the Big Brother Program. Doing my bit for the community, you know?”
“You enrolled in the program? You?” Skye asks, suspiciously.
“Yeah, yeah… ahh, this is Blaise. Blaise, do you know Miss Hadley?”
Blaise nods.
This isn’t the way I thought this would go down at all as I smile awkwardly at Skye. But to my surprise, Skye smiles back at me and beams at Blaise.
“That’s right, you’re on the football team, aren’t you, Blaise? Your team is doing pretty good this year, too. Aren’t they?”
“Yes, Miss Hadley. But we lost the last two games as coach benched Drew for fighting, and he’s our best player.”
Skye looks at me expectantly as if she wants me to say something. I look down at Blaise and back at her, then back down and blurt out, “That sucks, buddy.” Looking back at Skye, she’s frowning at me. “But you know this Drew is one person, he isn’t the whole team. As a team, you need to work together, play fair and clean, and you can succeed.”
I glance at Skye, and she’s now nodding. Thank fuck!
“That’s right, Blaise. Teamwork. Okay then, well, you two have a good afternoon.” Skye walks away. She’s done it again. She’s blown me off. What do I need to do to get this woman’s attention?
“Are we going, Colt?”
I look down at my new little buddy. “Yeah, we are. You like fast cars? I brought the Corvette, and she’s cherry red.”
“Excellent,” yells Blaise as he runs toward the parking area.
It’s practice, and Blaise is sitting on the sidelines watching us. He’s cheering, and the cheerleaders are keeping an eye on him. Blaise is smitten with one of them, I think her name is Cindy. The league frowns upon us dating the cheerleaders, so I make it a point to be friendly but not too friendly. I don’t want anything jeopardizing my career.
“Go, Colt,” yells Blaise.
“Yeah, go Colt,” mimics my best friend and linebacker, Grayson Moore.
“Fuck you, Gray.”
“You nailed that pretty teacher again?” Grayson teases.
“Can’t even get her to call me. I don’t know what I’m doing wrong.”
“Have you tried asking her out? Nothing fancy like maybe dinner and a good bottle of wine. I’m sure she’d love it.”
“You are giving me dating advice? Hell has officially frozen over.”
Gray bursts out laughing.
“Anders… Moore! You finding this funny? Get running until I tell you to stop,” bellows Coach Stevens.
I groan, and Gray runs ahead of me. “Come on, quarterback, let’s see if you can catch me.”
“I hate you, Gray.”
Gray laughs as I jog up and down the field, but he’s always a few steps ahead. Grayson and I were picked for this team at the same time. Although we are completely different, we are great friends. I grew up with the picket fence in a nice neighborhood, and he grew up with a single mother who worked three jobs to give him everything she possibly could.
His dad died when he was five. Grayson’s ma, Minerva, never recovered. She never remarried and lives for him. Gray goes home to her every Tuesday night, and she cooks him a meal. Home is now on the outskirts of town, a lovely ranch-style house on a nice piece of land. Minerva is a good woman, she invites me most weeks to come out and eat with them. I’ve never understood why she hasn’t remarried because, even in her late fifties, she’s a good- looking woman.
After coach wears us out running up and down the field, we jog over to Blaise who’s staring smitten at Cindy.
“Yo, Blaise! You ready to hit the road, little buddy?” I ask.
He looks from me to Cindy and back again and says, “So, Cindy, we’re going for pizza, wanna come with us?”
“Now, Blaise! I’m sure Cindy has a lot of cheerleading stuff to do,” I interject before Cindy can answer.
Cindy sits on the bleachers. “Maybe, next time, Blaise. I have to go to my other job right now. But you and me, next time for sure… pizza, soda, and ice cream.”
Cindy flashes him her biggest smile, ruffles his hair, and heads for the change rooms. Blaise watches her go with adoration written across his young features.
“Damn, man, I think she likes you,” I say while grinning at him.
Blaise stands and puffs out his chest. “Hells, yes, she does.”
Gray and I both laugh. “Okay, Romeo, give us a minute to get changed, and maybe you can hook us all up,” teases Gray.
“Man, you gotta have a game, and you don’t have any,” quips Blaise.
“Oh! Burned,” I yell