Cruel Me

Chapter 15: Funny (present)

(present)

Damn it.

I rolled back my arm, shooting a glare across the field. The dipshit hit me pretty hard. He'd been out to get me all fucking night.

"You alright, man?" asked Alfie, when we huddled.

"Yeah," I nodded, with a slight frown.

"Forty-four's riding you hard," commented Kurt.

"Tell me the fuck about it."

Alfie glanced at the scoreboard.

14 - 19

The Grizzlies were in the lead, with seven seconds left to the clock. We were playing offense, and we didn't have time for anything but one play. Alfie knew that.

"We'll have to risk a hail mary," he decided, looking at Frisco and pointing to him. "Go as fucking deep as you can."

"Got it," nodded Frisco.

He could do it. We knew he could. He'd done it twice already. Granted, the other one wasn't really in an official game. But it wasn't called a Hail Mary for nothing.

"They got their eyes on Oz. Forty-four's most definitely gonna try to shoot the gap, so watch out for him."

"Naw," I breathed out, waving a hand. "Let him pass."

"But I need you to run interference."

"I'll handle him."

"Every second counts, dude."

"I know."

"Ya heard him," Kurt piped up. "Let him teach that shit a lesson."

"Don't sweat," I assured Alfie. "I'll catch up with Frisco."

He narrowed his eyes at me. I stared right back with a determined expression, letting him know I could do this. After about a minute, he sighed and nodded.

"Fine, your call." He faced Parker, the fullback in the team, and grabbed his facemask. "While Superman here does his thing, you cover Frisco in the meantime."

I turned to Frisco, and saw him fidgeting. "Don't fumble. We got your back," I added, slapping the back of his helmet.

He flashed me a grin.

"Alright, 'chargers' on three," I called. "One - two - three -"

"CHARGERS!"

"Bomb?" I asked Alfie, as we got into position. It was code for a long ass pass, which could only be done with quarterbacks who had a hell of an arm.

"You betcha," sneered my best friend.

I shook my head once, smiling crookedly.

Alfie called out the play while my eyes stayed on number 44 from the other side of the defensive line, keeping my peripheral vision alert. He spit on the ground, not looking away from me. Well, that was just nasty.

"Hut!"

Alfie feinted a handoff, and I watched as 44 came after me.

Fucking idiot.

I waited until the last second before I went real low, grabbed his legs, and pushed up - flipping him over. I didn't wait to check on him, I just made a run for it. I easily caught up to Frisco, breaking tackles on the way. He caught the football just as he stepped foot in the end zone, making an eighty-yard touchdown.

Hell yeah!

I jumped and put an arm around Frisco's head, yelling in triumph.

The crowd roared in celebration. Cheerleaders jumped and did their flips, the coaches shook hands, and the school band started playing.