This is a complete work of fiction. Any similarity to anyone living or dead is purely coincidental. This story is copywrited and sole property of the author. And may not be reproduced without the express consent of the author
Well I bet you weren't expecting another dose of John and Jay so soon eh? I couldn't help myself since I knew where things where headed. I couldn't stop until I had this chapter done. I think out of all the chapters so far this is my favorite one. Maybe because I like its excitement, or maybe because some of the things that happen to John in this installment have happened to me as well. Who knows either way I love this one and I bet you will too gentle reader. I hope you enjoy the raving hallucinations of my dark mind.
You may contact me at Writerscramp71@yahoo.com
All that night I kept having nightmares about losing Jay. It seemed like I was waking up almost every hour with a fading scream escaping from my throat. I knew I was doing the right thing but that didn't make it any easier. I had to distance myself to save him the hassle I knew would come from the small minded people in our town. God it hadn't even been 24 hours and I already missed him something fierce.
That whole next day seemed so surreal, like my vision was stilted or perhaps it was just my perspective. I walked through it almost as if I was wrapped in a thick layer of gauze or cotton. I woke and dressed in the first thing my hand happened to land on. I went down stairs and ate breakfast, mindlessly chewing my toast and not tasting anything.
Before I even realized it I was driving on my way to Jay's house. I almost cried when I saw him getting into Billy's car as I passed. It wasn't that I felt he was cheating on me or anything just another small wound to my heart at the feeling that I was letting him slip away even more.
It nearly broke my heart every time Jay would shoot me a glance in the halls. Seeing the hurt and sorrow so openly displayed on his face. I didn't walk with him from class to class anymore but I did follow from a distance just to make sure no one messed with him. After all I had promised him and it was really the one thing I had left at that time. So you can imagine how excruciating it was for me to see him at arms length and not be allowed to touch him.
Over the next few days I couldn't help but notice that he was hanging out with Billy a lot more than I would have expected. Maybe it was because he was lonely or maybe now that Billy was acting like a decent person they actually might have something in common. All I knew was that for some reason it felt like an ice cold spike running through my heart every time I saw them walking close together in the halls. A shared laugh or a friendly touch sent me to the restroom on more than one occasion to cry silently in a stall while skipping class.
He hadn't called me and I was too afraid to call him. I thought if I could just be strong that he would too. I know we should have talked to each other at least but it was so painful to be near him and see his life moving on, I didn't trust myself not to break down and cry. I was just doing what I thought would keep us safe.
Friday night came way too quickly for me that week. I didn't want to go to the home coming game and stand on the side lines while our team lost. I don't want you to think I was being cocky about my abilities or that I thought I carried the team because I didn't. But Leo had no where near enough talent to pull off a win against a team as good as East Central. It would have been a struggle for me.
The team looked even more surprised than coach did when I showed up in the locker room before the game. Although I had missed a couple of practices there was no way I wouldn't be there for them when it came time. I could feel that the pre game energy wasn't anywhere near as high as it usually would have been. I think they had resigned themselves to losing before they even stepped out of the locker room door.
The first half of the game was painful to watch. Losing the coin toss should have been a sign of things to come. East Central dominated the field with ease. What should have at lest been a hard fought game turned into a bloodbath. With each new touchdown they scored the feeling of helplessness grew inside my gut. I felt like my whole universe was upside down. First I had lost control over mine and Jay's relationship; I had barely survived Ray. And now I had lost the only other thing that I cared about even remotely as much as Jay.
I have to give Leo credit; he wasn't getting the job done but at least he was trying his hardest to pull the team together. It was just unfortunate that he couldn't score.
Finally the clock ran down and we shuffled into the locker room for halftime hell, as we use to call it when we were losing. I was the last one to go through the door but I could plainly hear coach's ranting a good 20 feet away.
"WHAT THE FUCK ARE YOU DOING OUT THERE!" Coach screamed. "I HAVENT EVER SEEN A SORRIER BUNCH OF PUSSIES IN MY WHOLE LIFE!"
I quickly walked past the semi huddle and made my way to the back of the locker bay. I could see Leo hanging his head in shame. I watched the spittle fly from coach's mouth as he continued to berate the team. I had warned him this would happen and he didn't even have the good sense to take it like a man. He had to crush what little bit of dignity they had left.
As I watched him get ever more abusive something changed, all the shame, frustration and impotence that I had been feeling turned to hatred. I wasn't going to let him destroy what we had worked so hard to create. Even though he was our coach we were the ones who had bleed for this season. We were the ones who had sacrificed our pain and sweat to get where we were. And I was going to be damned if I let him or anyone else bring us down.
I walked over next to Leo and put my hand on his shoulder guiding him into the shower room. I had to try and talk some sense into him.
"Leo dude calm down, I know you're trying your best. Don't listen to that asshole. You're the only one who can turn this around." I said desperately trying to build some confidence in him.
"John there ain't no way in hell I can turn this around you know that, I cant even get past the 50 yard line." He said with pain and frustration showing in his voice.
I knew he was right but what else could I do?
"Were screwed man our prefect season shot down the drain all because of me." He said as his eyes began to water.
"It isn't your fault Leo it's mine." I hissed. And after I said it an idea started to form in the back of my mind. This whole mess wasn't anyone's fault but my own, and I was the only one who could fix it.
"Wait here." I said.
I walked back into the locker bay and quietly retrieved my equipment. I went to the shower room and began changing.
"What are you doing?" Leo asked in a confused tone.
"Look no offence man but you're right. There's no way you can do this, I doubt even I can, but I won't go down without a fight." I said looking him dead in the eyes.
"Coach isn't going to let you play John, he already told you." He said.
I had already thought about how I could get past coach. The only way this even had a chance of working was if I could keep him busy.
"Go get Eddie and bring him in here. I can't do this without his help." I said calmly. "And don't let coach see you."
I quickly changed into all of my gear except my jersey. As I finished putting in my pads Eddie and Leo walked in.
"John what's going on? Why are you getting suited up?" Eddie asked.
"Eddie I gota ask you a favor man. You have to keep coach away from Leo for the rest of the game." I said.
"Why?" he asked, still not catching on to what I was going to do.
"Because I'm going to take Leo's place." I said
"No...No way I can't do that if anyone finds out I'll lose my job." Eddie said.
"Look... Leo is almost the exact same build as me. I'm going to wear his jersey and no one will be able to tell." I said.
"Right." He said sarcastically.
"Leo and I are the only ones who will know. And if we do get caught I swear we'll take the full blame. Come on Eddie we worked to hard to go down like this. I've got to try man." I said getting more desperate.
I could see the indecision in his eyes. I could tell I almost had him.
"Hey man, do this for me and name your price anything Eddie I swear." I was trying everything I could think of to sway him. It was the only way I had a shot at this.
"I don't know John what am I going to say to keep him away from you?" He asked.
"Just tell him that you talked to me and got my confidence back up. And after the way he's treated the team it would probably wreck it if he talked to me again." I said off the top of my head. It was the best I could come up with on such short notice and I prayed it would work.
"Alright but if I'm going to put my ass on the line you better pull a win out of this." Eddie said.
"I'm trying to Eddie."
Eddie was as good as his word. After I slipped on Leo's jersey I walked out and joined the team. He took coach aside and whispered something into his ear which seemed to clam him down. I tried to stay as far away from him as possible and keep my head down before we got back out on the field. Since East Central elected to receive at kick off we would be getting the ball at the beginning of the second half.
We only made it to the 12th yard line on the return when I took the field. As a quarter back sometimes you need to be encouraging to your players and other times you need to be hard to get the results you're looking for. But above all else you have to maintain control. Watching my offence hustle out to the line of scrimmage I could tell they were nearly broken. When we gathered for the huddle I knew it would take everything I had and more to bring them back from defeat.
"Listen up!" I shouted.
"John."
"Dude'
"What the hell"
"Shut up!" I yelled. "Are you going to let those cock suckers take our season?"
"Fuck no!"
"Hell no!"
"Alright here we go I need an x right wing 26 smash on 3 you got it?" I planned to shove the ball right down East Central's throat.
"Elliot watch for the hole" I said smacking his helmet to get his attention.
As we lined up I could feel my mind falling into the zone. That place where nothing else matters except the ball, my receivers and first down.
God it was good to be back on the field and in control again. It was always a place that made me feel comfortable. I knew the rules and what to expect, it was simple yet infinitely complicated at the same time. Just about when you thought you had things figured out they would change. And tonight it was going to be a lesson that East Central would learn the hard way.
I knew they were riding high on a 35 to nothing lead and weren't expecting us to come alive As the ball snapped on that first play and I handed it off to Elliot they got a taste of what it meant to play in our house. Four plays later we were 1st and goal, about to score our first touchdown of the night. It was less than three minutes into the second half and I thought we might just have a chance.
Sometimes those 60 minutes on the game clock run by so slow it seems like hours. Occasionally though when you're in the zone and everything clicks it hardly seems longer than a few minutes. Once East Central figured out we weren't going to roll over and spread em' they started to fight hard and dirty.
Sammy had played well that half and nearly stayed in the entire game when he was doubled teamed and took a hard spill. Jason was cut down at the knees and couldn't get back up. Ben was knocked unconscious and taken from the field. Their defense had been blitzing all that second half. I was down to mostly 2nd and 3rd string players. Every minute took its toll and before I knew it we were tied 42-42 with less than a minute left on the clock.
Their line backers had been hot for my blood ever since that fist touchdown. And for the most part my line held tight. But when we started to lose key players I began to take a lot more hits.
"I swear to god the next person who lets a line backer through is going to get their ass kicked by me understand!" I screamed. It was the third time I had been sacked in ten minutes. I looked around at my players in the huddle and noticed most of them seemed lost or scared.
"Alright listen up I need a T 22 dive slide right cross 42 on 3 got it?" I asked.
My receivers looked at me like I was talking a foreign language and my half back wasn't even paying attention when I called the play.
"Hey kid!" I yelled as I grabbed his face mask and jerked his head to look me square in the eyes.
"Huh?" he grunted.
"Did you hear me? I said T 22 dive slide right cross 42 on 3 got it!" I yelled again.
He still didn't understand what I was telling him.
"Look you do know what T formation is right?" I questioned him.
"Yea T-bone right" he said.
"Ok just slide right and go flat out." I said hoping he understood.
I pulled my tight end and wing back over to explain to them exactly what to do. I wasn't going to take the chance that these rookies would fuck it up.
"Hey I need you to do a cross over and give me a 15 yard hook got it?" I said to my wing back.
"And I need you to run a route, if your open I'm going to hit you so look over your shoulder got it?" I said to my tight end.
"On 3 everybody." I said again just so we didn't have any false starts.
My body ached and my fingers were almost numb. My voice hoarsely called out the count as we prepared to run the last play of the game. The crowd was nearly deafening and time seemed to crawl in micro-seconds. It was one of the best moments I can ever remember playing football, including my time in the pros.
When the ball was snapped I dropped back four steps and started to look for my receivers. My wing back got tangled up at the line of scrimmage; I turned to see where my tight end was and found he had double coverage. Fuck I thought this doesn't look good. I only had one option left, I scanned to my right when I saw that my half back actually made it down the field and wasn't being covered by anyone.
Just then I saw two line backers coming straight at me. I held my breath and prayed that goofy kid would look over his shoulder. I gave it every last ounce of energy I had and launched the ball. As soon as the ball left my fingers I got hit hard. One of the line backers went low around my knees and the other went high trying to take my head off. I went down in a heap of pain; I think I actually blacked out for a second.
When I raised my head looking around I heard the crowd explode. The horn blared signaling the end of the game. I barely managed to pull myself up off the field. Looking down at the end zone I saw that goofy half back being carried on the shoulders of our players. I turned around and headed to the locker room as fast as my legs could take me.
I limped into the locker room and was almost tackled by Leo.
"Damn John that was incredible, I can't believe you pulled that off." He beamed with the biggest smile I had ever seen on his face.
"Help me get this shit off, hurry before coach comes back." I said in a grimace of pain. That last hit had done a number on me. I didn't think I could even bend over to untie my cleats.
He took my arm and led me back into the showers. Just as he managed to get my shoulder pads over my head coach walked in.
"My office now." He said in a cold manner.
I did my best to walk tall and hold my head high; I didn't want him to know that I was in a serious amount of pain. As he shut the door behind me I braced myself for an epic ass chewing. I didn't expect what happened next.
"That was some of the best ball I've ever seen you play." He said.
I was shocked; my jaw was on the floor.
"I still can't believe you pulled it off. How did you know we would win?" He asked.
"I didn't, I just hoped I could put some points on the board before you figured it out so we could have at least a little bit of dignity." I said with a sheepish smile.
"Damn I think we're going to go all the way to state this year." He said with a dreamy look of hope on his face.
"Me too." I concurred with a big shit eating grin.
I thought he was going to skin me alive if he found out. I felt a small measure of tension leave my body as we sat and went over some of the more outstanding plays we had managed to pull off. I had been setting in his office for about 20 minutes when I felt my muscles tightening up. Small little cramps made their way across my legs and lower back. I knew it was time to hit the showers.
I walked to my locker to finish getting undressed. Most of the others guys seemed to have already showered and headed out to the home coming dance. I was congratulated by a few of the stragglers who were getting ready to leave.
I turned on a shower and adjusted the temp for as hot as I could stand it. Before I had even stepped into the spray my body was rocked with a severe cramp. If you have ever had a Charlie horse then you know the excruciating pain I'm talking about. Only deep muscle cramps feel like a Charlie horse armed with a knife and a grudge. I didn't even have time to yell out my pain as I fell to my knees slightly banging my head on the tile. I tried to crawl under the hot stream of water to loosen the cramp but every time I inched closer I was wracked with waves of pain and dizziness that took my breath away.
Suddenly out of no where a pair of strong hands grabbed me under my arms and lifted me into the blessed relief of the shower. My mind was so full of pain I couldn't even speak as I tired to work out the cramp in my thigh. I felt a rough calloused hand below my ass massaging the back of my thigh to help work out the pain.
"Damn that looked like the mother of all cramps dude." A soft yet deep voice whispered in my ear.
As the pain receded my mind cleared enough for me to answer him.
"Oh man that fucking hurt, thanks for your help." I said.
It was then I became conscious of his dick resting against the crack of my ass. I turned my head to see who it was; the smiling face of that goofy 3rd string half back filled my vision.
Mmm hot steamy shower scenes my favorite.....lol