This is just to clear the writer's block going on in my head, but you are welcome to enjoy.
Believe it or not, at one point in Noah Hayden's life, he was moderately athletic. Growing up as the youngest of nine, he kind of had to be. He even enjoyed mindlessly running around, not that he would ever admit to it.
In the sixth grade, one of Noah's buddies needed an extra player for his soccer team, so he offered up the spot. Noah accepted, thinking he would be a bench-warmer, maybe only play five minutes of every game. That was not the case at all.
He was a starter.
The team was garbage anyway, mostly kids who had only been playing soccer for a couple of months. Noah didn't really add anything by being there. They could've just as easily played with a cardboard box in his place, and they still would have been the worst team in the league.
Now, Noah's dad was a winner. He was naturally competitive. He had to win everything, and so did his flesh and blood. He would probably go so far as to help one of Noah's sisters win a wet t-shirt competition.
Of course, Noah holding a spot on this crappy team was unacceptable. Noah's dad wasn't allowed on the practice fields after an incident with one of Noah's older brothers, but he loyally attended every game of the season. Usually his mom came too, and she was able to keep his father from saying anything too offensive. However, one game, she wasn't there. Noah had begged her to come, but to no avail.
As Noah was lacing up his cleats before the game, his dad passed by, and instead of saying something like "good luck", he asked "Do you need me to explain the concept of 'winning' to you and your teammates?"
The commentary during the game was worse. "The ball is supposed to go in the net, not out of bounds!" he would yell from the sidelines. Every comment, every dig, set Noah even further on edge, and made him grit his teeth harder.
"Do you know how soccer works?!"
"The objective is to score more points than the other team!"
"Here's a hint- stay inside the boundary lines!"
Some of the comments got a little too personal.
"Come on Noah! Don't start crying like last time!"
"Noah, be the ball, not that you have any!"
For some people, this negative cheering aggravated them enough to give them the strength to win. For Noah, it only aggravated him and made him perform worse. After giving the ball to the other team for the third time, he buried his head in his hands to keep himself calm.
"Don't be such a bad sport, Noah!" his dad had the nerve to say. "It's just a game!"
"Really?!" Noah yelled back. "Because you're the one acting like it's fucking life or death!"
He got a penalty and had to sit out the rest of the game.
On the way home, Noah's dad said, "You can't let your emotions get in the way of the game. You have to block out everybody else's comments-"
"Everybody else?!" Noah screamed. "Dad, you're the only one! Why can't you just be supportive for once?!"
"I am supportive! I want to see you do well!"
"No, you just want to win, and guess what? It's not your game to play, it's mine. I'm sick and tired of you ruining everything! I'm never playing sports again!"
A lot of things were running through Noah's head, such as "shit" and "waste of my time", but the most haunting was the faint echo of Noah's eleven-year-old voice exclaiming "I'm never playing sports again!"
He had kept his word, his angry, dumb oath he had only made to get back at his father five years ago.
As Noah sat on the Boat of Losers, he wondered if dodgeball even counted as a sport, and if being an ass was worth it.
I don't have much to say about this because it was never really planned, it just kinda appeared on my paper. Though, I will announce that the next chapter of Beyond the Fence will be up tomorrow!