Epilogue
Hayes - Fall Semester
The lights of the stadium come into focus, shining bright over the field at the end of the tunnel.
It’s the first home game of the season and my teammates surround me, each of us amped, jumping on our feet with adrenaline pumping through our veins. For the first time ever, I’m excited to play football. Not for Holden this time, but for me. CFU has become my home away from home and Kelsie is a big part of that.
The crowd roars loudly as we begin to take the field in a sea of red and white. The noise is deafening and it makes me feel alive and full of possibilities.
It’s still a bit unnerving to feel this way, completely opposite to the heaviness that once sat on my shoulders and has since been lifted away.
The team makes our way to the bench where some of us sit, listening to the announcer as he does his thing. But all the surrounding noise dies away as I search for and find Kelsie in the crowd. She’s waving a giant red sign with black lettering that reads, “#17 on the field, #1 in my heart.”
Keaton, her brother, sits next to her, clapping and laughing as she bobs up and down, waving her sign like a lunatic. Over the spring and summer, I’ve gotten to know Keaton a little bit and find him to be a good guy. I’m glad he and Kelsie have worked through their issues, just as Holden and I have too.
My gaze lands on Holden, sitting a row behind Kelsie with my former football teammates who all graduated last spring. When I stare up at his face, Holden wears a smile I never thought I’d see him give so freely.
Killer is saying something that has all of them—Grace, EJ, Lucy, and even Hendy—laughing hysterically. It fills my heart to full knowing that Holden got through the dark times and came out with a new perspective on his life.
The opposing team won the coin toss, so I get up and head to the sideline area to warm up. I’ll be taking the field at any given point.
Even Hendy is here today. He didn’t graduate in the spring like the other players and decided not to go pro, after all. Instead, he’s finishing his degree and even though he’s no longer eligible to play, he’s still got football in his blood and is here cheering alongside everyone else.
It’s a quick 4th down for the Stallions and our offensive line takes the field, where our new quarterback, Colson Levitt, makes an amazing play, throwing a perfect spiral to Andre Johnson, a wide receiver. Andre somehow manages to bolt down the field, dodging a few attempted tackles. My teammates and I cheer as he dashes into the end zone and scores a touchdown.
“Get out there, Mac!” Coach prompts me as I pick up my helmet and slip it on over my head. I run out onto the field, taking my spot to line up the kick to get my team that additional point.
The sound of the crowd chanting my name gives me another surge of adrenaline, the noise spurring me on and dousing my nerves with a steely calm. I wait for the ball to be snapped and with one fluid motion, I kick it with the precision I’ve been practicing all my life. The noise of the stadium dulls as everyone watches the ball sail perfectly between the uprights. Another thunderous collective roar from the stadium and my teammates congratulate me with claps on the back as I rush off to the sideline.
There’s not much better than this feeling right now. It’s like being on top of the world.
Speaking of top of the world, I glance back up at the stands and see my girl’s eyes on me. She’s screaming my name and I squint to read the new sign she turns around and I laugh. It says: “Go #17! My boyfriend kicks balls!”
That’s right, mon amour, I’m your motherfucking boyfriend.
Kelsie spins around and exchanges hugs with Holden and our friends. It’s hard to believe we’re here in this place after so many difficulties and setbacks.
Holden has continued to go to weekly therapy sessions and just recently enrolled back in school to begin classes in cybersecurity at the community college at home. He’s still living with my parents and he’s still working on physical therapy for his leg, but he’s gotten stronger and now even walks without a cane, something doctors weren’t sure he’d ever do again.
He started new meds for his depression and he’s doing some group therapy with accident survivors too. I am so fucking proud of him. My heart splits open wide at the joy I feel knowing he’s come so far in his healing process.
His progress has been a huge help to me. The boulder I once carried started to lift as he began to improve. I hadn’t realized how much of his pain I consumed on top of my own.
And then there’s my Kelsie. I look up at her again and our eyes meet. She grins down at me with a wave and I nod my chin and arch my brows.
“Bro, she’s got you by the balls,” Andre says as he takes a seat next to me. I elbow him in the ribs.
“Fuck off, Dre. She can have my balls. She can have all of me and I don’t even care,” I mutter.
He laughs. “You are pussy-whipped.”
“Fuck yeah, I am,” I agree. “When you have a girl like that, there’s no other way to be.”
I turn back to Kelsie.
“I love you,” she mouths, her full lips turning up into a sexy smile and she gives me the heart shape with her hands.
I return the sentiment.
All of a sudden, I hear the crowd roar and lots of oohs and awws. Dre punches my arm and I look over to see my face being projected on the jumbotron at the end of the field.
My teammates all make hearts with their hands and kissy noises, calling out, “I love you, pookie bear” and “I love you more, babycakes.”
I roll my eyes and laugh. I don’t even care if they make fun of me. The whole world might as well know that Kelsie is mine and I’m hers. Fuck ‘em. As long as we have each other, it doesn’t matter.
I look back up at Kelsie and she holds yet another new sign in her grasp. I grin when I read it.
“#17 is MY football player.”
“Damn, right, mon amour! Damn right!” I yell.
And as I stare up at the woman I love, I know I’ve found my person. I might be her football player, but she’s my everything.
THE END