Page 95 of Ancient History

“N-no. I just wanted to play.”

“Well, that’s not going to happen.”

“The school board hasn’t ruled yet,” said Ms. Pike, the only person here keeping her composure.

“I don’t care what they say. You’re not playing one single second in a game. You’re riding the bench for the rest of the year. Regionals, state, all of it.”

“Coach!” Tommy broke into tears, but I couldn’t enjoy the sight. I didn’t have a vendetta against him. I felt guilty about ruining the season and Tommy not being able to do something he loved doing. I didn’t want any of this.

Tommy was learning a lesson today, and the hardest lessons provided the most growth. Or so I hoped.

“Hutch.” Bergstrom leveled his eyes at him. “Think about what you’re doing.” He turned to the school board panel. “Gentleman, Coach Hawkins is a very passionate individual. We want Tommy to play. He’s been working so hard to get to this point in the season. Could we start his suspension next week as a one-time exception? Boys make mistakes.”

“Just so you know, if you do that, I promise Tommy won’t get one second of playtime. If he can work hard on the field, then he can put in that same effort in class.” Hutch stared down the panel, daring them to try him.

“Hutch…” Bergstrom growled.

“If you want to replace me and find a new coach, then that’s your call. But I’m not going along with this bullshit.”

“You’re going to give up the chance of a winning season for some history paper?” Ms. Pike scoffed.

“Yeah.” He gave me a tight nod.I got your back.He turned back to Tommy. “The real shame is that Mr. Bright would’ve helped you. He would’ve bent over backwards to help you. You had the best teacher in this school, and you didn’t even care.”

Hutch marched out, leaving us all to catch our breaths.

26

HUTCH

There was no better balm than pizza. I dug into the delicious slice at CJ’s Pizza and sunk into my seat. Gray clouds coalesced over the sky.

The bell rang as a new customer entered the restaurant. His bushy hair and wide smile filled my heart. Amos walked up to my table.

“Hey,” he said.

“Hey.”

He leaned over the chair opposite mine. “Have you ever seen that Tyra Banks meme fromAmerica’s Next Top Model?”

“I don’t know half the words in that sentence.” My knowledge of memes and the internet fell off in my twenties as I tried to navigate the adult world.

Amos pointed at the chair, and I nodded for him to sit down. His face was aglow with excitement.

“So there’s this meme of Tyra Banks yelling at one of the models, like going off, saying ‘I was rooting for you! We were all rooting for you!’”

I was confused where this story was going, but I enjoyed watching Amos be this animated. “I’ll have to check it out.”

“You were Tyra today.”

“Beg your pardon?”

“The way you went off on Tommy.You were my star player!I really thought you were going to launch into the Tyra meme, because you really were rooting for him.”

I had no choice but to laugh. He was getting so into his impression, tossing fake hair over his shoulder. He cooled down, and quiet came over us. I enjoyed those times when we could live in the silence without it being awkward.

“Thank you for sticking up for me today,” he said, his entire body earnest. I got angry all over again for what I witnessed in Aguilar’s office. I should’ve stopped it earlier.

“I got your back, Famous Amos.”

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