The Captain of the Football Team

“Everyone on the track! Laps!” Jake yelled as he iced his black eye.
We all got on the track and ran laps.
The workout today was pretty intense as well.
Afterwards we headed to the gym again to lift some weights.
“Hey doll face,” Jake called to me.
“What?” I asked annoyed.
“Shouldn’t you be lifting the small weights?” he teased.
“I gave you one black eye, would you like another?”
He glared at me and I smirked back.
“You know? This is a start to a wonderful friendship,”
He smiled. “Oh, I know”.
From then on Jake and I never spoke to each other.
Not once.
He kept his distance and I kept mine.
The only time I saw him was on the field.
Janet and I got ready for school. We got all the books that we needed and any school supplies. We spent most of our time decorating our room and dorm.
The guys didn’t seem to mind.
Liam helped most of the time, as did Joel.
School was coming up and so was our first football game.
“Toni! Check it out!” Janet said walking into the living room in her cheerleading outfit.
“Congrats,” I said.
“Try and sound happy for me,”
“I am, I would be happier if I knew I was on the team,”
“You’ll make the team,” Joel said.
“Yeah, you’re a beast on the field. Jake can’t deny it,”
“But he can. He is the captain. He does have some say,”
“Not a lot,” Liam reminded me.
“Whatever. Our coach seems to be unsure about me as well,”
“Please, he’s still in shock that you’re amazing,” Joel said.
“The list goes up tomorrow. I’ll let you knew if you made it,” Liam said.
“Fine,” I muttered.
“I know what you need,” Janet said skipping to the kitchen.
I sighed and turned on the T.V. and flipped around.
“Here,” she said handing me a tub of ice cream and a spoon.
I smiled. “Thanks,” I said taking the tub.
*******
I paced around the living room as Janet and I waited for the guys to come back to our dorm.
“Where are they?”
“Chill,” she said. “I’m sure they’ll be here-”
“Finally!” I said as they walked in. I ran over to them. “Well?”
Joel walked away from me and looked at Liam.
“What?” I asked.
“I’m sorry,” Liam said looking at the floor.
I closed my eyes and balled my fist.
I raced out of the dorm and headed to the gym, where the list was posted.
I looked at it and didn’t see my name.
I backed away from it till I hit the wall. I closed my eyes and sank to the floor.
“Are you okay?”
I felt someone sit next to me and rubbed my back.
“I’m fine,” I said in a shaky voice.
“What’s up?” he asked.
That voiced seemed so familiar.
I slowly lifted my head and look at him.
I rolled my eyes.
Jake.
He stood up. “Sorry,” he said walking away.
“For what? Not putting me on the team or being a decent human being,”
He stopped and looked at me. “Listen doll face, I didn’t make the list. I just gave my input. You didn’t make the team because you’re a girl. Your scholarship still counts for this school year,”
“That’s not fair! I can pretend to be a guy,”
“Then what, Mulan?”
“Then we could actually win some games,”
Jake raised his eye brow at me. “Excuse me?”
“You know damn well I’m then best player on the field, besides you,” I winked.
“Flattery won’t help you,”
I rolled my eyes. “It was worth a try,”
“Why do you want to play so bad?”
“I love the game,” I said.
After a moment of awkward silence Jake sighed. “I’ll see what I can do,”.
I gave him a confused look as he walked away.