Double Nickels on Your Dime

Ben arrived at the hotel at 11:37. It had only been a two hour trip from his house. He checked in at the front desk and got his room card. He was on the third floor in room 321. He let himself in and dropped his bag on the floor.

There were two double bed in the room along with a mini fridge, microwave, TV, and a small breakfast table. He set his phone alarm for 12:45 and chose the bed closest to the window to take a nap. He was asleep within minutes.

Nick got out of the taxi and gave the man his fare. He shouldered his bag and entered the hotel. It was nice. It had to be with the money he was paying for it. He talked to the lady at the desk and got his key. He took the elevator and trudged down the hall to his room. He was going to have to haul ass to the meeting. It was 12:50 and the meeting was at 1. He unlocked the door and stepped into the room. He dropped his bag on the ground, then realized there was someone on the far bed.

There was a muffled noise coming from the other side of the sleeping person. It sounded faintly like parkway drive. Nick took a step closer and realized it was Ben Taylor. His face was completely serene.

Ben felt someone shaking him. He groggily opened his eyes and saw Nick Jameson leaning over him.

He frowned, “What the hell are you doing here?”

“What am I doing here? What are you doing here?”

They both said, “I’m here for soccer camp.”

They laughed. “Roommates? Sweet!”

Nick was grinning, but he quickly became serious. “We have a meeting in seven minutes! We need to go!”

Ben bolted out of bed. “Shit! Let’s go!”

They both took off down the hall, taking the stairs instead of waiting for the elevator. They walked as calmly as they could into the conference room where they were meeting and took a seat near the back of the room. Nick looked at the back of Ben’s head and chuckled. His hair was completely fucked up.

Ben turned around and said, “What?” Nick shook his head and they sat down.

When Nick started laughing again, Ben looked at him sharply and cocked his head like a puppy.

Nick ruffled his own hair. Ben frowned and lifted one eyebrow.

“Your hair.”

Ben’s mouth formed an ‘o’ and immediately reached behind his head trying to fix his hair. Nick gave him a thumbs up. They looked around the room at the other boys. There were about fifty of them. Each boy seemed to be sizing up all the rest. A man walked to the front of the room and they hum of small talk died down.

“Good afternoon gentlemen. My name is Ron White. You can call me coach, Coach Ron, or Coach White. I expect you all to give your best effort while you are here. Listen to the trainers, wear the right equipment, and do not hurt anyone purposely. The way we will go about this is for today, we will all train together. Tomorrow you will be split off into two groups. Saturday there will be three teams and the tournament will begin. Each team will play each other, then Saturday the two with the best record will play. Scouts will be in and out of training so play hard. Now, on your way out the door grab a water bottle, and a t-shirt. Smalls on the left, mediums on the right and larges in the back. The first session is at 5:00. Get something to eat and I’ll see you all there. ON TIME.”

All the boys began to move from their seats.

“I’ll grab you a water bottle if you grab me a medium shirt?” Ben nudged Nick.

“Yeah, I’ll meet you outside the door.” They split up. Ben took in the sizes of the guys. Most of them were pretty small. Not tiny, just under 6 foot or so. Only a few stood above the rest including himself. He grabbed two water bottles and stood outside the door waiting for Nick. He came out and they traded items. They stood around for a while, but no one approached them so they headed back to their room.

The two boys got their room settled into and went in search of food. They headed down to the lobby and found there was a buffet being served to all the players. Once in line, they piled their plates high and found a table.

“So, how did you get here? I took a taxi.” Nick took a bite of his sub.

“I drove. Why didn’t you tell me you were coming? I could have saved you some money on a ticket.”

Nick shrugged, “You hadn’t mentioned it! How was I supposed to know you were coming?”
Ben nodded but didn’t say anything since his mouth was full.

Someone set a plate down next to Ben.

“Can I sit here?”

Without hesitation both boys said “Sure!” A short red haired boy plopped into the seat.

“Thanks! I’m Nathan Devoe, by the way.”

“Ben Taylor.”

“Nick Jameson.”

“So, you two nervous?” They looked at each other.

Ben shrugged, “Not really. I don’t get nervous before I play.”

Nick shook his head, “I’m more excited than nervous.”

Nathan took a drink and said, “I’m nervous as fuck! But I always am. So neither of you play goal
I hope? I mean with the two of you being so tall… I’d have no chance.”

They both laughed. Ben gave him a thumbs up, “You’ll be fine. We both play field. You must be good to get here even being a small keeper.”

He shrugged but smiled knowingly. Another boy came over and sat next to Nick introducing himself as Matt Baker. He was nearly Nicks height with short black hair. He immediately took over the conversation and had them all laughing their asses off, but they had to leave the buffet room since it had nearly been two hours since they’d gotten there. The four of them went back upstairs and hung out in Ben and Nicks room for a while longer. They found out that Matt went to one of the rival schools of Northhampton High. Nathan was in the next region from them. At 4:15 they split up to get ready for their first training session.

“What do you think they’ll have us do today?” Nick pulled his shirt over his head.

Ben thought about it a moment and tossed his shirt onto his bed, “Well, they have to evaluate us to split us up, so probably basic stuff.”

Both boys replaced their shirts with the new ones they had gotten in the meeting. Ben pulled out his long socks and shin guards pulling them on, too. They were all told to wear solid white socks. He put on some slides and grabbed his shoe bag with his cleats in it. Nick held his by the heels. They went into the hallway, but Nick dove back before the door shut.

Ben waited patiently for him to come back out. “You left your key and water bottle.” He handed him both items.

“Shit! I would, thank you!” They waited in the lobby for the rest of the guys to come and take the charter bus to training as a group.
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On the bus Ben and Nick shared a seat. Coach stood up at the front and talk more.

“You will be given a number when you get off the bus. Pin it to the front of your shirt. On the chest. Everyone go ahead and put your cleats on. We’re going to start once everyone gets on the field.”

Ben struggled putting his cleats on because there wasn’t enough room between the wall and Nick. He ended up putting them on with his feet in Nicks lap.

“There’s Matt and Nathan near the back.”

Ben turned and saw them laughing with some other guys.

“You ready?”

Nick shook his head, “Nervous.”

“Don’t be. You’re a good player. Just give it everything.”

He laughed nervously, “Easy for you to say, Mr. Man U.”

Ben shook his head now, “I know you ran every day I did. I saw you.” The bus rolled to a stop.

Coach stood up and bellowed, “Alright! Let’s get it done!”

All the guys filed off the bus and onto the field. They all stood waiting for Coach to tell them what to do. Nick was quickly jumping up and down in place. Ben laughed at him.

“TWO LINES! FOLLOW MY LEAD!”
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Practice was nearly 4 hours long. They all hauled themselves back onto the bus and slumped into their seats. Ben leaned against the window closing his eyes. The bus ride back to the hotel was silent and smelly. They all filed off and went to their rooms. They had 7am practice in the morning, a meeting at 3pm and training again at 6pm.

Ben opened their door and threw his bag on the floor and flopped onto the bed.

He heard a muffled, “Do you want to shower first?” from Nicks bed. He was facedown on his bed, arms splayed out. Ben got up.

“Sure, I’ll be quick.”

He grabbed his bathroom stuff and showered quickly. He was going to be so sore tomorrow. He stepped out of the shower and toweled his hair and upper body, then wrapped the towel around his waist. He gathered his stuff back into his bag and went back into the room.

“All yours.”

He got a muffled “Thanks” from Nick.

Nick rolled over and sat up. He gathered his stuff together quickly. He saw Ben sitting on the other bed in his towel going through his clothes bag. He wasn’t kidding when he said he’d been training all summer. His broad shoulders led to lean but defined arms. His waist was small with clearly visible abs. e twisted to his left and the muscles in his back rippled fluidly.

Nick realized he was staring and hurried quickly into the bathroom. He too hurried the process along, but dressed in the bathroom. He turned the light off and walked into the cool air of the bedroom, setting goosebumps onto his skin. Only the lamp between their beds was on. Ben was sprawled out on top of his covers wearing only striped flannel pants, sound asleep. Nick dropped is bag at the foot of his bed, set his alarm for 5:30 and turned the lamp off. He was asleep in seconds.