One Thing
Disclaimer: I do not own Friday Night Lights.
Prologue: Hannah and Quentin
August 6, 1988
Pre-Season
Day One
"It's MOJO Radio back on the air, Slammin' Sammy here, football time in Texas. Let's go to the phone, we got Butch online with us. Butch, is this gonna be a great year or what?"
The loud voice of Slammin' Sammy was all Quentin "Q" Owens needed to wake up. He flipped his legs over the side of the bed and rubbed his eyes as the conversation with Sammy and Butch blasted over the radio.
He let out a huge sigh and walked out of his room. As he slowly headed towards the bathroom, he noticed that the light was turned on and the tap was running. He pushed the door open and noticed a small girl with long black hair, a dark-olive skin tone, and chocolate brown eyes wearing baggy grey sweat pants and a white tank top.
The girl heard the bathroom door lightly colliding against the wall and looked through the mirror to meet with a pair of dark brown eyes. She noticed a boy wearing a pair of plaid boxer shorts and a grey short-sleeved shirt. The color of his hair was similar to her's although his hair was much shorter and stood up at odd ends.
"Hannah," Quentin greeted dully, making minimal eye contact with the girl.
Hannah gave Quentin a brief nod and continued her business at the sink. She pulled out her toothbrush and covered the bristles with a thick layer of toothpaste.
Quentin came up from behind Hannah. She shifted sideways from the sink and began to brush her teeth. Quentin adjusted the faucet and ran his hands under the cold water, splashing it onto his face. The chilling sensation shocking his nerves awake. He continuously splashed his face until he felt chills running down his spine. Once he was finished, he looked up at the mirror and felt a sharp nudge at his hip, causing him to stumble over.
Hannah leaned over the sink and spat out the foamy toothpaste, giving Quentin a devious smile once she finished.
She threw a towel at Quentin—which he caught with ease—and began to rinse out any remaining toothpaste in her mouth. Once Quentin finished drying his face, he threw the towel back at Hannah.
"You ready for today?" He asked curiously. Hannah wiped her mouth with the towel Quentin threw her and nodded.
"Hopefully." She replied with a nervous smile.
Quentin gave a small smile and walked out of the bathroom. Hannah followed in pursuit, grabbing a large hairbrush sitting on the edge of the sink before she left.
The two teens entered the kitchen and were greeted by the heavenly aroma of pancakes, bacon, and eggs. They sat at the small dinner table in the corner of the room and began to dig in.
Quentin took a pile of flapjacks and dropped them on his plate, smothering each cake with a load of butter and drowning them in maple syrup.
Hannah on the other hand, kept her plate clear and tried to untangle her long black hair with the large hairbrush she brought from the bathroom.
A woman with short, curly black hair and soft brown eyes matching Hannah's emerged from the kitchen, setting down a plate filled with bacon.
"Morning mom," The two teens greeted, continuing their matter at the table.
The woman gave the teens a large smile and kissed the top of their heads. She took the hairbrush out of Hannah's hand, and began tying her hair back into a French braid.
As her mother was doing her hair, Hannah reached across the table and switched her empty plate with the one filled with bacon.
"You better save some," Quentin muffled, his mouth full of pancakes.
Hannah rolled her eyes and tossed a single piece of bacon onto Quentin's plate.
"Really?" He asked in a serious tone, switching his glare from the single piece of bacon resting on top of his pancakes to Hannah.
Hannah nodded, giving another one of her devious smiles, reaching for the maple syrup, and—like Quentin did with his pancakes—drowned the bacon in the cold, sticky syrup.
Quentin gave a revolting look, trying to force the pancakes down his throat. "Gross," he commented quietly. He looked up at his mother, who was too busy trying to make Hannah's hair look perfect. Instead of pushing his plate forward, Quentin looked down at the meal in front of him and continued eating in slow, small bites.
Hannah quietly laughed to herself and hugged her legs to her chest. She pulled a piece of syrupy bacon from her plate and began to savor her sweet and salty breakfast.
"Where's dad?" Hannah asked, after eating a couple strips of bacon. This caught Quentin's attention as he looked up at his mother for her answer.
"At work." Their mother replied. The two teens gave each other a solemn look and Hannah went back to eating her breakfast while Quentin continued making eye contact with his mother.
"Is he gonna be done sometime soon so he can come and watch?" Quentin wondered.
Their mother finished tying up Hannah's French braid and shrugged her shoulders, expressing a heartbroken glare and shook her head.
The two teens dropped what they were doing and sat back into their chairs. Both of them had disappointed looks on their faces.
"I'm sorry," their mother said quietly, "but you both know how hard it is for us right now." Silence filled the room. "I have to go to work." She stated, breaking the silence. Their mother kissed their foreheads once more and left the kitchen to leave the two teens alone and prepare for work.
A few minutes of awkward silence passed the time, neither of the teens touching their breakfast. Once he heard the front door open and shut, Quentin decided to break the tension and glared at Hannah with a grim expression. The small girl looked up and returned a serious glare identical to Quentin's.
The two of them didn't have to say anything to each other. It was like they read each other's minds. They grabbed the glasses sitting in front of them and gulped the contents down in large portions. They gave each other a short nod, stood up from their seats, and left the kitchen.
A/N: Well, there's the prologue! I hope you guys like it! After watching Friday Night Lights a few days ago, I immediately remembered an episode of a Disney show I used to watch called The Proud Family. There was this one episode called: 'She's Got Game' and it totally gave me the inspiration to write this story. I also remembered an episode of Degrassi: The Next Generation called 'Fight the Power' which also inspired me to write this as well. If you've seen any of these shows and any of these episodes, then you probably know where this story might be going.
Reviews are always welcome and constructive criticism is a must!
Ciao!
-Katie