Chapter 20

Nationals. This was Nationals. 

“Good luck sweetie, we’ll be in the stands.” My dad told me, giving me a one armed hug as we got to the school. 

“Thank you guys so much for coming, it really means a lot to me.” I smiled, giving my mom a hug. 

My parents and I had really been making progress over the past three weeks. I did my best to join in on the family events, while my parents did their best to appreciate my love for football. 

I even spent an hour one Saturday afternoon teaching my mom and sisters the basics of football. My dad and I played catch in the backyard, I was beyond shocked when he offered. But I was even more shocked when he was actually good and I discovered that he used to play in high school. 

My sisters and I even had a movie night downstairs in my room. We watched 21 Jump Street and Pitch Perfect. I’m not sure how those two movies were chosen, but I’d like to think that we had a pretty good time. 

And in the past three weeks, I’d been completely happy. Except, of course, for the times that I thought about Dylan. 

“I’ll see you after the game. Love you!” I called over my shoulder as I walked towards the locker room doors. 

I walked in with a huge smile on my face, ready to win this game. But as my eyes rested on an unexpected visitor, the smile dropped off of my face. 

Dylan was there. 

I turned around and walked right out of the locker room, my heart beating fast. 

“Sam?” Nate asked, walking out after me. 

“Oh hi.” I gave him my best smile. 

“You okay?” 

“Just wonderful.” I managed, leaning against the opposite wall. “Just fucking wonderful.” 

“Want to talk about it?” Nate offered. 

“Not particularly. I’m just going to go change into my stuff.” I muttered, walking back into the locker room. My heart was racing a million miles an hour as I walked to the back where I always change. 

This was happening. He was here. In the same room as me. At the game. 

Once I was in my uniform, I took a deep breath and prepared myself for what was about to come. 

“So! Dylan! How’s your head?” I asked with a smile, walking towards him. 

I’d conveniently avoided practice when he’d shown up. 

Dylan studied me for a moment before smiling. “Much better, yea. If it wasn’t for my ankle, I’d be cleared to play.” Dylan nodded, motioning down to the grey walking boot on his foot. 

“Oh yea that sucks.” I frowned, my fingers braiding my hair back into a french braid. 

“What the hell Sam did you straighten your hair?” Ryan laughed from behind me. 

“Nah Sadie did it. It was the least I could do considering her and Sarah wanted to get me all dolled up like they’d be at their form of nationals.” I laughed. 

“Sadie and Sarah? As in your sisters?” Luke raised his eyebrows. 

“You actually talked to them?” Ryan asked. 

“Like a civilized conversation?” Nate looked shocked. 

“And a straightener was involved, not with the purpose of hurting someone else?” 

“Shocking, I know. But yea we’ve been really cool with each other these past few weeks.” I laughed with a smile. 

“Alright boys, and girl, huddle up.” Coach said, calling us all around him. 

I stood in between Nate and Ryan. 

“Wait!” I gasped. “It’s the last game for the seniors!” I frowned, looking at Ryan. 

“Yea.” He playfully pouted. “Sad right?” 

“I’ll miss you!” I exclaimed, throwing my arms around him. Everyone laughed at my out of character show of emotion. 

“Aw Samantha... I’ll miss you too.” Ryan laughed, patting my back. 

“Alright, enough girl.” Coach teased. “I’ve got some bad news and good news for next season.” 

I gulped. What was the good news? 

“Which one do you want first?” 

“Good.” We all said in unison. Wow, something that we actually all agreed on. Shocker. 

“My son, Andrew, will be joining this team next year.” Coach said with a proud smile. “Him and his mother are uh, they’re moving back here...” 

“You have a son?” I asked in shock. 

Coach glanced at me, something flashed behind his eyes for a moment. Maybe he had bad history with his son?

“Yea I do. He’ll be a senior next year.” Coach nodded. 

“Alright well what’s the bad news?” Nate frowned. 

“Sam’s leaving us.” 

Silence. I looked down at my feet, crossing my arms across my chest. 

“Like hell she is. Don’t play tricks on us, Coach.” Luke said suddenly. 

“Her dad’s moving to DC, and she has to accompany her family.” Coach explained. 

I felt sick to my stomach. I felt awful for deserting my team like this...

“That’s bullshit. You’re messing with us right? Some joke before Nationals? Well it’s not funny. Cut the crap coach.” Nate said, panic in his voice. 

“He’s telling the truth.” Dylan spoke up, his voice quiet. 

Everyone looked at him. 

“You guys seriously think we’d break up if there was the slightest possibility that she could stay in Michigan?” Dylan raised his eyebrows. 

“What the fuck Samantha?!” Ryan exclaimed, looking at me. 

I was suddenly on the receiving end of lots of angry football players and their not so nice words. 

“Oi! Silence!” Coach yelled, calming down the group. “It doesn’t matter if there is a way that Sam can stay with us, she doesn’t want to be on the team anyways.” 

I clenched my jaw. “That’s not true.” I muttered. “I’d give anything to be on this team still.” 

“Just not your dad’s presidency.” 

“Me being on this team has nothing to do with his presidency.” I snapped. “I’m going to move to DC with my family because they’re my family and I’m sorry but being without a family even for a few months fucking sucks so I’m going to do whatever I can to keep them.” 

Coach sighed. “Sam, we’re your family.” Coach said seriously. 

“That’s bull and you know it.” I muttered. 

“Anyways! We’ve got a game to get ready for! Nationals are home for us this year boys. Not let’s bring home the title!” Coach cheered. 

Silence. 

“I’m not playing if Sam’s not coming back next year.” Nate said, putting down his helmet. 

“Me neither.” Luke agreed, shaking his head. 

A few mumbles of agreement rose up around the locker room. 

I felt anger boil up in me. 

“Pick up your fucking helmet Nate. Luke don’t be a bitch.” I muttered. “We’re playing that game like it’s any other game for the past three years, and don’t do anything stupid because this is the national title that’s on the line tonight.” 

“No. I’m not playing unless you’re coming back next year.” 

“Well then the Cobras are going down in history as the team that forfeited because their two receivers were being bitches and wouldn’t play.” I snapped, glaring at them. “You think I want to move to DC? No. No I don’t. But I don’t have a choice. I can’t just keep living with Dylan’s family forever!” 

“Well actually-” 

“Shut up Dylan. I can’t stay with anyone else from the team, because anybody who knows me knows that I’m a pain in the ass to deal with. I need to be with my family and my family is going to be both in DC and right here in this locker room. You are my family. You’re my football family. And I love every single one of you to bits, some more than others, but still, you all mean the world to me. But my real family? They mean so much more than you ever could. Because they’re the ones that took me in when my biological parents didn’t give two shits about me. These are the people that cared for me for the past 13 years even though I wasn’t really theirs.” I explained. “And I think that- Wait what.” I frowned as Coach briskly walked out of the locker room, slamming the door behind him. 

Everybody watched the door behind him. 

“What the hell just happened?” Ryan asked. 

“I’ve never seen him leave like that before a game.” Nate muttered. 

The locker room stood in shocked silence for a moment. 

“Um, everybody finish getting dressed. We’re playing this game no matter what.” I said, standing up on a bench. “And if anybody’s got any shit to take up with me, do it to my face rather than refusing to play. Because we’ve got an entire student body and city out there rooting for us to bring home the national title again.” I said, putting my hands behind my head. 

We warmed up in the hallway outside of the locker room, as I wasn’t sure whether or not we were allowed to go out to the field yet, and coach had yet to return. 

But by the time I heard the marching band playing on the field, meaning it was time for us to run out, coach still hadn’t returned. 

“Sam you’ve got to lead us out there.” Nate told me quietly. “Coach is gone.” 

“What?” 

“My sister just texted me, said his car’s not in the parking lot anymore.” Nate shook his head. 

I felt the blood drain from my face. 

“Team!” I called, bringing their attention to me. “We’ve got the toughest, most important game of the year ahead of us, and Coach isn’t here.” I said, trying not to let the panic I was feeling show. 

A nervous chatter rose up. 

“Hush for a moment.” I said, clapping my hands twice. “We’re still going to go out there and kick some ass, because we’re the fucking cobras!” I called. 

I was met with half ass cheers. 

“I can’t hear you! What are we?!” I yelled at them. 

“Cobras!” 

“What are we?!” I yelled again. 

“COBRAS!” 

“Let’s go kick some ass!” I yelled as we ran out of the back doors to the path that lead to the field. 

We took the field, yelling and screaming louder than we ever had. And the crowd in the stands reciprocated, yelling and screaming louder than I’d ever heard them. 

But the real shock came when the announcer called out the names of everyone on the team. This was my first game where everybody knew that I was a girl. It had been beyond awkward at school, the looks I got were weird. 

“And number 27, our very own Samantha Carson as quarterback!” The announcer called. 

There was a deafening roar from the stands as they showed their appreciation for me. Nate gave my shoulder a shake, cheering in my face. 

The coin toss determined that they had kick off, and Nate and I ran back to the team with the news. 

Our receiving team took the field and I watched anxiously. 

“Coach said it was still undecided who would go out for defense.” Matt told me as I asked what coach’s plans were for defense. 

“Oh fuck.” I muttered, looking around. “Okay, uh, Luke, Matt, Justin, Darren, Leo, and Peter...” I called off, glancing around the group of ready faces. I finished calling out the defense line and patted all of their shoulders as they jogged out to the field. 

“This can’t be happening.” I whispered, shaking my head. “Nate why the hell is he just leaving us?” 

Nate shook his head, running his hands through his hair. 

“We can do this. We can take this team to a win... Right?” I asked, more to myself than anyone around me. 

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

Halftime brought a depressed, defeated team in the locker room as everyone sat down on the benches, against lockers, lazily drinking their water. 

We were losing 21-0. 

“Oi, why are you all acting like we’ve just lost?” I asked, addressing my team. 

“Face it Sam, we’re getting slaughtered out there.” One of the other juniors shook their head, leaning back against the lockers with their eyes closed. 

“Then let’s turn this game around and pound their asses into the turf!” I yelled. 

I was received with half ass mumbles and protests. 

“This isn’t what a winning team looks like! This isn’t what we spent hours of conditioning for! We didn’t sprint our asses off all season just to give up after a shitty first half. We still have 24 more minutes to beat them!” I yelled. “The least you can do is give this a fighting chance for the last half hour of our season!” 

Nobody replied. “I will not accept the way that you’re all acting!” I said, standing up on the bench with my hands on my hips. 

“Sam, just get down. It’s worthless.” Ryan shook his head. 

“No! If Coach were here, he’d yell at you to get your asses up and you’d listen to him! Well guess what, Coach isn’t fucking here. He ditched us. And I am not going to let that ass hole be the reason that we lose Nationals! If we lose, we’re going to go down fighting a hell of a battle do you understand me? The way we play tonight is what we leave behind. It all comes down to right now. It’s up to us. So what are we going to be? We’re going to be a fucking team. This is our last time to get it right. The last chance to make it or not.” I said, turning to face everyone on the team in turn. “And yes I just quoted High School Musical and no I do not care.” 

I could feel the energy in the locker room physically draining me. Nobody was pumped. 

“Ryan. This is your last game on this team. Do you really want to look back on your high school years and remember your last game as the one that you gave up on? Do you really want to tell your kids, oh yea, we won national title two years in a row, and your kids ask why not the third year, and you to say that it’s because you gave up like a ton of little pussies?” I asked, putting my hands on my hips. “Jack, you’ve worked so hard for this. I know all of those extra hours you put in training. Do you want that all to be for nothing? Do you want the last game of your senior year to be a failure? Do you want to leave this team as a quitter?” I asked, turning to face him. 

“I will not go out there until all of you are willing to give this your best shot!” I said loudly. “I will not take a team out there to give up. I will stand here and yell at you until you get off of your lazy asses and are ready to win this thing!” I yelled. 

“Come on, let’s go kick some ass!” Nate agreed, standing up on the bench next to me. 

“Oh fuck it.” Ryan laughed, getting up next to me as well. 

“I personally will treat all of you to pizza and ice cream after this is we win!” I yelled. 

More people started to stand up, and the noise in the locker room grew. 

“Now who’s ready to go fucking shred that team to pieces!” Luke screamed. 

Everybody yelled in agreement. 

“Who’s ready to beat those mother fuckers to the ground!” Ryan yelled. 

Everybody cheered in agreement. 

“Cobras on three, one! Two! Three!”

“COBRAS!”

We took the field again screaming and yelling like there was no tomorrow. 

And for all I cared, there could be no tomorrow. Because being here with this team is all that really mattered right now. In this moment, all I needed was the support of these guys around me. 

Less than a minute into the second half, and I’d launched the ball out to a wide open Nate in the end zone. 

Our second string kicker made the extra point. 

4 minutes after that, one of our defensive linesmen intercepted a pass and ran it all the way to the end zone, plowing over three guys on his way down the field. 

We all jumped on top of each other on the side of the field, screaming like maniacs. 

Then the other team almost scored. But Justin served a bone crunching blow to their quarterback, slamming him back by five yards at least. 

We screamed even louder than before. 

This was the most energized I’d ever seen this team, and I never wanted to come down from this high. 

3 minutes left of the game, and I ran the ball down almost 60 yards and straight into the end zone. Nate and Ryan practically plowed me over as they ran up to me, screaming and celebrating like little kids on Christmas. 

I poured water in my mouth, while standing on top of the bench as we watched our kicker line up to take the field goal. 

I held my breath as he ran towards it to kick it. 

And then the other team blocked it and ran it 20 yards up the field before getting slammed. 

I felt my breath deflate. 

There was a minute and 15 seconds left. They had the ball. And we were down by one. 21-20. 

“Don’t give up now!” I screamed, willing myself to be the heart of the team right now. “We can’t give up! We still have 75 seconds to win this! We still have 75 seconds to beat the shit out of them!” I screamed at my team. 

I was so loud, that I was sure the boys on the field could hear me. 

They kept making it up the field, and then we’d push them back. They’d make it 13 yards, we’d push them back 5. It was a nail biter, and I was screaming, jumping up and down on the bench as I screamed orders to the team. 

I was sure to lose my voice by the end of this game. 

I’m sure everyone was. 

And then their quarterback launched a perfect pass to a receiver standing dead in the middle of the end zone, wide open. 

I let out a scream, grabbing onto Nate’s shoulders as he stood next to me. 

But then the unthinkable happened. One of our freshman that we’d pulled up for the game caught it. He landed on two feet, looking completely dazed as he held the ball in his hands. 

“RUN!” I heard myself screaming. “PETER FUCKING RUN!” I screamed, pulling off my helmet with anxiety. 

The entire team was screaming at him to run. The tackles our upperclassmen served to the other team as Peter sprinted up the field were massive. I’d never seen us hit so hard. 

And I’d never seen someone run up the field so damn fast. 

“KEEP GOING!” I screamed, jumping up and down excitedly. 

Peter made it to the end zone, and I let out the biggest scream I’d ever heard from a human. 

The timer ran out, and our entire team sprinted onto the field. I found myself right in front of Peter, shaking his shoulders. 

“YOU DID IT!” I screamed at the Freshman. “YOU JUST WON THE FUCKING GAME!” I screamed with excitement, throwing my arms around him. Ryan and Nate hoisted him up on their shoulders, and we were just a swarm of sweaty, screaming people, celebrating a win that had seemed impossible at the beginning of the game. 

I found myself in front of Dylan, both of us screaming with excitement. 

And I did the only thing my brain could think to do. 

I wrapped my arms around his neck and planted a massive kiss on his lips, holding him close to me. 

I pulled away with a huge smile on my face. 

“Congratulations!” Dylan yelled, patting me on the shoulder. 

“You too!” I yelled back, feeling like I was floating on a cloud. 

We all had to leave the field as our kicker took the kick. I don’t even remember if it went in or not, I just know that I was beyond happy, that no matter what we’d just become the National Champions for the third year in a row. 

And I’m not even kidding when I say we partied all night. The pizza place we always go to stayed open all night, just to celebrate the fact that we’d won. 

We spent the entire night celebrating, cheering, screaming, congratulating, and eating. The five things we do best. 

And I couldn’t have asked to do it with a better group of people. 

Because this team, they were my family. 

--------------------------------------------

This is the end of part one of the book :) 

I divided it into parts because the next part of the book takes place a few months later so yea :)

Funny story, the guy who plays Coach Taylor on FNL was on Grey's Anatomy as the bomb guy, and when he auditioned for FNL, he was currently filming his role on GA and I think that's really cool because I love both of those shows. AND Ross on GA is played by Gaius Charles, who also plays Smash on FNL, and it's like a tiny little world of famous people crossing between shows I love it. 

So I have the ideas for the sequel, but my brain just isn't working tonight so I'll start writing it tomorrow. 

But there's still 15 chapters left of this book so don't worry!

Update: Tomorrow (Sunday)

-Panda