Not a lot happens at East River High School. For the East River Titans, they've only ever had to worry about the small things, like getting through Mr. Adams' history class or catching a football. Some of them have been friends for years, others are...
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TODAY WAS A SPECIAL DAY.
Most kids probably hated the first day of school. Who would want to go back to a cement cage for the better part of a year? Sure, he could admit the classes were less-than-favourable – Mr. Adams' history class could attest to that – but high school wasn't just about academics and homework. For him it was about the people, his friends, classmates, even the kids in his grade that he didn't particularly like. Yeah, summer was great, but he definitely missed seeing the faces of a lot of people every day; there's no place like the halls of East River. It was the people that made coming off of an amazing three months of summer and going back to school worth it.
That's why, for Jaime, today was a special day. That, and it was the first day of sophomore year. No longer would Jaime Reyes be on the wrong end of freshman frosh.
It was for these reasons that Jaime was buzzing in anticipation in the passenger seat of his mom's grand caravan, knee bouncing and hands gripping the straps of his backpack so hard his knuckles were turning white as they inched closer, block by block, to East River High School.
"If you bounce your leg any more, mi hijo, you're going to drill straight through the floor," said his mother in Spanish from her spot behind the wheel. Jaime looked up as he stopped moving his leg; they were stopped at a red light and she was eyeing him through the corner of her eye with a fond smile.
"Sorry, sorry," Jaime replied in English. "I'm just excited."
Behind him, his sister, Milagro, kicked the back of his seat. "Why are you excited? It's school."
Jaime shot her a look over his shoulder. How can she already hate school? She's only in grade seven.
"He's just excited to see his friends, mi hija," their mother offered, glancing at the younger girl through the rearview mirror.
Milagro scrunched up her nose. "More like he's just excited to finally see his boyfriend again."
Jaime groaned. "For the last time, he's not my boyfriend!" He was Jaime's best friend though, and he certainly was looking forward to seeing him. "And yes, I'm excited to see my friends, but I'm also excited for my other stuff, like soccer." Beside him, he let a hand rest against the top of his gym bag, which he knew held his cleats, shin guards, and other gear he would need for soccer tryouts after school.
That was definitely another reason among the many why he was looking forward to today. While he had a couple chances to play in some games over the last few months, that was always against the same people, and they were almost always at least a man short on either team. On the other hand, not only did the Titans soccer team have a full roster, but they also got to travel to neighbouring towns to play the schools there; to say he'd been waiting all summer to get back on the school's soccer pitch would be an understatement.
