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The Unlikely Quarterback Ch. 03

*Thanks to Alwaysready64 for editing and contributing some snippets of this story, and to HellCat_Sundry for her two cents.

*All sex described in this story will be between consenting adults, 18 or over.

* This is a long story. It's a story first, that happens to have erotic content in it. There is no sex until more than halfway through (approximately chapter 9), so don't bother reading if you want something to get off on.

*This chapter has no sex in it. This story will have elements of "Romance", "First Time", "Fetish", "Group Sex", "Loving Wives", "Mature" and "Interracial Sex" in it. If any of those categories offend you, you were warned.

*Comments and votes are appreciated. For you grammar police out there, yes I edited this story but it, being a long story, is bound to have some uncaught errors here and there. Feel free to contact me with any errors you find but don't leave them in the comments. I will collect any errors and overwrite the story with the corrections when I have time. Please leave your comments about what you like or dislike about the story only, and keep it constructive either way you go.

*I am NOT a professional writer, nor am I retired with a lot of free time to write. This is a free story that I took my time out to share with you. Before complaining about how bad my grammar is or how poor my writing style is, etc., try writing a story yourself and see how it goes. That being said, criticize away, I have a pretty thick skin.

Edited 8/18

Chapter 3 - The Quarterback.

Delilah's distance grew. I couldn't remember a time we cuddled on the couch watching a movie, of course, I rarely had time for that anyway. She seemed to be avoiding me as she would make up excuses for our normal meetings at school. Usually we met for lunch and breaks to show our affections and maintain the facade of our fake relationship, except that for me it was no longer fake, and she knew it. I didn't know what was going on because when I did get her alone and ask her about it she would just brush it off and suddenly the affections started flowing again. I knew it was fake, but it kept me going.

"Hey, dweeb. I hear you're trying out for the football team. That's so funny," Johnny jeered.

"Sorry, why is that funny?" I asked.

For the first time I felt a little offended by what he said. I had been working my ass off, running drills, lifting weights, and bulking up. Coach hadn't told me I wasn't good enough to try out, so I was beginning to believe I had a chance.

I had a secret weapon that no one counted on - my martial arts training. As part of my Taekwondo training, they trained us to use and throw a spear and javelin. I think technically the javelin isn't a traditional weapon of Korea, but the sensei justified it by saying that it would help us throw the spear better. The track and field facility at our school had a set of javelins from previous years when they used to use them in competition as part of the track and field events. I got special permission from the school to practice the javelin during my free period that year, since no one was using the fields at that time anyway and the javelins were just gathering dust. All that practice made me a natural at throwing the football and I was secretly hoping to try out for quarterback.

The football season had already started so most of the new recruits would go on the second team or fill in talent holes in the existing team. Tryouts were normally for freshman or kids that didn't make the cut before that wanted to be on the team next year. Our team was missing a proper quarterback and was currently using their JV quarterback from last year. They only had three games scheduled for September and they lost one and won one. Johnny was favored for the position; he was the quarterback for the middle school team and everyone just assumed he would be the next in line.

"Have you ever PLAYED football?" he remarked.

"Not in a school game but I played a bit over the summer. And, I've been practicing with the team every day. Coach has been training me during my free periods," I remarked.

"No way, they let you practice with the team? Fucking liar, they've never let a scrub practice with the team unless he's made it on already. And YOU aren't on the list yet."

"Yeah, well, I guess coach must like me, because I'm not lying, Asswipe."

"Yeah right, as if. Let's go Biff," he called, Biff gave me a smirking look and a nod of approval once Johnny had turned his back to him.

Tryouts started out with everyone in the stands while the coaches gave their speeches. They explained in detail what would be taking place. They would start out by separating us into groups based on positions that either we wanted to try out for or the coaches thought we would be good at. We lined up in a queue and had to approach the assistant coach for group designation.

Once I got my turn the coach looked me over and asked me what position I was interested in.

"Quarterback, coach!"

"Funny, everyone wants to be a quarterback. I'll put you in with the running backs."

"With all due respect coach, I think quarterback is more my speed."

"Listen, kid, you got spunk. But coach says you've never played before. There's more to being the quarterback than just throwing the ball... although that's basically the biggest part of it... You need to be able to make plays and that takes experience. We also need a leader, what have you ever led?"

"I'm a fast learner coach. Give me a chance. I've been studying the game ever since I started playing this summer... you know I'm a genius, right? Test me; I'll show you that I have what it takes."

"Fine, call out the five basic plays we typically run in our games."

"OK, I wouldn't know for certain the typical plays WE run as I have never seen one of our games yet... but based on what I know and what I have seen at practice I'll have to say - sweep, slant, reverse, pitch and draw... we've practiced other plays but those seem to be what we focus on most."

"Hmmm, ok kid, I'll give you a try on the target (the target was a car tire that was held up by a platform and surrounded by netting). If you can make it through the tire five times out of ten, I'll let you try the next drill," he stated, and I looked hopeful. "Buuut, you need to do it AFTER all of the running back drills. Good luck!" he said with a chuckle.

I wasn't about to let that get me down. Sure, I'd be tired, but I was determined. After all, I gained twenty pounds over the summer, and I had a ton of endurance and energy.

The first drill they had me run was more for a lineman. I had to perform hitting and blocking drills on a padded blocking sled. Based on what I observed from everyone else performing the drills I did well. I was only 210 lbs., and linemen tend to be a lot bulkier.

Then they had me run some receiving with prospective quarterbacks. That was followed up by the forty-yard dash a couple of times to which I surprisingly had the best times of the day. Lastly, they had me run through a tire obstacle course where I had to finish up fast enough to receive a pass in less than 20 seconds. I wasn't sure how I did but I felt ok about it. I did receive the pass after all, but I don't think I had the best time.

Finally, I approached the assistant coach and said, "OK, coach, you said I could run the quarterback drills after I ran all the basic drills."

"OK, kid, you asked for it. Let's see what you got."

I had been practicing my throw all week. I was a pretty good quarterback in the summer league but everyone there played for fun. I knew I could throw a perfect spiral over fifty yards accurately. A lot of the kids all went through their drills and I could see Johnny trying to get them to egg me on. A crowd gathered around, even coach Ryan, although he made out as if he came to discuss something with the assistant. I blocked them all out and used the same focus that I used in my martial arts competitions.

"Whoa, did you see that? First try..."

I hit the target dead on, every time. I was definitely on a hot streak; I had gotten pretty good at this drill but I was never able to hit them at 100% accuracy before.

I heard more comments like, "Wow, ten out of ten. Jack (the quarterback the previous three years before he moved on to college) could barely get 8 of ten." It looked like Johnny's egging was backfiring.

"Good job, kid. I don't know if you're just that good or really lucky but a deal's a deal. Get down to the twenty-yard line and let's see your passing skills."

After throwing twenty perfect passes to a line of receivers that were staggered to run one at a time at random intervals, coach Ryan and the two assistants came to congratulate me, they seemed impressed. Everyone trying out, gathered together in a massive circle, almost like a huge huddle with the head coach in the center.

"Take a knee!" coach Ryan began. "I want to thank each and every one of you for trying out today. You all did great out there. Unfortunately, I only have so many slots to fill so naturally many of you will not make it this year. For those of you that didn't make varsity or junior varsity, you were all close. Come see me and we'll work on your conditioning for next year. We will have the final cut posted in the quad before noon Monday... Dismissed!"

There was a flurry of questions raised but coach Ryan passed the buck to the assistant coach Davies and that was that. We were left to fester over it the whole weekend.

"Mike! What's up buddy?" Johnny schmoozed.

I gave him a questioning look, trying to figure out what he was up to.

"Me and my homies were going to hang out at John's (a diner in Long Beach) and celebrate getting on the team. Let's say we squash our differences and you come with us?"

"Look, Johnny, I don't have a problem with you. You flaunt yourself like a peacock and are cocksure and arrogant. Those can be good qualities if used correctly. I don't particularly like your attitude, but I don't like a lot of people's attitudes. My problem with you isn't your attitude; it's the way you disrespect my sister."

"OK, fine. I get that you want me to back off your sister. No problem. I got myself a new honey anyway," he said with a wolfish grin.

I didn't know what to make of that. I didn't have any interest in being friends with Johnny but if we both made the team then we would at least be practicing together, and it wouldn't hurt to make peace with him.

"Fine, how are WE getting there?"

"My brother's driving some of us, you can hop in the back."

I knew his brother from Krav Maga, his name was John, Jr. I guess John Senior really took to having his children being named after him, because they all had variants of his name. Johnny had five siblings all together: his older brother John Jr., Jonathan AKA Johnny, his sister Joannie, his other sister Johanna, and his youngest brother Jon whom they called "Little Jon" for clarity. The only reason I knew this was Junior annoyingly told me about it one day while regaling me his bad home life.

Junior was nineteen and a freshman at UCLA. He used to play football over at Poly High. They let him in because it had a lot more AP classes there, but I suspect it was because their football program was eager to recruit him. He, unlike his brother, had a head on his shoulders.

I would have gone to Poly myself but after visiting their campus I couldn't see myself going to downtown Long Beach every day. Poly is famous for its gang bangers and I got into a few scuffles with the Crips that go there over the years, (it's one of the reasons why I stayed in martial arts). Things with Johnny weren't ideal, and although threats and insults have been traded, we had yet to trade blows.

"What's up Junior," I called out as he pulled up in his parents' station wagon.

"What's up Mike!" he returned, his face changing from a look of drudgery to one of "hey there's someone I don't hate." From what I assumed, he must have been told to drive his brother by his dad and was hating it.

"Nothing much, just got out of football tryouts."

"You going with these bozos? I thought you hated each other."

"Yeah well, sometimes you gotta leave petty differences behind when you join a team," I justified.

"Huh, alrighty then! Good to see ya, bro."

"How do you guys know each other?" Johnny asked, as he and his friends piled into the back seats.

"Junior here is taking Krav Maga at my dojo. We've sparred together many times," I said.

"Pshaw, I don't spar with this fool, I just started. We've just held each other's kick pads; he's got a black belt... He'd kick your ass small fry!" Junior taunted.

"Riiiight...," Johnny snarked.

"Hey, Mike, why don't you take shotgun," Junior said as Johnny tried getting in front.

Johnny looked a little peeved, but he just shrugged and got in the back with his buddies.

I smirked and jumped in the front. I was hoping that Johnny would keep me out of his conversations on the way to the diner, but that would have been like a bear not hibernating for the winter - it was against his very nature.

"Oh, hey Mike, you get to meet my honey - she sure is a fine piece of ass."

I nodded like I understood, hoping to humor him so he would shut up.

"Yeah, she gave it up the first night we went out!" he said, laughing and his buddies joined in as there was some sort of an inside joke, I wasn't privy to. I should have just got out of the car right there, but I'm a glutton for pain and I kept going.

"Good for you, Johnny could she even feel you?" I said, and he looked confused until I held up my finger and thumb and inch apart.

"Ha, ha, virgin. Yeah, she could feel me, she was begging me for more. She couldn't get enough. Right guys?" he asked, laughing. And his friends all joined in nodding, grunting and high-fiving each other. "She's one dirty girl! Oh, man, she took us two and three at a time."

"Shut the fuck up Jonathan!" Junior shouted. "Dad may have made me give you a ride but I'm sure he hasn't heard this whopper. You want I should tell him?"

"Fuck you, Junior," he said sullenly quieting noticeably.

I'm not sure why he was bragging about how much of a slut his new girlfriend was, but I was afraid there was more to this story than he was saying. With trepidation I got out of the station wagon as Junior dumped us off in John's parking lot saying he'd be back in a half hour.

Johnny and his buddies all swarmed inside the diner. As soon as I walked into the diner, I saw there was a counter for ordering with some small tables in front. Off to the side of the dinner was a row of booths lining the side. You had to go around a corner to see all of the booths, so I couldn't see Johnny's girlfriend anywhere. I assumed she was either in a booth around the corner or not there yet.

Johnny's friends stayed at the counter to order while Johnny went around the corner and walked down the row of booths out of sight. I was curious, so I followed him and saw him sit down across from a girl at a booth, three booths down. His girlfriend was facing away from me and all I could see was the back of her head, but I would recognize that bright red hair anywhere.

"No way!" I said turning white.

When Delilah turned her head and saw me, her face went from a mischievous smile to one of dread. She didn't appear devastated, like me, but more surprised and fearful like someone caught shoplifting or something.

Everything appeared blurry as my eyes filled with tears. I'd never been stabbed in the back before; it sucked. I felt myself getting numb from that anger, that I hadn't felt in years. That anger that could only be brought out by some extreme action like someone close betraying me.

I looked her dead in her eyes, she wasn't apologizing or sorry that I could see so I said, "Your name, suits you."

I turned on my heels and ran out of there before my anger took hold. I vaguely heard her calling my name and Johnny saying something to the effect of "let him go."

I ran down the street for what had to have been miles before I heard a horn honking. I turned and looked and saw my mom waving for me to approach as she had pulled over to the side of the road for me.

I didn't want to talk to her. I was in too much pain and knew I would say or do something I would regret. So, I kept running.

"Mike, Mike!" she desperately called.

But I ran into a neighborhood in the hopes of ducking down an alleyway or finding a place to hide. She couldn't chase me with her car since she would have had to drive down the road more and make a U-turn to get into the neighborhood. But I'll hand it to her, she wasn't going to let me get away that easy. My mother jumped out of her car and left it running as she ran after me crying for me to stop.

"Please, Mikey, Stop. I'm not letting you go..."

I let her chase me for a block and I would have eventually outrun her, but I felt stupid having my mom chase me down the street. I didn't want to cause her pain just because I was in pain. So, I had mercy on her and stopped to let her catch up. I didn't want her to see me crying so I kept my back to her. She didn't care; she just hugged me from behind.

"Come on, baby," she cooed, she hadn't called me baby since I was 10. "Tell me what's the matter."

"Nothing... can we just go home... I, I don't want to talk about it..."

"Okay, Honey," she said as I turned into her for a frontal hug.

She grabbed me around the waist from the side as we walked back to her car. When we got back, it was still running and surprisingly no one bothered it.

We rode home in silence, me with my head against the window letting it cool my face as I blankly stared out into nothing. The heat and sweat off my face fogging up the glass. When we got home, I ran up into my room and locked the door and burying my head under pillows and covers, trying my best to block the rest of the world out.

About a half hour later, Stephanie came knocking at my door asking to come in. I heard some mumbling from Mom something to the effect that I wanted to be left alone. I laid there in the dark for what seemed like hours. I didn't even realize that I fell asleep until I was woken up by a loud banging at my door.

"Mike? Mike? Can we talk, please?" Delilah called.

"Fuck off!"

I heard her scurry away then I went back to sleep.

I had my own bathroom attached to my room, so I didn't need to leave my room the next day. It was Saturday and I decided to get some work done. I had a second phone line installed in the house that I used to connect to the internet and download any specs for contracts from the programming job board. Back then, the internet was mainly text based since downloading with a 56 Kilobit connection took forever to receive big files. To compare the connection speeds to today's speeds; a minimal connection from an internet provider today would be about 50 Megabits/second or 1000 times faster. If you think you have buffering issues try downloading porn from a 56 Kilobits/sec connection.

Downloading text files was no big deal and for most of my clients it was a matter of trading textual based specs on an issue, then me sending the code solution for the problem if I agreed on the pay. They would then compile and test it on their end and return with any bugs and we would go back and forth until they were satisfied. Sometimes they would mail me floppy disks with the program or a customized test environment.

The whole weekend I holed up in my room, never coming out. When I got thirsty, I drank from the bathroom sink. When I got hungry, I ate junk food I had stashed in my room. By the end of the weekend I ran out of snacks but still refused to leave my room.

I couldn't get myself to face my sister or mother because for some reason I felt ashamed. I couldn't face Delilah because my anger over her just built, I found myself fantasizing about killing Johnny and humiliating Delilah in all sorts of scenarios. I felt like I was going to explode.
I realized that the shame I was feeling was stemming from my anger. The same explosive anger I felt as a child after my father left the picture. It was like I had separated that part of me and locked it away all those years and now it was rearing its ugly head once again. My only defense was to hide, until my anger subsided. I felt like Bruce Banner waiting for the Hulk to stop smashing things, except I wasn't smashing anything, and I wondered if I should.

I needed a faceless person who understood my anger but whom couldn't see my rage, my shame. So, I hooked a phone up to my modem's line and I called my sister in Washington. The long-distance charges be damned. I had no idea if she would be home, much less want to talk to me.

She picked up the phone on the first ring and asked, "Hello?"

I choked up suddenly and couldn't talk.

She must have heard me since she asked, "Mike?"

"Lorry? I - I can't talk," I seethed through my teeth; since opening my mouth would have choked my words and made me stutter.

"Are you ok, Mikey?" she asked, with the first words of concern she had for me since I was five.

"No! The monster has escaped again, Lorry!" I blurted, not intending to make a joke.

When I had my blow-ups when I was younger, Lorraine would tease me by saying, "Uh-Oh, the monster has escaped again!" Half the time it deflated me as I couldn't help but laugh and my anger would often disappear. I never appreciated that about Lorraine, until just then. I just remember all the bickering and fighting. And I realized that she fought with me, FOR me. She knew I needed to release my anger and she picked on me, not because she hated me but because she loved me. It dawned on me that it hurt her to see me so angry.

"Okay, Mike. Take a deep breath. Count to ten and when you're ready, tell me what happened."

It took me more than a few minutes to control my emotions enough to talk. All I could manage was stuttering breaths. Even talking through my teeth didn't help at first. After I got a hold of myself, I let the whole story flow out of me. Mostly she just listened to me, occasionally she would make statements like "That Bitch!" but in the end she really didn't have much to say except that she loved me and believed in me.

I poured my heart out to her and told her how much I missed her and needed her in my life. She agreed and assured me that she wouldn't stay in exile forever. She told me how I used to make her feel safe when she would hide out in the bamboo. And when she saw me so angry all the time about the loss of my bastard father it hurt her, and she wanted to lash out. But mostly she wanted me to stop hurting and know the truth despite what mom had made them promise.

She was glad that I turned to her for help and said, "One day soon, I hope, we can be a family again."

I was on the phone with her for hours and when we finally said our goodbyes, I was so emotionally drained it took a physical toll and I passed out.

The next morning, I got up early; I didn't sleep well that night. I decided to leave for school before anyone got up. My plan was to hang out at the McDonalds across the street from school until they opened their gates.

When I opened my door to leave, I was surprised to see Stephanie waiting for me. I looked at her and wondered how she knew I would be there.

"I heard your shower running," she said, as if reading my mind. She looked as if she was going to cry if I didn't hug her; this weekend was the longest we hadn't talked to each other in years. I held my arms open and she sunk into them, her head resting against my chest. She held me for a long time, it should have been awkward by then, but I didn't want to let her go. I started stroking her hair, running my finger from her forehead to the back of her scalp. I smelled her hair and remembered there was still something beautiful in the world worth living for.

She seemed to be purring after a minute and finally I pulled away from her and said, "You were right."

She looked at me quizzically to which I shrugged and nodded towards Delilah's room.

"I gotta go," I said, kissing her forehead and walked away saying nothing more.

I stuck to my plan, hung out at McDonalds, went to school early and hung out in my first period class. With all that time to think it reminded me that I wanted to get a car. I fantasized about driving all the way to Washington to stay with my older sister, then made up my mind that I wasn't going to wait anymore, I was going to get a car soon one way or the other.

I did my best to avoid interacting with anyone I didn't have to. I went to my two morning classes as usual but during lunch I normally would meet Delilah in the quad and we would have lunch together. I had some granola bars in my backpack that I had because of all the training I was going through lately. Now that the extra training was over, I would only have to train after school if I got on the team. This left my free periods wide open once again.

My free periods were nothing more than the state's excuse to get babysitting tax money from the federal government. I didn't even have a teacher, I just sat in a room by myself studying. They used to send a teacher to check in on me occasionally; however, they hadn't done that since my first year there. My vice-principal even told me, with a wink and a nudge, that he would look the other way if I just went home. I would have done just that after all I had a VCR at home for my remote classes, but I would have to come back here to walk the girls home or go to football practice (assuming I got on the team).

I decided to spend my time out in the bleachers and just chill and read a book. I knew that the field was hardly used in the afternoon until football season started. There was the occasional PT with the ROTC or practice sessions with the cheerleading squad. But both only took up part of the tract or field when they did.

I got lucky that day because the cheerleaders started doing their tryouts that day. I am not a perv or peeping-Tom type, so I hadn't intended to spy on them. I could have gotten up and left the stands, but even though I didn't intend to be there, I also couldn't bring myself to leave either.

I stuck my nose in my book and looked up occasionally and quickly found myself getting hard. It made my decision to stay that much easier since getting up would be embarrassing. I did try my best to ignore them, but they kept doing things that would draw my attention. There were about 50 girls trying out for just a few positions and not all of them were talented. Sometimes instead of an expected loud cheer there would be a screech or something resembling a cawing like crows. Each unexpected sound was unique and equally distracting; each time it brought me out of my reverie.

Some distractions were more of a "what the hell was that?" kind, like once a really "heavy" girl was doing some somersaults and she was amazing. I would have never thought that a girl 50 to 60 lbs. overweight could do the moves she was doing. I'm not into big girls, but neither am I disgusted by them and you would never see me make fun of them. My biggest issue with obese women is that they tend to be unhealthy and out of shape. A woman not able to do basic exercises such as hiking, biking, swimming etc. would turn me off because I would want to be with someone that could keep up with me physically. I guess this girl opened my eyes. She showed me that a woman can be overweight and still be in shape and it left me dumbfounded.

When she was done with her routine, I found myself clapping and a few of the cheerleader judges sitting at the bottom of the stands turned their heads to me. I turned a little red and quickly put my book in front of my face once more.

Looking back, it felt like fate intervened, because after a few more routines, I heard someone crying for help.

"She's not breathing!" a girl cried out.

Out in the field I saw a girl laying in the grass sprawled out and not moving with a crowd of three other girls huddled around her. Part of my survival training was first aid in the field. I practically leapt down the stands and was out in the field like a bolt of lightning.

"Out of the way. I know CPR. Someone get the nurse and call 911!"

I felt for her pulse but after seven seconds I couldn't detect one. I looked for telltale signs of her breathing like whether her chest was rising and falling but she remained still; her breathing was undetectable. She could have just fainted and I was no expert but I heard horror stories about people that had CPR performed too late, so I decided to give it a try.

First, I laid her on her back and pulled her mouth open and looked to see if maybe she might have some kind of blockage.

"You!" I pointed to the nearest girl to her head. "I want you to hold her head still, like this," I demonstrated.

I started doing chest compressions, counting them off until I got to 30, then I leaned in, pinched the girls nose closed and blew into the girl's mouth making sure her chest rose and fell. I blew into her mouth a second time, then went back to chest compressions. I was about to check her pulse again, but before I could perform the third round of CPR the girl suddenly started gasping for air. One of her friends started crying and. I turned and looked at my assistant still holding the girls head and I gestured that she could stop.

"Thanks for the assist," I said to her and lamely held my hand up for a high-five to which she excitedly slapped my hand.

"We did it," she gushed, "I mean YOU did it! That was exciting," she squealed.

And not to embarrass her I reinforced her involvement by lying, "I couldn't have done it without you!"

She ran off excited tell her friends her exaggerated version of what happened. The nurse came running up a minute later with one of the high school security guards. The troubled girl was sitting up and lucid by then and the nurse looked to me and asked what happened.

"She must have fainted or something, I'm not sure. I was up in the stands reading a book at the time and didn't see what happened. I have some basic medical training and even have a CPR certification, so I went to see if I could help. I determined that she wasn't breathing but did have a pulse so after checking for blockage I performed CPR until she seemed to be breathing on her own once again," I explained.

The nurse performed routine checks, and even pulled out a sphygmomanometer to check the girls blood pressure. I don't know why I waited there. The girl was still in a daze, I don't even think she knew what was happening.

The nurse looked at me and said, "She'll be fine! We are going to take her to the front and wait on the paramedics. A doctor will check her out just in case. Thanks for your help, Mike," she said, touching my arm lightly as she got up and I wondered for a second how she knew my name.

I helped get the girl on a stretcher and took an end and Dave the security guard (I saw his name badge) took the other end.

Nurse Jones looked at me concerned, "Shouldn't you be in class?" she asked, only half concerned and half grateful that she didn't have to carry the other end.

"Free period," I stated, as if that explained it all.

She just shrugged and took the lead, making sure the path to the front of the school was clear. By the time we got to the front the paramedics had arrived and we transferred her from the school's stretcher to the ambulance stretcher. The nurse let me know that I could go and gave me her thanks.

I walked back to the stands and the tryouts looked in disarray. When the girls saw me, they crowded around curious to know what happened.

"Listen, girls. I know that, um..."

"Gail!" a girl in the crowd offered.

"Yes! Gail must be one of your friends and you are concerned about her. As far as I can tell, she is going to be alright! It looks like she might have just fainted. As a matter of fact, what where you guys doing at the time?"

A girl named Cindy, whom I recognized as one of the three girls standing over Gail when I first found her, spoke up, "We were practicing standing at attention. We were trying out for an honor guard position and one of the tests is to stand at attention for ten minutes while someone tries distracting you."

"Ah! Well she might have just been locking up her knees. If you lock your knees for a long time it cuts off your circulation and can cause you to faint, maybe when she fell, she got a concussion or something... Anyways, she'll have doctors looking at her just in case. And there is nothing you can do for her right now, so you might as well 'carry on' as the British say," I said, waving my hands for them to continue the tryouts.

"He's right!" I heard a familiar voice exclaim, and I turned to see my sister, Stephanie. "Some of us will check on her after school but in the meantime let's get back to work!"

My sister's eyes were sparkling and she never broke eye contact the whole time she spoke until she clapped her hands, and everyone dispersed. I totally forgot my sister was trying out today; I felt like such a numbskull. She must have just arrived as the tryouts took place over two periods and some of the competitors were just arriving as the bell had rung to transition sixth and seventh period. I looked at her and mouthed 'good luck'. I should have wished her luck this morning, but I forgot all about them as I was so self-focused. I know she must have been a little hurt that I didn't remember and when I didn't give her words of encouragement she would 'remind' me to.

Maybe subconsciously I was drawn to the stands to support her or fate wouldn't let me screw up our relationship. Either way, she was beaming that I was there to support her.

I heard of few whispers on the way back to my book like:

"Who is that guy?"

"He's that genius dweeb, right?"

"That's Stephanie's brother... isn't he going out with Delilah?"

"No, I heard he broke up with her."

"Oh, so he's not seeing anyone?"

I guess I was hypersensitive because I normally tuned everyone out but I heard everything.

I decided to watch the tryouts the whole time since I didn't want to miss Stephanie's performance. I even moved halfway down the stands to get closer. The head cheerleader, (whom everyone in school knew by name, Simone), turned to me and gestured for me to sit with them.

I looked at her quizzically and she smirked and waved me over. So, I thought to myself, fuck-it, what have I got to lose. Most of the cheerleaders had a reputation of being stuck up, but everyone loved Simone. She never had a bad word to say about anyone.

"Hey. You're Stephanie's brother, right?" Simone asked.

"Yeaaaah," I said, guardedly.

"Sit next to us, if you want," she began, then she recognized my trepidation. "She's up next," she finished, as if that would explain it all.

Stephanie, in my opinion, was a shoo-in. Not only was she one of the best-looking competitors in the tryouts but I saw her routine and she was amazing. She was vivacious, loud, flexible and daring in her routine. I even showed her a few martial arts moves that she used in her routine. When she finished, I couldn't help but stand up and cheer.

I looked around and instead of being embarrassed, I said, "Can't I cheer her on? After all, it's what you all are her for..." to which I got a shrug from Simone and I continued. Stephanie looked a little red, but she was beaming with pride too. She had to scurry to the side so the next contestant could do their routine, so I didn't have a chance to talk to her.

Simone leaned over to me and whispered, "I have to appear impartial or else I would have done the same thing."

I looked over at her and for the first time I saw past her obvious outward beauty and recognized her inner beauty.

After the routines all wrapped up, Simone gave a speech similar to what coach Ryan gave at the end of football tryouts. Thanking everyone who participated, and that everyone was great but there were only so many spots available... blah, blah, blah. The thing was, that as generic as her speech sounded, she sounded sincere and captivating. She held her audience and everyone went away happy. Basically, she could have just said that the final cut would be posted at the end of the week and been done with it, but she was a true leader.

Simone approached me after her speech and asked, "Hey, me and the girls are going to Baja Sonora's after school to celebrate. You want to come with us?"

"Oh?" I said, wondering why she was inviting me.

I was still hurting from being betrayed by Delilah. Simone had a way of putting people at ease. She was like Snow White, but instead of the forest animals flocking to her, her aura brought in flocks of people. She reminded me of "Ferris Bueller", everyone loved her.

"I guess so... Why do you want me there?" I asked her defensively.

"You? You're a hero, don't cha know? Besides, you're kind of cute!" she said, and she pinched me in my side.

The pinch, with anyone else, would have seemed overly familiar, but with her it just seemed natural. So, I went with it and stammered out an, "OK, I'll be there."

I saw my sister waiting for her chance to hug me. Before I could give her some affection and my congratulations, I heard coach Ryan calling me over.

"Mike! You got a minute?"

I looked over at Stephanie and mouthed a sorry and held up a finger indicating I would be a minute. She just nodded and patiently waited.

"Hey coach, what's up?"

"Did you see the board, son?"

"No coach, I was kind of busy this afternoon I didn't get to look."

"Good, then let me be the first to congratulate you then!"

"Coach?"

"You're going to be our backup quarterback for this coming season."

"Backup? Me?"

"Well, we put Tom Johansen on as the main quarterback, he's a transfer student from another school and well he's just plain got more experience than you do kid. Besides, you'll be gone next year, and we really need a quarterback that will stick around for a few more years."

"OK coach, that sounds great... but what exactly will I be doing?"

"As backup quarterback, you'll be training with the team as if you're the quarterback. There will be times when I'll take you off the bench and put you in the game. Like if Tom gets injured or can't play for some reason... maybe he'll have one of those nights where he can't get it together... But mainly you'll act as relief for Tom."

"Relief, how so?"

"If we are up 49 to zip at the half, I might want to pull Tom out of the game. That will be your time to shine son!"

"I'm not looking for glory coach... but I won't let you down!"

"That's what I wanted to hear. Practice starts tomorrow after school! Be there early so we can get you fitted for a uniform."

"Yes, sir!"

My head was in the clouds, and not because of a fulfillment of a dream. Truth be told, I didn't care about football that much (although it was beginning to grow on me). But the dazzlement came more from the wonder of "How the hell did I get here?" If you told me the year before that I would be on the football team, I'd have looked at you crazy.

Bam, something hit me like a freight train, almost knocking me over. Stephanie grabbed me excitedly about the waist and hugged me close and I returned her affection, once again combing her hair with my fingers.

"Congratulations, Mikey!" she burst, and quickly leaned in and kissed me on the cheek.

"I love you, Steph. You know that, right?" I asked, in sudden seriousness.

"I know you do, just like you know I love you... And I'm soooo proud of you, big brother!" she finished excitedly.

"I'm proud of you too," I said and leaned in whispering, "I'm pretty sure you got that cheer spot!" and I hugged her tighter.

"Walk me home?" she asked.

"Well, actually.... I was invited to meet up with the cheerleaders after school over at Baja Sonora. I can walk you halfway...?"
"Ohhh, Mikey," she grinned, poking me in the side. "Is a cheerleader after my big brother?" she teased.

I blushed and said, "Ha, not likely. I think they just wanted to thank me for what I did for Gail."

"I don't know about that, Mikey. I don't think you give yourself enough credit. I have heard the girls talking about you lately and you've become quite popular. Girls are constantly asking me if you have a girlfriend. Everyone found out that you made the football team. Did you know that technically you are on the varsity team? And ALL the girls in my class were tittering over you?"

"Tittering?" I laughed, and she laughed with me.

"Yeah, you know," and she proceeded to imitate the annoying sounds of a girl twitterpated, (imagine Olive Oyl fawning over Popeye).

"Ha, ha, I see. Well, I'll keep that in mind," I responded, and kissed her on her cheek.

We were on our way home and out of habit I asked, "How is Delilah getting home?"

I was so used to protecting her that it felt like a perfectly natural question. Stephanie looked up at me curious and saw my mood change and I quickly added, "Never mind."

We kept walking and Stephanie looked like she wanted to ask me something. After a few blocks of this, she finally just came out with it.

"Mikey?"

"Yeah?"

"I heard some rumors about what happened on Friday at school. Everyone seems to be talking about it..."

"Yeah, I thought as much," I said, feeling kind of humiliated.

"There were some jerks making fun of you but for the most part, everyone seemed to be pissed at Johnny and Delilah."

"Yeah, well, it's nice to hear that what goes around comes around... Errr... Karma's a bitch? I don't know what I'm saying..."

"You want to tell me what happened?"

I looked at her and all I saw was love in her eyes. There was no one else in the world I would trust more than my sister. I knew she'd gossip about it, but she was always fair and accurate when she retold a story. She wasn't much for embellishments, besides, the rumor mill was already churning so the damage, if any, was already done.

So, I told her all that happened, and I did it without blubbering.

She knew how emotional I could get and asked, "You seem to be taking this extremely well, considering."

"I guess my talk with Lorry helped a lot..."

"YOU talked with Lorry? Our sister Lorraine? Really?"

"Yeah, it was a good talk -- I think we had a moment and maybe things won't be so bad. Who knew?"

I got a surprising hug and a giggle from Stephanie where she squealed, "Owwww, I'm SOOO happy right now!" Then she quietly whispered, "Best brother, ever."

Sometimes I wondered about her, but that was Stephanie and I wouldn't change her for the world.
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