A/N here's another attempt at a FNL story, and I still don't own any of the characters besides Madison.
I moved into Uncle Eric's house about 2 months ago. It was the end of the school year and my mom, Uncle Eric's sister, sat me down on the couch and told me that life was just getting harder for her and she needed some space. Apparently kicking my dad out, moving the dog to a permanent outside spot, and turning the den into her own personal workout/relaxation room wasn't enough space for her. She told me that she "needed to explore Europe before she got too old". This was code for "I got pregnant right out of college and marrying your dad and having you was a mistake. I should have gone to Europe". Frankly, I was sick of her so I agreed. "You should go to Europe. In fact, don't come back." If only I could have told her that. I was more than prepared and willing to go through my junior year with the house to myself. The quiet would be nice. But no, this was not part of Mom's plan. Her plan was to ship me to Texas to stay with Uncle Eric while she cleared her head. That's practically the next coast over! So I sat on the couch, hugging my knees, while she explained my new housing arrangements.
I was staying with, as I said before, Uncle Eric. He lived in Dillon, Texas with his wife, Aunt Tami, and his daughter, Julie. He is the Head Coach for the football team at the high school and Aunt Tami is the guidance counselor. Poor Julie was a freshman last year and had to deal with both parents at her school. Poor, poor kid. Over all, they were nice people and I genuinely liked them. Aunt Tami was more nurturing with two hands tied behind her back then my mother could ever be.
So Mom packed my things and shipped me off on the soonest possible flight. She really did love me, but she loved herself more. I arrived in Texas with an Aunt Tami smiling the biggest smile I've ever seen. As soon as she saw me, she ran up and wrapped me up in the biggest hug I've ever been a part of. I guess things really are bigger in Texas. We grabbed my luggage and headed off to the house, about 45 minutes from the airport.
Walking in the door, the smell of apple pie hit me. I haven't had a meal made for me in weeks. It was nice not having to scramble to find something to eat. Aunt Tami sat me down and sliced up the apple pie. We talked about life in general. She asked me about school, friends, tv shows, movies, and my least favorite subject: family. As soon as she mentioned my mom, I tensed up and like a good guidance counselor, she backed off the subject very quickly. She also explained to me that Julie had dance class and coach was finishing his summer training for football. School would start in 2 days.
In those 2 days, Julie, Aunt Tami, and I, and sometimes Julie's best friend Lois, watched movies, painted each other's nails, and did girl stuff. It just made me miss my best friend Tess. She was the only one who tried to understand how I felt when my dad got fed up with my mom and decided to leave. School started the very next day, and I was nervous to say the least. Aunt Tami told me the best way to fight nerves is to busy yourself with everything. I picked out my outfit, packed my bag, made my lunch, showered twice, and now I was stuck in the family room with nothing to do. Uncle Eric walked in and flopped himself down on the couch.
"Ready for tomorrow?" he asked me in his slight southern drawl.
"Yea, almost too prepared." I laughed nervously.
Uncle Eric told me that tryouts for the swim team were the first day of school. This didn't help with my stress level. I only imagined Olympic times, after all the Longhorn's swim team is loaded with Olympic swimmers. I asked him to take me to the school that day just so I could get a feel for the High School.
The school belonged in the 80's. Fluorescent light filled the classrooms and the lockers were a pale, dimmed shade of blue. Uncle Eric walked purposefully toward his office near the guy's locker rooms. He explained to me that today was the football team's day to review video footage in the gym. After putting the assistant coach in charge of the film and a few stares and whistles and an eye roll from Uncle Eric, we headed into the hallway for my mini-tour. He showed me the classrooms for the major subjects, the library, the main office, and his favorite, the football field, his pride and joy. It was kind of nice, quiet, misleading in that on Friday nights I knew it would be packed to capacity. We walked on the field for a bit and for the first time, we were completely alone. Awkward silence came over us and Uncle Eric blurted into this speech about how it wasn't my fault the way my mom is and blablabla. I heard it all before, but I nodded and smile appropriately. The guy meant well. We headed back into the school and he showed me the pool. It wasn't bad I guess, your standard six lane, 8 foot to 3 foot pool. I've seen better, I've seen worse.
The football team was done for the day and a few guys came over to talk to coach. I smile as I was introduce and ignored the way the guy named "Smash" looked me up and down. I mossied on over to the trophy case, looking for the swimming records. I found it finally and was not impressed with what I saw. I was doing these times when I was 12. I felt someone behind me.
"The names Tim. I'm the linebacker here."
"Awesome," I replied. The kid next to him, I think his name was Matt, just chuckled.
"So you're new here? And related to Coach I'm guessing."
"Yea I moved here from Philadelphia, and yes, he's my Uncle."
I'm not going to lie, this kid was hot. He was rugged and a badass.
Fast-forward a little bit; we said goodbye and Uncle Eric took me home. Here I am on the coach, scared out of my mind. You know what's worse than being a freshman? Being the new kid. And that is exactly what I am.