Firsts & Lasts

First, Second Chance.

Christian

I can't keep still in class an hour later as my mind keeps reverting back to my conversation with mom and coach earlier. I can't wait to tell my teammates. Rhys, Cgc, Xander, and I all agreed on playing college ball all of our four years.

I don't think they'll be bummed when I tell them I'm considering entering the draft though. If anything, they'll be even more ecstatic than I am. It will be bittersweet though. It's a big decision that I'm still considering. I didn't just want to play four years of football here, but I also wanted to finish getting my degree.

For some reason, I think it'll be way harder for me to excel in school if I'm playing in the NFL at the same time. Getting my degree was something that was very important to me. Sports aren't forever. No matter how good you are, there's always risks.

There's about 1,000 people better than me, possible injuries, and well, aging. I can't play football forever, I know that. I also haven't been taking these difficult classes throughout the years for nothing.

"Valdez?" Professor Adams says, catching my attention. Everyones looking at me too. Shit, what did I miss? I haven't been listening to a word she's been saying since I got here. "Pick a partner for the speech." I've had Prof Adams before, so I would say we're besties. She loves me.

"Oh, uh, who's still available?" She looks down at the notepad in her hand. "Julian, Kit, Allie, Kendall, Novalee, PJ, and Sasha." I turn to Novalee, who is sitting three rows below me, and smirk. She rolls her eyes and turns away from me. She's not stupid, she knows what's coming.

"Uh, Novalee?" I act dumb, so Prof doesn't assume we're friends. She gives me a head nod before writing something down. The rest of the class pairs up quite quickly and then lecture ends.

I pick my stuff up quickly and jog towards Novalee who's already headed out the door. "Hey!" I say, catching up with her quite fast. My longer strides always beat her smaller ones. "Why did you pick me?" She retorts, eyeing me. If looks could kill, man.

"Good morning to you too," I tease, but she doesn't even crack a small smile "it was my choice to pick and I didn't know any of those other people, jeez." I finish and she sighs softly. I didn't know she hated me this much. I don't deserve this behavior from her.

"Stop being a mean, Nova. We'll make this work." I grin. Then, I remember that I have absolutely no idea what this speech has to be about. I hadn't been paying attention the whole lecture. "So, what's the speech on?" I ask, hoping she won't get mad.

"I don't know. We have decide on a topic together. Any ideas?" I think momentarily. "Let's sit here really quick." She says pointing to a small bench that's under a tree. Good, I need shade. It's too fucking hot. "How about something problematic?" I suggest and she laughs.

"What if we don't agree on this 'problematic topic'?" She questions. I roll my eyes playfully. "Are you trying to pick something we don't agree on so you can argue with me? Can't catch a break on scolding me can ya?" Her lips twitch bit and shakes her head.

"No, asshat. I just don't think we'll agree on anything." She says. I furrow my brows. "Why?" I already know what she's going to say. Because we're different, blah blah bah. Bullshit.

"Dunno. We can discuss our topic and points a little bit more right now? I don't have another class until 3:00." She says. I suck my teeth and shake my head. "Sorry, babe. Gonna go have lunch with my mom. Maybe tomorrow?" I stand up and dust off any possible dirt from my ass.

Her auburn brows furrow slightly. "Your mom's in Cali?" She asks. My mom had actually met Novalee a bunch of times when we lived back in Georgia. Mom was kind of in love with her, but these days, I wasn't really looking for moms approval in anything.