Page 10 of Touchdown

“What the fuck are you doing calling me?”

“I just want to talk. I—Luke? Luke, are you there?”

He’s not. He hung up. Well, that could have gone better.

Next, I call Brandon. “Cody. Have you made a decision?”

“I have. I want to be part of the team.”

“I see. And you’re willing to make things right with Luke in order to remain?”

“I am. I tried to call him just now, to apologize, but he hung up on me before I could get the words out—not that I blame him. Getting him to forgive me will be tricky, though. I know Luke’s not generally one to hold a grudge, but I’ve treated him horribly for weeks now.”

“Hm, you have a point there. Let me think on it. I’m sure I can work something out. As long as you’re willing to leave your animosity behind, there has to be a way to work past this.”

I’m not so sure, but I don’t want to say so to Brandon when he’s allowing me to stay on as part of the team, at least for now.

“I’ll try again with Luke at our next practice. Maybe by then, he will have cooled off a little. He’s probably still angry about the game.”

“Yeah, probably. Let me go think on it. I’ll talk to you soon, Cody.”

“See you, Brandon.”

I end the call and reflect miserably that I seem to have achieved what I wanted all along: Luke hates me. I can only hope it’s not too late to make things better.

I get an email from Brandon in the evening, but it’s not just addressed to me. It’s a group email to the whole team inviting us on a wilderness retreat for “team-building purposes.” It’s clear from the wording of the “invitation” that participation isn’t optional.

Though Brandon doesn’t say as much, I am certain that this retreat is aimed at Luke and me. It’s a good idea. Maybe it’llgive the two of us some time to get to know each other properly without all the fake drama I’ve been creating.

If we’re lucky, this retreat can be a new start, for both of us.

5

Luke

This isn’t going to work. I told Brandon as much, but he insists on pushing ahead regardless.

The night after I got that phone call from Cody, Brandon called me into his office to talk. In all honesty, I had been expecting it before then. The talk wasn’t what I had expected.

I remember the scene vividly.

“Luke, please sit down.”

I sit, ready to get the talking-to of my life.

“I’ve already spoken to Cody. I told him that he either has to get okay with being on a team with you, or he can leave. He has decided to work with you and to make amends. I believe he called you last night, but you hung up on him.”

“Of course I hung up on him! Have you seen the way he’s been treating me for the past few weeks? I have no reason to want to talk to him.”

“I understand. However, the fact remains that you are on the same team and you’ll need to learn to get along. Cody hasresolved to leave whatever issues he has with you in the past. I suggest you get okay with doing the same quickly, or our performance is just going to suffer like it did in our last match.”

He has a point there, but I don’t know how to just let go of my anger with Cody. He’s bullied, belittled and used me one time too many, and now I can’t stand the sight of the guy.

“I don’t want to talk to Cody. You have no right to try to force me to after the way he’s treated me.”

“Luke, be reasonable here—”

“No! I don’t want to hear it, Brandon. Cody is bad news. You should just kick him off the team and be done with it.”

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