To You, In 15 Years

Chapter 7-The Fourth Quarter

Sorry for disappearing guys. I've been busy, life sucks, and a shit ton of other garbage. To be frank, I'm almost 18 so that means I've got to prepare to be an adult. Let me tell yoy, it sucks.

Anyways I hope to be more active again. Enjoy!

"SET HUUUUTTT!"

The ball was snapped and the quarterback dropped back.

"UGGHH!"

He was blindsided by the defensive player, and was easily sacked.

"Fourth Down! Punt return team on the field!" Coach Ackermann yelled.

Coach Ackermann was a former player himself. Although very short, he once played in the NFL for a while. He was drafted by the Jaguars and played for them for a few years, before hopping around the league as a punt returner/wide receiver for a few seasons. He retired to take a job at his old college when he was 34. He's been the football coach for a while now, and he's helped the team become good again.

He turned to Eren and grabbed his Jersey.

"You're returning the punt. Don't mess it up."

Eren quietly stared back into Coach Ackermann's cold eyes, before jogging onto the field. He passed a highly pissed off Jean and patted his back.

As he took his place, Eren took in the situation.

It was the fourth quarter. They were down by five points. The score was 23-18. A nice punt return would help them get closer.

Just before the ball was snapped, Eren heard a soft thud on his helmet. He looked up.

"Shit." Eren mumbled. "It's raining."

The ball was punted. Eren slowly settled under where the ball was going to land.

Knowing the ball was probably going to be a bit slippery, he wiped his gloves on his pants to remove any rainwater on his gloves.

"Pop."

He caught the ball against his chest, and was instantly tackled.

He was able to hold on despite being leveled by the opposing team. He gave the ball to the referee and jogged back to the sideline.

"Good work Jaeger, but next time, try to actually return the punt."

Eren rolled his eyes at Ackermann. Eren knew he had no chance to return it with how fast the defender got to him.

With a sigh, Eren took off his helmet and sat next to Jean.

"You finally got into the game huh?" Jean remarked.

"Yeah, but just to return a punt." Eren tapped the bench slowly. "I wonder if I'll have a chance to catch a ball."

"Maybe, but I'll only get in if Mr. Perfect is injured." Jean sneered.

"Jean, I've seen you both play. You are a far superior quarterback in my eyes. Coach Ackermann is starting him because he's in his last year of college. Heck, he might get drafted if he plays well enough. You'll definitely start next year." Jean rolled his eyes.

"Thanks Eren, but you are NOT helping." Jean Retoeted

"Whatever. Stop looking angry at least." Eren clicked his tongue in a condescending tone. Jean got even more annoyed.

"Stop talking to me Eren, I don't care about how I look."

"You look kinda like a horse Jean."

"What was that you bastard?!"

"I thought you didn't care how you looked?"

"Graaahhhh!"

Eren continued to mess with Jean until Assistant Coach Zoe Hange waltzed over like an absolute doofus.

"Awwwww, Stop arguing you too!" She smiled so widely her eyes disappeared and her cheeks turned red.

"Coach, this isn't a Yaoi manga for you to enjoy. You've got plenty to read in your office."

"You found my stash?! I'm ruiiiinnnneeeeddd!"

Eren chuckled and Jean even smirked a bit. Screaming interrupted their conversation.

"Oh fuck not now!" Coach Ackerman grabbed Eren by the jersey and shoved him onto the field. "You're on kid! Jackson tore his ACL, get moving!"

"Ah shit." Eren thought. "What was the score again? He stopped paying attention awhile ago. Football wasn't very interesting to watch when you could be playing instead.

23-18, 1 minute and 13 seconds remaining

Ah, right.

Eren hurried to the huddle where the Quarterback, a Senior by the name of Brock Weller.

"Jaeger. We're running 13 blue 85 red slants." Brock relayed.

"Which play is that again?" Eren asked cluelessly. The huddle groaned.

"What the-Oh for God's sake just run a slant!"

"Alright Brock."

Eren took his position and waited for Brock to snap the football. He looked eyes with the guy covering him. The guy covering him was maybe 5'8, pretty short, but he looked fast and agile.

They stared each other down, waiting for the signal to go.

"Hut, hut...HIKE!"

The ball was snapped and Eren instantly ran straight at the defender. Surprised, the defender backpedaled. Eren took advantage of this and got wide open by turning to the right on a slant. He looked at Brock, who quickly threw to Eren, who caught it and ran infield a couple yards. He juked out one of the safties, but the linebacker made the tackle.

First down, 42 seconds left, clock running.

They hurried into position and ran the exact same play. This time though,
The defender was ready, and didn't let him get open. Weller was almost sacked, but he escaped and ran. He dodged a couple tacklers, but was brought down at the 25 yard line.

21 seconds left.

They ran the ball with the running back, who picked up a few yards before being tackled.

10 seconds left.

"Timeout!" Coach Ackermann screamed.

No timeout was called. They were out of timeouts.

Panic set in for Eren as his team realized what was happening. They quickly hurried to the line as he got set.

5 seconds left

The offensive line was almost set. The only problem was Brock Weller. He hadn't even gotten to the backfield yet.

3 seconds

Weller was in the backfield. He was running to his spot to get set now.

1 second???

The ball was snapped.

With no play called, Eren had no choice but to try anything to get open. He quickly streaked past the defenders to the end zone. When he got there, he faked to the left, but ran to the right.

He was wide open.

Weller saw this, and threw.

The ball softly hit his gloves.

He caught it.

Eren went crazy and spiked the ball at the ground in celebration, his teammates joining in, patting him on the back and yelling. The stadium went crazy. He looked to Coach Ackermann, but he looked no different. He wasn't happy or anything. He just looked like they had lost.

Eren looked up the scoreboard and realized why.