Prologue

Ben let out a long sigh as he stretched his hand over and slammed the snooze button on his alarm. He made a subtle glance at the clock. 7:46. He had let his alarm ring for a full minute before it finally encouraged him to wake up.

There was a small scratching at the window. Ben rolled over and peered at it to see a small squirrel clawing the window. Ben only smirked and closed his eyes, hoping for even the littlest ounce of sleep. But right as his eyelids fell, his door swung open startling him from resting. His father stood with an expression of anger and anxiety.

" Ben! Get out of bed," he screamed, " we're gonna be late for the game!"

Ben eyes grew wide. He had totally forgot about his football game. Instantly, he leaped out of his bed and sprinted out of room and down the hallway to the bathroom. Ben tried his best to brush his hair to make it look halfway decent. Then he put on some deodorant and washed his face. Ben stared at his tired expression in the mirror. He couldn't believe he had forgotten the biggest game of the season. Stupid, that's what I am, he thought to himself. I'm no superstar with amazing skills anyway. The team is probably better without me.

That thought kept echoing in Ben's head as he continued with the rest of his routine. As he reached the kitchen, he saw there were some waffles made for him. They were tempting, but Ben didn't want to fill his stomach up too full, so he grabbed a muffin instead.

As he headed for the door he looked over his shoulder at his parents.

" Who schedules a football game for 8:20 in the morning?" Ben questioned. His father shrugged, but his mother was too busy preparing food. He knew his little sister would stomp down the stairs demanding an omelet or something any minute. She's so selfish, thought Ben. He checked to make sure his keys were in his pocket, and he hurried out to his car.

The echoes of his teammates' voices filled his ears as he marched to the locker room. Ben rounded the corner to be greeted by forty-something faces, all with the same bland, angry expression, and all were different shades of red. The darkest was his coach's.

" Do you have any idea what time it is?" the coach screamed into Ben's face. Ben shrugged his shoulders. The coach swung his arm up and pointed to a clock on the wall. 8:22! No, I'm late! Ben thought to himself.

" Huh, maybe my car could've waited to have a nice wash..." mumbling under his breath, Ben lied to his team. They all heard him, though, and looked in disbelief. Yes, his excuse made him look stupid, but he would rather look dumb than a traitor. In reality, Ben had stopped at a local donut shop to get more to eat. Ben would've stayed there if it wasn't for his consciousness.

" That's it, Benjamin," the coach spat, " you are benched for the WHOLE GAME!"

Ben could care less, besides that he would've enjoyed sitting in the stands more than having hundreds of eyes drilling into the back of his head thinking " Why isn't he playing?"

He dared not to look back, either, to see the grim and disgusted faces of his parents. So, the whole game Ben sat staring straight forward, every once in awhile looking at the scoreboard.

The game finally ended with the Romans, Ben's team, losing to the Hunters, 34-21. As the team somberly stomped back to the locker room, Ben stayed at the back of the group. He wanted to walk back into the locker room as much as he wanted a root canal, but he had no further choice.

The sound of showers turning on and spraying water filled Ben's ears as he walked into the locker room. He glanced to see some players getting ready to clean themselves down. Normally, Ben would be doing the same.

He continued to walk to his locker when he was stopped by a group of teammates. Ben noticed one as Lucas, the starting quarterback.

" Maybe if you worried more about the team than your stupid car," Lucas started saying. The center, Andrew, stepped forward and finished his sentence. " We could've won the game!"

Lucas continued, " You were our best cornerback, but because you got benched, Alvin played and gave up many points!"

That's the dumbest excuse I've ever heard, Ben thought. He looked at Alvin. He was a toothpick with legs. It's not my fault the team's defensive backfield is dependent on me and that Alvin would be better off playing water polo. Ben looked back up at Lucas. He was really steaming.

" If that's how you feel, Lucas, maybe I should just quit the team," Ben sternly said. Lucas gave a quick response.

" The team is probably better without you."

Those words. The same words Ben had said to himself that morning. Fine. Ben walked over to the coach, grabbed his helmet firmly in his hand, and slammed it into the ground.

" Coach," he barked, " I quit! I quit! I quit this team!" The locker room got silent. " I quit your stupid football team! I quit being your stupid cornerback! In fact, that's not the only thing I quit," Ben moved near the locker room exit. " I quit your team along with this school. I quit this community. I quit this town. I quit this stupid life!"

With that, Ben stomped out of the locker room, out to the parking lot, started his car, and drove off. Where he was headed was unknown, but he knew for sure it was away from the town of Dewitt.