One Of The Guys

Chapter 25

*******AN*******

Heyyyyyy. This story should be coming to an end soon. 😭😭😭 But I'll let you know when there are a few chapters left. There might be about 5-7 left. I don't think I'll be writing a sequel, but I will write an epilogue.

******Taylor POV******

I rest my head on his shoulder. I'm so worried about college. I want to go to college and play football so bad. But I can't let it bother me. I have a game to win. When the bus stops, I start to get up, but Jake pulls me back down.

"Hey. It's just a stop sign." He says, laughing a little.

"Oops." I say, blushing. The guys start laughing.

"We still have like an hour left." He says, smiling. I laugh and rest my head on his shoulder again causing him to kiss the top of my head. He isn't usually like this, but then again, I'm not either. He's my first boyfriend. I'm his second. Not that it matters. I sigh.

"Whatcha thinking about?" He asks, nudging me.

"Everything." I say, sighing again.

"Like??" He asks.

"You, me, college, the game." I say, glancing at him.

"1. Don't worry about college. 2. The game will be fine. And if we lose, its NOT your fault. 3. Don't think too much about my sexy body, it's too distracting." He says, smiling.

"Yeah, you're right. Again." I say, kissing him.

"Of course I am." He says when we pull apart. I let myself fall asleep on his shoulder.

"Taylor. Wake up." Jake says, shaking me gently.

"What?" I ask, confused.

"We're here. At the game." He says, frowning a little.

"Right. I'm focused. I was just groggy." I say, grabbing my bag and getting up. Jake gets his bag and follows me.

We walk off the bus with the rest of the guys. When we go to the locker room, we see the other team. They're all laughing and pointing at something. When we get closer, I see they're pointing at someone. That someone turns out to be me.

"She's a girl." Some guy yells.

"And you're a boy. What's your point?" I yell back.

"You can't play." The same guy yells.

"Fuck yeah, she can. She's the best quarterback and captain our school has ever seen." Garrett yells. That shuts them up. We pass them to get to the locker room.

"You have to go in there." One says, pointing to the girls.

"No, I don't. I'm allowed with the guys." I say back. They stare at me dumbstruck. Whatever. Jake slaps me on the back.

"Nice." He whispers. I grin. I go in with the guys and get ready. When everyone's done, coach gathers us in a circle.

"Okay. We need to play hard. This team is very good and will be our toughest competition yet." He says.

"We need to win to go into playoffs. So here's what we need to do....." He says, explaining everything.

"Pride on 3. Ready 1..2..3!!!" I yell.

"Pride!!!!" we scream, then we run out of the locker room. I'm leading them. Our fans cheer when we run onto the field. Our first string gathers in a circle, in the field.

"Okay, guys. We can do this. Just go out there and play hard." I say. They nod. Jake and I walk out to the center for the coin toss.

"Nervous?" He asks.

"Slightly." I reply.

"Shake hands." The ref says when we reach the center. I stretch my hand out, but they ignore it. Instead, shaking Jake's hand. The ref looks at me, but doesn't say anything.

"Sexist." I mutter.

"Excuse me?" He asks, his eyebrows shooting up.

"Nothing." I reply. He shakes his head.

"Away team calls it." He says.

"Tails." I say. He flips it, it lands on heads.

"We'll receive." One of the guys say, smirking at me. I don't know why he smirked, but whatever.

"We want this side." I say, pointing to the side that we came from.

"Okay. Panthers, you're kicking off. Knights, you're receiving." The ref says, blowing his whistle. Jake and I hustle back to our team.

"We're kicking off and we have this side." I inform them.

"Okay. You guys just play your hardest. And do your best. That's all I'm gonna ask for." Coach says. "Bring it in." I yell.

"Pride on 3. Ready 1...2...3!!" I yell.

"Pride!!!!!!!" We scream. Then we hustle out. (Okay. I'm not good at this football stuff. I'm really sorry.) By the end of the first quarter, we're up 21-14.

By half time, it's tied 29-29. Every one goes into the locker room. And Coach gives us a pep talk. We get back out on the field for the third quarter. Okay. We got this. The ball is kicked to us and we make it 20 yards before Zach gets tackled.

"Okay. Hike!!!" I yell. The ball is hiked to me and I'm moving, looking, trying to see who is open.

There's a 300 pound guy, barreling towards me. I start to panic so I spiral a pass to Garrett. I look back at the guy and he's no longer there, he's crushing someone on the ground. One of our players. I run over and push the guy off. It's Jake. He's unconscious.

"Oh my fucking God!!!!! We need a fucking ambulance!!!!!!" I scream.

Coach runs over to Jake, talking on his cell. Zach drags me away from Jake, but all I can picture is Jake's body, unconscious, bent at weird angles. I shudder and tell myself not to cry. Mike and Jake are the only people who have ever seen me cry. Other than this morning with the guys, but that was different.

I try to get Jake out of my head. But all I can see is that guy, barreling towards me. Jake must've tried to block for me, to keep me safe.

"Okay. Taylor. It's okay." Zach says.

"No. It's not fucking okay!!!!! Jake is going to the fucking hospital!!!! He could never recover or he could die!!!!" I scream hysterically.

But this time, Jake isn't there to hold me.