Chapter 1
“Grades don’t win championships.”
That’s what Jace Carter had always believed. Until today.
He sat across from Coach Moore in the cramped office that smelled faintly of old sweat and freshly printed detention slips. His varsity jacket, still damp from practice, clung to his broad shoulders like a badge of wasted potential.
Coach Moore wasn’t yelling. That was the scary part.
“You’re benched, Jace.”
The words cut through the silence like a whistle at halftime.
Jace blinked. “Wait, what?”
Coach folded his arms, expression unreadable. “You failed algebra and history. You’re ineligible to play until you bring your grades up. Period.”
“That’s not...I mean, can’t I make them up? It’s only been two weeks since school started...”
“It doesn’t matter. New district rules. You fail two classes, you sit. This isn’t just my call.”
Jace leaned back in his chair, letting the words sink in. He could hear the pounding of a basketball down the hall. Laughter. Locker doors slamming. The sound of a high school in motion.
And he was about to be frozen out of it.
“I can’t sit,” he said, voice tight. “Scouts are coming next month. The whole season....my future...depends on this.”
Coach sighed, rubbing his temples. “Then you’d better start studying like your scholarship depends on it. Because it does.”
That stung more than it should have. Coming from Coach Moore, it felt personal. Like betrayal wrapped in fatherly advice.
“Can’t you talk to the teachers? Cut me a deal or something?” Jace asked, trying not to sound desperate.
“I’m already bending the rules by giving you a chance to fix this. One month. Bring your grades up, or you're off the team for good.”
He didn’t say I’m disappointed in you, but the silence after made it feel like he had.
Jace stood slowly, heart pounding. The ground beneath him suddenly felt unfamiliar. The golden boy, the walking touchdown, the guy everyone at East Ridge High wanted to be...or be with...had just been benched.
And not for drugs, not for fighting, not for cheating on someone’s girlfriend.
For math.
He didn’t even remember leaving the office, but somehow he ended up in the locker room, slumped on the bench like someone had knocked the wind out of him.
He pulled his phone from his pocket and opened the group chat:
Team Alpha
Zeke: Bro you good? Coach looked pissed.
Tyson: Heard you’re benched??
Zeke: No way. Cap.
Jace: It’s true.
Tyson: Shit.
He didn’t reply after that. He just stared at the screen until the messages stopped coming..
