Page 38 of Escape Velocity
“Would too.”
“Okay, are you twelve or something?”
Jenna purses her lips and smiles slyly to herself as she sits back down.
Mason regrets confessing his high school crush on Callum to Jenna. He shouldn’t have said anything about liking Callum at some point in his life. Now she’ll never let it go.
The Hornets line up on the 35-yard line, with Callum behind them, managing the other players and pointing in different areas and someone on the Hornets kicks the ball to the other team.
As the first quarter ends, they’ve already scored two touchdowns.
The Hornets are an unstoppable, immovable force.
“They’re completely dominating them,” Mason says in amazement.
“How can you tell that they’re doing well?” Jenna asks.
“I watched some football videos recently. The team only has a certain number of plays before they can get a touchdown. If they have four plays, or ‘downs,’ and haven’t crossed that line…” Mason points to a part of the field where a flag has been placed. “Then it’s the other team’s ball.”
“So, if they don’t cross that line with the ball after four tries, they have to give it up?” Jenna asks.
“Yup.”
“And why are they randomly kicking it sometimes?” Jenna asks, her eyes focused on the field.
“On their last ‘down,’ if the team is close enough to get a touchdown, they can decide to try and get a touchdown or they can kick the ball and get it through the goal, and they can score three points with that. Either they risk it and get a touchdown to get six points, or they can pretty much ensure three points with a kick,” Mason responds matter-of-factly.
“Callum’s making all good decisions then,” Jenna says, raising her eyebrows as she looks at the scoreboard. It’s twenty-two to three.
“He is, but I think the coach decides that kind of stuff,” Mason says with a small smile.
The game ends as Mason expects, with the Ravens barely able to get any points on the Hornets, keeping them first in the standings of their division.
Mason barely recognizes himself with his newly acquired knowledge and passion for men throwing a ball around. Instead of physics and books, he’s watching football and judging the plays.
After witnessing the excitement and entertainment a football game can bring, covering the playoff games doesn’t seem like a terrible idea. The Hornets will surely get through to the play-offs, and probably the championship game with how they’re still playing undefeated.
Jenna and Mason walk down the bleachers, getting to the first landing. They’re stopped by a yell.
“Mason!”
Mason spins around and sees Callum running over to him.
Mason’s pulse races, unsure why Callum feels the need to call out to him. Doesn’t he have to go back to the locker room?
“So, Craig wasn’t lying about you being on the paper, then? You decided to stay,” Callum says with a smirk as he looks up at Mason from the sidelines.
Mason knows he’s referring to their spat about the player profile. Callum likely thought that would be the straw that broke the camel’s back, and Mason would stop doing the sports beat, but he didn’t.
“Nope. I’m doing the sports section indefinitely. They liked my player profile on you so much that they asked me to keep covering the football games from now on.”
Callum runs a hand through his sweaty hair, his face glistening under the flooding fluorescent lights. “So, I can expect you at the next games then?” Callum asks. He almost sounds hopeful.
Mason’s eyes dart to Callum’s lips which almost curl into a smile, then back to his familiar eyes. He inhales sharply and shrugs, averting his eyes to look elsewhere. “Maybe, we’ll see if they want to keep me on them.”
Callum smirks. “If you write anything like you did the first time then they’ll have to keep you.”
Mason’s cheeks burn.
