“Well, whatever it takes, I’m in.”
“Why the sudden change of heart?” she said with a puzzled expression on her face.
“I don’t know, but I could use the extra money. It’ll get me one step closer to escaping this town, and starting over anew somewhere else—away from Zach.”
“You can’t go too far, I’ll miss you too much,” she said, placing a soft kiss on my cheek.
Chapter 3
Day 3
Zach
All I could focus on last night was destroying John Ellis. I borrowed old tapes from coach, to study their plays from last year, because I refused to lose. Ever since I’ve become the team’s captain, we’ve been undefeated at home and that wasn’t going to change tonight.
“You ready for tonight, man?” Chris said.
“As ready as I’ll ever be.”
“Good, I’m going to hit the gym after my last class to psyche myself up for the game.”
“Don’t burn yourself out Chris, this team is no joke. If we defeat them, we’ll be unstoppable!”
***
Zeke
“All right class, for today’s exercise I’d like us to try out a new technique. How many of you have ever been attracted to someone, that you knew you shouldn’t be?” Ms. Sheppard asked.
Half of my class raised their hands, including myself.
“Excellent. Now, I want you to envision that person right now, and write a letter to them, professing your love. The catch is, to let them remain nameless, but I want you to evoke as much emotion as possible. Pretend like you’re going to give it to them—anonymously. Oh and don’t sign who it’s from.”
Dear you,
There aren’t enough words in the English vocabulary to describe what I feel for you right now. A romance between us would be forbidden, but in my heart, it would feel right.
Sincerely,
-Me
***
Zach
Dear ?
You+me=a night you’ll never forget. Your eyes tell a story that my cock wants to listen too. Although you are older, that doesn’t mean I can’t keep up with you.
“Pens down everyone. I hope you all know how to follow directions because you will be turning these projects in right now.”
“Oh-no,” a vast majority of people said at once.
“What a bunch of idiots,” I said to Chris.
***
Zeke
After class I went straight home. The Mathlete’s didn’t meet up today, which gave me a free night to find out more about it.
Zach begged me to come to his game tonight, but football doesn’t really do it for me. Besides, I don’t need him gloating about how much better he is at everything than I am.
I couldn’t stop thinking about the lesson Ms. Sheppard gave us earlier today. I didn’t write nearly as much as I wanted to, in fear of giving my identity away. I had a sneaking suspicion that she’d collect this round of notes.
I don’t know why she had such a hold on me. I couldn’t get her out of my head and we’ve only had three days of school so far. I couldn’t imagine how I was going to get through these next couple of months.
I wish my birthday was sooner, so I could explore these feelings a little more.
Chapter 4
Zach
“It’s almost game time. Are you ready, bro?” said Chris.
“You know it!”
Before every game, we had a ritual—a way to psyche ourselves up before the team huddle. We would all slap each other across the face, and punch the “lucky” gym bag.
“All right boys, take no mercy, and take no prisoners tonight. If you second guess yourself, coach will pull you out of the game. If you have a miss step, you’re out. It’s time for us to bring the fire and burn these losers to the ground.”
“One, two, three; Tigers.Eat.Prey—break!” We shouted together.
As we walked to the line to set up formation, I looked over at the cheerleaders dancing on the sidelines. They were sporting their orange and white tops with short black skirts, and watching them shaking their asses on the sidelines always gave me extra motivation.
Blue forty-two, blue forty-two, hike! The center snapped the ball back to me and my offense scattered across the field. I had to act fast because the Devils were coming for me—quickly. I spotted Chris, my tight-end near the 20 yard line and launched the ball as hard as I could. He caught it—flawlessly and jumped over the line. “First down,” the referee yelled.
So far so good, but from the tapes I studied, they usually stepped up their game around the third quarter. They were what we referred to as “last half hitters” which could be a good or bad thing, but I refused to lose.
We quickly set up formation at the 20 and it was time to get ahead—early. The center snapped the ball to me and I faked it, making their defense think I threw the ball, but in reality, I handed it off to my running back. Craig slipped through their line of defense and got us our first touchdown! The crowd went nuts with cheers, and I knew then, that this game was going to be a piece of cake.