Page 3 of Running With Lions

Sebastian slouches, concealing his scrunched face from Mason and Willie.Perfect summer? No such thing exists for Sebastian Hughes.

Sebastian takes in the dirtroads and greenery on the drive. It’s an hour from Bloomington to Oakville. He rolls his eyes when Mason complains, “I’m gonna hurl,” with a cigarette hanging from his lips. Mason fails to appreciate nature. He’s a city guy, a lover of tall buildings, muggy weather, and the smell of ozone.

“You’ll be fine.”

“Whatever,” Mason grumbles. He takes another drag, savoring it. Oakville has only one decent market, so they stopped for supplies. Mason used a fake ID to buy his favorite brand of cigarettes and bought cheese puffs for Willie. A short stretch of road awaits. “It’s our last year, boys!”

Willie howls into the wind. His hands drum against Sebastian’s headrest to Mason’s latest addiction, The 1975.

Sebastian taps his foot along with the muted bass. It’s better than the constant hum of club beats and Bruno Mars songs they’ve heard too many times. Ahead, pools of dandelions drift by; clouds tumble in a cornflower sky. “Still thinking about traveling?” he asks over whipping winds.

Mason nods before he says, “How about it, Will? Next summer, overseas?” He checks Willie out in the rearview mirror. “Catch a few Real Madrid games?”

Willie laughs. “Hook up with a few babes over in Barcelona.”

Smoke fogs around Mason’s mouth when he says, “Damn right!”

“You two will never score,” Sebastian jokes.

Mason rolls his eyes. “We could bum around Greece, right, Will?”

“Live it up like kings?”

“Hell, yeah!”

“More like peasants,” Sebastian mumbles, but his smirk belies his words.

“What about you, Bastian?” Mason asks. “Still gonna stick around the city? Work for your pops?”

Sebastian shrugs. Oliver Hughes works in construction. It’s not exactly Sebastian’s dream career. He slumps, closes his eyes, and kicks a foot up on the dash. “Haven’t thought about it,” he replies, but it’s a lie.

Life after high school is every teenager’s dream, Sebastian’s too: being out of his parents’ house, doing things his way. And this big world is ready to swallow him whole.

“Is it the money?” Willie asks.

“Not exactly,” he says.

Sebastian’s parents can’t afford an Ivy League school with a good athletic program where he can strengthen his soccer skills. And Sebastian isn’t the best in the field; that’s Mason, by far. Athletic scholarships don’t come easy. It’s not as if talent scouts pack the stands to take notes on him. All those hopes of playing in the Premier League and wearing the jersey of Manchester United, Oliver’s favorite team, are just pipe dreams. Those are the fantasies you have as a kid, not when you’re a goalie in a small city. The headlines of the school newspaper never asked: “Who is Sebastian Hughes?”

“I hear Sebastian’s getting captain this year.”

Sebastian elbows Willie. “It’s not happening, dude.”

“It’s true, bro,” Mason says; the corners of his mouth lift while smoke seeps out. “I’ve overheard people talking—”

“No onetalks about me.”

“—and they say thatyou, Hughes, are going to be—”

“They’ll pick you,” Sebastian interrupts quickly.

“No way.” Mason flicks his head to get hair out of his eyes. It falls right back. “The coaches love you, man. I’m reckless.”

Heis, but Sebastian says, “You’re not,” to humor him.

“Dude, I’ve got a rep.” Mason chuckles.

“You’d have better focus if you’d stop chasing all those girls.”

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