Page 116 of Necessary Roughness
Logan responded by hearting the message. My flip phone couldn’t show that, so it came across as a text notification. Knox only gave it a thumbs-up. Roman didn’t respond at all; since he was suspended, he might have assumed the text wasn’t intended for him.
Whelp. So much for starting a longer conversation.
There was a heightened buzz as we walked into the football stadium. Last week’s loss was long forgotten, and everyone now had their sights set on winning the conference championship against Orange Coast State University. The hat Bryson had lent me, pulled down low over my face, succeeded in making me blend in with the rest of the students filing into the student section behind the end zone. But as we took our seats only ten rows from the field, I noticed a few nearby stares that lasted a little longer than normal.
“Just ignore them,” Bryson said. He must have noticed them, too.
“I’ll fight anyone who says even a single mean word to you,” Jayden declared.
Both of us turned to stare at him.
“Okay, you’re right, I’m not a fighter,” he admitted. “But I’ll get my stronger, braver, more physically fit twin to fight for you.”
“You’ve never complimented me before, let alone three times in a single sentence,” Bryson said, surprised.
Jayden put one arm around my shoulder, and another around his brother’s. “It’s a special day! Soak it in.”
Orange Coast State University sent buses of fans to the game, and they were filing into the section on the opposite end of the field from us. They were intimidating in their orange colors, chanting and cheering as they took their seats, drowning out all the other pre-game noise in the stadium. It was clear they had been here before. They’ve known nothing but success, winning the conference championship three years in a row.
Hopefully it wouldn’t be a fourth.
The two teams were announced, the Wildcats sprinting onto the field to a shower of cheers and screams. Despite everything that had happened in the past week, I felt a surge of love and fondness for them, even though I couldn’t spot Knox or Logan individually. Hopefully my decision to move out was the correct one. So much was on the line with this game, more than just the huge gold trophy on the sideline.
Jayden wordlessly took my hand and gave it a squeeze, a nice reminder that I still had friends, no matter what happened today.
The Westview College Wildcats won the coin toss and chose to kick off to Orange Coast. That meant we would receive the ball first to start the second half of the game. The crowd noise rose to a crescendo during the opening kick off, then died down to a constant, nervous buzz after that.
The game was a boring one for the first quarter. Orange Coast had to punt the ball on their first possession, and then Westview ran five plays before doing the same. Each team made a turnover—a fumble for Westview, then an interception for Orange Coast—but neither mistake resulted in any points.
Roman wasn’t playing today thanks to his academic suspension, but he was still sitting on the sideline with the rest of the players—he was easy to spot because he wasn’t wearing a jersey. But rather than sitting and pouting, he quickly got to his feet and began talking to the other defensive players. Gesturing and pointing with his wrapped hand like he was giving them advice. And based on the fact that the other team didn’t score a single point in the first quarter, his advice was working.
But our lead, 3 - 0, wouldn’t last.
On the first drive of the second quarter, Knox threw a deep pass to Logan. He caught it in the chest, then took three steps before being tackled—but the defender punched the ball out of his hand, then dove on the ground to recover the fumble. Orange Coast scored a touchdown a few plays later.
The wheels came off after that. On the next drive, Knox threw a pick-six—an interception that was returned for a touchdown. He handed the ball off to the running back a lot after that, like he was afraid of throwing another interception. We managed to move the ball all the way down to the five-yard line, but then had to kick a field goal. A missed opportunity.
As soon as Orange Coast got the ball back, they marched down the field and scored a touchdown on six plays. Their student section went nuts, jumping up and down and chanting one of their rehearsed cheers. It drowned out the music being played over the stadium speakers.
When the teams walked off the field at halftime, Orange Coast was winning, 24 - 6.
“It’s nottoobad,” Bryson said, “but it’s not great. We need to score on the first possession of the second half.”
“At least our defense has looked great!” Jayden said.
Bryson nodded. “They’re doing the best they can, but they’re tired. Our offense needs to put together longer drives to let them rest more.”
As I listened to their conversation, and to the complaints from other students around me, I had the sinking feeling this was still my fault. I’d distracted Knox, the most important player on the field, and now he’d lost his groove. We were going to lose this game, which would probably hurt Knox’s chances in the NFL draft.
Moving out of their place hadn’t helped anything. That stung the most. This was the worst of both worlds.
Jayden put a comforting hand on my back like he knew what I was thinking. He was probably thinking the same thing.
I’d fucked everything up.
51
Logan
