The Football Player's Roommate

17.

Astonishment.

That's all I felt as my hands began to go numb. I couldn't tell if it was from the cold breeze that came and went every so often, or the fact that I just found out that my roommate plays college football! To say this was unexpected was a huge understatement.

I remember on my college visit how the tour guide was constantly bragging about the football program and how much they had achieved in the last decade under the leadership of their coach. At the time I was annoyed we were wasting so much time blabbing about the school athletics when all I really cared about was the academics and where exactly the library was located and how many extracurricular activity groups available on campus.

It seemed that all happened so long ago...back then all I focused on was my grades, getting into this college and trying to fit in with my complicated high school hierarchy, which others just called the popular kids. With the time it took someone to snap their fingers is how quickly my perspectives changed. One little mistake can change you for the rest of your life.

Shaking my head to clear all the bad memories I returned my attention back to the present, Theo being a football player on a Division I team. From all the time I spent watching the game with my dad, I knew that being on a team that was Division I was a big deal and they didn't just take anybody. They required and recruited only the best.

I was so confused right now. My mind seemed to be overflowing with too many questions to count.

Why had Theo never told me about his football career? Why was he only deciding to tell me now? How did he hide this whole other life of his so well without me even taking a notice? Was I really that oblivious?? Why was he so protective of keeping his football career hidden from me?

Normally when a guy scores a spot in any football team he's usually egotistical and takes every chance to gloat about it, but not Theo. You would think with him being a star football player and all that it'd be at least a little hard to hide your popularity so well. Especially since football is practically a religion on this campus.

I sat there thinking and thinking, but eventually I came to a conclusion that I wouldn't be able to figure any of this out on my own. I would have to wait for the man in question himself to tell me all I needed to know. Theodore Thompson.

I watched down on the field as he was huddled in a group with his teammates, probably developing a game plan to destroy the other team.

When I really concentrated on him in his game I realized how much he really belonged here. This was his environment and you could already notice he was no amateur.

From the way he strode confidently up and down the crisp, green turf to the way he stood with his shoulders perfectly squared and the way he held his head high with confidence, you could instantly sense this wasn't his first game.

It was probably his hundredth. And by the way all his teammates surrounded him you could tell they respected him and wanted to do nothing but impress their leader. Who would've known that the sarcastic ass called Theo could be such a role model to those around him.

I guess what this game had really taught me so far was how much I really didn't know about Theo. I wondered if back home football was a family thing or if he had just picked up in it.

Actually. Now that I think about it...I had never heard a single detail about Theo's family. I had never told him my whole life story either, but it just felt so odd that I knew nothing about the person I've been living with for nearly two months now.

I've grown to trust Theo and live with his sarcastic and testosterone filled self, but deep down I really was curious about him. Everything about him. His past, his family, his everything.