I Don't Mind

Chapter 13

Adrian's POV 

Well, Derek got pissed at me, for good reason, but he got way too pissed off. It's the first game of the season, it's not that big of a deal. It's not like Jax couldn't have followed the guy that was on his side of the field onto my side of the field, while I did the same. Or, revolutionary idea, Derek could've stayed on his man instead of making me mop up the mess and then pinning that on me. It was on both of us, not just me. 

I'm starting to really dislike Derek. He's changed up so much since last year, and I have to assume it's just because I know that he's gay and he has no way to deny that. He came out to me, denied it, and then I walked in on him fucking a dude. That's way too much fucking evidence to try to deny. 

That can't be the only reason he's become a dick, right? There has to be something else that's making him cranky and all pissy and shit all the time. Maybe the guy he was fucking in the locker room started dating him and they broke up at some point over the summer and Derek is still trying to get over him. I don't know. I really have no clue what his deal is. 

It's not a bad thing to be competitive, but getting that mad at me for a small mistake that just happened to cost us the game that he could've prevented as well is not good. It is not a valid crashout moment, he should've just stayed on his man instead of making me get on him. 

"Alright team. I'm a bit disappointed in the way we played tonight, but I'm seeing a lot of potential in all of you. Sure, some of you guys made minor mistakes, but I think we can move on from that. We also know what we need to work on as a team as well, one of those things being communication. I need constant talking, yelling, all of that shit happening on the field between guys, especially on the defense. I did not see great communication on the field today. Like I said, I want you guys talking to each other the entire time you're on the field. We'll work on that when we get back tomorrow morning, but other than that, it was an alright game. We just happened to lose. Don't get too upset about this game though, UCLA never scored this much in a game last season, so it's good that we scored very well tonight," Coach Nelson rambles. 

We all leave to go to the hotel, and I already know a lot of Coach Nelson's speech was directed at my lack of discipline. I should've been more attentive of the other receivers on the field instead of going after one guy. Derek should've probably put more effort into his coverage as well, I feel like it wasn't all my fault. He didn't play very well either. 

"Hey, you played fine, don't worry about it Adrian. We all make mistakes," Devin assures me as I plop down on my bed.

"I know, but I made, like, a terrible mistake," I reply.

"It's alright though. You can't hang your head on one mistake, besides, I looked behind me at what was going on, and I think Derek and Jax could've done something to tell you what was going on before it was too late. I agree with Coach Nelson on the importance of communication in this game, we need to be working together as an entity, not by ourselves."

"Yeah. I know. I'm sorry, by the way, for that play. I know I messed up."

"Don't worry about it Adrian. It's just one game, and now we know what to work on when we get back," he reminds me. 

"Yeah. Thanks."

"No problem. I'm gonna call Alicia if that's alright with you."

"Yeah. That's fine with me," I tell him, plugging my earbuds into my phone and playing some music to calm me down. I don't really care what anyone says, our loss tonight was mostly my fault, even though some other people can carry some of the blame. 

The next day...

Now that we're back from Illinois, we can start working on our team communication. I need this more than a lot of other people here. I've been quiet in practice and was pretty silent during the game unless I was addressed directly. I need to start talking to teammates instead of just waiting for them to say something to me.