CAPPUCCINO, kotlc

012

Tam had no idea how he ended up at Foxfire's football tryouts.

After two long periods of ignoring the snickers and uncanny reenactments of his epic first-date fail, Tam was officially done with school. He decided to hide out in the boy's bathroom, lock himself in a stall, and listen to some edgy Spotify playlist until the bell rang at 3 o'clock PM.

That's when the door opened and the rowdy cheers of what could only be Foxfire's loudest herd of elephants- er, football team -filled the bathroom.

"Who's ready for tryouts?" a voice shouted- Keefe Sencen.

The stampede roared and Tam wrinkled his nose in disgust. He turned his earbuds to full volume and tried to drown out the noise, even though the noise relapsed with each cheer.

"Think you'll still be captain this year, Sencen?" a loud voice prompted.

Tam heard Keefe snort. "I'd have to screw up as bad as the Song kid for Goldenboy Vacker to beat me."

Tam gritted his teeth, clearing his throat loudly. For once, the stampede went silent.

One of the boys cursed beneath his breath. "Bad move, Sencen. Looks like we've got a little eavesdropper."

Tam's instincts told him to run, but that wasn't how he worked. No one insulted him and got away with it. He was used to shade, but unlike Linh, who stayed quiet and did her best to ignore it, Tam picked a fight with practically anyone who talked trash about either of them.

He slipped his phone into his pocket and walked calmly out of the stall. Confident, innocent, as if he had overheard nothing. The crowd instinctively moved to let him pass as Tam headed to the sinks and began washing his hands.

"Dang bro," Fitz whispered, though his words were easy to hear in the dead silence. "You really pissed the kid off. Nice going."

Keefe shushed him.

Tam turned off the water and walked away without drying his hands. He flicked cold, soapy water at the crowd as he passed.

Just as he opened the door to leave, Keefe's voice shouted, "Hey! Song! Football tryouts after school today, 3:05 out at the field. You might be terrible on first dates but who knows? Maybe you won't be as awful at football."