"L A B E L S"

Episode 3

Cody sees Jake walking towards the coach at football practice and grabs Nick's shoulder before nodding in their direction. "Look, the new guy plays football."

Nick snickers and tosses the football in his hands. "Or he just got lost on his way to Home Ec." Cody chuckles and runs down the field so Nick can toss him the ball. Nick continues glaring over at Jake a second before throwing the football over to Cody.

The coach blows his whistle and calls the team off the field. "Alright, bring it in! We got a newbie. We're gonna do a simple play." He glances over at Jake. "Jake will be quarterback."

Nick's eyes widen and he speaks up angrily. "What?! But I'm quarterback!"

"Jake played quarterback at his last school, I just wanna see what he's got. Then I promise you can go back to being quarterback, is that alright with you, Ms. Whiny?"

Nick crosses his arms and frowns in irritation as the coach turns back to Jake. "Alright, get out there!" Jake runs out onto the field with the rest of the team as Nick takes his lesser position.

The game begins and Jake gets the ball, he begins running down the field. He has to run through a bunch of opposing players because his team wasn't doing much to help him out. He runs through at least five opposing player, knocking every one of them to the ground before running straight to touchdown.

Nick stands there with his mouth slightly open in amazement as Cody takes off his helmet and stares at Jake with the same expression as Nick "Wow. Sucks for you dude." Cody says before patting Nick's shoulder with a smirk.

Nick swats his hand away with irritation. "Shut up." He throws his helmet to the ground.

Jake runs over to the coach with a large smile, immediately getting positive feedback. "Great play, kid. You make my team look like a bunch of amateurs." He chuckles and puts his hand on Jake's shoulder. "You are going to be a great addition to this team. Now, I can't put you as quarterback straight out of the gate but we'll work up to it."

"Awesome, thanks, coach."

The coach nods and points to the field with his clipboard. "Now get out there and show those ladies a thing or two."

Jake puts his helmet on and runs back out onto the field with a feeling of accomplishment and no clue of the hell that was sure to follow.

~~~

Mia walks up to her small apartment close to the school and closes the door behind her. "I'm home!" She throws her bag on the chair by the door and mumbles. "Not that anyone cares." She goes to the couch and sits down to watch TV.

Julie, Mia's sister, walks out of the back bedroom and looks over at her before moving into the kitchen. "Hey."

Mia briefly glances over at her sister. "Find a job yet?"

Julie opens the fridge and glances back at her. "I'm workin' on it."

Mia continues looking at the TV and speaking harshly. "Right, cause the best job hunters always wear PJ's when they want to impress."

Julie slams the fridge shut and turns to Mia. "Just shut the fuck up! I'm looking. There's just nothing available in my line of work."

"Oh really? Cause I thought there would be a lot of whoring jobs available."

"Just shut your mouth, okay!? I'm tired of you and your pissy, the-world-hates-me attitude. I take you in after mom and dad die and this is the thanks I get?! You know what!? Find your own fucking place to live cause I've had just about enough of you and your shit!" She storms into the back bedroom and slams the door.

Mia shuts the TV off and walks out of the apartment, slamming the door behind her. She walks out of the apartment complex and down the street to her job at the local coffee shop.

~~~

Nick's lying on his bed with Chelsea on top of him as she kisses down his chest. She's about to take off his belt when he abruptly pushes her off of him and sits up. "What's wrong?" She looks over at him in confusion. 

He rubs his face and looks straight ahead. "Nothing. I'm just...I got other things on my mind."

Chelsea sighs and moves closer to Nick. "She never has to know, Nick. You need to stop getting so worried about Taylor every time we screw around." She smirks deviously and moves her hand to his thigh.

He pushes her hand away and turns to looks at her. "It's not Taylor. It's about football."

She gives him a funny look. "Football?"

"You know that new guy...Jake? Well, apparently he plays football and the worst part? He's good. I mean the jerk thinks he can just waltz right in and take my spot? The guy must be crazy!" Chelsea interrupts Nick by kissing the back of his neck. He pulls away and stands up by his bed. "Chelsea! God, do you ever stop?!"

She stands up from Nick's bed and angrily puts her clothes back on. "You know what?! Call me when you've dropped the dick-atude!" She rushes out of Nick's room, down the stairs and out of his two-story house.

Nick sighs at the sound of the front door slamming shut and falls back on his bed. His cell phone almost immediately begins ringing. He pulls it out of his pocket and sees Taylor's picture on the front screen. He hits ignore call without hesitation and tosses it to the side of his bed.

~~~

Taylor sadly puts down her house phone after Nick didn't answer her call only to be interrupted with more negativity.

"Taylor!" Ms. Alison bursts through Taylor's door with her hand out. "Give me that phone!"

Taylor hands her mother the phone without hesitation.

She angrily grabs the phone from Taylor and glares down at her. "Why does it seem like you always have the phone when I need it?! Who in the world could you possibly be calling?!"

"I have friends, Mother, and a boyfriend."

"Correction; one friend and a boyfriend I am sure is just with you cause you're a cheerleader or some shit like that. It is high school, after all."

Taylor rolls her eyes and swivels around in her desk chair. "Gee, thanks, mom."

"Oh, whatever. Just stop hogging the phone every night." She walks out of Taylor's room and slams the door behind her, leaving the broken girl to clean up her tears.