Page 111 of Kickoff

“Happy birthday, Mase. I had a great time too. Don’t let go of me.”

“Never.”

28

Just doing my job

With my fingers laced behind my head, I paced the hotel room, unable to stay still for more than a few seconds.

“Please, stop.” Chase moved to stand before me and rested his palms over my chest to halt my movements. “You’re making me dizzy. What’s going on with you, man? We were supposed to meet the team ten minutes ago for our pre-game dinner, and you’re still walking across the room like this place is about to explode if you don’t cut the right wire and you can’t decide which one it is.”

“I-I…” My throat was parched as if I had swallowed sawdust. I coughed, trying to ease my vocal cords. “Go. I’ll meet you there in a minute.”

He shook his head. “Nope. No way am I going without you. If our captain isn’t there, the guys will know something isn’t right, and the coaching staff will ask questions. I’m a shitty liar. I don’t wanna be on the hot seat because I am sure to stutter, and it will be grade six all over again, where I tried to cover for you when you skipped school because you found a stray dog. I don’t need a repeat performance. Lying makes me sweat.”

“I’m not asking you to lie. Just tell them I decided to go to bed early.”

“Are you?”

“Am I what?”

“Going to bed early?”

I offered him a noncommittal shrug. “I’ll try.”

Chase studied me, a frown forming across his forehead. “Want me to bring you food?”

“Sure.”

“You swear you’re okay?”

I swallowed. How could I tell him it felt like the walls of our shared hotel room were closing in on me? “I just need a few minutes of rest and a hot shower, and I’ll be fine.”

My answer seemed to satisfy him because his grin returned. “Good. I’ll bring you a plate when I’m back. Can you believe we’re at State, man? Tomorrow’s game will be epic. I can feel it.” He slapped my shoulder, relief flashing in his eyes. “See you later. I’ll keep a seat for you at the restaurant…just in case.”

“Thanks.”

The door clicked behind him, and finally alone, I relaxed a tiny bit.

Sitting on the edge of the mattress, I bent forward, my elbows propped up on my knees and my face buried in my hands and my eyes closed, counting my breaths. It’d been a while since I felt so much pressure on me hours before a game. This wasn’t any game, but the last one my teammates and I would ever play together and our last chance to set a record as a team. Never before in their history had the Elk River High Bears won two consecutive State championship titles.

I evened my breathing and pictured the field we would play on tomorrow. When we arrived in town earlier, Coach had asked the bus driver to make a small detour so we could see where the game would take place this year. We walked on the turf, admiring the vast green space that was so much bigger than our own field. My heart rate decelerated. The knots tightening my back loosened as I saw my guys lining on the field, the referees, the supporters filling the bleachers in my mind.

We would kick butt tomorrow. We were more than ready. For once, no players were injured or sick.

A soft thud on the door snapped me out of my visualization process. At first, I thought I had imagined it, but when a second and a third knock broke the silence surrounding me, I moved to the door, expecting Coach to be standing on the other side. My eyes grew big when I took in Melinda standing on the carpeted floor, a paper bag in her hands, the aroma of jasmine rice and chicken encircling us and hitting my nostrils.

“Hey. I brought you food. Thought you might be hungry.”

I stared at her, not sure if I was hallucinating or not.

“Mase? Is something wrong? Why are you looking at me like that?”

I blinked and recovered from my state of shock. “What are you doing here? I feel like I am imagining things right now. Weren’t you supposed to arrive tomorrow?”

Her lips tilted into a soft smile. “Paige and I decided to drive early. We booked a room. We thought you guys would love to have supporters a day in advance, and we didn’t feel like arriving at the same time as the school buses and families.”

“Whoa. I’m hearing you, but it still feels like a dream.”