and looks over to the source. Millie is also now flat on her back. Kayla soon joins them, but not because she passed out. She’s cursing Allen for making her laugh again, but it’s hard to make out the words interspersed throughout the laughter.

Practice, for all intents and purposes, was cancelled. Except for Kayla, Millie, and Allen. They stayed out on the field for almost an hour as Coach Selene threw call after call at him. She even added a fullback and let Sarah charge him when Coach Selene wanted to see a play action. Allen did it all, he was barely panting. Millie and Kayla where questioning the wisdom of volunteering and Sarah learned the hard way not to antagonize Allen. On one play, her anger got the better of her and she went full out even though Allen had no pads. She hollered a war cry as she zipped past Millie who stood up in shock, momentarily thinking she had missed a block. She calmed down after realizing there should be no reason to block until she realized that Sarah must have forgotten that there was no reason to block. She looks back in horror, expecting Allen to be paste. Instead, she’s shocked with the sight of Allen launching a bullet at Sarah’s helmet as he rolls to the right. Sarah’s eyes widen and she tries to duck her head, but the football quickly fills her vision. The ball impacts her facemask and her head rocks back from the force. Sarah comes full stop and stands still for a moment with an unreadable look. Allen cocks his head to the side as he stares at her and thinks Sarah looks like she’s trying to solve the calculations for conserving fuel for a less-than-FTL (faster than light) jump. Eve cocks her head mentally in Allen’s head as she watches through his eyes. Sarah numbly shakes her head and walks towards the bench silently. The crowd parts for her as they watch her pass. Sarah sits down, takes her helmet off, and grabs a towel to stop her bloody nose. Everyone turns their heads back towards Coach Selene.

“AWW, WHAT THE HELL! WE HAVE A NEW QUARTERBACK!” The crowd cheers, except for a girl sitting on the bench with her leg in a cast.