~•Me And The Boys•~

Prologue - Landon's Injury - The Pre-Story

Running, scoring. The game was going perfect. 14-9, winning against Winchester school.

I had the ball. I was going for the touchdown. I was surrounded on both sides. I thought I didn't need to pass. I thought I could make it.

Archer, a kid on the other team, ran for me. I tried evading, but it was too late. Archer slammed into my side, which caused me to hit another kid, the one that was to my right.

All three of us fell, with me landing directly in the middle. My foot caught in between a divot and the other boy's bodies, and it twisted farther than I thought was possible.

The other kid underneath me was getting crushed as Archer's elbow jabbed into my leg, him trying to get up but failing.

As my foot twisted under the pressure, pain shot through the area and into the rest of my leg, the weight of Archer's body pressing it further into dislocation.

The field went mostly silent, other than our curses and groans, and the side chatter and comments.

Some other kids came over to help out, and got the other two, smaller kids away from me as my body heaved and I attempted to move myself. The pain was unbearable, and I eventually gave up on moving.

I sat, writhing, my foot still twisted in the divot, basically begging me to get the pressure off of it. I could feel my ankle throbbing.

Alex held out his hand for me, indifferent but aware of my pain. He wasn't making it obvious, but it was clear that I needed help.

Wiping tears I only then realized we're streaming down my face, I grabbed his hand, and he pulled me up with all of his might.

A horrible cracking sound came from my foot, it still being sat in the divot.

I lose my balance, falling back down, a blood-curdling scream ripping from my throat.

Coach Baker rushes over, dropping to the ground and pulling me out of the hole. He moves my leg and sits it upright, sending another sharp pain into the area, as I choke out a sob.

I yell out a few obscure curses, which, for once, coach doesn't scold me for, though I can see why. More tears trail down the sides of my face and onto the ground, my vision blurring as I attempt to blink away the tears.

At this point, be blows the whistle, and the game is stopped. Kids have gathered around me, at which I felt humiliated. Having stopped the entire game, I ruined our win because I didn't pass the ball.

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see parents start to get up and leave, taking their kids with them, though that sight is blocked off by remaining kids crowding me more.

Some comment, and even a few laugh, most likely not realizing the extent of my pain, but it's put to a stop as my cries get louder.

What would you feel in a moment like that? Because I wouldn't know either. I was clinging onto my other leg and trying not to think about the pain.

As I'm gasping for air between cries, coach pushes other kids away. He tries talking to me, but I can barely speak.

"Landon, are you alright? What happened? How bad is it?"

I tried to answer him, but it was met with more choking, sobbing, and sniffling.

His brow furrowed and he stood up. He yells to Griffin, who had gone and sat down, to come and watch over me.

Griffin, a great friend of mine, he is, without a doubt, the most responsible friend I have. He makes every situation better, just by being there. His laughter is contagious, and so is his smile.

Griffin, now at my side, places his hand on my shoulder, and the other on my right calf, which thankfully wasn't the injured leg, or else I would have been screaming again.

Coach gets up and rushed into the nearest building, getting help, I suppose.

"You okay man?"

"Not- Not really. I-It's really fucking painful," I managed. Asking if somebody is okay during something like this is just stupid. It's an obvious no, but I appreciate his intention.

"Shit man, that looks bad," He comments, poking the swelling.

"Ow, dude what the fuck? That hurts like hell!" We laugh a bit, but tension grows as we wait for coach to come back. Having nothing left to say, we just sat there on the ground.

"Does this mean you'll be out?" He asks worriedly, glancing down at the injury.

"You're like the only guy that can fill like every position! We'll be doomed without you!" He semi jokes, us both knowing full well that being down a player means hell for the rest of the season.

"Relax, Griff, I probably just rolled it or sprained it or something, nothing too serious!" I laugh, but he doesn't, and the tension returns.

"Hey man, I'm okay! Here, I'll prove it!" I use my thumb to feel out the injury, and more pain is sent through my ankle.

"Ffffuckk.. Yeah that hurts like a bitch, but I don't really feel anything wrong!" I smile, and Griffin slightly returns the gesture.

I shift so that my legs are more so laying than supporting themselves. Some pain is relieved, but a non-ignorable, throbbing pain is still there, and I do my best to ignore it anyway.

Griffin gives my ankle another worried glance before asking about how it happened.

"Those two really were out to get you. Archer doesn't even really seem to care," He begins, glaring in the general direction of the other team.

"Yeah, it's okay though. They were just playing the game how they were taught, I'm sure. I'm much bigger than them, he probably had to improvise." I chuckle.

"You're too forgiving dude. He looked like he was trying to hurt you. He slammed into your side and didn't even go for the ball."

"That's alright, maybe he just really wanted to win. I know a couple sore losers." I smiled at him, and Griffin just looked at me as if I told him that I was going to cut his dick off and sew it onto a goldfish.

We continued chatting. It was clear that he was trying to keep my mind off of the throbbing pain in my ankle.

Coach returned with the nurse, who had taken one look at my injury and decided I needed a hospital.

She called for an ambulance, or whatever she said, and I was eventually carted off to an unfamiliar hospital where they said I needed an x-ray.

It all went smoothly, of course, except for when they told me that I had broken both my ankle and my foot in one go. I had needed a cast, of course, and because of it, I was out of school for a day or two.

I was given crutches and little instruction on how to use them before being sent on my way.

My mother wasn't happy, with anybody, to say the very least.