Page 7 of Campus Heat

Coach Harris blew his whistle. “Listen! What I’m saying is that we need discipline. Assignments. Everyone needs to know what their role is, and they need to perfect it.”

“Exactly,” Lucas quipped. “Roles like in basketball. I’ll be power forward. I’ll post up.”

“We post up now?” Cam asked, sharing a confused look with Malik.

“Why not? I’m big,” Lucas said, looking like he’d been struck.

Coach Harris rubbed his temples, and I could feel his pain. How had we gone down this road? How had a game that was so simple confuse these guys so much? I had hope for these guys once, but the more time I spent with them, the more I realized that they were totally doomed.

And because of that, so was I.

“Ethan!” Cam said, drawing my attention. “What’s your take on all this? Do you think any of these tactics will work?”

I shook my head. “I honestly don’t know what to tell you guys.”

“Oh, come on, man,” Malik said as he took a seat next to me. “You have more experience than most of us. You’ve gotta have something in mind.”

“You guys don’t understand,” Harris interrupted, saving my ass. “You don’t post up. You run your route tree.”

“Routes…” Dylan said with a nod. “That’s the thing with the arrows, right? So we just freestyle until we end up open?”

Harris’s frustration was evident on his face. The man looked like his wrinkles had doubled since we arrived. As though he were getting older by the minute.

“Freestyling is how you get intercepted,” Harris moaned.

“The facts,” Cam said, snapping his fingers. “If we spend more time with the ball, it’s obvious that we’ll score more.”

Oh, God. I couldn’t believe what I’d just heard. How did that make any sense? And even if it did, how did he plan on pulling it off? It was those kinds of stupid comments that made me want to set them straight. But I didn’t want to be that guy.

I preferred watching from the sidelines as they fooled around, and kept missing the points Harris was trying to make. At least that way, nobody felt insulted, and I wouldn’t end up being the bad guy.

I had come here to play my game, and that was all.

“That’s not how possession works,” Harris said, running a hand down his face.

“Look, it’s simple,” Lucas said, putting his feet up like he was the captain on a ship. “We just have to want it more. Football is like seventy percent heart.”

“Nah,” Cam corrected. “It’s more like eighty percent, and the rest is conditioning and yelling.”

Harris let out a massive sigh. “I need you to read the defense. To adjust on the fly, and communicate with each other.”

At least someone was getting on the right track, and it was the basketball coach of all people. I’d thought it would’ve taken him longer. Everyone nodded as if they finally understood what was expected of them, but not one of them asked how we were going to pull it off.

I looked up, done with my preparations, and shook my head. The room had flooded with overlapping voices. They were all sure of what they were saying but at the same time, every single one of them was wrong. And I couldn’t take it anymore.

I pushed to my feet. “Coach, do you mind excusing me? I just need a minute, but I’ll meet everyone on the field for practice.”

“Wait. Ethan. You can’t leave us. We need your input!” Dylan called as I was walking out.

“Ethan!” Lucas joined.

But I didn’t care. I just kept walking. These guys had been trying to break through my defenses for days, and I hadn’t broken yet. I wasn’t about to start giving in now. If only the actual defenders could work like that. It might have given us a chance to actually win.

“Ethan Rose?” A woman’s voice came from behind, stopping me in my tracks. “My name’s Penny Donovan. I’m a reporter for the Havenport school paper, and I was wondering if I could have a few minutes of your time?”

“I’m sorry, but I really got to get to practice.”

“The rest of the guys are still in the locker room so I’m pretty sure you aren’t late,” she said, taking me by surprise. “Yeah, I’ve been waiting. You’re the new blood. The quarterback who was brought in especially to give the Highlanders a first ever season that’s worth talking about.”