NATALIE

Week 1

"We've gotta make a touchdown."

Cody, our quarterback, shakes his head. "It's risky, Coach. How 'bout a field goal? We can still win with that."

Our team's currently only down by a point. The scoreboard flashes 36 - 35. It's visitor vs home, Aerbruscht High School vs Ambitions Preparatory High School. Winning and Not-Winning.  

"But think about how impressive it would sound!" Coach Jones tries to convince us. "Imagine the school paper title! 'Sophomore Football Team Wins Game by Scoring Touchdown Within the Last Minute'. Maybe something catchier than that, though. That's a really long headline."

Cody shrugs before turning to the rest of us. "Whadya think, guys? We've got forty seconds left on the clock, can we make it?"

"Nathan can do it!" someone calls out, and suddenly, all eyes are on me.

What? No. Don't make me do it. Some stupid glory isn't gonna make getting up worth it.

There's a beat of silence before everyone starts agreeing. "Yeah, Richard's right! Nathan's the only one who can outrun their defense."

But my section of the bench was just starting to get warm...

"So we sub Nathan in, I'll throw to him, and he wins for us," Cody summarizes. Everyone, other than me, chimes in with their approval.

Coach, don't make me get out there. Oh wait, right, you hate me and love victory. What the hell was I thinking. I press my lips together, deciding that this is a battle that I'll lose without fighting. 

Coach nods. "Alright, then! Mills, you're in. Torres, you sit out. Let's crush them!"

My entire team cheers. I hope you guys know that I hate every single one of you. Especially you, Richard. Fuck you, Richard.

The team watches me carefully. I stand up and walk over to them. I smirk, communicating to them that yeah, I've totally got this. My expression's radiating confidence, but I'd much rather be back in my spot on my bench.

I mentally sigh and put my hand out. The rest of my team stacks their hands on top of mine.

I take a moment to glare at Richard before addressing everyone else. "Okay. Let's do this."

They all cheer again. Cody grins and claps me on the shoulder.

We break up our huddle, and Santi goes over to my bench. The rest of us jog to our positions on the field as the other team waits for us impatiently. I take my place as a wide receiver.

The whistle blows, and everyone holds their breath.

"Hut!"

Cody throws the football. I catch it, and then I'm running.

I block out the screaming from the stands. I sprint around the other team's players and zigzag down the field, too fast for them to react. One of the defense starts chasing after me, and he starts gaining on me. But before he can catch up to me, I cross into the end zone. Noise floods my head as I smile and hold the ball up proudly for everyone to see. Touchdown.

The bleachers are erupting. It's so loud. Nobody needs that much school spirit, but hey, I guess I'm not the one losing my voice.

My team runs over to me, and once someone pins me to the ground, they all pile up on top me. They're probably congratulating me, but I can't make out any words because I'm focusing on finding oxygen.