Playing the Game

Chapter 10: Saturdays

Chapter 10

Every Saturday morning following a game, Coach Turner takes the captains out for breakfast before heading into the school with the rest of the team.

And today was no exception.

Reggie, Garret, and I were squeezed into one side of the booth at the diner and Coach Turner sat opposite us, eating his meat lovers omelette and drinking his chocolate milk.

Nobody usually came in the diner this early, save a few parents or so.

But today, the diner was suddenly alive with noise as four people came inside.

Elizabeth's hair was the first thing to catch my eye and a smile spread across my face.

"Elizabeth!" I called, completely interrupting Coach's sentence.

I didn't even know what he was saying.

Elizabeth glanced over at us and her face broke into a huge grin.

She grabbed her brother's arm and towed him over towards us. The two other guys followed like lost puppies, looking completely out of place in here.

"Hey guys." Elizabeth grinned. "Coach Turner, nice to see you again."

"Von Batton, hello." Coach Turner grinned.

"Tommy, this is Coach Justin Turner." Elizabeth said happily.

All three of the guys perked up at that.

"No shit!" The blonde one exclaimed.

"Matty." Elizabeth hissed, glaring at him.

He shut up quickly.

"You guys all had my brother back in Jersey?"

"Yes sir." Elizabeth's brother nodded. "Wow we've heard so much about you."

"Likewise. Which one of you guys is the quarterback Hank's so proud of?" Coach Turner asked.

Matty raised his hand sheepishly, a small smile forming on his face.

"I saw game tape from your state game last season. You've got one hell of an arm on you." Coach Turner nodded. "All of you guys killed it in that game, except for the injuries of course."

Elizabeth's face went pale. Even her freckles seemed to disappear as she shifted her stance.

The three guys looked at her nervously, as if they sensed something was wrong.

"I saw you guys playing last night, you were good." Tommy spoke up, covering for his sister's silence.

Reggie snorted. "Coming from a city kid, sick." He shook his head.

"Watch it." Coach Turner snapped.

"Well I just wanted to introduce the guys to you. Coach Hank loves talking about you." Elizabeth grinned. "But we'll leave you guys to your meal."

Her eyes met mine and she gave me a bright smile before heading off with the guys.

Garret shook his head, shoving food into his mouth.

"I love how they tried telling us we played good. Like we don't know that." Reggie muttered, leaning back in his seat.

"Watch it." Coach Turner repeated. "That group has just as many state rings as you three do."

Reggie snorted into his food but didn't say anything else as he took a big bite.

Garret leaned back against the booth, shaking his head.