Just Like That

6. "to be happy"

Grayson Reid Jansen

     TOOT! I blew hard into the whistle as I stepped onto the freshly cut field. The boys all ran off of the cold, hard bleachers and did a warm-up lap.

"Hey, Grayson," Frank, one assistant coach, shook my hand and then I shoved them back into the pockets of my black Adidas sweatpants.

"Sup," I licked my lips and squinted my eyes as the sun was blaring down on us.

"Tired," he asked me but already knew the answer so I just gave him a dead look and he chuckled,"hang in there."

I walked to center field where the athletes met me before starting to stretch.

Colson was busy talking and not looking so I threw the soccer ball straight at his chest. He lost his breath and scowled at me but stopped when I just flared back at him through my dark sunglasses.

"Alright, boys," I started my opening speech to boost their confidence and elevate their minds. They were like my sons and all I wanted was to lead them to victory.

Next, I watched closely as they did some drills and started to reminisce.

A hand suddenly fell on my shoulder so I turned to look at who it belonged to. It was Frank smiling down at me,"You miss it," he asked me. The answer was obvious so I just nodded and then walked away, blowing into my whistle.

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"See ya, coach," Colson said to me as he neared one of the girl's from the soccer team's car.

Already knowing what he was up to, I just waved briefly and went along with it.

Frank talked my ear off as I waited for Colson to get at the girl he liked this week.
I watched him make the girl smile and put her number in his phone before he let her get in the car with her friends and exit the back parking lot. Once she was gone, Colson ran over to me and got in the SUV.

Slowly, I put my seatbelt on as I gave him the look.

"What," he asked, frowning.

My head shook,"You're still embarrassed of me," I asked.

"Not embarrassed, just-"

"Embarrassed?" I repeated, already knowing he was.

"A little. Why can't you be someone else's brother? All these girls are so obsessed with you, they use me to get to you," he vented, tossing the ball in the backseat.

I slammed my foot on the brake and stared at Colson with my jaw clenched.

"Come on, man, get the ball. You know better," I sneered, letting the car roll back out of the parking space after he reached back and put the dirty ball in his grass-stained lap.

Colson relaxed in the passenger seat and went on to tell me about his day as I drove us home.

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Immediately after hopping out of the Jeep, my dad's black lab ran over to me, barking. He licked my palm and then circled my body as I walked to the front door with Colson.