Being Different

Captain, Oh Captain!

A/N: Damien has a minor dilemma while prepping for football practice, but it doesn't faze him, as he prepares to show his teammates that he's one of the boys. Coach Gilmore seems impressed with the boy, as leadership material for their team...

Dedicated to: JosefinaFAAD  AlphaKelly lonelycauliflower corpse_chokes_me Annteee KaySetonks ThatGingerRogue 

After the bell rang signalling the end of school, I made my way to the sports ground where football practice was going to be held. I first stopped by the shed, to get my uniform and all the other necessary portion to my outfit like the usual shoulder pads, arm and knee braces, and yes, a jockstrap with cup! I kind of thought 'Hmm, I won't be needing that!' and chuckled quietly to myself. The Assistant Coach gave me the wry eye as he looked at me from head to toe. I just shrugged my shoulders and grabbed the stuff, proceeding to my locker.

As soon as I got into the changing area, I freaked out. The shower stalls were not individual as in my former school. How the hell was I going to take a shower after practice? I kind of shoved the idea in my head that I would just take a shower at home instead. There was no way I was going to do this in front of the other guys and be labelled a 'freak' ever again! I couldn't risk it.

Anyway, I ran into that bully, Randy Crum at the lockers. He stabbed a finger my way and threatened me with "Let's see if you survive your first day on the pitch pal! I got my eye on you!". He then turned away and headed out onto the field, leaving me to get on with my stuff.

I packed away my things in the locker and went to the changing stalls. At least, these were individual stalls so I could have some form of privacy. I sighed in relief as I began to change into my uniform. At first, I was reluctant to wear that jockstrap with the protective cup, but then, one way or another, I still had to protect myself out there, so I wore it without another thought. I then grabbed my helmet and went out onto the field to join the others.

The coach introduced me as the new captain, which surprised some of the others on the team that didn't know of my existence or the fact that Randy Crum had been inadvertently replaced or bumped off. Some of them just shrugged their shoulders and took the news complacently while some decided to scope me out by giving me a look that said 'Bring it!'.

I was kind of expecting this behaviour, after all, this was a new school and one way or another, I was going to have to prove that I belonged here just as much as the next guy. So, I figured that, if I could show how capable a ball player I was and that I could support them all as the team captain, then I would have it made.

I had already imagined the play I wanted to run against the opposing team who was here to train with us. They were already on the pitch doing their warm-ups. So, I ran it by the team and there seemed to be no objections as the coach listened in on my tactical approach.

We set it up so that I would pitch the ball to Mick Camden, the school's star running back. I had seen him play before so I knew exactly what the guy was capable of, and he never failed to make an excellent play and had scored many touchdowns in his playing life.

"15, 24, 31...Hutt...Hutt" I called out, and Mick went wide on the call. I threw the ball out, hoping he would catch it and run like his pants were on fire. Sure enough, the guy caught it easily but as he was running, Mick got his foot caught by none other than that idiot Randy Crum who got in his way!