The Coaches Daughter | E. Jaeger

08

Friday night.

There's an energy in the air.

Anticipation. Anxiety. Confidence.

Every game is like this and for as long as you could remembered you felt the same thing each time.

Excitement.

"You have everything ready?" Your dad questions as he goes over some last minute details on some plays in his office while the team gets into their gear.

"Always," you sit patiently on the couch with a pack of frozen grapes in your lap, your leg bouncing nervously.

Your dad grabs his hat off the desk and pulls it over his thinning hair. "Well, let's get to it and please stop eating the halftime snacks."

"I'm sure they won't miss a couple grapes," you put them back into the mini refrigerator and follow your dad out into the locker room, hoping they're all dressed by now. There's only five minutes until they need to be on the field, so they should be ready.

You lean against the wall at the end of the hall, wanting to be out of the way while your dad gives his pregame speech. You tune it out since it's the same thing he says before each game, give or take a few words.

While he speaks, your eyes wonder. First they start at your feet, admiring your new shoes, then they scan over the players. You identify Armin right away by his hair and eyes that stand out amongst the rest. After him, you spot Reiner and Jean. But as you reach the front of the huddled group, your eyes land on Erens. You hadn't expected to find him staring back at you, so you quickly look away and head towards the other end of the hall where the door is located. You open it up for when the players run out and head to the field.

You've been avoiding Eren. Again. This time you've been successful. Not a word has been exchanged between the two of you since the pool.  You see him in the hall. You go the other way. His eyes linger too long. You get out of view.

It's not easy though. He's tempting. His teal eyes undressing you. His lips calling you to them. How he purposely brushes up against you at practice when he walks by.

There's no way you can just ignore all of that.

The sound of cleats against a hard floor fills the room and alerts you of the stampede of football players coming towards you.

You go off to the side and allow the entire team to run towards the field and when your dad and the other coaches come out, you follow them at a slower pace.

"You should really change up your speech now and again," you lean into your dads side as he wraps his arm around your shoulder.

"I'll change it when it stops working," he chuckles and kisses the top of your head.

When you get onto the sidelines, you watch the team warm up. Occasionally you observe the rival team, but they're nothing special, so you keep your focus ahead.

Armin takes a snap from the center lineman and then proceeds to throw it at Eren to complete the warm-up route. You turn away and go make sure the waters are full and ready to go, but it's really just too keep you distracted from well...being distracted.

"Welcome back to Friday night football, everyone! Who's ready for the Titan Season Kick-off!"

The announcer's voice carries through the stadium with great force. The crowd erupts into cheers and it's surprising you don't go deaf. This small high school game has more spirit than that of an actual college game. That's insane.

Your dad is talking to his starting line up while you watch the three captains from the other team start to head for center field. You jog over to your dad and tap his shoulder. "Captains."