Evan

Those damn traitors.

It was wrong of me to blame the other guys for doing exactly what Coach said, but if there was one thing I didn’t need, it was a pep talk, and that was Coach’s favorite go to when someone on the team was not pulling their weight right.

Still, they cleared away pretty quickly while I was marched into Coach’s office and sat down on an old, ratty sofa while he sat comfortably behind his desk.

“Now, Evan,” he started, linking his hands together and leveling me with a stern look. “Are you going to tell me what was going on with you out there, or do I have to ask?”

I hesitated. “Um… Coach…”

“Don’t think you’re getting out of this easy, kid. I wasn’t joking out there when I said I’d bench you. Even if you’re a star player, if your head is somewhere else and I let you on that field, not only will our team lose, you can get yourself injured not paying attention. Football is a contact sport, if you head isn’t there with you, you get hurt.”

“I know, Coach,” I mumbled.

As if