One Of The Guys

Visit Day

Over the week, me and Noah work up our friendship and we get closer. I surprisingly talk dad into allowing me to go with him and his mother to Oxford. Dad is gonna drive with us to Baton Rouge and tour the campus, then drive us to the closest airport and meet his mom there and fly to Oxford.

This was it today. Today I am visiting LSU!

It takes several hours to drive to Baton Rouge. The whole way me and Noah are messing with each other, acting like siblings do on long car trips.

When we got to the campus I shrugged my jacket off to reveal my #81 jersey. #81 has been my number since I was a little kid and every sport I played I made sure I was #81.

I was wearing jeans and a purple tank-top under the white jersey and dad was wearing his purple polo. Noah was not sporting any team, just a simple grey Nike shirt and some sweatpants.

We met up with Mr. Ryle at the main office in the athletics department. He showed us around campus, showing me the dorm I would be staying in, the hot spots on campus and all that jazz. I started paying attention when he started leading us to the stadium.

We walked through the tunnel that the team does, and the moment my feet hit the field, I dropped to a knee and stuck my hands the grass running them back and forth over it, loving the feeling, smiling.

"Addi you can check the fertilizer later," Noah jokes.

"Shut up." I say, standing up and wiping my hands on my jeans. I hear some laughter and turn to my left. There stands probably about half of the team.

A player starts walking forward and I recognize it as #78 Kale Herndon. He's a freshman this year and his position is tackle, and he also happens to be about 6'8".

"Hi, I'm Addison," I offer, sticking out my hand. He shakes it firmly and smiles at me.

"Kale. So are you the quarterback we've been hearing about? Or is there another girl coming up here after you?" He jokes. I nod.

"No, I think I'm the only one. So where is the rest of the team?" He laughs.

"Some didn't want to come early and meet you. But the rest of us decided to give you a shot and see what you got." He says.

"Come on, we go things to do. You can flirt later," A guy says, slapping Kale on the back.

#4 Justin Hurley. He's a freshman quarterback, he's from Shreveport, and is about 6'3".

"There's no flirting going on," Noah pipes up from behind me. I elbow him in the gut and that shuts him up.

"Ignore him." I say quickly.

We walk towards the other players and a few come up and introduce themselves. #14 Corey Thatcher, he's a redshirt freshman, also a quarterback, and is 6'4". He also plays on LSU's baseball team.

#47 Eric Holley, redshirt junior kicker, is a whopping 6'7", and is from Denton, TX.

All the guys tower over me. Some are smiling at me, others are glaring. And then some just look plain bored.

And I almost faint when the head coach walks on the field. He shakes my hand firmly and looks me directly in the eyes. He has me run some simple plays, and just so some skills.

"I really like what I see Williams. Just keep your grades good and I'll hopefully be seeing you in the fall."

I think I might possibly hyperventilate. The guys shake my hands and then dad says we need to start heading to the airport.

I'm smiling the whole ride. When we meet up with Noah's mom, I shake her hand Noah introduces us quickly, then we start going through the process of getting to our gate.