The New Team

The Dream Team

Loud screaming echoed down the hotel hallway. Brandon screamed even louder as Max gained on him. Rowan peeked out of his hotel room. He stifled a laugh as Brandon ran into a door.

"Oh," Tom muttered, he had opened his door to see what was going on. He stared down at the cussing cornerback. Brandon glared at him. "Thanks for that, also I feel great, thanks for asking," Brandon muttered sarcastically.

Max slowed down, gasping for air between laughs. "Oh my god! Brand. You deserved that and you know it." Brandon waved a hand dismissively as Justin pulled him to his feet.

Joshua stared at them. "Guys, Coach called a meeting. He also said not to get a concussion doing anything stupid."

Everyone scrambled towards the stairs. They were not allowed to use the elevators because. 'You have two good legs.' -Jules Burbach. The team all hustled into the conference room. The coaches stared on as these grown men argued over seats.

Forest slid into a seat, almost knocking over Booker and Tyson.

Coach Herman cleared his throat, pausing the commotion. "Alright, we have an interview on the Cindy Anderson show tomorrow, not all of you need to go. Dress nicely."

...

Booker waved at the camera, anxiety spiking. "H-hello, my name is, is Booker Ross and I am the back-backup quarterback for the S- St. Louis Spears," he stuttered.

Forest sat next to him and glared at the producer who motioned for him to introduce himself. "Forest Wishmonger." He huffed reluctantly. Cindy, the host, cleared her throat awkwardly, "So, here we have Booker Ross and Forest Wishmonger. They're on one of the newest football teams, the St. Louis Spears."

Forest sighed. "Why am I here. I don't want to be. Booker, you said we were going to get food," he complained, glaring at his friend. "I was expecting jelly, not this..." Booker pulled shrimp out of his pocket. "What the-" Cindy murmured, raising an eyebrow.

"I don't question it anymore," Forest said, noticing Cindy's look.

"So, um, Booker. Tell us an interesting fact about yourself."

"I-I uh... I have at least f-forty-five siblings." Forest nodded.

"How-how do you have forty-five siblings?" Booker sighed, getting ready to explain.

...

Forest hopped up and pointed to a whiteboard, drawing little stick figures with an Expo marker. "So, Booker's dad and his ex-wife had his half-sister and half brother, then they got divorced. So, ex-wife remarried his dad's best friend and they had five children, they call Booker and his siblings quarter-siblings, they do the same. Booker's dad remarried ex-wife's best friend, Booker's mother, and they had four children. Then they decided they want another child. Then comes fertility problems so they got a sperm donor-."

Cindy cut in. "I hate to interrupt but, how do you know all this?" Forest shrugged. "We were best friends in high school and roommates in college."

Cindy nodded as Forest continued, "So. Booker's mom gets pregnant with quadruplets. Yay! Three died in the womb. Booker was the only one that survived. So come on years later Booker finds out that he has a ton of donor siblings, or, diblings. So far there are thirty-four of them but a new one appears every month or so. They all talk to each other in a group chat, one had a baby like a week ago. Booker can name all of them, including siblings."

Cindy raised an eyebrow towards Booker. "You can..?" Booker nodded and started listing off names, "Ashley, John, Jack, Travis, Kylie, Kyle, Jane, Mary, Layla, Ashlyn, David, Madison, Emma, Hailey, Nick, Elisabeth, Ben, Olivia, Norah, Milo, Asher, Henry, Felix, Clair, Julia, Caroline, Oscar, Leo, Ethan, Julian. Other Emma, other Ben, Dan, Aaron, Liam, Willow, Mabel, Lily, Other Ethan, other Hailey, Harper, Amias, Zachary, Lucas, and finally, Cassius."

"That is... impressive."

"Thanks." Booker smiled softly, eyes bright, "And once you turn 11, if you can name every person, you get an expensive gift. Usually something you've been wanting."
Forest nodded sat back down and nodded towards the camera. "Now when are we leaving, I want food."

...

After Booker and Forest's part of the interview was done, Ryan Thorton walked up to Booker, "45 siblings? Maaan, that's wack."

"Y-Yea.." Booker replied, beginning to grow anxious again, after his anxiety had just calmed down.

"Can you name them all again for me?" Ryan asked, genuinely. Booker closed his eyes. "Um, so, there's Ashley, J-John and Jack... Travis, K-Ky-"

They both turned at the words, "Ryan, on in 1." The producers motioned for him to come over. "Sorry dude, gotta go."

Booker sighed. "Thank God.." He murmured. He sat down, fanning himself with his button down shirt.

...

"Ryan," Cindy said, "tell me about the other new teams in your division."

"Well, our division is kind of all over the place.. The Juneau Mountaineers are a pretty good team. Pretty good coach."

Cindy nodded, "So, how do you feel about the transition from college to the NFL? Maybe your coaches?"

"Coach Herman. Real nice dude. Uh, well, it's a lot more- well there's a lot better players, y'know?" He said, "When we play the Jets soon, playing against better players who have been playing for longer."

"Mhm, yes, yes. How are you feeling about your game against the Jets soon? And your teammates, nice or no?"

"Not gonna lie, pretty nervous.. I'm really excited as well though. Uh, my teammates, all nice dudes.. Max Webb, pretty funny guy. We all get along well, as far as I can tell. Coaches are nice, teammates. We're like the dream team."

"All right, well, thank you Ryan, and your other teammates for being on the show. We're all super excited to see how The Dream Team plays with year." Cindy concluded with a smile, followed by clapping from her live studio audience. Ryan smiled, "Thank you for having me." He said. Once everything was all settled and over, Ryan headed backstage, a happy feeling. Tyson Hill, one of their wide receivers was there waiting for him.

"Hey, bro." Tyson greeted, fist-bumping Ryan. "Nice job."

"Thanks, dude. Dream team." Ryan replied, before walking back off.