Page 25 of Never Say Never
He shifts in his seat. “You take the lead.”
“Yes, okay.” We need to get on track here.
I press the record button on the device. Interview officially started.
Glancing up at him, he gives me an encouraging look. I reach down to the paper in front of me and ask the first question. It’s a softball.
“So, Rawley, congrats on all of your success. What are you looking forward to most about being in the NFL?”
“Well,Avery.” He says my name with a flippant tone, like he’s mocking the formality of this set up, and I relax. Maybe we can have fun doing this. “I’m most excited to help the Waves’ fans get their first Super Bowl parade in a while. The team was close last year, and it would be awesome to get it done this season.”
I have no idea if that’s the response he’d give if it were just him and me, but it’ll sound good for the article.
“Excellent answer,” I say, a hint of a tease in my voice as evidence I picked up what he was putting down. “I will say the same. I would love to be part of the Surge’s first championship year.”
“Make sure you wait for him to ask his questions,” Farah says from a few feet away in a soft but firm voice. “In case we want to release clips of the tape later.”
“Okay, sorry,” Rawley says. Why does he keep apologizing for things when he hasn’t done anything wrong? I was the one who skipped over him asking the question.
He straightens in his chair, glances down at the sheet in front of him, and then looks right at me. “How about you? What are you looking most forward to with the WNBA?”
No need to reinvent the wheel. “I will say the same. I would love to be part of the Surge’s first championship year.”
He smirks, and I can tell he’s holding back a laugh.
I wasn’t trying to be snarky by repeating my answer, but I can see why he’d think so.
Really, the scripted back-and-forth is a ridiculous way for two twenty-one-year-olds to have a conversation.
Whatever.Let’s keep this moving.
Looking down, I remind myself of the next question.
“We both know the road to being a great athlete is not easy.”God, that’s cheesy.“What do you think are the most important characteristics for success at your level?”
Rawley looks like he’s drawing from his memory of the talking points he was given from his team.
“Determination. Being a good teammate. A strong work ethic.”
His expression then flips to his more teasing one. “And a sense of humor, loyalty, and humility.”
I can’t help it, I let out a laugh. “Oh, really?”
“Yeah, all of those.” He winks. “If only to impress you.”
I’d love to joke back at him in response, but of course it’s impossible in this setting. All he gets is an eye roll.
“What about you?” he continues, reading the scripted question. “What do you think is important?”
I mentally go through the answers Kayla gave me. “A will to win, while not losing the love of the game. Emerging stronger from setbacks.”
“Not that you had many of those,” he replies. “We…I mean, Texas…lost in the championship game, as you probably know. I don’t want to feel that way ever again. But you won the NCAAs, what, two times?”
He’s gone off-script. The next question is supposed to be something different, about rookie life. Not that I care.
“Three. I was on the bench my freshman year, but we won it that year too.”
His eyes brighten at my response. “So cool. I wish?—”
