The Cloak Guard

12 Hours Earlier, Part 4

"Come on, 10 more times."

Luke groaned, his muscles already aching. "Do we have to, dad? Isn't this enough?"

He should have known better than to ask that. His dad, a tall buff man already, straightened to his towering full height and glared down at Luke. "You want to be the best, right?"

"Yes," Luke sighed.

"What was that?"

"Yes. Yes I do," Luke repeated with more conviction this time.

"Good. Then act like it. You've got tryouts tomorrow and Coach Beatriz is as tough as they come. You need to go above and beyond to prove you can make it on the team. With All-Star Stroneman there, that's going to be hard enough as it is. So, stop whining and give me 15 more."

"I thought you said 10?"

"I added 5 because of your whining. Now chop chop, you're wasting time."

Luke knew better than to sigh this time. He took a deep breath before jumping into a run, dashing across his backyard as fast as he could. He'd already done this about two dozen times and the muscles in his calves were burning from it, but he pushed past it. He reached the fence, touched it with his hand, then turned and ran back to where he'd started, touching the glass sliding door and repeating. His lungs felt on fire and sweat was soaking through his shirt, but he kept at it, keeping count until it hit 15. He instantly slumped, breathing hard against the fence, his stomach heaving and his heart beating so loudly he could hear it outside his chest.

"Alright, take a ten minute breather," his dad told him, handing him a towel. "Then we'll do some tosses."

Luke stifled a groan. All he really wanted to do was take a long, hot shower and lie down on his bed, maybe even take a nap. The second he had walked in after school, his dad had jerked his thumb to the backyard and that's how he wound up here.

His dad had been a football player back in high school as well, one of the best players in school history. Enough to be scouted by top colleges and offered a full scholarship to Duke University. Unfortunately, over that summer he was in a car accident that left him with a limp in his right leg, shattering his football dreams. Instead, he had become a football coach at Terrinburg University, helping others achieve their dreams. And ensuring Luke reached his.

"Here," his dad said, handing him a Gatorade. "Drink up."

Luke grabbed it, practically ripping the cap off, before chugging the contents of the bottle down, finishing about half of it in five seconds. He sat down heavily on the grass, taking the minutes he had to just breathe and relax

His dad took a seat next to him, their backs leaning against the fence. "You know I only want what's best for you, right? That's why I push you so hard."

"I know dad," Luke replied. He wanted to add that he didn't need to be pushed as hard, but he knew what would come next. A long tirade on all of his dad's missed opportunities and how Luke shouldn't squander his. It wasn't that he didn't appreciate all his dad was doing for him. Because of him, Luke honestly stood a real possibility of making it on the team, maybe even being one of the top players. But he couldn't help but wonder what he was sacrificing for it.

"Do you remember when you first threw a ball?" his dad suddenly asked. "It was right over there. You were like 2 or 3 years old and you had one of those small plush toy footballs. I was showing you with a real football how to spike and I threw it and it bounced off the fence. Well, you were so excited by it that you threw your toy as hard as you could."

He chuckled, lost in the memory and Luke couldn't help but stare. He'd never really seen his father like this before. It was...nice.

"I thought for sure it would just fall to the ground a few feet away from you or something but no, it flew through the air and landed right in that flower pot," he pointed to the one several yards away from the doors. "You were so excited that you threw your hands up in the air and whooped. I'll never forget that look on your face, one of pure glee."