Break of Dawn

09 | the dream team

TAILGATING INVOLVED THREE OF the things Rory most enjoyed in life: football, food and drinking.

Only for tailgating would she and Madison be up at 9am, all dressed up and ready to go out. Madison seemed to have put a lot more thought into her clothes than she usually did, which was probably Ivy's doing. Dressed in a denim overall dress, white pantyhose and a white strapless top, she had her rowing Huskies cerulean windrunner jacket tied around the waist, dark brown hair styled in two dutch braids and eyes shining with a metallic blue eyeshadow she'd borrowed from Ivy's endless supply of makeup.

Rory had decided on her usual gameday outfit, the early autumn version; ripped denim shorts, Damien's jersey from the previous season - his number and surname on the back looking a little worn out, the shirt hitting her mid-thigh - and an oversized denim jacket tied around her waist. Her Huskies white baseball cap and cobalt blue knee-high sox with white sneakers completed her look.

The whole campus was already swarming with people - students and alumni alike - when they started to walked around with a purpuse; it was their fourth - and last - kickoff tailgate in college, they had already created their own little ritual.

Lochlan had a tradition of breakfast tailgate tents. The best one, in their humble opinion, was usually set up at the quad outside Spyros, the engineering building, and served irish coffee - that was admittedly way more irish than coffee - and parmesan waffles; which was their first stop of the day.

"So, let's recap our plans for the day" Madison said when they settled on of the lawn chairs by the Leprechaun's tailgate, she was on her third waffle and Rory had already downed one and a half cups of Iced Irish Coffee "We're going to the Lacrosse tailgate, they do have the best booze and you can still get us free wristbands right?"

Aurora nodded. It was a campus rule that every tailgate serving alcoholic beverage had to charge drinks beforehand, supposedly to avoid underage drinking, the wristbands serving as a control system.

"Ok, so for lunch we should go to Rowing, Caro's parents are grilling short ribs again, and I've been dreaming about their barbecue sauce all week"

"We have to get the pulled pork sandwich at Mary Lou's" Rory chipped in.

Mary Lou was one of the most famous LoU alumnae, referred by many as the tailgate queen, her cerulean tent stood at one of the most privileged spots on the east stadium parking lot, with a killer view of Lake Yoma.

"Yeah, we'll go there afterwards. You paid that guy for our seats right? Please tell me we won't have to wait in line" Rory chuckled and nodded, she had an arrangement with a contact of Damien's for seats outside of the student section, even with their student passes "Ok, after Mary Lou we can stick around the lot, find somewhere with cheap beer until kickoff"

They mostly followed through with their plan, with only a few diversions.

Their second stop, at the Lacrosse's tailgate, had earned them a couple of glasses of lemon vodka sour, but was cut short by a guy - who Rory was almost certain she had hoked up with sometime during junior year - inviting them for a kegstand contest. Madison's petite athletic form and eagerness to drink made her the perfect contender for kegstands,  and the 5 seconds she won over the three other contestants had warranted them free wristbands for a tent with cold enough IPAs.

By the time they reached the Rowing's tailgate for lunch, Madison was already buzzing and Rory was starting to get lightheaded.

Caro was one of Madison's teammates and her parents always grilled for the Row's tailgate, their tent set on the shady lawn over by the chemistry building, where it was crisp enough to consume all those short ribs and mashed potato without worry of indigestion.

After lunch, Maddie insisted they had a gelato that the Italian Heritage Group was selling to fund their next trip to Rome, and Rory was glad her jeans shorts were a size too big, because she was feeling super bloated.

They stopped by three other tailgates for drinking before reaching Mary Lou's. The sympathetic seventy-four year old lady was almost out of pulled pork chops when they arrived around half past 2, and both of them sat on the back of Stan's - Mary Lou's husband - pickup truck to share a sandwich and wait around to go inside the stadium.

*

THE PHILADELPHIA MARAUDERS were their opponents that afternoon, the team was one of Lochlan's biggest rivals, so the game was set to be pretty competitive.

The girls were seated at row 30, on the fifty yard line, one of Rory's favorite spots on the bleachers, since it gave her a privileged view of the whole field.

Maddie's metallic blue eyeshadow was now faint specks of shimmer on her eyelids and she had added two Locky, the Husky - Lochlan's beloved mascot - temporary tattoos on the side of each temple "See, he looks cocky even all geared up" Madison commented when a picture of Dexter Fayaz in helmet and pads showed up on the big screen, right next to his stats.

Rory chuckled, looking at his numbers. Cocky or not, Dexter Fayaz had an impressive set of stats. With 2.700 passing yards and a 60% completion rate, he was rated amongst the 20 best quarterbacks in the country - the second best in their conference. Dexter had been playing starting QB since his sophomore year, and was part of what everyone at LoU called the DT - the Dream Team.

Along with the star quarterback, the Dream Team consisted of two other offensive players and one defense guy. Reggie Zveiter was the lone defensive player of the group, the linebacker had been drawing attention since he got scouted from a JUCO the year before and was the glue that held the defensive line together.

Weston Rutherford - whose picture and stats were shown on the big screen right after Dexter's - was the third guy on the DT. The versatile running back had been considered the best collegiate player in explosiveness of ball by analysts at ESPN, and would certainly make an appearance at the first rounds of The Draft.

Last but not least was Collin Whitaker - or as Rory liked to call him, the bane of Damien's existence. Rated the best in their conference in long receptions, the wide receiver had been the player with most touchdowns for the Huskies the previous year and would probably stay in that position that current season.

Lochlan won the coin toss and decided to start the game playing offense. After the special team left, the offense positioned themselves in Wildcat formation, and with 3/4 of the Dream Team on the field, the game was bound to a good start.

After the first snap, Dexter moved inside the pocket while the defensive and offensive line clashed together in a mess of bodies. The quarterback darted his eyes across the field twice and launched a throw.

The throw wasn't the cleanest, but Collin Whitaker - who had not one, but two defenders on his back - managed to catch and secure the ball before being tackled to the ground.

They managed to get a first down, but the play had been lousy at best. If her dad was their coach, Dexter Fayaz would be getting the longest lecture on the sidelines. He had taken the biggest risk throwing the ball to Whitaker when there was another receiver wide open on the field, not to mention that subpar throw.

The next down was less stressful - Collin Whitaker still had one of the cornerbacks breathing down his neck, but the quarterback took the risk yet again, throwing a spiral that landed squarely on the wide receiver's hand. Whitaker managed to run twenty yards before being taken down.

Although it wasn't the best start to a game, they had managed to eat up a lot of yards, so when the ball snapped the third time, the quarterback screen passed the ball to Weston Rutherford, who effortlessly dodged every defender coming his way before reaching the end zone.

Touchdown.

Lochlan Stadium erupted in noise. Weston Rutherford did his celebratory dance with Dexter Fayaz and Collin Whitaker on the end zone

They were called the Dream Team for a reason.