Saving the Halfback

28. Bailey

28

Bailey

Friday

E than didn’t talk much the next morning, but it was a comfortable quiet. He helped me with chores again, or rather, he made me sit on a bucket while he did everything.

“Do you still do those competitions?” he asked as he went down, cleaning out the stalls.

“The rodeos? No, I haven’t in a year or so.” Or more.

When he came out of the stall, he had a frown on his face. “Why?”

The thought of Ed’s body pressed against me as he “taught” me how to ride, how to be a better competitor, made my stomach queasy. “I can help you with that.”

“Tell me first—why don’t you ride anymore?”

“Someone ruined it for me.” He seemed surprised I said anything at all. Maybe it was him that was breaking down walls, not me.

On our way out, he stopped and asked my dad if he could help him with anything before we left, and I think Dad liked that. While we ate pancakes, eggs, and bacon, Mom was telling Ethan he could stay for as long as he liked. Ethan thanked her, but I could tell he wouldn’t take her up on the offer.

I wore a black shirt under my jersey and a pair of jeans. Ethan had his jersey at school, though that didn’t stop my mom from trying to sneak a few pictures of us on our first game day, followed by promises of being in the stands. It was a home game, so Coach had said there would be pizza after school, followed by a light practice before the game. No early morning practice today.

Ethan beat me to the driver’s side and held out his hand. “I’ll drive.”

I shrugged and handed him the keys before getting in. We headed to town to pick up Nolan and Lachlan.

“Your parents seem happy you’re on the team.”

“That, or they’re happy I am hanging out with a friend. I think they thought I was a loner.” Which wasn’t wrong; I’d been one.

Ethan grunted. “I didn’t know.”

“That I was alone?” I thought about it. “I didn’t want anyone to know.” It was easier to keep separated and isolated. “Can I ask you something?”

He gave a short nod.

“What happened between you and Chase? Why the hostility?”

Slowly, Ethan shook his head, his brows dipping. “Why don’t you ask him?”

I narrowed my eyes. “I’m asking you.”

“He’s a greedy snake. He chose his father over…just never mind.” He pulled into Lachlan’s driveway and tapped the horn. Lachlan came walking out, holding on to his pants, as if he’d just pulled them up, backpack hanging off his arm, cup of coffee in the other hand as he attempted to close the door behind him. He looked hot as hell in his jersey, but he was an absolute mess. Ethan scoffed. “You can tell he hasn’t smoked in a few hours.”

“Hey, lay off. It’s his outlet, and we all have our vices.”

“I don’t,” he grumbled.

“Maybe you should get one, then you would be less moody,” I teased him.

Lachlan got into the back of the truck, fumbling with his bag. He pulled the cupholder out and stuck his coffee in it.

“Morning, Lach!” I said cheerfully.

He blinked a couple times, eyed me, and then suspiciously said, “Morning.” His eyes swung to Ethan. “Holy shit, what happened to you?”

I winced. Ethan now sported a black eye, a split lip that was luckily no longer swollen, and a cut on his cheek. “Fight.”

Lachlan nodded, as if that answer made total sense. And why wouldn’t it? Ethan had a reputation of getting into fights, only now, I felt like maybe he’d never been in any fights. What if all the bruises and cuts were put there by his father, and he only let everyone believe he got into fights?

I pulled out the Tupperware container from my bag as Ethan drove on to pick up Nolan. “My mom sent you something.” I handed the container back, and Lachlan slowly took it.

No enthusiasm, no excitement. He set it on his lap and opened the lid, taking a breath in before sighing. “I’ll save it for later.” He lay his head back on the headrest.

Ethan shook his head. “Addict, trying to function without his drugs.”

I punched Ethan in the arm, and he smiled at the attempt. “Don’t be a dick,” I said. I was torn. I knew what Lachlan did helped him, but also, I understood why Ethan hated it so much.

“I’m not addicted,” Lachlan mumbled. “I didn’t sleep at all last night. It’s okay, Bailey, I’m used to Ethan being a dick. I know he doesn’t agree with my life choices, and I have chosen not to let it bother me.”

“Won’t be calling me a dick when you get the whole team disqualified.”

“They would do that?” I asked.

“No, I’d get kicked off the team,” Lachlan said.

“Yeah, and who is going to take your place? A junior? Might as well disqualify us. Oh yeah, and all the games we win while you were playing will be disqualified, turned to losses.” Ethan didn’t have to honk the horn to get Nolan to come out; he was waiting at the end of his driveway. Hot damn. Was my heart really going to go into a frenzy every time I saw them in their jerseys?

“You’re drooling,” Lachlan sang lazily.

I turned and glared at him while Nolan got into the truck. “Wow, you look like shit,” he said to Lachlan. I grinned and Lachlan rolled his eyes. He took one look at Ethan and opened his mouth, but I quickly shook my head. Nolan snapped his mouth shut and let it go.

I blasted music the whole ride to school. Nolan sang with me while Lachlan and Ethan remained quiet and broody. Though, out of the corner of my eye, I caught Ethan smiling on more than one occasion. This is what we needed , I thought to myself, some sort of normalcy .

When we pulled up to the school, Lachlan tensed, and I knew this was going to be a hard day. I suspected Nolan knew something when he stepped up on one side of Lachlan as we walked into the school. I took his other side and slipped my arm across Lach’s back, holding his hip. He didn’t flinch away from my touch.

Ethan walked behind us, not saying anything. We created a bubble around Lachlan, and where he was once tight and rigid, he relaxed into me, and I could see the relief in his eyes.

Nolan expertly intercepted the fist bumps and cheers as random people noticed our jerseys and were amped up for game day.

Ethan broke off from us to get his jersey on, while the other two followed me to my locker. As we weaved through the crowd and came up to my locker, I was confused by the note taped to it. At first, I figured I had the wrong locker, but my name was on the paper. Lachlan was faster than me, snatching the note and reading it quickly before shoving it into his pocket.

“What is it?” I asked.

“Nothing.” His voice was cold, his eyes staring daggers at anyone who glanced our way.

I was a little bothered that he took the note without telling me what it was. Was it okay for me to question him, though? Maybe with Ed, it wasn’t okay, but Lachlan and Nolan were showing me that a lot of what Ed expected wasn’t realistic or normal.

I busied myself switching out my books, but I didn’t miss Nolan tapping Lachlan’s arm with the back of his hand. I watched Lachlan slide the paper to him. I closed my locker. “You can’t both know and not tell me. It had my name on it, so technically, it was mine.”

Lachlan tried to take the note back, but Nolan pulled it away and handed it to me. I ignored their little staring contest as I read it.

Help us out. We can’t figure out if you are a slut, sleeping with the whole football team, or a dyke trying to be one of them.

Nolan and Lachlan stared at me, waiting for my reaction. I looked around to see if anyone was watching—maybe I could pinpoint who had written this—but no one seemed to be paying attention.

“It’s bullshit.” Lachlan took the note and ripped it up. “You know it’s bullshit, right, Bailey? The team doesn’t think this way about you at all.”

“It’s true,” Nolan said. “Everyone thinks you are badass. We all know you’re going to be one of our star players.”

I smiled. “Yeah, no pressure. I’ve never even played a single high school game.” I rolled my eyes. “So, whoever wrote this isn’t on the team. It doesn’t matter, then.”

English was half filled when I got there. I found my way to my desk and froze when I saw the note with my name neatly scrawled across it. Again, I looked around to see if anyone was paying attention, but no one said anything. I picked up the note and sat down, debating for a moment if I was even going to open it. They were just words. They meant nothing. Except, I was lying to myself—again. Damn it, Bailey, stop lying.

Which coach did you suck to get on the team?

Hadley was my first suspect, but she’d walked in the door not long after me, wearing her cheer uniform and hanging off Chase’s arm. She hadn’t even been in the room. They looked like the picture-perfect couple, with her in her short skirt and Chase wearing his jersey. It had to be someone in the room, right? Someone who knew this was my desk.

It’s not someone from the team , I reminded myself. It didn’t matter, because it wasn’t someone from the team.

I shoved the note into my pocket and focused on the class. Only…it wasn’t the last time I would find a note that day.

As the final bell rang at the end of the day, and I headed out to my locker with Nolan in tow, I nearly beat my head against the metal door when I spotted another note with my name written neatly across it.

“Again?” Nolan rolled his eyes and grabbed it.

“Oh, you have no idea.” I had run out of space in my pocket and started shoving them in my backpack. I reached in and pulled the crumpled wad out.

Nolan frowned. “What do they say?”

“Pretty much all the same thing. Insinuating I got on the team by giving someone head. That I take guys into the closet for money. Or that I am secretly a man that tucks my dick.” I grabbed the newest note and shook my head. “Apparently also a lesbian. I don’t get it. Either I’m sucking dick and having my way with half the school, or I’m a lesbian. How am I both?!”

“Umm… What?” Ethan’s voice was right behind me. I jumped and stepped to the side.

“She’s been getting these notes all day,” Nolan said, pulling the newest one from my hand and giving it to him.

Ethan frowned, then looked at the stack of papers in my hand. “You’re going to report this, right? Who gave them to you?” he asked, standing taller now as his eyes scanned the hall.

“No idea. How can I report it? They have been placed everywhere for me to find. I don’t know what is more disturbing, the thought that they think I gave blow jobs to get on the team or that the notes have been left everywhere I would be and likely right before I would be there.”

“What do you mean?” Nolan asked.

“There was one on the locker in the girls' change room before gym class. On my desk in English, on my seat in history…”

“Why didn’t you say something?” Ethan snapped.

“What is there to say? At this point, the notes contradict one another and make no sense. Someone is just writing crappy stuff on paper and hoping it’ll hurt me.” Nolan and Ethan looked at one another. “It doesn’t. Hurt me, that is. It doesn’t hurt me,” I added. Their doubt was obvious, so I sighed. “I just want to play. Please, let’s forget this.” I shoved the papers into my backpack. “And get ready for the game. Which starts in like two hours.”

As we walked down to the gym, where there was a table laid out with drinks and pizza, they let it go. To my surprise, a lot of players high-fived me, the excitement in the room contagious. By the time Lachlan joined us, I had finished eating and was now listening to Nolan talk to Sam about the game. Nolan seemed to have the stats on other schools’ teams down pat.

Lachlan had Chase in tow as they both walked right up to me. “Show me the others.” Lachlan held out his hand.

I narrowed my eyes at him. “I didn’t want drama before the game.”

“I can tell if it’s Hadley’s writing.” Chase frowned, appearing annoyed.

I pulled a note from my backpack and handed it to him. Chase took the note from my hand with a bit more force than necessary, and his eyes scanned it quickly before he rolled them. “It’s not hers,” he said to Lachlan, as if he were proving a point.

I snatched the note away, not wanting anyone else to read it. “Great. Now, can we move on?”

No one brought up the notes again from then on. I went to the girls’ locker room to get changed. Once I was ready, I walked to the boys’ locker room and waited outside, like Coach had instructed.

As I stood there in my gear, I pushed all thoughts of today from my mind. I ran through my plays, where I was supposed to stand, positions I had to get into to make the runs. Two weeks. I had two weeks of practice under my belt for this, but would it be enough?

My teammates didn’t pull back their tackles anymore. They took me down, as if I were any other player. The difference with teams we would be playing against was, they would be actively trying to bring me down, hitting hard enough to hurt, even injure. Nolan had said to expect them to do whatever it took to win.

Is this really a good idea ? Damn…it was too late now.

Coach opened the door and nodded to me before stepping aside. “Bailey, come in, have a seat.” He moved to stand in front of a whiteboard.

All the guys were in uniform and ready. I walked over to Nolan, and he shuffled over so I could fit between him and Lachlan.

“All right, first game of the season, you ready?” Coach asked.

There were a few replies of, “Yes.”

“I said, are you ready?” he yelled.

In unison, we called, “Yes, Coach!”

Coach’s voice was booming, full of energy. “Let’s start the season off giving everything we have, so as we go on, we can keep matching and climbing. Their team is just like us—they are short on players—so when you think you are tired, they are also struggling. Only difference is, you all have been doing this for years, while they aren’t used to being short players. We can do this, Panthers, bring it in.”

All four coaches stepped in, and the players followed. I stayed sandwiched between Lachlan and Nolan as we got up and put our hands in the center.

“Come on, now!” Coach Bryer yelled. “Who are we?”

“Panthers!” the team yelled.

“I said, who are we?”

“Panthers!” I screamed with them.

“What are we gonna do?”

“Win!”

“What are we gonna do?”

“Win!”

“Break it down!” Ethan yelled. “Three, two, one!”

“Panthers!” Everyone’s booming voice became one. Shouts and calls filled the air. Nolan began jumping around, bumping with other guys, and I realized he was getting them amped up. His attitude became infectious, and soon, most of them were shifting from one foot to the other, making jokes, shouting random stuff, and laughing. It was like the group suddenly became a mosh pit.

We all made our way out the door, smacking helmets and bumping shoulders, but nerves had me keeping to myself. My palms were sweating, my heart racing so fast, I thought I might throw up right then and there. I can do this. I can do this. I found myself falling behind the group as we came upon the field.

Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit. Shit.

The field was completely different. The stands were packed full of screaming and cheering people. Not just students, but parents and locals. The other team had their own set of cheerleaders jumping and twirling and riling up the crowd while ours did their thing, music blasting from overhead speakers.

I shook my head, not sure if I could do this. This didn’t feel like just a football game. All these people watching, screaming for us to win. What were the plays again? Did I even know how to run? Did I know how to catch the ball? What if I couldn’t? What if I forgot everything? I was such a fraud.

I began backing up when a hand slipped into mine. I looked over and up into Chase’s stormy eyes, and he winked at me as he gave my hand a little squeeze. “Hey, you got this,” he said, just loud enough for me to hear. “Bailey girl doesn’t back down from anything.” He let go of my hand, and before I knew it, we were all running out onto the field as the announcer called our team’s name.

That gesture…the little glimpse of Chase, my Chase, did something to me. It lit my heart and gave me a boost of confidence. The squeeze of my hand had my chest squeezing, and then I found myself being pulled back together. This was football. Just like practice, just like the games we used to play in tykes. Just like the games we’d played on the playground, back before we had fancy uniforms and protective equipment. Damn straight, I never backed down from anything.

I released my adrenaline into the warm-up as music blasted. Nolan’s outgoing, bouncy demeanor really was infectious, and I found myself nearly dancing and having fun.

I was relieved when Coach had me sit for the first quarter, telling me I would get my time but he didn’t want me to get overwhelmed.

By the end of the second quarter, as I watched Ethan get laid out on his ass for the umpteenth time, my relief had long since faded. Fuck. This. Christ, these guys were big. My team were big boys, but these guys were massive. Seriously, I felt like we should be checking birth certificates here. Were these guys legit seventeen-year-olds and not fucking forty-year-olds? Ethan was massive, but we only had one of him, and they had at least six the same size. I had to give it to Ethan, though; he had balls of steel. Not once did he back down. He took every hit, and he put them in their place on more than one occasion.

Our defensive line was strong—and wicked. Lachlan had called Wes our sniper many times, and I could see why. Wes stayed back, and whenever the ball got through our linemen, he was there. He ran so fast, one second, he was far down the field, and what seemed like the next second, the target was locked, and he was taking the guy down. They never saw him coming, and they almost never got past him.

At halftime, we were still hanging on, zero-zero. I sat with the team as we crowded the whiteboard Coach had set up on the sidelines, so no one else could see. Our school didn’t have the facilities to house both teams in the locker rooms.

Coach ripped us a new one. Defense got a pat on the back and told they were doing good, just hang in there. When Coach switched to his notes for offense, we got a tongue lashing. In the end, it came down to us needing to work like a team.

A team. I was on this team, and yet, I’d sat on the sidelines for half the game. I got that Coach wanted to warm me up to it, but I wouldn’t do any good just watching. I had to sink or swim. Just rip off the Band-Aid and jump in there. So, when he was done with his spiel and everyone grabbed their water, I went up to him.

“I’m ready,” I said.

One look at me had him nodding. “If you feel you can do it, I will put you in.”

“Yes. I want to,” I practically begged.

“All right. Have you been watching Mark? I want you to go in position, exactly as he has, okay? We are going to switch up the plays a bit because they will have caught on to us. Are you confident in the plays?”

“Yep, I studied them.”

Coach smacked me on the shoulders. “Good, they will be the exact ones we’ve been practicing this week. Get on out there.”

I pulled my helmet on and shoved my mouth guard in as I ran out with the offense and into the huddle. Coach had called Mark off, and to be honest, he seemed a bit relieved by that.

“Yeesssss,” Nolan said as he held his fist out for me. I bumped it with mine and laughed. Yesterday was a kiss on the cheek, today, during football, it’s a fist bump. “We got this. Red right thirty pull trap.” He looked around as everyone nodded.

“Three, two, one!” Ethan had sweat dripping down his face, and he looked downright exhausted, but his voice was strong and sturdy. He had stamina, that was for sure.

“Panthers!” This time, I yelled it out with everyone else.

This was it; I was being thrown right in. Nolan was going to toss the ball to me on the left, then I had to catch it and run directly to the right of the center. Hopefully, they would have cleared a hole for me. If not…damn, this was going to hurt. But the excitement of trying to outrun these giants? I was bouncing around just thinking about it.

Nolan made the call, the ball was moving, and so was I. I was a bit too early, and the sound of shoulder pads clashing happened so fast. Nolan saw me just as he took his side step, and instead of a toss, he handed the ball off to me. I tucked it in tight and ran. The gap was almost textbook perfect—I had a clear run straight through—but that damn safety came out of nowhere.

Next thing I knew, I was being hit from the side, and I went sprawling. My grip on the ball was tight. I refused to let it go, it was my precious. A whistle blew, and the giant who took me down stood up and walked away before Ethan was there, filling my vision.

“You good?” he asked, his voice its usual deep calm, but I could tell he was concerned.

“That was amazing,” I shouted. “Did I get far?” Without thinking, I grabbed Ethan’s outstretched arm, and he hoisted me up. I left the ball where it lay, and the ref came to retrieve it, moving it along the line, to the center of the field. I knew I had to have run at least ten yards, and we had four tries to get there. But in the craziness of everything, I hadn’t seen how many I actually ran.

“Bails, that was fifteen yards!” Lachlan said, smacking my shoulder pads. “I nearly thought you were about to make it all the way.”

We quickly got back into a huddle. Nolan looked up toward the coach briefly before nodding and ducking his head back to us. He made the call; this time, it was going to be a fake to me and a throw to Lachlan. I was a little bummed I wasn’t running the ball again, since my earlier anxiety had transformed into pure energy. I didn’t even notice the crowd around us while we were playing.

Nolan and Lachlan together were stunning to watch. They somehow spoke telepathically to one another, because no matter where they were, they always found each other, and the ball would soar through the air and make it into Lachlan’s hands every time.

We had gained quite a bit of yardage with the throws, but now the other team was catching on and always had Lachlan and Sam covered.

“Ready to bring us home?” Nolan asked as we got into our huddle.

“Hell, yeah!” I bumped his fist when he put it up, getting used to this. He gave us the play, this time not looking at the coach, so I assumed he’d made the decision himself.

I was going to take the handoff and run down the right side. It made sense, since all the throws Nolan had been doing were going down center and to the left. When he made the call, I decided to add a little something extra and faked running to the left. It was amusing watching their defense shift to the left, but I was too focused to laugh. I ran hard to the right, taking the handoff perfectly, then kicked it into high gear. Chase was right there when I needed him, running with me as the rest of our linemen blocked the path along the way.

Chase tackled the last safety that nearly got me, and then I was on my own. The crowd erupted with screams and horns and cheers as I ran hard, not daring to look back, right into the end zone.

I raised my hands up in victory, as if I had just run through a ribbon during a marathon. As I turned around, the whole offense was running at me. Nolan and Lachlan both grabbed a leg and hoisted me up onto their shoulders. I was a bit top heavy from my helmet but managed to hang on as I squealed. I looked up to the stands, brought two fingers to my lips, as if kissing them through the helmet mask, and raised them up to my parents. They were screaming and hollering, but the sound was drowned out by all the noisemakers. The state of pure euphoria was something I had never experienced before.

As the guys put me down, teammates were smacking my helmet, and even Ethan and Chase did it. I was riding on cloud nine.

We lined up so Wes could kick for the extra point, silence descending on the crowd before the stand erupted with untamed enthusiasm as he made the goal. We were now up, seven to zero.

“What do you think?” Coach asked me as I ran off the field.

“This is definitely where I want to be.” I laughed. He gave me a pat on the shoulder pads, smiling as he turned back to the game.

The rest of the game was rough. Ethan seemed appreciative that he didn’t have to play both sides, and the defense was doing well holding their own, but it was like we were at a stalemate. Coach kept yelling at defense to hold the line. As long as they didn’t gain any more yards, we could still win this, but at the last second, they slipped through our defense and scored a touchdown.

We were up still, seven to six, but if they stuck their kick, it would be a tie, seven-seven.

I turned to Nolan. “I guess a tie isn’t as bad as a loss.”

His eyes briefly moved to his father, who was standing as close to us as a nonplayer was allowed. Then he looked back to me and gave me a half smile. I could see the disappointment in his eyes.

Coach spun around, looking over the players not on the field. “Lachlan, Chase,” he called. They went running up to him and listened as Coach leaned in close. Then Coach yelled across the field. As Chase and Lachlan ran out into the field, pulling their helmets on, Kell and Greg came running off, smacking hands with them as they passed them. The team went into a quick huddle and then broke apart.

“What’s happening?” I asked.

“I’m not sure, but Lachlan is a runner and Chase is a blocker,” Nolan said.

The other team finished celebrating their touchdown quickly and lined up.

“Aren’t they kicking?” I asked.

“They’re not going to go for the tie, they’re going for the two-point conversion. If they get it, they win, eight to seven. If they miss it, we win, seven to six.” Nolan’s eyes were intent on the field, and more of our team walked up to the line, watching the play that was about to unfold.

The ball was snapped, a throw was made, but before their player could catch it, Lachlan intercepted it.

“Oh, shit!” Nolan ran up to the line. “Run!” he yelled.

Everything had happened so fast, I hadn’t even seen Lachlan there. One minute the play was going through, we were about to lose, and the next the ball was in his hands as he ran down the field.

Nolan seemed just as shocked as I was. “GO GO GO GO!”

All the players ran to the sidelines and began screaming, cheering, while the other team was yelling at their guys to take Lachlan down. Our defense was right there with him, picking off players and creating a hole for Lachlan to keep running. Chase stayed with him nearly the whole way before turning and taking the last opponent. Lachlan was already halfway down the field, and it was officially clear, not a single player in his way, everyone so far back, there was no way they could catch him. He ran the rest of the length, then danced into the end zone while Coach cursed at him to stop fooling around.

Pretty sure I was going to lose my voice for how loud I was screaming. Lachlan came jogging back, and the whole team met him in the field, jumping and hollering. We had won the game. We should’ve tied, but because they got greedy and risked the two-point conversion, we returned it, earning their two points. We won nine-six.