Playing the Game

Chapter 15: Biochemical Engineering

Chapter 15

My blood was pounding in my ears as I stared across the field.

The cheerleaders were on the other practice field. Kylie and Jessa were teaching Elizabeth some of the drills but it seemed like a hell of a lot more giggling than actual cheering.

The other girls were just laying around on their phones, their coach nowhere to be found.

Was Elizabeth serious about Jessa?

Was she really going to Michigan next year?

To study biology or whatever the hell Elizabeth said?

That's absolute bullshit and that's not the Jessa that I know...

But maybe I was wrong.

I glanced at the other cheerleaders who I usually brushed off as bimbos with the same shallow aspirations that I used to associate Jessa with.

But now Elizabeth had me rethinking everything.

How many of those girls were actually smart?

How many of them were actually going places in life?

Jessa sure had her life figured out more than I did...

"McKinley!" Coach Turner yelled, drawing my attention back to him.

I suddenly realized that everyone else that had just been in the huddle had gone back to the field already and were waiting on me with annoyed expressions.

"Shit." I muttered. "Sorry, Coach!" I called, tightening my grip on my helmet as I jogged out to the field.

He gave me an annoyed look but I just shot him a smile, stuffing my helmet onto my head.

But I couldn't focus for the rest of practice.

Elizabeth had seriously messed with my brain and everything was put into perspective now.

"Yo, we're heading out with the girls, you coming?" Garret asked as I pulled my bag over my shoulder, about to leave the locker room.

"What girls?" I frowned skeptically, not wanting to get sucked into hanging out with

"Do we ever hang out with any girls besides the usual?" Reggie raised his eyebrows, holding the door open for me to leave.

"It's a reasonable question, man." I sighed, rolling my eyes.

"Damn, what's up your ass today? You've been a total space cadet all week." Reggie frowned.

I shrugged, pushing my hair back from my face.

"I dunno, just been up in my head a lot." I replied simply. "I'll meet you guys there?"

Twenty minutes later I was squeezed into a booth in between Reggie and Garret with Kylie and Jessa opposite us.

Why the two small girls got an entire side of the booth while I was squished in with two other broad football players was beyond me, but for some reason this is how it happened.

I was completely zoning out, staring across the room at an old 'help wanted' sign in the window.

The edges were frayed and it was hanging slightly off balance, underneath the 'open' sign that was flickering ominously as if it were about to go out.

But this diner was the best place to hang out and nobody would ever dare comment on the shabbiness of it.

The door opened and the bell rang, snapping me out of my trance.