the choice • charlie conway

chapter three

charlie

Even though Adam and Guy told me last night that I have nothing to worry about when it comes to who is captain, I still can't help but feel a little nervous.

I feel like I've been nervous a lot recently, but there's a lot to be nervous about. Varsity, the captaincy, a new school year, making sure I don't screw up my friendships or my relationship, among other things. Those are just the biggest ones though.

Although today is only the second day of school, it feels like the one hundredth. My morning couldn't have been any longer, and lunch was the only thing on my mind.

It definitely feels different to me, sitting with Adam at the varsity table rather than the JV one from last year. So many people stare at us.

I mean, that hasn't been uncommon since we won the showdown, but all of the new freshmen stare at us like we're celebrities or something. The other kids our age and all of the upperclassmen stare at us like they expect something from us, which I can assume is to win states.

How embarrassing would it be if we were the team to break the eleven year streak?

There are only five returning players from last year, three seniors and two juniors. The seniors are Justin Bard, Caiden Brown, and Josh Darrow. The juniors are Drew Mullin and Christian Hart. Of all of them, Caiden and Drew are the nicest. Christian and Josh have been pretty friendly, enough to the point where we can get along. Justin on the other hand, has been nothing but an ass.

I'm not sure why, I've haven't even been on the team for an entire day yet. I guess he's just stressed about Orion's captain announcement today too.

I'm the first one from varsity in the dining hall, because I bolt there from algebra. I really couldn't sit in that class any longer.

I grab my lunch out of my bag, watching as all of the kids filter in. After a few seconds, Drew sits down across from me, throwing his lunch bag on the table.

"Man!" he says, almost out of breath. "Those freshmen are slow! Were you that bad last year?"

"No way dude!" I respond, shaking my head. "I wasn't even half as bad as the freshmen this year, this is ridiculous. I gotta ask you a question too. Why were you running?"

He takes a bite of his sandwich and shrugs. "I don't know. I just like to be here before the rush."

"Fair enough." I start to unwrap my sandwich, and Drew seems to read my mind. He starts to talk about the only thing that's been bothering me, the captaincy.

"Listen kid, I know you're stressed about Orion's captain announcement today. It's written all over your face. If you're named captain, don't worry about Justin. He's just mad because there was literally no way he was going to be captain over Rick, so now he wants it for his senior year. Would it be nice if Orion gives it to him? Yes, but he doesn't have to. I think you'd be a great captain, you know how to lead and you've shown it. Besides, Orion knows you're a leader. I don't think you have anything to worry about. If Justin bothers you, come find me and I'll handle it."

"Thanks Drew. Means a lot. I can handle myself though, you don't have to worry about that. But thanks for offering, I really appreciate it."

He smiles and gives me a thumbs up as we both continue to eat. We don't continue the conversation any further, because our teammates are starting to fill up the table.