Behind the Game Face

celebrations

The bus ride home was as crazy as you'd expect for a bunch of girls who just made history winning a national title.

It was even crazier because coach put on the boy's football game on the little tv's for us to watch. Their game wasn't as exciting as ours considering they were in the fourth quarter with a minute left and winning by a good amount but it was still exciting to watch.

I had to have my leg propped up on one of the seats with an ice bag glued to my ankle for the next fifteen minutes...then fifteen minutes off...and then on...and to repeat this cycle until we got back on campus.

It would at least give me some relief to withstand the parade that was inevitably coming for us. I already saw tons of social media posts and comments about how we would be receiving a welcome back from the entire town alongside the football team.

Mr. True said the sprain didn't look too bad and that it was just highly irritated so within the next two to three weeks, I should be fully healed and even though our season was done, I was just glad it wasn't going to take any longer.

I was able to bear weight on it but the limp was evident.

Suddenly I was torn out of my thoughts as the team cheered loudly. Focusing my eyes on the TV, I smiled as the football team won their championship title as well. Quickly I grabbed my phone, shooting a quick text to Princeton.

-Congrats on the win Evergreen. I'm so proud of you. See you soon.

Turning my phone off, I looked back at the TV watching the football version of celebrating a national title. After they got their shirts and hat, along with their trophies and recognition. The screen cut to a live video.

"And here we have the quarterback who does it all, Princeton Evergreen!" The announcer had to scream for him to sound even a little normal on the mic and the cameraman was shaky due to the amount of people on the field.

But soon, the camera turned on a very sweaty, Princeton Evergreen. He had eye black smeared on his cheeks, his hair sticking to his forehead and the biggest smile on his face I'd ever seen. On top of his head was a national championship hat, similar to the one I wore right now.

With the way he had his mouth guard in between his teeth, it was clear he didn't know he was being filmed yet until he looked at the huge screen playing in the stadium. I ignored how sharp his jawline looked and the way his Adam's apple bobbed before he humorously looked at the announcer and then the camera, his spirit light.

"Not gonna lie to you Lil." Emma put her arms on my seat as she spoke over my shoulder from behind me. "But your man is looking fineeee."

"I was gonna say the same thing." Gabby laughed out loud as she was sitting across from me.

"Friends!" I reminded them, ignoring how true their statements were.

"Princeton, run us through the emotions you're going through right now. Nobody thought you'd do it again, but you've claimed the national title and broke even more records! How do you do it?" The reporter yelled.

"With the help of my teammates of course. This is a sport where it's really important to have your teammates backs and we wouldn't be here with this title if any of us performed less than what we knew we could give. It's such a blessing that we got this title but also we've worked so hard to get to where we're at and this game was just a testament of our hard work."