Chapter 16
The locker room was silent. There was no movement. There was no sound. Everyone was thinking, worrying, or hoping. It was their first game of the season and it was home. Everyone was outside waiting for a victory. Teachers, students, grandparents, and families. All were waiting to see what their team had been doing for the last couple months. All were waiting for their team. Their team. Their field. Their night. Tom, Rip, and Zeke were sitting around in the locker room with their gear on, like all of the other players. Zeke had his head in his heads as he sat on a wooden bench. Rip was staring off into space as he leaned against the bench. Tom was sitting on the floor and leaned his head back to lay on the bench. All were deep in thought about the game. How would they play? Were they ready? What do people expect? But they all knew that all of these thoughts had to vanish before the game started. Their minds had to be in the game. They couldn’t be thinking about a cute girl they saw earlier that day. They couldn’t think about their dog that had just died. They couldn’t think about yesterday or tomorrow. They had to think about the plays, the signals, and the game.
The band started to play, and they knew they’d have to leave the locker room soon. They would have to leave their sanctuary and go onto the field. They had to sink their cleats into the newly mown grass and stare at their opponents in the eyes. They had to win. For their school. For their fans. For themselves. They had to win. The coach walked into the locker room. He looked around at all of the guys and nodded.
“Alright! Let’s go!” All of the guys stood up. They lined up at the door and prepared to run outside amidst the screaming crowd. Adrenaline surged through their bodies as they ran onto the field. Everything disappeared. Their problems. Their worries. Their life. It all vanished, because it was all about the game now. They were wearing the jerseys. They were the ones on the field. They were the team, and they were ready to play.
Holidee stood in front of her mirror, holding the jersey in front of the shirt she was already wearing. She was indecisive about wearing it. She still didn’t know if she was going to go. Zeke’s voice kept popping into her head.
‘Here. I want you to wear it tonight.’
‘Why?’
‘Because. It’s my jersey.’
‘Zeke, I don’t want to wear it. I don’t know if I’m even going. It’s more of a social event than anything else. Especially the after parties.’
‘Please, Holidee. For me. Wear it for me. It’ll give me good luck. I’ll play better. Please.’
‘I’ll think about it.’
She was thinking about it alright. She glanced at the clock. 8:29. The game had started an hour ago. Halftime should be taking place soon. She had to make a decision. Go and wear the jersey or stay home and do nothing. Holidee sighed. She had nothing better to do. She slipped the jersey on. It was three sizes too big. It was made to fit over shoulder pads. Holidee twirled the back and tucked it up, so that the shirt was tighter around her stomach. She slipped on cute jeans and comfy shoes. She was ready. She grabbed her keys and left.
It was the end of the second quarter, and the home team was losing badly. Zeke was having a bad night. He kept overthrowing the ball. He knew he would have to listen to a lecture from the coach in the locker room when halftime rolled around. They were on defense. Zeke ran to the sidelines. He reached the water bottles and saw Tom.
“Is she here?” Tom shook his head. Zeke squirted his face with water and then joined the other players on the sidelines. This was the first game Zeke’s head wasn’t in. And everyone could tell.
Holidee parked the car. She had a couple blocks to walk before she reached the field. She looked at her watch. 8:46. As she got closer to the field, she heard a buzzer sound. It was halftime. She was hoping her team was doing well. She walked into the bleachers and looked at the scoreboard. Home: 17, Visitors: 47. Not good. Holidee looked up and down the bleachers for anyone she knew. No such luck.
All of the players had their heads bowed as their coach gave them a long lecture on how bad they were playing. After the coach couldn’t yell anymore, he left the players in the locker room alone with their thoughts. Some minds were blank, some minds were busier than Friday afternoon traffic, and some minds only had one thought: Play better.
Then Holidee spotted Rebekah sitting with some girls from school. Rebekah was wearing Rip’s jersey, and the other two girls had on two other jerseys. Holidee walked up to them.
“Hey.” Rebekah and the other girls looked up.
“Hey.” Rebekah continued to talk. “I can’t believe you came. It’s halftime and we’re losing really bad.”
“I can see that. I didn’t think I was going to come, but I did. How is Zeke playing?”
“Horrible. He’s overthrown almost every pass. I think the coach is on the verge of sitting him.”
“Oh.” Rebekah looked at the jersey Holidee was wearing and smiled.
“So he gave it to ya to wear, eh?
“Yeah.” Holidee blushed. “I didn’t really want to, though.”
“You do know that you’re the first girl to wear his jersey?”
“Really?”
“Yeah. You must be pretty special.” Holidee blushed again. The buzzer ending halftime rang, and the teams ran onto the field to warm-up. “Come here.” Rebekah stood up and grabbed Holidee’s arm. She looked back at the other girls. “We’ll be back.” Rebekah led her down the bleachers and to the railing. Then she stuck two fingers in her mouth and whistled. Holidee watched as one of the players turned around. It was Rip. He smiled as he saw Holidee standing next to his sister. Then he ran over to Zeke.
“Hey, Zeke. You might want to look in the bleachers.” Zeke looked at Rip and then turned around. There he saw Holidee, waving to him, and wearing his jersey. He smiled and waved back. The coach blew a whistle and the players gathered around him. Then they all went to stand on the sidelines until the second half started. Zeke didn’t take his eyes off of Holidee. He walked closer to her.
“Win.”
“What?”
“Win.” Holidee smiled. “For me.” Zeke smiled back at her. Then he put his helmet on and ran out onto the field. He was back in the game. He was ready to win.
Home: 53. Visitors: 50.
“Come to the after party with me.”
“No, Zeke. I don’t do that kind of stuff.”
“Please, Holidee. Come with me. You’ll have fun. I promise.”
“No. I’m sorry.”
“I’m sorry.”
“No, it’s okay. We can go do something else.”
“Like what?”
“Like sleep.”
“Sleep?”
“I’m exhausted. It’s not easy winning for you, you know.”
“Where’re we gonna sleep?”
“Under the stars.”
“Under the stars?”
“Yeah. Under the stars.”
“Hey Zeke?”
“Hm?”
“Let’s go sailing this weekend. A bunch of us.”
“Mm hm.”
“Zeke?”
“Yeah?”
“Would you still like me if I were different?”
“Yeah.”
“And Zeke?”
“Hm?”
“Will you like me forever?”
“Mm hm.”