The Distance Between Us

Tryouts

Conner adjusted the football jersey his dad had bought him for Christmas last year and smeared a small streak of black paint onto each of his cheeks to reduce glare from the sun.  He looked himself in the mirror and took a deep, soothing breath.  Today was football tryouts, and he was determined to make the team.

He had thought that he'd get to see Megan a lot now that they went to the same school again.  But as hard to believe as it was, Conner didn't see her half as much as he thought he would.  She was always at cheerleading practice, or around her friends, or on a date with her boyfriend.

Just thinking of that word made Conner's stomach churn.  He just couldn't understand why he had the urge to punch Xander in the face every time he saw him.  There was something Conner didn't like about that guy, but for some reason,  he couldn't put his finger on it.

But no matter.  Conner had to push his issues with Xander aside so that he could focus on his main goal—making the football team.  Then, he would get to see Megan twice as much as he did now.  He would play at games while she cheered him on, and they would become closer as a result.  He had screwed things up with Megan in junior high.  They had been the best of friends, and he ignored her for popularity.  He wanted her back in his life, and this was his chance.
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Coach Maria Jackson was the only person in ten counties to coach a single high school football team to seven consecutive championships.  She was tough as nails, took no prisoners.  Rumor has it she got court-mandated therapy for breaking another man's spine and barely escaped prison, just because he cut in front of her in the ice cream line.  She accepted nothing but the best players on her team every year.

As she scoured the field at the football hopefuls, she noticed Xander Farway stretching his limbs about, a cocky grin on his face.  She smirked as she walked over to him and patted him right on the shoulder.  "Aah!  Xandman!  I knew I'd see you here!"  "Where else would I be, Coach?", Xander said, as if everyone who didn't see his point of view was an idiot.  "I have to secure my spot as quarterback!"

Conner stood a few feet away, watching Xander kiss up to the coach.  He rolled his eyes and stuck a finger in his mouth, faking a gag.  "Ready?  Okay!"  Conner turned to see Megan on the other side of the football field.  She wore a fitting white tank top and deep red short-shorts, her red hair pulled up into a high ponytail. She did a triple somersault and stuck the landing, front and center of the rest of the cheerleaders. "GO HEROES!"

Megan stepped forwards to address the thirty girls gathered in the bleachers for cheer tryouts. "Okay, ladies! It takes three things to be a Hero cheerleader." She listed off her fingers. "Skill, soul, and of course, spirit! Now let's see if you've got what it takes!" Wendy handed her a clipboard. "Okay...first up, Cassandra Sandsmark!"

Conner was pulled away from the scene by the sound of Coach's Jackson's voice screaming for everyone to line up. Conner adjusted his jersey as he ran over to get started.
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He kicked the ball, and it went soaring into the air over the goalpost.  Coach Jackson scribbled down in her notepad.  "Thank you.  That will be all."  She stepped front and center.  "Next up, the tryouts for quarterback."

Xander snorted.  "Coach, there's no need for that, remember?  I've been the star quarterback for the past three years.  No one here has the guts to try out against me for my position."  Coach sucked in her lips.  "That's what I thought, too.  But there are two names on the sign-up this year.  Yours, and one belonging to a...Conner Kent."

"That's me!"  Conner jogged forward, his hand held up high, not noticing the whispers and murmurs coming from the crowd.  Xander stared at him.  "Hey!  You're Megan's friend, right?"  Conner forced himself to smile at Xander and he nodded.  "Yep.  Since kindergarten."  Xander squinted his eyes.  "Why are you going out for my spot?"  Conner shrugged.  "I was the quarterback on my old team back in Kansas.  They called me the Boy of Steel."  Xander grinned.  "How nice."

Coach Jackson gripped the team football in her left hand.  "Xandman!  You're first!", she called, passing him the pigskin.  "Show 'em how its done, son!"  Flashing a confident smile at Conner, Xander strode onto the field, with a trying-out receiver running to stand a few meters away from him. He reeled his arm back, and thrust it forward, spiraling through the air until the receiver leapt up and caught it right in his hands.

Xander flexed his muscles as he was met with applause. "Perfect pass, as usual!", Coach Jackson said. She looked over at Conner. "That's a tough act to follow, kid. Still think you're up to the challenge?" Conner looked at her, then at Xander's smug face, then at the receiver, who was extending the football to him. He took the ball and walked over to where Xander had stood, ignoring the murmurs and whispers from the others. He waited until the receiver was in position, and then went for the kill.

It happened so fast, you would have missed it if you blinked. The ball zoomed over the field in a blur of brown and white. The receiver didn't even have to raise his arms to catch it. Instead, it landed perfectly into his palms. A silence went over the crowd. Even Coach Jackson was speechless. Pulling herself back to reality, she shook her head and scribbled furiously in her notepad. "Thank you, Kent. That'll be all."

Conner grinned as he made his way past the gaping football players and headed towards the locker room. Xander was yanked out of his shocked coma with pats on the back from his teammates. "Its okay, dude." "You had a good run." "Maybe in college." As Coach called for tryouts for the next position, Xander remained frozen to his spot. "What...just happened?"
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As a senior member of the squad and Megan's second-in-command, not to mention one to dish out hard truths, Amber should've been at the top of her game helping judge cheerleading tryouts. But her focus was turned from being the Simon Cowell of the cheer committee to the budding tension between Xander and Conner.

After graduation from middle school, Amber Vaughn had arrived at Young Justice High, believing she was destined to rule the students with an iron fist, like she had last year. But after Megan beat her out for first string cheerleading freshman year, things began to fall apart. Then Megan beat her out for class representative, and then for Princess of the Freshman Formal. The losses began to pile up, and, by the end of junior year, instead ruling the school as it's queen, Amber found herself next in line for the throne, with Megan wearing the crown.

Not only did Megan have the title that Amber had worked so hard for and not received, she also had Xander as her king. Xander was handsome, ripped, and the coolest guy around. He was suave, he was popular, he was a total hunk. He was everything that Amber had ever dreamed of in a guy. She assumed he would ask her out in no time. When he didn't seem to notice her, she tried using the methods her mother taught her for getting a guy's attention—flashy clothes, lots of flattery, and even pretending to be a damsel in distress.

Her attempts seemed to have worked when one day, he walked up to her at her locker and started a conversation with her. Looking shy and nervous, he murmured, "Can I ask you something important?" Amber felt her heart rate speed up. "Anything! Just say the word!" Xander smiled. "Can you give me some tips on how to ask Megan for a date?"

Amber had been so crushed, she hadn't given Xander a reply. She just shut her locker and ran off, tearing up on the outside, but fuming on the inside. Megan had taken away everything that really meant something to Amber—popularity, leading the cheer squad, and the perfect boyfriend. The worst part was, Amber couldn't do anything about it. Everybody adored Megan. If Amber did something to her, she'd sink to the depths of high school popularity, finding herself in the same ranks with bottomfeeders like mathletes and sci-fi fanatics.

But that was before Conner came into the picture. Not only was he threatening Xander's place on the football team, he had an almost-romantic past with Xander's girlfriend. It was clear at that moment that Conner was the key to overthrowing Megan and claiming the crown that Amber knew was rightfully hers. All she had to do was play her cards right, and by the senior prom, she would finally be Queen Amber.