"I called your school this afternoon," My mother began. "Right after I had received your message. I was curious about what kinds of tryouts you could possibly be interested in. But the school secretary told me the strangest thing. Every team has already held it's tryouts except for football and cup stacking. You don't empty the dishwasher when I ask, let alone stack cups for a sport. So what could interest could you possibly have in the football tryouts? Certainly Jack didn't decide to play. That boy has two left feet if I've ever seen-"
"Mom, mom. Stop." I cut in, knowing this was like ripping off a stubborn Band-Aid and I had to get it over with quickly. "Jack didn't decide to play, I did."
Her eyebrows shot up. "You?"
I only nodded, afraid to say something wrong.
She sighed louder than normal. and rested her head in her hands. "Exactly what I knew you'd say and what I didn't want to hear. Maggie, I thought we had finally gotten this football bug out of your system! I cannot believe you would go behind my back like this. I'm sure you're going to make the team and then what? What am I supposed to do then?"
"Mom, nothing's been decided yet. And this has nothing to do with you. It's about me."
"It doesn't matter, Maggie. You're not playing football whether it's for Pine Creek or the Washington Redskins. No daughter of mine will engage in such an awful American pastime. Leave football to the boys. They're the ones who belong on the field, not you."
Though my heart sank with every word she said, I kept my voice strong. I knew I wasn't going to let this bring me down. "You cant stop me from playing."
"I can." My mom looked at me with here patented stare of steel. "And if I have to, I will."
There was no way I wasn't going to play if I didn't make the team. Her and Harry combined couldn't stop me from doing what I loved to do. My dad died playing this sport and so will I. Pretending there is no such thing as football was no longer an option for me. Unsure I could keep my cool much longer, I ran up the stairs to my bedroom and frantically punched the buttons on my cell phone.
"Yellow?" the voice on the other end said.
"Hey, Jase, It's Maggie."
"Well, hey there Miss Prescott. How are you doing?"
I liked Jase, my brothers roommate at the University of Virginia, from the moment I first met him, but I was in no mood to make small talk tonight.
"I'm fine. Can you get John for me? It's important. Thanks."
I could all but see the hurt expression on Jase's face from hundreds of miles away, but this couldn't wait. At first, I'd been stunned that my brother had decided to leave and go to college in Virginia. I'd felt like he had been deserting me when I needed him most.
"Maggie? What's wrong? Jase said you sounded sad about something." John said with his way of greeting me.
"Yeah.. I, uh... I did something today that-"
John interrupted me with a groan. "What? Steal something? Smoke pot? Kiss Jack?"
I grinned. "John, you know me better than... wait, did you say kiss Jack?" I broke off. "Oh please, I still think he's gay."
John laughed. "You might be right. Has he had his first kiss yet?"
"Nope, not yet."
"Okay, so then tell me. What terrible thing did you do?
"Mom got really mad when she found out, but I-"
My brother sighed angrily. "I told you to leave mom alone when I left. If you said something to her about dad, Maggie, I swear I'll-"
John, please! Let me finish. I tried out for the football team today."
"Oh! Maggie, that's great. I never thought you would get back into it again. How'd it go?"
"Really well. Michael Styles thinks I should start instead of Harry."
"That's incredible. If you make the tam, I'm definitely coming to see your first game."
"Virginia isn't exactly close you know."
"Well, maybe Mr. Styles will tape the game for me."
"Not if I'm playing."
"You know, I'm not sure how you managed to upset mom in all of this."
"Talk about football is to be avoided at all costs in this house."
"Is that all? Don't worry home about it." John replied. "She'll come around. I bet it all reminds her of dad and watching him play when they were together in school. I'm sure she'll be fine." He paused for a second. "You didn't wear dad's old Allitz shirt did you?"
"Yep."
"I wore that shirt when I tried out, too. Did Hedge knock you out for it? He told me my attire wouldn't make me not suck."
I laughed surprised I hadn't gotten the same remark from the infamously snooty coach. "Actually, he seemed kind of impressed."
"You told him you went."
"Well, yeah. I mean, I didn't tell him I participated or anything. But, hey, I've been to the clinic with Mom to pick you up, haven't I?"
"You're such a sneak." John laughed. "Hedge will like that if he ever found out. Anyway, I have to finish up some work and then there's this thing over at the frat house. I'll talk to you later, okay? Call me when you hear about the team."
"Sure. Love you."
I disconnected the call and sighed. My father had been a football legacy in Connecticut and maybe, just maybe, I'd have a shot at walking in his footsteps in New Jersey.
