Hailsmith Academy

Chapter 7: Tryouts

Tryouts were today.

I genuinely had no idea if I even had what it takes to make it onto the team. I could run fast and that was pretty much it. I was going to be up against legitimate athletes. What the heck made me think I could do this?

I'd had a last minute practice with Evans yesterday night. It had gone okay, although I definitely suck at defending. Attacking was more my thing, with me being able to run fast and all.

I woke up in a panic, nervously tapping my feet all throughout breakfast. I couldn't help it.

"Luke, you good?" Christian asked.

"What do you mean?"

"You seem nervous or something."

I sighed. I guess there was no longer avoiding telling my friends anymore.

"Well... I'm kind of trying out for the lacrosse team today."

Spencer gasped dramatically. "What? But I thought your asshole brother said no?"

"He can't stop me from trying out. Besides, I've been practicing."

Allison raised her eyebrows at me. "On your own?"

"Uh, yeah."

I don't know why I just didn't tell my friends the truth. It's not like I was doing anything wrong. Training with some random guy to get on a stupid team, wasn't that abnormal. It just felt illegal for some reason.

Spencer and Christian simply shrugged and went back to eating, but Allison looked a little suspicious. She knew I was hiding something. Nevertheless, she didn't divulge it.

I could barely concentrate in class for the rest of the day. All I could think about was tryouts in the evening. I was definitely not looking forward to making a fool of myself in front of my brother and nearly half the school. A lot of people always showed up to watch. It was nerve wrecking.

Before I knew it, classes ended and it was time. I ran to my room to take a quick shower and change. I shoved my stick into my bag and walked as fast as I could to the lacrosse field, but it was already full of people when I reached. How did they get here so quickly ? Jeez.

I slowly made my way towards where all the guys who were trying out were standing. I'd worn a synthetic headband around my neck, which I used to cover my face up till my nose. This would be a lot easier to get through if people didn't know who I was when I messed up.

"All right everybody, listen up!" My brother spoke, his voice resounding over the field in such a way, that everyone went quiet. Evans was standing to his left, holding a clipboard in his hand. A bunch of the guys who were on the team from last year were standing behind them.

"This is going to be pretty simple. First we're going to do some basic drills and see how you guys respond. The difficulty level will increase with each drill. After that, all of you are going to play a short match against my guys to see how you fare up."

I watched as my brother scanned through all the guys standing in a row with me, his eyes stopping when they landed on me. Despite my somewhat effective disguise, he definitely still recognised me. He grit his teeth before speaking again.

"Remember, there are only two spots left on the team- one attacker and one mid fielder. Step forward when your name is called out. Good luck."

All the people sitting behind us on the bleachers started chattering excitedly. Nearly every girl had come here just to swoon over Jason. Pathetic.

Evans stepped forward and started to read names off the clipboard. "Christopher Stevens."

A freshman with shaggy blonde hair stepped forward. He walked with an ease of confidence, his muscles visibly shown under his tight clothes. Wow, that's a bit much.