[johnny's pov]
monday, october 8th
"great practice, boys!" my coach booms, standing by the door of the locker room as my football team files in. me, hayden, and carson bring up the rear of the line. hayden and i are punching carson's shoulder and teasing him about some girl we think he likes.
"hey." i feel a hand on my shoulder. "i need to talk to you, orlando." my coach says. i tense up and exchange a look with carson and hayden. they only shrug. "go on, boys." hayden and carson shuffle into the locker room with one last backwards glance at me.
"yes coach?" i run my fingers through my hair and feel it spike up with sweat.
"you were pretty freaking awesome today, john," he says with a smile. i sigh in relief and smile back at him. "but not good enough. there's gonna be a scout from michigan state college at our next game. my best bet is on you, john. we're talking full-wave to college, one of the best football teams in the country!"
"but coach, do you really think i have a shot?" i ask, my heart in my throat.
"yes, orlando, but you have to play even better than you did today. you have to put everything into this game." he breaks out into a smile again. "you have a good day, johnny."
"yes sir. thank you." my heart pounds as i turn around and head into the crowed locker room. full ride to college. wow. what could be better than this?
—
"lets go, come on." hayden says as i sling my bag over my shoulder. the locker room is nearly empty, and it's just us three. we head out, chatting amongst ourselves. i haven't told them about the scout yet.
"who was that girl you were talking to in the morning?" carson asks, a smirk coming onto his face. hayden snorts. we always tease one another about girls. it's sort of pointless.
"you don't know her? mackenzie ziegler. she's quiet and almost always alone, and she's cute, i guess, but she seems weird." hayden laughs.
i pause after hearing this. she seemed so chill and funny that i just assumed she had a lot of friends. "hayden, have you ever even talked to her?"
"no, but still." hayden insists. i narrow my eyes at him.
"hey, are we going to wait for the girls?" carson interrupts, sensing tension.
"sure." i shrug. nadia, emily and lauren are on the cheerleading team, and they practice on the same days as football does. most days, we wait outside of the locker room until the girls start to file out, as we are today. a few glance at us and smile. i look down and fidget with my phone case as carson and hayden smile back at them.
"hey." i see nadia's shoes come into my line of vision, under my phone. i smile and look up to meet her eyes. nadia has been my long term best friend. i've known her and hayden (and lauren, obviously) since i was really young— 3 or 4. we met carson in 7th grade, and emily in 9th. we've all stayed close, even now, in our junior year of high school.
"hi!" i greet nadia, pulling her into a quick hug. next i greet emily, and finally roll my eyes at lauren. having your sister in your friend group gets endlessly annoying.
"love you too!" lauren mocks, throwing over exaggerated kisses in my direction. i groan and turn to nadia.
"remind me why you're friends with lauren again?" i complain.
