A slow fall

Chapter 15 - Lucas

   I enjoyed playing football, had since I was a kid and Dad threw a ball around with me and Adam in the garden. The two of us have played ball together since then, so being on different teams and playing against him now was weird.

The mistake was mine really.

Football scholarships are time consuming, and my major equally so. But not taking the scholarship would've meant my parents forking out a lot of money I wouldn't be able to pay back for years, and not taking my major wouldn't have been true to myself.

I wasn't like Adam. I'd decided a few years ago that making it into the big leagues wasn't for me. It took me a while to decide what I wanted to do and where I wanted to be, the pull of football and the excitement of my high school teammates almost forcing my hand, but I figured things out.

Kind of?

Don't get me wrong, I still loved to play. I was beyond grateful to have been offered a place and playing as part of the team was euphoric, but first year was a big shock to my system.

Majoring in architecture alongside playing for the team was a time management nightmare, but since most people I spoke to thought I was an idiot, destined to fail, who should just change majors now and save myself the stress, I was desperate to prove them wrong.

I'd had many talks with the sports department and architecture lectures alike, all words of concern, but after I proved my commitment to them both, how much I wanted to succeed, they offered support instead.

It helped having them there when figuring out how to find time to do everything became such a challenge.

A few weeks into first year I had a breakdown and cried over the phone to Adam. It was slightly embarrassing to look back on, but being the organised freak he is, and the understanding and caring friends, he helped me find some semblance of balance.

The talk with the departments wasn't too long after that. Each worried I would fall behind my peers and not be able to catch up.

I didn't and this year I was going to make sure things went even better.

While it was still hard sometimes, I was thankful for sticking with it. I knew architecture was what I wanted to be doing and I wasn't ready to give up the team or the sport just yet.

"Drinks later?" Erik asked as we finished up practice.

"No can do E. I've got work to catch up on." This was one of the times I wondered if I had made the right decision. Turning down plans, missing out on things, but I did my best.

"Dude," one of the guys, Tyler, slunk his arm over my shoulder, "you always have work to do. Live a little."

"I do, just not right now. Maybe I can meet you all a bit later if you're still out?"

We'd only just started school again, but already my architecture class had been given our course work prompt to design a small-scale civic project. I had an idea for what I wanted to do, a brief thought I wanted to test out, and I was hoping to spend some time doing it before I was buried under the weight of impending deadlines.

Erik pulled Tyler off my arm, offering an understanding smile as he turned to face me. "Yeah, just send us a message when you're done and I'll let you know what's going on."

"What we talking about?"

Slowly we made our way back into the changing rooms. The mist from the showers drifting into the main room making them hot and humid, and loud laughter filling the air.

"Your mom."

"Ty, that ain't even funny." Bates grabbed his towel, "don't even joke about my momma or i'll whip yo' ass."