Not a Love Story

Seven // You Good?

Benjamin Jones

I was immediately engulfed in the electric energy filling the halls. I walked into school with Josh, both of us wearing a button up and khakis, standard game day attire.

"Hey, Josh." Cora sauntered up to us, wearing Josh's jersey. He swept her up into a kiss, earning a groan from Cal as he walked up to us and an eye roll from me.

"You ready, Jones? Heard there'll be some scouts out tonight." Cal said. I smirked and nodded.

"Hell yeah I'm ready." I replied, giving him a high five as we joined a group of other players.

"Dude, I'm fucking hyped for this game. With Jones we can do anything, am I right?" Josh said, lightly punching my arm. I rolled my eyes and smirked.

The conversation drifted around, mainly focused on football, but I felt myself searching the crowd of students in the hallway. I wasn't exactly sure what I was looking for until I saw him.

Ollie was at his locker laughing, a brunette I vaguely recognized laughing and talking with him. I felt my lips quirk up at the sight of him laughing and looking comfortable, relaxed. He always seemed a little on edge when we were studying.

"Yo, Jones. You good?" Cal asked me, nudging my arm. I ripped my eyes away from Oliver.

"Yeah all good." I replied, the bell ringing as he was about to reply.

By the end of the day, the adrenaline was starting to run through me. The locker room was loud with a speaker blasting a pre-game playlist Josh always played and everyone joking around and talking as we got ready.

"Alright, boys. Circle up, let's go." Coach said. The music stopped and we all gathered around coach. "It's the first game of the season. Let's start off on the right foot. We also have some important people in the crowd today, so you all better play your best and be on your best behavior. Make good impressions. Alright, let's get going. Jones, take it from here." Coach finished, gesturing towards me.

"Alright, boys! What're we gonna do?" I yelled.

"WIN!" they chanted.

"And how are we going to do it?"

"TOGETHER!"

"On three! One, two, three!"

"LET'S GO TIGERS!" we all chanted, jumping up and down as Josh resumed playing the hype up music. I jumped with everyone, trying to warm up and get in the right head space.

"Alright, boys! It's go time! Get out there!" Coach yelled at us. I started to jog out onto the field, the team following me as I led them out.

The stands roared as we jogged out onto the field. The stadium lights were bright and comforting. I smiled as we all started to warm up, sizing up the competition as we did so.

"They look better than last year." Cal said, throwing the ball between him and Adam across the field. I nodded as I threw the ball to Josh.

"Yeah. They've got a new quarterback." I responded. Cal hummed in understanding. The score board buzzed, signaling that the game was about to begin. We all jogged to the side of the field.

"Alright boys, warm up looked okay. They have a new quarterback, so all of you need to keep an eye out for him. Get your head in the game. Jones." Coach gestured to me. I nodded and started giving out directions to all the players.

"On the count of three, one, two, three!" I shouted.

"TIGERS!" the whole team shouted. I smiled and put my helmet on, clapping Cal on the shoulder as we headed to our positions.

The stands were shaking as the crowd cheered. I took a deep breath as I got in position, eyes on the ball. The ball snapped back to me, and we were off.

- - - -

The game ended a few hours later, all of us in a huddle jumping and cheering, celebrating our first win of the season as the other team headed back to the locker room.

"Good work everyone! We still have a lot to work on, but this was a pretty good first start. Go hit the showers. I'll see you all Monday." Coach finished, waving us off the field.

We headed back to the locker room, still jumping and cheering.

"Who's down to go to Cherry's?" Scott, another senior, yelled.

"Hell yeah!" Josh exclaimed, followed by noises of agreement from everyone else. I smiled as I started to take off my jersey and cleats.

"You going to Cherry's?" Cal asked as he unlaced his shoes next to me.

"Of course, dude. I wouldn't miss out on a post-game pizza celebration." I said, grinning.

A few guys piled into my car as we all headed down to the pizza place. We came roaring into the building, a few people congratulating us on our win. We all sat down at a big booth, pulling a few more tables and chairs up to fit everyone. A few girls joined too, including Josh's girlfriend who was practically sitting on his lap.

"Okay, okay settle down. What does everyone want?" I asked, standing up to take orders before heading to the counter. Once we finally settled on how many and what type of pizzas, I headed up to the counter.

"Hi. Can I get 5 pepperoni, 2 cheese, and 3 sausage and mushroom pizzas?" the cashier nodded, punching the order into the register.

"It'll be done in a few minutes. You can pick them up at the end of the counter." she told me, handing me my change. I nodded and thanked her, leaning against the counter and pulling out my phone to pass the time while I waited.

All of a sudden, I heard a familiar voice float through the diner. I slowly looked up, searching around the room. I finally saw him, sitting in the corner booth with the same brunette he was with this morning and a few other people. They were all laughing at a story one of the guys was telling, a nearly gone pizza in the middle of the table.

A soft smile formed on my face as I watched them. Suddenly, he looked over at me, our eyes meeting causing my stomach fluttering.

He gave me a lopsided smile and a small wave. I grinned back, giving a small wave back.

"5 pepperoni, 2 cheese, 3 sausage mushroom!" an employee called. I slid my phone into my pocket and looked away from Oliver.

"Yeah that's me. Thanks." I said, picking up the pizzas and heading to the table. I glanced over at Oliver again, seeing he was taking a bite of pizza as the brunette talked. I turned my attention back to the team, distributing the pizzas around the table, thoughts of Oliver still lingering in my mind.