Bro Code

Chapter One - Alex

There were a lot of things I should have been thinking. I should have been thinking about the form of the midfielder and how I was going to train a goalie if I suddenly couldn’t play. I should have been thinking about how Sam was most likely going to sit the entire season out again and about whether or not I should help Jason in looking for decent forwards. But no, the only thing I could think was God, it’s hot.

And it definitely was. It was a the last week of May, exactly a day after school let out for the summer, and it was 90 degrees. Coach Newman wasn’t even on the field. Of course, being that he was 48 and had a stomach the size of the moon, he wasn’t on the field much other than to yell at the referee. He’d left tryouts to Jason, the team captain, and me, the “best goalie of my generation.” Of course, he could very soon be losing his ultimate goalie. Hence the reason I was looking for someone to train.

Basically, one of my kidneys has not fared well in my short life. Since birth it hasn’t functioned right. Any damage could lead to dire consequences. I was told not to do a lot of physical activity after my thirteenth birthday two years ago, but I ignored the many doctors. See, soccer is one of the very few things I’m actually good at. I can’t give it up just because of a stupid kidney.

“Alex!” Jason shouted. He was on the other side of the field, watching some freshman dribble a ball through three cones. “Get your ass over here!” He continued, waving his clipboard impatiently. I slipped my cleats on and took a drink from my water bottle before jogging over to him. A ball flew past my head, and I immediately dropped to the ground. My right knee sunk into one of the many mud puddles covering the field from last nights first summer storm.

“Sorry, Alex!” A voice yelled from the side of the field. I waved off the two boys who tried to help me up and brushed the mud from my knee. Unfortunately all I did was smear it into my shin guard. I groaned and hoisted myself up, only to jump out of the way moments later as another ball flew past. I quickly crossed the distance left to Jason and fell onto the damp grass beside him.

“We’re supposed to get a team out of these amateurs,” Jason said loudly. He earned a few glares from our future teammates but he ignored them. “I mean, I see no one that could make half as good of a goalie as you are. You sure you can’t make it through this season?” He asked, running a mud covered hand through his blonde hair.

I sighed. "I'm definitely going to try. The deal with coach was that I play against the harder teams and the backup against the easier ones."

"Easy teams can still score goals," Jason pointed out. "That is, against anyone but you."

"You guys act like I'm the superman of soccer or something," I groaned. "It's not like I'm better than the professionals. I'm 15, for God sakes. I'm not the goddamn soccer god."

"Hell yeah, you are!" Jason shouted. "You only let in three goals all of last season!"

I opened my mouth to respond, but he cut me off.

"And don't you dare say it's luck. You know damn well it isn't," He continued, dropping his voice so only I could hear him. "And none of these deadbeat freshman are going to succeed you. I don't give a shit about any of them. You need to play these games. If you hurt your kidney, I'll personally give you mine."

"I think I'd rather die than take your inner organs, but I appreciate the offer," I laughed. "And thanks, by the way. You're a kickass forward, if I do say so myself."

"Please," Jason smirked. "You think I don't know that?"

"Jackass," I snorted.

"Hey, pansies!" Jason and I immediately leapt to our feet as Coach Newman walked over, his gut barely contained under his Oak Crossing soccer t-shirt from three years ago. He came to a stop in front of us, shaking his finger in our faces. "I left y'all in charge for a reason," He shouted. "And that reason was not to sit around and gossip! Get back to work!"