Page 39 of Changing the Play

His eyes fall to my—his—jersey, and something flashes across his face thatI can’t really read.

“Damn. Boy’s down bad for you, babe,” Parker says, brushing their shoulder against me.

I sigh. “If that’s the case, then why does he look like he’d rather me not be here?”

“Because boys are stupid. Give him time. He’ll get his shit together… eventually.”

Yeah, but will my heart still be intact when that happens?

By the time the game finally starts, I’ve mostly pushed everything from my mind. Our offense ends up taking the field first, although I’m still not sure how they decide that. West always starts the games at kickoff.

They huddle, and West says something before they break apart and all line up. When they snap the ball, I hold my breath. West backs up in the pocket, bouncing on his toes as he scans the field.

He releases the ball, and I don’t let my breath go until it’s caught. The guy who caught it runs a couple more yards before he’s brought down. The crowd starts chanting first down, which yeah, I can see how that’s obvious even though I don’t have the convenient lines to guide me.

On the next play, West hands the ball off to the guy standing next to him. He runs straight into a group of giant football players, which makes no sense to me. He doesn’t get far, maybe a yard. I really don’t understand why they don’t just run around the other players instead of trying to run right through them.

The next play gets a flag for holding, where they end up in a third and long situation. Well, that sucks.

“Do you think they’ll have to punt?” I ask Parker.

Parker shrugs. “Not sure. We’ll have to see if he can convert.”

West is apparently really good at playing football because he breaks a tackle and then another, running off toward the sideline and launchingthe ball. The crowd is screaming, on their feet, and jumping up and down. By the time I realize what’s going on, I’m on my feet too, screaming and cheering along.

Parker leans in close. “Touchdown. Your boy’s got chops.”

“Not mine,” I yell.

Parker cackles. “Not yet, maybe.”

West runs toward the end zone, grabbing the guy who caught the ball by the helmet, and bumps their helmets together. It’s cute, and I can’t help but laugh.

When the defense comes out, I’m getting pumped up. This is so much more fun than watching it on TV. Sure, it’s easier to see what’s happening when it’s on the TV, but it’s no comparison to the energy in the stadium. The crowd is alive, and the atmosphere is electric.

By the time half-time rolls around and the teams leave the field, my throat is raw from how hard I’ve been screaming and cheering. Parker isn’t any better off. I glance over at them. “Hey, can I ask a question?”

“Of course.”

“How do they decide who gets the ball to start the game?”

Parker laughs. “They do a coin toss. Whoever wins gets to either receive or defer. The other team won the toss, and they deferred.”

I nod. Okay. That really clears up nothing. “Defer?”

Parker wraps an arm around my waist, laughing. I’m not sure what’s so funny. I think I’m doing pretty good considering a month ago, I didn’t know any of this. “So it means that they want the ball first after half-time. The goal is to score on the last drive of the first half, and then get the ball right back at the start of the second half.”

“Well, that makes sense.”

When the teams run onto the field, the crowd roars again. It feels like our defense is doing a good job today because the other teamdidn’t get the chance to score like they apparently thought would happen. Or were hoping for, I guess. Still a little fuzzy on the strategy.

West leads the offense onto the field and I can tell immediately something is wrong.

There’s a tense set to his shoulders. He doesn’t seem as cool and confident anymore, which is strange considering they’re up by two touchdowns and they just stopped the other team.

When the ball is snapped, something feels different, and West barely has time to step back before he’s being tackled to the ground. It happened so quickly, I almost didn’t see it coming, and clearly he didn’t either. My stomach drops when I notice he’s not getting up. I’m debating on rushing down the steps, which would be the stupidest idea, when he finally climbs to his feet.

He takes a few steps, yelling at someone. Someone on his own team, I think. I guess that makes sense, given they are supposed to be protecting him. But West doesn’t really seem the type to get mad and yell at his own team. Especially not for something that’s pretty common, from what I’ve seen at least. It’s not like I’ve never seen a quarterback get sacked before.

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