Chapter 1
I walked into the dining room where my family sat for breakfast. I had school in about an hour, so I had to get ready quickly. I sat adjacent to my sister.
"Good morning sleepyhead," my sister, Elizabeth, greeted. I grunted in reply, before making myself a jam sandwich.
"Jeez, so grumpy!" She teased, crunching on her diet of a granola bar and a salad. She can say anything, but it would not convince me that it was an appetizing meal.
"You cannot convince me that you are happy eating that every day for breakfast," I deadpanned. She glared at me before responding.
"Good thing I don't have to convince you, and you're not any better. Look at your jam sandwich," She responded.
"Oh right, calm down, you rowdy kids! Can you drive your brother to school today?" My mom asked, but was more like a command.
"I can drop him off on the way," My sister relented.
I finished getting ready before heading out of the house. I jogged towards the car, where my sister was leaning against, impatiently. Before I could into the passenger seat, she stopped me.
"Nope! You don't get to ride in the front! Go to the back," My sister demanded.
"Why not? We are the only people present, so why can't I ride in the front?" I interrogated.
"Why do you think? I'm picking up Savannah on the way to drop you off," She answered, rolling her eyes.
I froze when I heard her name. Savannah Creed, head cheerleader and the most wanted girl on Alabama Crimson Tides Campus, and I was no exception.
"Hurry up, won't you? I don't have all day. I'm going to kill you if I'm late," She grumbled, oblivious to my inner turmoil.
Desperate to avoid confrontation on why I'm frozen, I force myself forward and into the passenger seat.
********************
We waited right in front of Savannah's mansion. My sister was still annoyed that I had 'wasted her time standing there.' Her words, not mine.
Suddenly I saw Savannah leave her house, and she looked breathtaking. I couldn't look away from her cheerleading outfit, which left little to the imagination. She had wavy blond curls and the greenest eyes that you could get lost in.
In a dazed state, I didn't realize that I was still staring at her when she entered the car. It was only when she turned to face me, that I turned away. Perhaps I turned a little too fast because she started giggling and I was embarrassed.
"How's my little bro doing?" Savannah asked, jokingly. I hated that she referred to me as such, but I couldn't show that I did. The last thing I wanted was for her to think of me as her little brother.
"Hey, Savannah. How are you doing?" I asked, mumbling, and trying to make conversation with her.
"He suddenly turns into an extrovert when you're in the car, but when I greet him in the morning, all I get is a grunt," My sister observed.
"That's just because I'm his favorite, ain't that right, little bro?" Savannah asked, jokingly. My sister glared at her in response.
"Not if you keep referring to me as 'little bro,'" I responded, attempting to subtly ask her to stop referring to me as that.
"Oh, I'm heartbroken. You're gonna break all the girl's hearts this year, aren't you?" Savannah asked, hyping me up with the standard first day of school question, oblivious to the fact that I was the loser of the school.
"Yeah, because Elliot and I are the heartthrobs of the school," I answered, sarcastically. My sister chuckled, while Savannah seemed to have a small frown etched on her face.
"In my opinion, you look good enough to eat. I don't see why you would think so lowly of yourself," Savannah shrugged. I blushed a bright red, before turning my face away in an attempt to hide my embarrassment.
"Ew! That's my brother you are talking about!" My sister replied, swatting Savannah's shoulder, with her face scrunched up in disgust.
We arrived at my school, only to have half the school trying to get a glance at my sister and Savannah. I will admit, it is extremely annoying to have a cheerleader as a sister because everyone is trying to befriend me to get a chance to talk to my sister or Savannah.
My friend, Elliot, approached me as I watch her car driving into the distance. He stood right next to me before greeting me.
"Still have the unrequited crush on Savannah?" Elliot asked, knowing the answer wouldn't change. He was the only person who knew about my crush on Savannah. Not even my sister knew, which is a good thing.
"Yeah, right, like that's going to change. My crush on her is going to stop, and she will forever see me as her little brother," I groaned, acting as if my world has ended.
"Don't you think the reason she doesn't see you as relationship material is that she still sees you as a boy, not a man?" He asked. I thought about it for a second, and I would be lying if I didn't think that was true.
"What do you expect me to do? Join a gang and act like the manly person she would desire?" I deadpanned.
"Well, no, she would think more lowly of you. Your whole family would kill you if they found out you're involved in that stuff," He replied.
"Well, what should I do then?" I asked.
"Get more involved. Hang out with her one on one. Get a job. There's plenty of things you can do," He listed, suggestion after suggestion.
The bell rang, so we walked our separate ways since we had different first periods. He had AP Chemistry, while I had AP Calculus.
While I was heading to my first class of the day, I was stopped by our school's quarterback, Jake Morrison. He was entitled, and believed that everything should be handed to him on a golden platter. Since I was the track captain, he mostly ignored me.
"What would you like?" I asked, irritated that he was going to make me late for the first class of the year. It certainly wasn't a good first impression to be late on the first day.
"No need to get hostile. I was just wondering who was sitting right next to your sister today in her car," He asked, with a smirk.
"She wouldn't be interested in you. She's in college, and she's not going to mess around with some high school boy," I spat. My own words cut a hole in me when I realized she was never going to see me seriously. His once friendly demeanor turned into a glare when he didn't get what he wanted.
"I don't want to make your last two years hell, Green, but I will if you don't give me her number," He sneered.
I didn't want to violate her trust by giving away her number, so I ran away. I could vaguely make out his threats as I quickly made my way to my first-period class.
"Mr. Green, nice of you to join us! I will give you a pass for detention because I know you're not one to be late. However, don't make this a habit, am I clear?" Mr. Johnson asked, with his very intimating strict teacher stance.
"Yes, Mr. Johnson," I replied, mumbling, before quietly making my way to a seat in the back of the classroom.
He continued with his lesson, while my thoughts were completely elsewhere. To be specific, it was on a particular blonde and green-eyed girl.
Towards the end of class, the announcements were on. I was still on a completely different planet before I heard the word 'football.'
"-make sure you show up at 3:30 on the football field if you are interested in trying out for the football team! Go Cougars!" The voice of a cheerleader advertised.
I thought about this for a second. I wanted Savannah to see me as something else, rather than her best friend's little brother. I knew Savannah only dated football players since her inner circle is filled with them.
Would joining the football team help my chances of getting her attention? Would she perhaps see me as someone more worthy to be with her? The thoughts distracted me for the rest of the day, and Elliot could see it. When the last bell rang, I quickly scrambled to the football field, before being held on the wrist by Elliot.
"What is up with you today?" Elliot asked, concerned. I was hesitant to answer him but ultimately chose to because he was my best friend.
"Football tryouts are today," I answered, with an extremely vague response. Elliot was trying to piece together what I said, but couldn't see what I was implying.
"Okay, but what does that have to do with us?" He asked.
"Don't you get it? Savannah only dates football players. If I make the team, it could make her see in a different light. Make me more 'manlier,' or whatever you said," I explained.
"Oh, hell no! That's the most idea you've ever proposed, and it's not even close! The football players leave us alone because we don't bother them. Now you want to go in the lion's den?" He whispered, angrily.
"Either way, I'm going to try out. I probably won't even make the team, so it won't be a big deal, but I have to try!" I replied.
"Alright, just me promise me you won't do anything stupid, okay?" He relented.
"Yeah, don't worry about me. I'll be fine," I reassured him, before making my way to the football field for the tryouts.
***************
I got my pads and started to put them on. I was getting strange glances from all the freshmen and sophomores wondering what a track captain is doing in a football tryout.
I ignored all their glances and focused on getting myself ready for the tryouts. Suddenly, I see a very familiar face in my peripheral vision.
It was Jake Morrison, the quarterback. He looked around the room to gauge the talent in the room before his eyes met mine. I was met by his conflicting emotions before he settled for a smirk.
"Alright, so we're going to do tryouts for wide receivers and defensive backs. If you are trying out for those positions, make sure to follow me out onto the field," He announced.
I followed him onto the field, along with the other people, hoping for a place on the roster. There was a line of receiver tryouts and defensive backs going against each other. The coaches were on the sidelines, gauging their talent.
When it was my turn, I made my way to Jake. He had a smirk on his face like he wanted to set me up for failure.
My family loved football because my sister and Savannah were cheerleaders during their high school and college lives. As a result, I am fairly familiar with the rules.
"I want you to outrun your defensive back, and I will throw it up for grabs! After all, you are the track captain so you should be able to outrun the freshmen," he smirked.
I wanted to complain, but I won't let myself. I'm aware that he gave the receivers a choice in what route they wanted to run, but whining about it won't do anything. So, I nodded and headed to my position on the field
I faced my defensive back, and when the ball was snapped, I juked right towards a slant, before redirecting myself to running straight up the field.
I had gained a couple of steps on him, and when the ball reached me, I was gone. I had run 75 yards for the touchdown, and the whole team was hyped up. I wasn't aware of how impactful my speed would be. I knew it would be a factor, but I never thought it would be this useful.
When we all had the chance to go one-on-one, the coach put us through a brutal workout session to 'weed out the weak.' His words, not mine.
Luckily, most of the workout consisted of running, so it wasn't too different from the track workout that I had twice a week.
"Alright, that concludes the tryouts! I will post the updated roster by tomorrow by the cafeteria!" The coach concluded.
When the tryouts ended, I went into the locker room to take a shower and get ready to go home. When I turned on my phone, I realized I had 30 unread messages and 8 missed calls.
Shit.
