𝐁𝐮𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐒𝐚𝐠𝐞 [COMPLETE]

𝐞𝐬𝐭. 𝟎𝟑𝟔 { A Drink or Two }

"𝙸𝚜𝚗'𝚝 𝚒𝚝 𝚎𝚟𝚒𝚍𝚎𝚗𝚝. 𝚈𝚘𝚞'𝚛𝚎 𝚒𝚝 𝚏𝚘𝚛 𝚖𝚎."
~~~

𝐙𝐚𝐜𝐡'𝐬 𝐏𝐎𝐕

During games I enforce a common tactic used by players which is essentially silencing all sound.

Mouths are moving in sync, game officials are shouting across the field to one another, positioning their arms in motions only real fans care to understand and players of each team are encouraging each other with harsh helmet knocks and slaps on the ass.

The crowd's cheers are ear splitting just like I remember it to be. Stands are overcrowded with orange and white on my left and red and yellow on my right as fans from both schools produce noises that could be heard from dorms on the other side of campus.

I continue to zone out, maybe because for the last sixty seconds my eyes have never found its way away from Syracuse's student section.

"Haven't seen you play this bad since last year Stone. All the tackles finally getting to your head." Denver's, USC notorious wide receiver shows off his pearly whites with a grin, pulling my eyes away from my search.

I ignore his attempts to rattle me up as Coach insists on calling me over.

"No offers yet, Denver's?" I begin walking away as his expression falters. The look on his face telling me all I needed to know.

After Denver's record breaking season last year, everyone expected him to be called up to the NFL sooner than later. It was evident he had the skill set, season stats and fan base to secure an offer. However, sportsmanship seemed to be lacking in all that glory he saw himself as. Even Ezra was surprised when his name was put out on likely letters before James Denver.

As I walk in long strides to the sidelines my eyes never leave the stands for obvious reasons. After last night's apology, counseling resumed as normal.

Maria spoke to the group about taking accountability, no surprise that lesson was scheduled for today of all days. Sage kept quiet the whole time as I frequently made eye contact with her.

She knew there was a game today. She reminded me of it last night when I accidentally squeezed her hand too tight after hearing the way she was being talked about on campus. The look on her face after I hurt her not only ripped my heart into shreds, it was eye opening. Maybe my anger had subsided but it was truly never gone. I wanted nothing more than to redo this whole week and make better choices. Choices that would prevent my current situation and fix whatever I had ruined.

"Yes, Coach." I take my helmet off and swallow harshly, looking away from the crowd of people once again.

It was evident in the way his jaw clenched that he wasn't happy. He was either going to pull me out of this game or I had one final chance before I embarrassed myself even more on this field.

"I'm going to say this once and only once." Coach's gruff voice pulled me out of my daydream. He's standing in front me with a determined look on his face I only wish I could replicate in this moment. The scoreboard read 0-24. I couldn't catch a single throw all night and it's my fault.

I was distracted.

"The game isn't over, Stone. You may think it's over but it's not. I've seen turnarounds happen in much worse circumstances. That lead you see on that score board can change. It only takes one simple action."

"What?" I eye him warily.

"Stop looking for whoever isn't here." He points to the bleachers. "I can see you're distressed because whoever you wanted to show up hasn't. It's a hard lesson to learn but you can't let that determine how well you play. It reflects poorly on you despite whatever is going on in your personal life." He tells me seriously.