The Quarterback Novels & Stories

she said. "I'm just watching the game," I said. "You've been watching him specifically for forty minutes," she said. "You haven't looked at any other player once." "He's the quarterback," I said. "The game kind of revolves around him." "Sure it does," she said pleasantly, and ate some popcorn. Westbridge scored on the next play, with a short pass to the tight end who broke two tackles and fell into the end zone. The lead was now three. I was on my feet again without even realizing it, and I heard myself screaming with each play we made.

He does look really handsome, and still, I don't feel anything but a friendly affection. For the next three hours and twenty minutes, I understand exactly why Kevin is struggling to juggle football and school because even I can see he is a bonafide superstar on the football field. Phoebe informs me he's a quarterback and that he is leading the team like the president of The United States of America. Her words, not mine. I cheer along with the rest of the crowd when our school scores a touchdown right before the final whistle is blown, solidifying a spectacular win. Kevin is bombarded by the media next, and I realize he's not just another player, he seems extremely important.

We’re down seven already, and it’s only the first quarter. “Look,” he says, “I’m not good at serious speeches.” “That has never stopped you.” “True.” He ignores me. “But Maya needs you steady, right?” My eyes cut to him. He keeps going. “She doesn’t need you losing your shit. She doesn’t need you getting benched. She definitely doesn’t need you acting like her pain means you stop being you.” That lands. Harder than I expect. Jake nods toward the field. “You’re the quarterback. So be the quarterback.”

The crowd in the stands sits in an intense, pin-drop hush, waiting with bated breath for the next play to drop. I don't know the first rule of football, but even I can tell this play is critical. More importantly, my eyes are aggressively scanning the line-up, hunting for one specific player. There. I spot him instantly. Trey is locked into his quarterback position, his muscular frame tense, his arms raised and ready for the snap, legs braced wide. Even covered head-to-toe in heavy VSU protective gear, I'd recognize his imposing silhouette anywhere. "Hike!" the audio catches his deep, commanding voice booming across the turf.

We led from the first possession. Jaxon was different today. Not different from the second half of game one. Different from every other version of him I had seen. Loose in a way that had nothing to do with relaxation and everything to do with the specific freedom of a player who was not performing for anyone in the stands today. His father was four hundred miles away. The marketing representative was four hundred miles away. The carefully arranged expression of pride was four hundred miles away. He was just a quarterback playing football. I caught three passes in the first quarter alone. Not because the defense was soft. Because he was finding me before the defense finished adjusting, before

The team's offensive coordinator stood right beside him, his arms crossed over his chest, watching his new quarterback with an intense focus. "The secondary is running a late disguise on the safety rotation, Cole," the coordinator said, his voice sharp against the stadium noise. "You have exactly three seconds after the snap to identify the trigger and make the adjustment. Are you going to keep staring at the grass, or are you going to move the line?"

"Spill everything. How was your official first day as an NFL quarterback?" Jeremy let out a low chuckle, his arm tightening around my waist as he pulled me closer. "Honestly, Spears? It was a circus." "A circus?" I asked, sitting up slightly and looking into his dark eyes. "Did Coach make you run till you threw up?" "No, Coach was great," Jeremy smiled, running a hand through my hair. "It was Trey Vance." "The starting veteran quarterback?"

Everything depended on the next four minutes. "Come on, Noah," I whispered. The teams lined up on the field. Noah took the snap, his first as quarterback all night, and immediately rolled right, scanning downfield. Jake narrated for me because I knew very little about football and needed him to explain what was happening, “Now he’s pump-faking… now he’s freezing the safety… now he’s fired a perfect pass to Marcus for fifteen yards. Oh my God, he’s so skilled, that was beautiful.” He muttered, his mouth full of popcorn.

I walked up to him and tapped aggressively on his helmet “Get your head in the game.” He nodded profusely and ran into formation. We were practicing for a game that was coming up next week and although our college had a reputation of winning all games we still could not get cocky about it. Since the new year the formation was changed and I was made the quarterback, the previous seniors had all graduated and made it big while the rest were not eye catching to coach. “He’s a rookie.” Ryan called out as he ran over to me. I took off my helmet to wipe off sweat. “You should take a break.”

He said loudly and got up, walked round the table then brought his gaze on Daniel "You're the quarterback aren't you?" He smiled and nodded. "Win any games recently?" "This past Friday" "Ooh! Now it makes sense, now it all makes sense" he said looking at Rebecca's confused face, then took out his canister of rum and drank from it, the entire class was now confused. "Get up Daniel, join me here quick" he said gesturing. The large player stepped out, still smiling. "So quarterbacks are the heroes of a school, university, college, whatever you call it, you're the main mack hey?"