Touchdown | E.D. + E.C.

5: "I Have My Ways, Princess."

Emma's POV

The weekend soon became my brain Olympics as I desperately sought to come up with a central topic for the most important article I've ever written. The piece needed to not only show off my prowess as a sports analyst but my ability to tie together the athlete's life outside the game with their stats on the field. In a few short words: damn near impossible.

Oh, and the crazy proposition brought up by a cocky football player that would indeed change the rest of my senior year? How could I forget.

How could I be certain the remainder of my school year wouldn't completely be turned around if I took Ethan up on his offer? I wanted to help him, but I needed to be selfish for a single second and think about the effect on my life this deal may have.

"I can help you with any thing you may need, within reason of course." Ethan's words skipped around my head, as if taunting me.

I hadn't realized how frustrated the entire topic made me until the scrape of pencil against wood hit my ears. The torn sheet of paper in front of me reflecting my thoughts; I was torn between helping this boy mysterious to me and protecting my emotions, my future, and my heart.

Could I even fake date someone? After only ever dating one person, I felt drastically under prepared to jump straight into a relationship.

You wouldn't actually be dating him!  My subconscious reminded me. Why was I deliberating so hard over something that wasn't even real? I had goals of much greater importance I needed to reach before even worrying about dating anyone, let alone fake dating someone. First, I needed to find my muse for the artistic piece I needed to spin together in the next few months.

I stared at the wall, a battle of priorities raging inside my head, until an idea I hadn't even fathomed popped into my brain.

I knew exactly what I needed to do.

***************************************

I glanced down quickly at my watch as I slammed the door to my car shut. Good, I still had some time before practice was done.

The walk down into the bowl, where our football field and track were located, was one I took hundreds of times. I never had missed a home game for any sport, unless of course they overlapped. In those cases, I usually bounced back and forth between the games, sprinting across campus to ensure I saw as much of each game as possible.

The football team was spread throughout the field as the lineman, running backs, wide receivers, and other positions all practiced their specialized drills. The drills were designed to each positions; offensive lineman practiced their hand placement on the chests of the defensive line while wide receivers perfected their routes to within an inch.

I went almost unnoticed as I leaned against the fence closest to the wide receivers. My elbows and back touching the fence as I casually crossed my feet.

"Well if it isn't the little sportswriter herself."

I broke out into a huge smile, "Good to see you too Coach."

Coach Ramirez, a sixty year old with the energy of a young boy, approached me from where the other coached had gathered as they discussed the players.

"I'm still waiting on the day you'll get back on the field and play for me like you did in Pee Wee football, you were one hell of a quarterback as I recall."

"Well I'm sorry I didn't grow quite as big as the boys Coach," I laughed.

His smile greeted mine and the crow feet around his eyes returned to their usual position. Even after 10 years, there was only ever one time I remember Coach's smile not reaching his eyes. Coach Ramirez was just one of those people, anybody and everyone like him. He truly spread happiness and inspired me to do the same.