Author's Note: Hey everyone! Welcome to Fast Times at Normandy High. Let me give you all some key background information. First, all the characters will be human. It's set during the present in our universe in Nebraska, so I can't have aliens running around. Second, I changed some character names so they would fit with American culture. For example, "Saren Arterius" is now "Seth Arterius" and "Nihlus Kryik" is now "Nicholas Kryik". I tried to keep the sounds of the names as similar as possible. If you have any other questions, or something is unclear, PM me and I'd be happy to clarify. This was an idea I had on a whim, and probably won't continue it much unless it receives support. So if you like the idea, please review so I can know!
Monday, August 22nd
Nondescript Location
"Well… what about Shepard?" Principal Donald Udina asked, pointing to the name on the roster. "Freshman… But that doesn't mean much."
"I saw what he can do in practice. He may be young, but no one can deny that the kid's got talent." Head Coach David Anderson replied.
Athletic Director Steven Hackett added, "He proved himself during middle school. He even has the state middle school record for passing yards and passing touchdowns."
Coach Anderson nodded, "And we need to think about the future of this team. Next year, we won't have a returning starting quarterback, he needs all the experience he can get."
"Well, I think we're in agreement. Shepard starts on Friday." Udina finalized.
Friday, August 26th
Eden Prime, Nebraska
There was a tangible excitement in the air. It was the unofficial start of football season. Although this game was merely an exhibition, a scrimmage whose outcome wouldn't affect either team's record, all the players and fans were excited. Everyone had waited almost nine months for this day. See, football was insanely popular in Nebraska. When a state's largest city has a population of under 450,000 people, and most of the state is covered with cornfields, excitement and entertainment are hard to come by. Football provided people with that excitement and entertainment. Since there was no professional football team in Nebraska, and college football was only played on Saturdays, high school football was the only other source. Every Friday night during football season, stadium lights would flare up. Two teams would face off, but more was at stake than the teams' records. The spirit of the town was at stake, as a win would add joy and happiness to an otherwise boring and monotonous life. Everyone wanted their team to do well. And in north-central Nebraska, the best team came from Normandy Township.
Normandy Township was a collection of small villages and unincorporated rural areas. Put together, the township had a population of just over 6,000 people. The definition of small town America. The main villages that made up the township were Mindoir, Palaven, and Thessia. The township's high school, appropriately named "Normandy High School", took students from all three villages and the surrounding rural areas. The school's total enrollment was a tad over 400, about 100 students per grade level. Everybody knew everybody, and all the students were more or less friendly to each other. Sure, the school had its bullies, all schools do. But for the most part, life was good if you were a student at Normandy High. But, just like every school, cliques ran rampant. You had the jocks, the popular girls, the nerds, the geeks, the stoners, the goths, etc. Nobody dared interact with anyone outside of their clique. In the social pecking order, the jocks were on top. And of those jocks, the football players were kings.
The Normandy football team, nicknamed "The Alliance" due to the several small villages that together made up the school district, arrived in the nearby town of Eden Prime. Johnny Shepard, the 15 year old freshman second-string quarterback, grabbed his duffel bag and stepped off the bus.
I can't believe it, I'm finally going to play high school football. he thought.
It had been his dream to play football in high school ever since he was a little kid. Shepard remembered going to Alliance games with his dad on Friday nights. Johnny's dad would always point to the field and tell him that if he wanted to, he too could play on that field. That was, of course, before he passed away. His reminiscence was cut short by a hard shove to his back, which sent him stumbling forward.
"Out of my way, freshman!" Seth Arterius yelled.
Seth was the defensive star of the team. A 18 year old, 6'3", 230 lbs senior linebacker, who had a scholarship to play at Nebraska already lined up. He was a bit of a bully, but Shepard guessed that was due to his ego. Being the two-time state defensive player-of-the-year, getting a scholarship as a sophomore, and being just plain menacing will have that effect.
Shepard felt an arm around his shoulders, and looked to see who it belonged to. It was his best friend and wide receiver, Garrett Vakarian. Even though Garrett was from Palaven, and Shepard from Mindoir, they had been friends since childhood. They first met when they were placed into the same kindergarten class, and quickly became inseparable. Johnny and Garrett both loved football, and always played during recess. They always did everything together, whether it was hanging out, playing video games, or trying to talk to girls. Garrett, like all the players from Palaven, had gotten a haircut where the sides and back of their heads were shaved, but the hair on top was left alone, which was then slicked back. Nobody knew what the significance of the haircut meant, it was just something all the players from Palaven had always done in the past.
"Don't worry about Seth, he does that to all of us freshman." Garrett said. "He's probably just hyped for the game, I'd hate to be on Geth's offense."
The Normandy Alliance was scrimmaging against the Geth Heretics. Geth was a town about 30 miles away from Normandy Township, but it was decided the teams would play on the neutral field in Eden Prime. Eden Prime was about halfway between the two towns, which made travel easier. Geth was a conference rival of Normandy, and Coach Anderson couldn't stand Coach Sovereign, the Heretics' head coach. Sovereign was cold, calculating, and ruthless. He was kind of scary as well; he had a deep, booming voice and always sounded angry. The Heretics were a challenging opponent. Sovereign made them practice so much that they almost played in sync, as if all the players could communicate instantly with each other.
Someone behind Johnny and Garrett made an exaggerated gasping for air noise. The two turned around to see their friend Jeff "Joker" Moreau, the team's freshman kicker, hobbling off the bus. He was in crutches due to a sprained ankle suffered during an earlier practice. It seemed like Joker was always getting hurt, but his sense of humor never suffered in the slightest.
"Wow, I can finally breathe!" Joker exclaimed. "You wouldn't believe how much room Seth's ego took up."
That got a laugh from Johnny and Garrett, and the trio began walking towards the locker room.
"He may be an asshole, but he's our two time defensive player-of-the-year asshole." Johnny said. "Just be glad he's on our side."
"Doesn't mean I have to like him." Garrett retorted.
Johnny, Garrett, and Joker arrived in the locker room and began gearing up. Unfortunately, Joker was limited to just putting on his jersey over his regular clothes. Johnny took his jersey out of his bag, and admired it. He finally made it, he was a part of the high school team. The jersey had the Normandy Alliance colors of blue and white, with black trim. A big number 7 was stitched on the front and back, with smaller ones on the sleeves. Johnny gingerly turned it over, marveling at each angle. He slipped it over his shoulder pads, and joined the rest of the team for the pre-game meeting.
It wasn't hard to spot Garrett, Johnny just had to look for the jersey with 83 stitched on it. He took a knee by him, and Joker came hobbling over to them. Coach Anderson came over, and addressed the team.
"Alright men, I know all of you are eager to get the season started. But remember, this is just a scrimmage." Anderson stated. "I don't want to lose anyone to injuries before the season actually starts, so play smart. But that doesn't mean we can't play tough!"
That got a rise out of the players.
"The Heretics think they can come over here and run right over us! I won't lie, they will fight back hard." Anderson continued. "But tonight, you send them and the rest of the conference a message! We will fight to the end, we won't ever give up! We are Normandy!"
"We are Normandy!" the team shouted back in unison.
With that, the team got up and ran out of the locker room. Anderson stopped both Johnny and Nicholas Kryik before they could leave.
"Nicholas, I know you're the QB1, but I want Shepard to start tonight. He could use the experience, and I don't want you getting hurt before the season starts." Anderson told him.
Nicholas' muscles around his mouth twitched, he was obviously a little uncomfortable about giving up the starting job. To his credit, he took it with grace.
"I understand, Coach." he replied. Turning to Shepard, "Johnny, the team's looking to you for leadership now. Don't let them down."
"I won't, Nicholas." Johnny assured.
Nicholas nodded, and slapped him on the shoulder pads before running out.
Turning to Anderson, Johnny said, "This means a lot to me, Coach. Thank you, and I won't let you down."
"I know you won't, son." Anderson replied, putting a hand on Johnny's shoulder. "Now get out there, we have a game to win."
Author's Note: I got the idea for this while watching Friday Night Lights, so that's where the focus on football in this chapter comes from. Football will play an important role in the story, but won't be the main focus. Future chapters will include an actual school setting with many more characters. Also, for those who are aware of my other fanfic "Unbreakable Bond", I will continue to update that and it will still be my primary focus.