Big Shot | ✓

27 | blood feud

Josephine,

I am very pleased (though not surprised) to say that Part II of the Reid Donahue project is being received very well. You truly have a knack for storytelling.

Please see attached for some feedback on your initial notes for Part III, and we will chat next week.

Kind Regards,

Mariah Roe

Director of Content, ESPN College GameDay

I sighed and swiped out of the email app on my phone. While it was nice to hear the reassurement from Mariah, I was too wound up about the game tonight to really let the compliment sink in. It was starting to all come naturally to me, and I could only hope it wasn't just a byproduct of who I was doing these pieces on.

"Hello? Does this look right?" Mara asked me, snapping me out of my daze. She held her camera out in front of me with adjustments for the oncoming night.

"Looks good," I responded plainly, trying not to make it so inherently obvious I'd been lost in thought. Unfortunately, I was lost more often than I was found these days.

The sun was just beginning to set behind Memorial Stadium, bathing the field in an ethereal orange glow as the team started warming up for the game. I tried not to make the fact that I was looking for my supposed inspiration byproduct so obvious, but he was almost impossible to miss. He wasn't in pads yet, just casually tossing the ball downfield in a tight t-shirt and shorts despite the fact that when he took a breath, a puff of visible cold air came out of his mouth. The moment I thought we'd make eye contact, I looked away. Neither of us could afford distractions tonight, and I had to remind myself of that.

There's always at least one game a season on the calendar with a big red circle around it, and we'd arrived. I was almost certain that whatever higher powers that made the football schedules purposely scheduled Clemson's divisional rivalry game with Florida State on the night before Halloween, fully leaning into the prospect of a gory nighttime showdown. The ESPN college football Instagram account had even posted a professionally edited version of the Freddy vs. Jason movie poster, portraying Reid as Jason and Cade fucking Martello as Freddy.

It suited him - Freddy was also ugly and talked too much.

"It's freezing." Mara jumped up and down a few times as she hugged her torso. It was the first game this season we needed to wear layers for, and it would be dark by the time the game started. As the crowds began filing in, most of the students were in costumes, and songs like Coming Undone by Korn and Dragula by Rob Zombie blasted from the speakers instead of the usual hip-hop heavy playlist. You could almost smell the blood in the air.

When Florida State came out to warm up, a chorus of boo's rained down on them, and I had to bite the inside so I didn't chime in myself. Cade walked across the field with a manufactured, unearned type of swagger. Unfortunately eye contact with him was one I couldn't as easily avoid. When he realized it was me, he blew me a kiss, and I saw red.

"Don't." Mara held my wrist, and I realized that my body had moved on its own to take a step forward onto the field. "Don't give him the satisfaction."

"Right," I sighed out, expelling another puff of cold air. "You're right."

"Just do what you need to do tonight," Mara continued with a nod. "And Reid will do what he needs to do."

Practically manifesting him, the Clemson team began filing back into the locker room for the start of the game, and it was easy enough for me to steal a glance at Reid. As if he knew I was looking for him, our gazes met the moment he lifted his head, and he gave me that calm, measured nod, his lips lifting just slightly into a faint smile. A confident, self-assured one that had seemed elusive so far this season. Sure they were winning games, but easy games. This one was the first real test, and everyone knew the implications - #2 vs #3, defending Heisman winner vs this year's potential Heisman winner, good vs evil, etc etc etc.