Page 11 of Away Game

6

West

July

Puttingthe last few things away in my room, I took a look around. I had my new but used laptop on my desk, a picture of my mom and brother sitting alongside it, and all my clothes hanging up in the closet or in my dresser. Everything was coming along nicely, and it was all mine. This was the first time in twelve years that I wasn’t sharing a room with anyone. Not that I didn’t love my little brother, Easton, because I did, but it was difficult to never have an alone moment in my own house. Especially during puberty.

I’d driven up earlier than everyone else that was supposed to show up to move into the football house since I was the RA. Did I want to be the RA? No, but I also didn’t want to put myself into thousands of dollars of debt each year while in college so I could live there either. Luckily, the coach had been understanding and made an exception for a freshman to be in charge of over twenty rowdy football players. One screw up, though, and I was out on my ass.

Tucking my bag into the back of my closet, I grabbed the packet of players who would be living with me and headed out into the living area to wait for the players to show up.

Willow Bay’s Blackhawk starting lineup for the football team had taken over a fraternity house set on the edge of campus. The four-story house was a little outdated but still nicer than any place I’d ever lived or stayed. There was a big kitchen, which I had a feeling would rarely be used for cooking, that held two refrigerators for all our food. It was a request from the new coach, who was making each person meet with the school’s nutritionist tomorrow. He was big on nutrition and making sure we ate well, got at least eight hours of sleep each night, and worked out every day of the week except on Sundays. I had a feeling he was going to be riding the asses of many of the players, myself included, if I didn’t keep them in line.

Two guys laden with boxes pushed through the front door and dropped them at my feet. A dark-haired one wearing his baseball hat backward grinned at me as he pulled out his wallet and handed me his identification card.

“Hey man, I’m Ford.” He held out his hand.

Sticking out my own hand, I shook his as I introduced myself. The other guy he came in with stayed off to the side, so I guessed he wouldn’t be living with us. “Let me look up your room number, have you sign in, and then you’ll be all set.”

“Cool,” he answered as he put his ID back in his wallet.

Opening up the packet, I scanned through the names to find Ford’s name, but my eyes locked on a name I never expected to see again. How the hell was Fin Huntington at Willow Bay University? What’s more, how was he going to be living in the same house as me? Now, what I thought was going to finally be my sanctuary, was going to be my hell.

“Are you okay?” Ford asked.

Looking up, I was surprised to see he’d dipped down and was looking at me with a frown marring his scruffy face. Taking a step back, I cleared my throat and tried to smile. “I’m fine. I just saw…” Why was I telling him? Fin would be here, and this guy could easily tell him of my reaction to seeing his name. “Let’s find your room number, shall we?”

He stood tall and gave me a chin nod.

I went back to scanning for his name. I purposely started at the bottom so I wouldn’t see Fin’s name again. Maybe Fin had found out where I was going to school and wanted to play some sort of sick joke on me as a welcome gag? As much as I hoped it was a game he was playing on me, I knew he’d walk through that door at some point today, and I needed to be prepared. Willow Bay was a new start, and I wasn’t going to let Fin make me the outcast.

Several hours later, after everyone had checked in, unpacked, and went out to get a bite to eat, Fin and Oz walked into the house laughing.

Yeah, I was lucky enough to not only get one but two people from Santa Lucia. Not only were they from my hometown, but one was also my tormentor.

The smile died right off Fin’s face when he saw me standing at the opening to the kitchen with a slice of pizza hovering at my mouth. Setting it down on the paper plate to my left, I wiped my hands off on a paper towel and walked over to where they stood. Picking up the check-in sheet, I looked at their names, pretending like I didn’t know what their room numbers were. I knew them by heart after staring at them for hours as I waited for them to show up, and how far away Fin’s room was from mine. Fin and I had two of the four rooms on the top floor, and Oz was on the third floor below us. I’d thought about changing out my room for Oz’s, but the room I was in was designated to the RA, and I couldn’t change it just because I was afraid of what Fin would do to me.

“I need you to sign-in, and then you can put your things in your rooms,” I said, meeting their eyes once again.

“Sure, yeah,” Oz set his bag down on the ground and adjusted his backpack. “It’s pretty crazy we’re all at the same school, huh? What are the odds of that?”

“Of you two going to the same school? Pretty good since you’re best friends. Of all of us going to a school three hours away from our hometown with one of the best college football teams in the nation? Fuck if I know.”

Oz cracked up, slapping a hand on his leg. “Who knew you were so funny?”

“Not me,” Fin sneered.

I paid no attention to his asshole comment. Instead, I ran my finger down the line of residents until I reached Oz’s name. “You’re in room three-twenty. The door is open, and your key should be on your desk.”

He looked up the stairs and nodded with a lazy smile. “Cool, cardio every day.”

Was he planning to run up and down them every day? Oh my god, what if they all decided to? The thought of dozens of feet pounding the wood stairs nearly had me pulling my hair out. I’d have to point out the small workout room we had in the hopes he would use it and remind him of the state-of-the-art gym that was open twenty-four-seven at the stadium.

Oz was still looking up the stairs when he asked, “What room are you in?”

I thought he was asking me, but when I looked up, Oz was looking at Fin with a strange look on his face.

“Oh, um, Fin’s in room four-oh-one. It’s on the top floor, on the left. Make sure you both sign in the space by your name.”

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