just imagine me away (tronnor)

1.2

Connor

"Alright guys, we got this. There's nothing to be afraid of. We're the best team in the damn state, and they're the worst. Okay, what was that thing Coach did last year?" Ricky Dillon, my best friend and the captain of the club football team, announced.  

"That stupid one where we all went around saying our fears?" asked Kian Lawley, one of my other best friends. "Please tell me we aren't doing that, Ricky."

Ricky grinned, and leaned on his leg which was on top of one the benches. "Afraid I can't do that, Ki. Jason! Why are you nervous about today?"

Jason Torresi rolled his blue eyes to the back of his head. Well, maybe he'll find some brains back there. "My girlfriend is watching and if we lose..."

Kyle Bruskin, the halfback, snorted. "Your girlfriend is always watching you."

"Hey!" Jason lunged at him. 

"Jason!" Henry Harkess and Will Malecot grabbed his arms and held him from Kyle, who was standing behind me now. I sighed. We couldn't even get through pre-game meeting without fighting. Jason lurched forward again, and Kyle grabbed my arm and waist and pressed himself into me as if he could disappear. 

"No homo," he whispered in my ear, after letting go and hoping no one saw him being the coward he was. It's not like Jason could actually do anything to him. 

"No homo," I muttered back wearily.

Henry and Will pushed Jason onto a bench and Ricky sighed, turning to me. "You wanna give this talk today, Connor?"

I rolled my eyes at our captain's inability to give pep talks to the team. "Okay! GUYS!" The team quieted down for a minute and looked at me. "We've got about three minutes until we go out there and win. Remember, we've been waiting and training and preparing ourselves for this game for the past few months. We know everything there is to know, and those guys out there? They won't have a clue what hit them. Most of us have got family and friends out there to impress, so let's not disappoint, and get out there and win this damn game."

The guys whooped and cheered, pounding the benches and pulling on helmets and mouthguards. "Let's go, boys! We're gonna start with..." Ricky declared. 

Two minutes later, we were on the field. Ten minutes later, the ball was in my hands and I was running. Feet pounding on the turf, shouting, leather ball in hands, around someone's outstretched hands, don't think about the way it feels, just keep going, what would Troye think?Troye is imaginary. He doesn't think anything. Keep going. Don't stop. You're strong, you know how to play this game, keep going, Connor. Hands around chests, ball in the air, grab it, fingers barely wrapped around the ball, hit the ground. Whistle. Cheers. Stand up, blink away the hurt. Recover, Connor. Breathe first. 

I take a breath.

The team resets at the new point. 

We play. 

- - - -

The team jog into the locker room, yelling and shouting at each other. We lost the game, mostly because Jason and Kyle wouldn't guard each other. That meant Jason was always tackled almost immediately. So Ricky stopped throwing towards him, then when he was finally open, he didn't get the ball. We could have won, but we didn't, because our team can't act like a team. 

"Guys!" Ricky yells. "Listen up!" We turn towards him, wiping away sweat and tossing pads into bags. "Okay, so we lost the first game of the season. Someone had to, and even though we didn't want it to be us, it was. Wanting, isn't enough, guys! We have to work for it."