Chapter 3: new faces

The next morning Zach knocks on Lisa's door.

Come on sleepyhead, time for class.

The door swings open and Lisa is all dressed up with her hair and makeup done.

Wow, look at you!

She playfully twirls around.

It's important to make a good first impression.

You don't need makeup to do that, but you look nice.

She locks the door and they start walking towards the main building.

Thanks, I mainly did it for the cheerleader tryouts.

Makes sense, where are they being held?

The practice field right outside the "stadium".

Great, then we can walk there together after class.

They go to their first class of the day. As they sit down two girls approach them. Both girls look almost identical, the only difference is that one of them died her hair bright red.

Hi Zach, I'm Melanie and this is my twin sister Melody. We're in charge of the campus newsletter and we would love it if we could get a short interview with you for the school website and social media at some point.

Sure, no problem. Let me get acclimated today and I'll drop by tomorrow.

Great! Our "office" is near the library, you can't miss it.

Suddenly a blonde woman in her late thirties with a bob cut, dressed in a silky shirt and a pencil skirt interrupts them.

Ladies, it's time to start class.

The twins scramble to their seats.

Allow me to introduce myself, I'm miss Meyers an I'll be your English teacher.

Class is mostly uneventful. Miss Meyers turns to Zach as the bell stops ringing.

That's all for today. Mister Gray, may I have a word with you before you go?

Sure...

Lisa nudges Zach as they're gathering their things.

What do you think she wants?

How should I know?

I'll wait for you outside so we can go to lunch together.

Zach calmy approaches miss Meyers.

You wanted to see me?

She looks him up and down for a couple seconds.

Now I see what all the fuss is about, you are indeed impressive.

Thanks...?

Anyways, I have something I wanted to ask you. What were your test scores back in high school?

I wasn't top of my class, but I was mostly a B to B plus student with an A every once in a while.

As I thought. Frank approached me this morning and told me to "cut you some slack" when it comes to your test scores. As you know, your scholarship requires you to maintain a certain level of grades. But it seems like you'll be just fine, which confirms my suspicions. Frank is up to his meddling again, he has the bad habit of sticking his nose where it doesn't belong.

Thanks for the heads up, I appreciate it.

No problem. If you ever need anything, feel free to come to me.

I'll keep that in mind, see you tomorrow.

Miss Meyers checks Zach out as he walks away.

If only I was 18 again...

After he exits the classroom, they start walking towards the cafeteria.

What was that about?

She warned me that Frank apparently tends to stick his nose in everything.

Maybe he means well?

Only time will tell.

Shortly after they finish their lunch, they're approached by an African American student dressed in athletic clothes.

Sorry for interrupting, I wanted introduce myself. I'm Marcus Jackson, I'm one of your receivers.

Zach immediately stands up and shakes his hand.

Pleasure to meet you Marcus, take a seat. This is my best friend Lisa.

Hey Lisa, nice to meet you.

She's going to try out for the cheerleaders later today.

My girlfriend is a cheerleader, I'll put in a good word for you.

That's very nice of you, but I would rather that you didn't. I want to earn it for myself, not because I'm Zach's best friend.

Fair enough, I respect that.

Is there anything I should know about the team?

The main problem I would say is that while we get talented players, the reason as to why they're not at bigger schools is mostly because of their attitude or commitment.

If the talent is there, do you think that motivation could bring them together?

Definitely. I've been trying that for the last three years. And there has been progress, you being here alone has already made a difference.

That's great to hear, I'm looking forward to practice.

So am I, see you then!

The rest of the afternoon they go to class and nothing uneventful happens. Afterwards, Zach heads to the practice field while Lisa heads to the cheerleader tryouts.

As Zach walks onto the field, he sees Marcus talking to a fit looking woman in her mid thirties with brown hair in a ponytail.

Hey Marcus!

Hey Zach, good to see that you're early.

I have to set a good example. I didn't mean to intrude, I'm Zach.

The woman enthusiastically shakes his hand and seems a bit starstruck.

I still can't believe you're actually here. I'm Lauren Turner, the head coach.

It's so nice to meet you! I have to admit, I wasn't expecting a woman. Not that it's a problem.

Don't worry about it, I get that a lot. My dad was a football coach his entire life, and I always joined him at practice so I grew up a student of the game.

Same as me with my dad, until he... you know. Never mind, how is the team looking?

Even though we didn't win a single game last year, I'm optimistic. Marcus has been working his butt off for years, and with you here he'll finally be able to break out.

Marcus smiles from ear to ear.

Thanks coach.

It's the truth. There's another promising receiver, but he needs to mature a bit. Ass for the rest of the team, the defense and the offensive line are mostly returning players so we at least have some continuity there.

Sounds good, I'm just excited to play football again.

Marcus nods in agreement.

Me too, lets go see how the others are doing and get this practice started.

Zach introduces himself to the rest of the team. After the introductions are out of the way, all of the position groups split up for their own drills. A connection with Marcus is formed almost instantly and the other receiver Lauren talked about is showing promise just like she said. They decide to take a water break.

Good job Marcus. We're going to be best friends, I can already tell.

It feels good to have a capable quarterback, the last couple seasons have been rough.

Now that you mention it... there doesn't seem to be another quarterback around, did he graduate?

No, as soon as he heard that you were coming to ECU he bailed on the team.

Sounds like he was intimidated.

Marcus laughs loudly.

Definitely, he knew he would have been exposed. Josh never loved the game, he just wanted the attention that came with being the starting quarterback.

And he just got away with being terrible?!

Josh is the dean's nephew, he gets away with pretty much everything...

I haven't even met him, but I'm pretty sure that I'm not going to like him.

Can't blame you for that. he started up a new fraternity, let's hope he sticks to that and leaves us alone.

While they were talking the small stadium started filling up with spectators, and every pass Zach throws after their break is followed by cheers. Zach decides to walk over to the new receiver once practice is over.

You made some good catches today.

Thanks, I'm Daquan Myles by the way.

Nice to meet you, you seem good enough to go to a bigger school.

It's my own fault, I got tangled up in some bad stuff back home in Chicago. Most schools didn't want me anymore after that.

That sucks, same thing happened to me. But we can still make it big, we just have to work hard.

Yeah, your situation was all over tv.

Then us rejects will have to show them that they made a big mistake by passing up on us.

I can get behind that, see you next practice!

Zach walks over to his bag to grab a towel and drink some water. He waves at some of the students as they're leaving the stadium and looks around for Rebecca, but she's nowhere to be seen. He decides to check his phone and notices a text from her.

- Hey Zach, turns out that my first day is busier than expected. So I wont be able to make it to your practice, sorry.

He notices that Lauren is cleaning up all by herself, so he decides to help her out and text Rebecca back later.

Let me help you with that coach.

It's fine, you really don't have to...

Yes I do, I'll talk to the rest of the team about it next practice.

Thanks.

Marcus quickly rushes over to help out.

I just went to check on the cheer tryouts, they're almost done.

After they're done cleaning up, they sit down and rest. They're joined by Marcus's girlfriend shortly after.

Hi, I'm Nika.

Nice to meet you!

Same, I haven't seen Marcus this excited in a long time.

He's my number one receiver, so I hope you don't mind sharing him.

I suppose I could live with it.

Marcus raises his hand.

Do I get a say in any of this?

Nika gives him a sassy look.

Nope.

They all laugh and say their goodbye to Marcus and Nika who head back to their dorm for the day. Lauren joins Zach and sits down next to him.

Everything is done for today, you don't have to stay here for so long.

I know, but my best friend is trying out for the cheerleaders so I'm waiting for her. This gives a chance to talk if you want, we're going to be spending a lot of time together after all.

I'd like that.

So, what do you do besides coaching football?

I have a twelve year old son, he keeps me busy most days.

You should bring him to practice sometime.

I'll definitely do that.

Suddenly they're interrupted by Frank.

How was the first practice Zach?

Great, I'm feeling good about the team. I have no doubt that well be able to win some games this season.

I expected nothing less from my star. Winning the first couple games is going to be essential in turning this program around. Keep up the good work!

Lauren scoffs and shakes her head as Frank is walking away.

Typical...

I heard from miss Meyers that he can be a bit nosy.

You can say that again! It's not easy to get a job in football as a woman, let alone as head coach. So when the last coach here quit I saw my chance. It was clear that he didn't want to hire me but since there was nobody else that wanted the job, he had no other choice. Once word got out that you were coming here that all changed. All of a sudden, coaches were lining up to get my job. That "winning the first couple games is essential" thing was a jab at me to let me know that I'm out as soon as I lose. He can't fire me without a proper reason, since firing a woman without one would be terrible publicity. Losing our first game would give him an excuse to get away with it.

Zach lets out a sigh in disappointment.

I was already suspicious, but that settles it. We have to work together to make sure that his interference doesn't ruin what we're trying to build.

Thank you for your support, it means a lot to me.

I've been around football my entire life, thanks to my dad. I know how to recognize it when people truly love the game. You, me and Marcus will make it work.

I would give you a hug but that would be inappropriate, wouldn't it?

Zach ignores her comment and gives her a short hug anyway.

Nobody is around coach, don't worry about it.

You can call me Lauren when the others aren't around. I'm going to go pick up my son at my parents, I hope your friend makes the cheer squad.

Thanks, see you soon!

He hears Lisa giggling in the distance a couple minutes after Lauren has left. She enthusiastically coms running up to him.

Looks like you made the squad.

Yup, I nailed it!

Just as she finished her sentence they're joined by a tall, elegant and beautiful girl with long blonde hair in a braid.

She most certainly did.

Zach, this is Elle.

Nice to meet you.

Same, I figured since we were going to see each other every game that I should come introduce myself.

Are you the head cheerleader?

I am, and the student council president.

Wow, that's impressive. So you're not the typical cheerleader then?

No, I make sure that my girls aren't just lust objects and that they actually have some "substance" about them. We also do a lot of charity work for the local dog shelter.

That's awesome. I don't like thinking of myself as a celebrity but if my presence can help you out in any way, don't hesitate to ask.

I'll take you up on that for sure! I assume you're both tired after a long day so well talk more later, bye for now.

Zach picks up his backpack and they start walking back to their dorm.

She's nice.

Yes, she really is! I was pleasantly surprised by how nice they all were.

I'm happy that it went so well.

How did practice go?

It was great, I spent some time with my receivers. Marcus and I were on the same page straight away.

He seemed like a nice guy, I'm not surprised that you two hit it off so quickly. What about the coach?

I got along with her immediately, she loves the game as much as I do.

Lisa processes the information for a couple seconds.

Her?! Your coach is a woman?!

I was surprised at first too. But her dedication was obvious to me, so I'm with her all the way.

That's awesome, girl power!

Is that going to be your first cheer at the opening game of the season?

That's not a bad idea, I might just suggest that at the next cheer practice.

They share a laugh and go have dinner together. Later that evening Zach lays down on his bed and texts Rebecca.

- Hey doc, is you long day over yet?

- Yes, I'm free at last! How was practice?

- Great, I'm optimistic. How did your day go?

- It was busy. Since I'm the "favorite" I had to show the newbies around, that's why I couldn't make it to practice in time.

- Don't worry about it, how about we have lunch tomorrow? Just the two of us.

- I would love that!

- Great that settles it, I'll text you the details tomorrow. See you then!