lost in space

fifteen

john was one of the first on the field at tryouts. he noticed greg sitting on the bleachers, watching him. the entire time, john stayed in the back an it worked until the coach told them to line up and he divided them into teams. he wasn't on jim's, or alex's or dennis's, which was good because they all hated him. he was on the new kids team, sven. he was tall and had some what of a russian accent, and he was nice to john. he introduced himself to john then talked with him while they waited to go on the field.

john impressed everyone. they all thought he was just some pathetic boy, that's how jim described him, but he was quick and good with his foot work which caught the coaches attention.

when they went against jim's team was when john lost his train of focus. sven had called him out and passed the ball to him then him came running up to john and shoved him roughly into the ground, taking the ball.

"foul!" the coach called, blowing his whistle.

"aw c'mon!" jim exclaimed. "i didn't push him!"

"look who's behind me, james." the coach said, gesturing his head.

greg stood behind the coach, holding up a pair of handcuffs, scowling jim.

"take five everyone!" the coach called then blew his whistle twice. "after break we work on core and strength."

john stood up, brushing the dirt off of himself as he looked down at the cut on his knee. he walked over to the bench and sat on the opposite side of everyone else, grabbing his water bottle and washing the dirt out of his cut.

"alright, mate?" sven asked as he sat next to john.

john nodded. "yeah."

"guy's a prick." sven said as he looked at the other end of the bench. "is he on probation or something? what's with the officer?" he asked john.

"uhhh, sort of." john said. "there's a restraining order between him and i so there has to be an officer present." he said and looked at sven.

"a restraining order?"

"yeah." john said then stood up. "he's a prick, like you said." john said and glanced over at jim. "just stay away from him. he's not worth it."

"note taken." sven said and stood up with john. "wanna grab some food after this?" he asked.

"yeah, sure."

sven smiled. "great."

the sound of a whistle being blown three times interrupted everyone's break. three times meant four laps around the field and everyone got up and started running.

"you did good out there today." greg complimented john, patting him on the shoulder.

"thanks." john said and looked down at his feet quickly. "sven asked if i wanted to get some food with him, so i'm gonna go with him if that's alright."

"yeah! totally!" greg said with a smile. "i'll be here tomorrow and if jim gives you any shit during school, text me. i'll take care of it."

john nodded. "you got it."

greg patted his shoulder again before turning and heading to his car.

since sven was new, john chose the place. it was just a small pizza place with excellent pizza. they got a pizza then went to john's, eating it there.

"so how long have you been here?" john asked sven as he handed him a beer.

"a few months." sven said then thanked him. "i don't go out much except for school because my parents are very protective of me."