(16 years old)
“ one two south west!”, Asher called, as he threw the ball into the waiting hands of Danny who almost missed the catch but still gripped the ball running before the right tackle could intercept the ball. He wasn’t as fast as he used to be, he was tired and any minute now, he would start acting up. Lennon was grateful that he was not the one throwing the ball right now.
Though football in middle school was a bit on the easy side, well football in high school was a bit competitive and tough, challenging even and he was wondering every time why he wanted to play ball in the first place.Considering they were playing ball under the hot morning sun before classes. Because they had messed up in their last game, coach had declared early morning training and that was why they were here playing ball thirty minutes before school started for the day, though they had been running in the field for almost three hours, since five thirty that morning.Danny fell into the end zone, scoring one for his team. They should have rejoiced over the touch down, but at the moment, nobody had the strength to jump up and rejoice. They were all exhausted to the bone.“ Lennon step in there and show Asher how to throw a ball!”, coach shouted. His coach could be very insensitive at times, if he had not noticed, they were all tired. He looked at Liam who was panting in the ground and the other guys in the field. Lennon groaned, running into the field to replace Asher who whispered to him as he passed.“ Danny would kill you if you throw a curve ball at him…”, Asher told him, leaving the field. Now he understood why Asher had not thrown the ball well. He was thinking that Danny still had some strength left in him, but the guy was already acting up, too late Lennon.He took his position, getting ready to make the call.“ west wing!, Brighton!”, he called according to the playbook and threw the ball. He was playing in the quarterback position of the team and even though playing in this position came very natural to him, since he had watched his father playing in this position all his life.Well, Quinton, uncle Frank’s son, caught the ball, not Danny and before he could turn to run, the left tackle caught him, pushing him down with the ball.Lennon winced at the impact, hearing the groan from Quinton. “ what the fuck was that Danny!”, coach shouted. “ why the hell didn’t you catch the ball!”, he yelled.Danny removed his helmet and glared at Lennon, his eyes held anger. He was probably mad at Lennon for throwing a curve ball. Danny had told him severally not to throw a curve ball whenever they were practicing, to him, especially when he was tired, he just didn’t know how not to throw one. He was a quarterback for crying out loud. “ I’m sorry coach, I missed…”, Danny apologized.Well, the thing was that Danny played in the wide receiver position, he would sometimes play the running back and he never missed. He would always catch the ball, the problem was getting it to the end zone. Quinton though had the problem of catching the ball and running with it, and since he was not as fast and stealth as Danny, he would sometimes get tackled.“ you missed?! The ball was right in front of you when you moved out for Quinton to catch it…”, one of their team mates accused Danny.Lennon could see Danny’s jaw clenched, he was pissed and if care wasn’t taken, he would say something very annoying.“ shut up idiot…how about you take my place then since you are so damn good…” Danny retorted.Before Lennon would move, Liam was already moving and pulling Danny out of the way before the guy’s fist would connect with Danny’s face.Lennon shook his head, he just didn’t know when to shut up.“ hey!, Cut it out! Before I bench you two…”, coach warned. That helped to calm the two guys for a moment.Coach gave his long awful speech about playing as a team and winning games not acting like a bunch of girls running around the field, before he told them to get the fuck out of the field and head for class.The locker room was as tensed as the field, Danny was giving everyone death glares.“ are you going to stop looking at everyone that way anytime soon…”, he asked, wearing his white uniform.“ get out of my way Len…”, Danny fired at him. He heard Quinton chuckle behind him and shook his head. Whatever Danny was made of, there was no tolerance material in it.“ sorry I threw a curve ball”, Lennon apologized since it would finally come down to this, the reason Danny was angry.“ Oh!, You knew you threw a curve ball…!” , Danny retorted.Lennon rolled his eyes, telling him not to throw a curve ball was like telling him to sit on the bench and not play the game. He was a quarterback for fucks sake. He would always throw one.“ Well I’m apologizing for playing the game well, that’s a bit hypocritical, don’t you think…”, he muttered, buttoning his shirt and ticking it into his black uniform slacks.Danny scoffed, “ it’s practice dude, you don’t have to throw that hard. It is practice… and besides, you know we were all tired, no need using all your strength”, he complained.He wasn’t even using half of the strength he used while playing in the field with another team, he didn’t throw that hard, he wanted to say, but stopped when Liam touched his shoulders.“ we need to get to class, the bell went off minutes ago…”, Liam told them.Liam was a year higher than them and was set to graduate that year while they would go on for one final year before leaving high school.Danny sighed, leaving the locker room alone.“ Does he ever get tired of sulking?” , Quinton asked him.He shook his head, “ nope… how is Sarah, I heard she wasn’t feeling too well…”, he asked Quinton.“ Ask Mr. Lover boy over there…”, Quinton replied pointing at Liam who suddenly started scrolling through his phone. Lennon snorted as they left the locker room, heading for class.He knew Liam had a thing for Sarah, but the guy was probably waiting or something since he had not confessed his feelings to her. When they were younger, he would say that he wanted to focus on his studies and it wasn’t yet time, now, Lennon didn’t know what was keeping him back, it’s not like it’s a secret anymore.He had biology that morning with Mr. Goofball, he shared the class with only Zara, uncle Michael’s daughter. “ I’ll see you guys at lunch…”, he told them, walking down the opposite hallway to his class.He was lucky when he entered, the teacher just started calling the roll call. He quickly took his seat behind Zara’s seat. He saw his teacher lift up his eyes, staring at him.“ nice of you to join us, Lennon…”, the man commented.Lennon winced, “ I’m sorry sir… practice ran late…”, he replied.His teacher nodded and continued with the roll call. The teachers were a bit lenient on football players, so long as you made it to class and you did well in their subject. They knew how demanding the sport was and he was grateful for that.“ hey…”, she greeted, turning to face him.He smiled, the exhaustion from that morning, fading away, seeing her smile.“ Hey…” he said with a tired voice.She tsk, shaking her head, “ coach Austin drilled the energy off you guys, I’m guessing…”, she said. He rolled his eyes at her comment, he had learnt never to talk about football with Zara, she would report anything she heard from him because she was part of the school’s editorial team, tell her no secret, that was an unspoken rule.“ something like that…”, he replied.She stared at him before scoffing and turning around. She got the memo clearly, that would save him trying to mind his words.The class went on as normal, same as his other classes until the bell for lunch went off. He groaned, standing from his seat and following Quinton out of the class, he was tired and needed food right now.They both rounded the corner and the crowd there caused them to stop.“ what’s happening?”, Quinton asked, standing on his toes to see what was happening.Lennon didn’t need to be told when he heard the voice, yeah, Danny was at it again, who knows what he must have said this time.“ it’s Danny…”, he replied, pushing his way over to the front of the crowd. What he saw was not good at all. Some guy was pulling Danny’s hair while he locked the other guy’s arm in a headlock.Lennon cleared his throat, tapping the guy who was pulling Danny’s hair.“hey!, That’s wrong!”, he told the guy who wasn’t listening to him.
Latest Chapter
37. Gabriel's POV
Breakfast at the shepherds household was chaotic, with Lennon walking around the kitchen doing only God knows what and his mother, Mira, trying to salvage what was left of the breakfast she was preparing that ended up burning. Uncle Jacob is just sitting there and arguing with his wife to let him cook, while she bluntly refuses. Yeah, breakfast was chaotic.Gabriel sighed for the umpteenth time that morning, and it wasn’t even eight in the morning yet. He saw Lennon leave the kitchen after trying to get both of his parents' attention and failing. He contemplated joining the guy, but he was damn hungry.He looked at the tray of burnt pancakes on the counter and shook his head."Can you just let me cook?" Uncle Jacob said"No! You’re injured, and I can do this." Aunt Mira muttered.He scoffed. "You've been trying to do this since morning, Aunt Mira, and you’ve been failing... I’m hungry…” he whined.The glares from both couples made him zip up his lips, especially with Uncle Jaco
36. Gabriel's POV
The stress of the long flight and then the photoshoot was weighing down on him now that he was relaxed. He knew that they still had about ten minutes on the road before they got to Uncle Jacob’s place, so he decided to catch a little sleep.He closed his eyes moments later.Gabriel felt someone shaking his shoulder, so he snapped his eyes open, wondering where he was briefly, until he remembered that he was in Danny’s car. He sat up straighter, looking around the area. He saw Danny by his side, looking at him."Just how tired are you?" Danny asked him.He exhaled, yawning and stretching in the car. "I'm very tired; I haven’t gotten a rest since I got here," he said.Danny gave him a pitiful look—a look that didn’t suit the guy’s beautiful face at all. Sometimes he wondered how a guy would look this beautiful and handsome at the same time. It amazes him how Danny had what every model was looking for but wasn’t using it."We're here... good thing because you’ll eat too. I assume y
35. Gabriel's POV
"Can you not lean too close to me?”, Gabriel Estellio asked the lady standing in front of him who was doing his make-up. She was so close to him that he could perceive her perfume, which was irritating to his nose. It was cheap and unpopular, so he couldn’t place the scent."Sorry,” she muttered, moving her body away. He sighed, looking down at his screen again. He smiled. Danny was coming to his photoshoot after school when he received the text. Sometimes, Danny would join for a photoshoot, but recently, the guy had stopped doing photoshoots, and he couldn’t wait to see him.Staying in Italy and having friends in New York was not easy at all. He had pleaded with his father to let him attend high school here in New York, but the man had bluntly refused. Emmett Estellio wanted his children close to him during their early years. He was ready to give in for college, as his father had told them, but not high school.So he would always make sure he met up with the guys whenever he w
34. Lennon's POV
Lennon had not meant to slam the breaks; it had been an unconscious action in reaction to what he had just discovered at that time: that the guy he had stumbled on in the hallway, the one with silver hair, who happens to be the QB of the Tigers and plays just like him, was the same guy he had bumped into about ten years ago in a hallway in a stadium here in Newark.He scoffed. Life and fate were funny; they had a way of reuniting even the best of enemies. He could still remember the silver-haired boy, even though he had tried to forget him at some point after that incident.There was something eerily familiar about the boy, even now, that he couldn’t seem to place his hands on. It was as if he should know what it was, yet he didn't, and that didn’t sit well with him.In all his life, this was probably the first time he felt threatened in football. Pardon his arrogance, but he had not met a high school student who could play like him or as good as him. As early as three years old,
33. Danny's POV
Danny could not remember the last time he felt this good; it sure had been a long time. After slamming the idiot in the car, his excitement level had risen to a level that was temporary, he knew. Of course, he is aware of the long stares that the guy gave him during the game. At a point, the way the guy would bite his lips became so funny that he didn’t even know how to flirt.Lennon climbed into the car, chuckling. He was half expecting the guy to scold him or lecture him on how he needed to be more careful in the future, blah, blah, blah, but Lennon had simply shook his head and started the car.Lennon typed in the GPS of the hotel they were going to stay at and started the car."I can’t wait to sleep." Danny muttered beside him, resting his head on his seat.He heard Lennon scoff, but ignored him and still rested his head on the window. They were still maneuvering their way out of the school’s parking lot when Lennon slammed the car's brakes, bringing the car to a sudden halt
32. Silver's POV
"We need to talk, young man," she told him.He groaned, taking in her appearance; she looked like she was going out that night because those were not the clothes she wore earlier to the game."Can't I just rest, mom?" he muttered."No, sit!” , she ordered.He took a seat on the couch with a sigh."What the hell was that on the field today? Since when did you start playing wide receiver?", she asked, her voice a bit on the high side.Yeah, he forgot; his mother didn’t know that he could play in that position."It was a backup plan with the team, in case the playbook didn’t work, mom, and it won us the game... I can run, I can catch, I can throw, hell, I play ball! “, he muttered."There was a wide receiver playing already... Don’t talk to me like I don’t know football; I’ve been watching the game for years," she snapped at him."And if you noticed, I ran faster than him when I took the position," he told her. He didn’t know why he was telling her all this; it’s not like she to
31. Silver's POV
"Okay, mind sharing, we have barely five minutes to get back into the field." Pete said, filing his arms in front of him.He had summoned all the courage and, out of excitement, rushed back here to tell them about how they could change the game plan. But somehow, seeing them all looking at him and expecting him to talk was frightening.This was the first time they were all waiting for him to say something, and truly, it was both frightening and amazing.Silver grinned, "Make me play the wide receiver’s position." He answered, staring at his teammates who were yet to say something.They obviously didn’t like the idea.A guy wanted to say something, but Pete held up his hands, stopping the guy from talking."And why should we do that?" Pete asked, staring at him with sharp eyes.Silver sighed; he didn’t know how to explain it. In the past, he could have said that it was because he was faster than Tony, who was playing the wide receiver position and could run well with a ball, avo
30. Silver's POV
Silver nodded, but as he moved closer to Pete and the guys in the middle, his phone that he was holding buzzed in his hand. He checked it, and it was a text from his mother.'I'm outside your locker room, it reads.He sighed. She probably was here to start nagging him about how badly he had played, how he was a disappointment to his father, and how he was ruining his father’s legacy.Silver excused himself from the locker room and found his mother standing at the end of the corridor before the turn. He sighed, walking over to where she was.She apparently heard him approaching because she turned to him.Oh, oh, someone is pissed.The look on her face said it all; he had seen it countless times whenever he wasn’t playing well on the field. It wasn’t like she was concerned about whether their team won or not; she was solely interested in whether he threw balls like his father."Your father would be disappointed in the way you played earlier," she told him immediately, as he got t
29. Silver's POV
Silver sighed; he actually liked that Danny was staring at him earlier. He saw Danny move closer to the other guy, hook their arms together, and rest his head on the other guy’s shoulder.A pang of jealousy hit his chest upon seeing them together. Maybe they were together, like a couple, and had come to see the game as a fun activity that they did.He scoffed. Who comes to see a football match as a couple activity? He sighed. He was closer to the front line, but now he just couldn’t bear seeing them together in front of him. It was as if they were washing their relationship in front of his face, especially when Danny had stared at him earlier.Silver sighed. Food would have to wait for now, he thought, leaving the queue towards the school entrance. He jogged all the way to the locker rooms, entering quietly. He was half expecting the place to be empty since he had come a little bit early.He was among the two first people to come for the game. He nodded at the other guy who was li
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