The Game Plan

4

"Britt Manning to the athletic office." It was Monday morning, and I was sitting in my math class.

I looked up from my math worksheet. My teacher nodded at me from her desk and I grabbed my bag before walking out the door.

"Hello?" I asked, looking into the office. Coach and Mr. Goodman - the athletic director - were both sitting next to two empty chairs. One of them I am assuming was for me.

"Hey Britt." Coach smiled at me.

"Is this about the game? I swear I watched them and I made sure nothing stupid happened. We were just watching!" I said, thinking this was about going to the Fort Worth game.

"What?" Coach asked.

"This about the Fort Worth game right?" I asked, looking between the two men.

Just as Coach was about to answer, the door opened and another man walked in.

"This must be the woman of the hour!" He said, smiling at me.

"This is George Braden from Fort Worth. He's their athletic director." Mr. Goodman explained.

Oh thank God. This was probably a quick meeting about the championship.

"Hi Mr. Braden, nice to meet you." I smiled and reached out to shake his hand.

"Well she's definitely your quarterback." He laughed, noticing the calluses on my hands.

I smiled but cringed inside. They helped with grip, and I was never embarrassed before now.

"Britt," Mr. Goodman started, "George is here to talk about the state game in a few weeks."

"Okay, what about it?" I asked. Mr. Goodman and Coach shared a look and Mr. Braden had a smug look on his face.

Nothing about that smile made me trust him.

"Well, Britt, it seems that Fort Worth has some concerns about this game." Coach started. I looked at him, confusion written all over my face.

"What are they?" I asked, looking from one man to the next.

"Well darling, my boys don't think its a fair match up." Mr. Braden said. My skin crawled when he called me 'darling'.

"Is it because of Cole? He really just taught me to throw. I don't get special coaching." I explained and he laughed out loud.

"It's because you're a girl." He said, his words slapping me across the face.

"Excuse me?" I asked, narrowing my eyes.

"Listen sugar, you can't expect us to believe you have led this team to states. You just can't. We're requesting an investigation." He said.

I have been raised to be polite to everyone I meet. At that moment I wanted nothing more than to slap that smug smile right off of his face.

Sensing my thoughts, Coach reached out and patted my shoulder.

"And we encourage you to do that, because we have nothing to hide." He said, politely. I on the other hand wanted this Mr. Braden to take that investigation and shove it up his-

"Britt, you can go. Have a nice day." Mr. Goodman smiled at me.

I got up and practically ran out of the office. Once I was out of the gym, I leaned against the wall and closed my eyes.

Do. Not. Cry.

I pulled out my phone and sent my mom and dad a quick text explaining everything.

There was absolutely no way the team could know about this. Those guys had my back through thick and thin, but I couldn't live with myself if they knew I was the one thing standing between them and their dream.