My Solution (Jelix)

Chapter 1

*Felix's POV*

Life always has a way of making things complicated. No matter what you decide you're going to do, destiny has the ultimate choice of what's really going to happen. That's why good people die young and smart people are unsuccessful.

Now, I'm not saying we shouldn't take responsibility for our actions and blame the world for our problems. Most of us still have a say in the way things unfold. I'm just staying that some things that happen are out of our control.

The harsh chirp of a whistle brought me back to reality. The play was in action and the football laid in my hands. I reached my arm back and threw the ball, propelling it toward the wide receiver. His hands clasped around it and he ran down the field, scoring a touchdown.

Practice continued like this for hours. We practiced various plays and our half of the team won the game. My friends and teammates gave me high fives and we all headed towards the locker room. Before we got there, though, a loud voice called for me.

"Kjellberg!" Coach Smith yelled.

"Yes, Coach?" I asked politely.

He pulled me away from the other boys and continued in a hushed whisper. I couldn't tell if the look on his face was one of concern or anger.

"Are you aware that you're failing Algebra 2?"

"Yes."

"That's a problem, Felix. School rules say that academics come before sports. If you don't bring your grade up soon I have to kick you off of the team."

"What?!"

"I don't want to lose my star player. Get those grades up," was all he said before turning around and going to his office.

I stormed into the locker room and angrily twisted my combination lock until my locker door flew open. Sighing, I changed out of my uniform and back into my casual clothes. After I was done I slammed the locker closed and leaned against the cold metal.

This couldn't be happening. There was no way I'd be able to get my grades up; algebra was like a foreign language to me.

"What's wrong, Felix?"

Mark Fischbach approached me from the other side of the locker bay. Mark was an Asian boy with bright red hair and glasses. His body looked extremely fit and muscular, but in reality he wasn't very good at sports; he was merely a benchwarmer on the team.

He wasn't very popular with the other guys on the team because he was kind of awkward, but I would talk to him. I hated how some of the players thought they were better than other people. Mark had always been nothing but nice to me and never gave me any reason to dislike him.

"Well, I'm failing math, and unless I somehow magically bring my grade up, Coach has to kick me off the team."

"I think I might be able to help," he grinned.

"Are you some kind of math genius?"

"No, but my friend Jack is."

"Jack?"

"Y'know, green hair," he motioned to his hair.

"Oh, that shy smart kid."

"Yeah! He could totally help you."

"It's worth a shot. When do you think he could help me?"

"Tomorrow afternoon in the library should be fine. Just between us, he doesn't have much of a social life."

"Alright. Thanks, man. I owe you one."

"No problem, " he smiled, "You're, like, the nicest guy on the team. I don't want you to be replaced."

"Oh god, I didn't even think of that. If I'm kicked off then Chris takes my place."

"Chris is a douche," he chuckled slightly.

We left the locker room and headed towards the parking lot. The sun was shining harshly as we made our way down the gravel path. I used my sleeve to wipe off the beads of sweat from my forehead.

Mark jumped on his bike and I climbed into my car. It was nothing fancy, but it got me from Point A to Point B. As I drove home my mind kept wandering to my conversation with Mark. Would his dorky friend really be able to drill all these formulas and terms into my stupid head? I guess I was going to see.