I took his hand, and we shook as Coach as our witness, but don’t expect us to be friends.
“Good,” Coach cracked a smile. “Now, if I see either of you two brawling, whether it’s at practice or in the gym or anywhere, then I’m sitting you out.”
“What?” I was a little stunned, but suspected he might be joking. I was the best quarterback he had. If he took both of us out, then who would replace us? “Okay. Fine.” I didn’t bother arguing as he called the shots, whether I liked it or not.
“Off you go, Declan,” he gave his shoulder a friendly slap, but signaled to me that he wanted me to hang around. He waited until Declan was out of earshot before he added, “I’m relying on you to be the bigger man, Nicolae.”
“I will,” I nodded, but I could tell there was more he needed to get off his chest.
“I know that you and the Yorks don’t have a smooth history, but you need to put that aside for the game,” he explained, and I bit my tongue because this was the same speech he gave me last season. Nothing had changed between the Warwicks and the Yorks, apart from the addition of the Boleyn girl, which might spice things up a bit.
His hand gripped my shoulder, “How is your father?”
My heart sank, and I held back a groan with the usual rise of anger that came with this particular subject. God, why did he have to bring up my father? “Good,” I replied, then shut down.
“Have you visited him lately?” he pressed, and tension rose in my chest.
“Yeah,” I rubbed the back of my neck, feeling uneasy. There was a reputation that we had to uphold, and his star player having a crim dad in the clink didn’t help. The crim part wasn’t so bad; it was the getting caught part that was the failure.
“Can you deal with added pressure this year?” he enquired, looking me directly in the eye. “You’re in senior year and lot more studying on your plate-”
“What are you suggesting?” I spat hotly. He was making me nervous, treating me like breakable glass. I folded my arms across my chest to deflect whatever bad news he was about to throw at me. “You think I can’t handle being on the team? Robbie, Cole, and the York are seniors, too, what the fuck. I’m the best quarterback you’ve got.”
He croaked a laugh when he realized how I read his comments, “No, no,” he waved his hand dismissively. “No, I wanted to see if you were up for captain this year? But ah, maybe you’re not ready-”
“Hell yes,” I replied. “I’ll be captain this year.”
He grinned from ear to ear, “Good,” then held out his hand for me shake, looking directly into my eyes to show who’s the boss, “Remember, stay out of trouble,” he meant don’t fight with Declan York, “and keep up with the school work,” he meant don’t miss class and get good grades. “And make your father proud.”
“He already is, sir,” I told him. The last time I visited him in prison, he was excited for the upcoming football season and organized a TV in his cell to watch it, rather than watch in the communal TV room.
“Alright, I’ll let the administrators know that you agreed, and we’ll announce at practice tomorrow. Now, go to class.”
As I ran off to catch up with Cole and the boys, I carried myself more proudly, stoked that Coach chose me. It’s always a senior who took on the captain role, but I thought after the fights I got into last season, he might think I was too hot-headed.
He was right, though, I did have burdens heavy for a man of my age.
24
James York wasn’t at Scholars when I arrived, so I waited two minutes, then scampered away, relieved that I didn’t have to endure the date or whatever it is. I didn’t have his number to contact him with an excuse to worm my way out of it, and I wasn’t in the mood to force conversation and pretend I liked the man before me. There were too many other things on my mind, mostly school stuff, like the deal I made with Dad that I must achieve high grades before he’d offer me a job in his company.
The deal with the devil gave me low-grade anxiety constantly because I could foresee my stepmother pulling the wool overmy father’s eyes and siphoning his money behind his back. My father was an intelligent, hard-working man, but for some reason, he was blinded by his attraction to her. It left me perplexed, but also desperate to get back home.
But back to the James subject, I won’t lie, he was a very attractive, like too perfect in a way, but it didn’t make sense that he would be attracted to me. Not because I’m plain but because his apparent interest in me was out of nowhere, which seems disingenuous.
My next class was at 2 PM, Finance, so I decided to return to Morgana, grab my sweats, and take the bus up onto the hill to the gym in the sports science school. I had a strong desire to strengthen my body and improve fitness, so I could fight against my enemies who hid in the shadows everywhere.
I always enjoyed the ride on the bus because I got to see corners of campus that I didn’t know existed, and an incredible view that stretched across forest-covered hills and valleys. Just as the bus pulled up to my stop, a notification came through on my phone. James.Damn.
James: Where r u, Adina?
The time reads 12:24. We were supposed to meet at midday, which in my mind was 12 PM. Unless I was mistaken. Did he give me another time? If so, I didn’t remember. I scrolled back, and there was no message informing me that he would be late or what actual time I was supposed to meet him.
Me: I waited, but u didn’t turn up.
James: Sorry about that.
Me: Ok.
