Crossing Worlds

Hot Head

I sat with my mom in the stands for the big game. I was annoyed we had to sit in the rain, and I made sure both mom and Lana knew about it. But, here I was, sitting in the bleachers soaked, rain gear means nothing when your cold, supporting my cousin and my school. Go me. I watched with everyone as Whitney dropped back to make a pass, patting the ball as he looked around. An opposing player broke through the line, but was tackled by our side. Whitney turned and ran and was tackled by another opponent making me cringe in pain. The coach called Whitney to the sides as the cheerleaders did their routine. I shook my head at the obvious harsh treatment the coach used before Whitney went back to the field. Both teams lined up for another play and, to me, it looked like Whitney was going to do the same thing as before. I watched him avoid a tackle before running forward and throwing the pass a second before being tackled by an opponent. The receiver jumped to make the catch and splashed to the muddy, soggy ground. Whitney had made a touchdown. Everyone screamed to celebrate the triumph before packing up and going home. Mom and I waited for Lana by the car who joined us once she'd collected all her things.

"Don't they normally cancel these things when there's bad weather?" I asked Lana once we got the car, and heater, going.

"Principal Kwan wanted to cancel, but Coach Walt told him they could play and win." Lana told us.

"Well, he was right." Mom said smiling.

"Yes, making people play in the rain while their families watch is the highlight of my day." I said sarcastically. "Be lucky if no one gets sick from sitting out there as long as we did."

"Everyone will be fine." Mom sighed and scoffed making her toss me a look.

"Ok, ok. I'll stop." I said raising my hands in defeat.

I was walking with Clark, Chloe, and Pete the day after the game with Clark holding a copy of the newest edition of the Torch.

"Football: Sport or Abuse?" Clark read off the page.

"So, what do you think?" Chloe asked him.

"I think you need to seriously decrease your Cappuccino dependency." He joked since she was holding a coffee in her hands making Pete laugh.

"Pete thinks I'm being too hard on Coach Walt." Chloe told him.

"The man coached my dad, all my brothers. He used to come over and watch the Super Bowl." Pete told us.

"You make me glad I'm not a guy or have a dad." I told him.

"Now, while I'm touched by that Hallmark moment, you don't get points for subtlety in journalism. I've already started getting hate mail." Chloe told us happily.

"You seem very happy about that. Why?" Clark asked her.

"Because it means I'm hitting a nerve. Besides, between the abysmal sentence structure and generous use of obscenities, I've got a pretty good idea of who's been sending it." Chloe said.

"If you think my teammates are reading the Torch, you're giving them way too much credit." Pete told her.

"Don't you even care about this?" I turned to see Lana and Whitney arguing.

"I don't see what the big deal is." Whitney told her grinning and shrugging it off.

"You don't think it's a big deal?" Lana asked him incredulously. "I think it's a big deal." She stormed away from him past us.

"Whoo! There's something you don't see every day! A pompom meltdown." Chloe laughed as a group of football players exited the building. "Ooh, ooh, here they come! Pete, I need a picture of the cheating jockstraps." She told him and he took a camera off his shoulder. We watched as the jocks and cheerleaders gathered around Coach Walt.