I Hate Football Players 3 | 18+

Chapter 3: Ellie

The eight-hundred and sixty-seven mile drive from Santa Cruz through Northern California, up the fortunately narrower dimension of Oregon, and to Seattle, Washington normally took me about eighteen hours. But if I got up ridiculously early, around 3am, took short, frequent breaks, ate all meals in my car, possibly drove four to nine miles per hour over each posted speed limit, chugged whatever caffeine I found for the last four hour stretch, then I drove the trip in sixteen hours.

When my parents trailed behind me, their slow-ass pace dragged the drive out to twenty-one hours. Thankfully, we still left early and they alternated car naps in lieu of an overnight hotel room, which they used on the trip south. But their slow driving definitely made the eight-hundred and sixty-two mile segment on Interstate-5 North extremely painful.

Ugh, so are their rest stop breaks.

While I was out, peed, and back in my car in ten minutes, Mom and Dad needed leg stretch breaks. Our last stop was at the Toutle River Rest Stop, an hour and a half south of our destination. By then, my back was stiff, legs ached, and my tired brain screamed 'Just push through to UW!' but Dad apparently wasn't going to make it without another stop.

"Oh my," Mom gaped after I'd given her the news of my apparent roommate swap. "That's... surprising."

"I'm happy for Charlie," I replied honestly and kicked a small pebble on the dirt path we walked on while Dad used the bathroom.

Despite how every cell in my body itched and twitched with the last momentum push, I found comfort in the large evergreen trees that loomed over us, shadowed the walking path under our feet, and offered happily chirping birds refuge in their branches. The woodsy, damp smell of the upper Northwest hit my nose and tugged a smile on my lips.

"Of course, that's wonderful news." Mom's eyebrows lifted high at the first guy I'd assumed he was too. "You're not living with Emmitt though, right?

Charlie's phone call had scattered my mind over several Huskies' backup quarterback possibilities and who my new roommate was. I wasn't a regular follower of the team's social media since usually I found out from word of mouth gossip from one of the guys.

"Not sure how we feel on that one," she added with a smile. "Especially after Wes promised me last year that he'd keep Emmitt away from you."

Thanks Wes. Even my parents know Emmitt's a fuck-boy.

"Oh," was my flat response. "It's a transfer guy, she didn't say anything besides he's Emmitt's backup."

"Hmm..." Despite the shadowed trail, her dark brown eyes sparkled with some form of amusement at that news. "Sweetie, you and football players... like flies to honey. I'd always assumed you'd end up with one of Jake's teammates given how much they asked about you."

"I know," I grumbled and ignored her overprotective gatekeeping reminder. "And I can't help it. You know Dad's going to blow a blood vessel over this, so... Can you soften the blow a little? I don't have much choice here."

"I'll try." She drew in a deep breath and exhaled sharply. "But you know him. Temper first, apologies second."

Still doesn't make it right.

"Just like Jake." I scowled down at the path a few feet in front of me and scuffed my feet for a few steps.

"Ellie, he might not show it but your father knows his flaws." Her softened voice hit my left ear. "At this point I'm just glad Jake's got his under control."

Under Jake's scholarship probation, he was required to take two anger management classes or counseling per week for as long as the counselor deemed. He'd opted for a one-on-one counselor that USC provided and thrived since then. Jake wasn't exactly a model student but maintained his GPA above 3.0 and while his social life with girls horrified me, he hadn't had a single anger-related incident.