Author's Note
Can I just say: WOW! THANK YOU ALL!
I have more reviews, views, follows and favorites that I could ask for for only two chapters! So, thank you to everyone who reads this! *Hugs*
canadianbanana: Thanks for your review; I'll try to make some chapters a little longer, but this one might not be too long, because I'm just typing the tryouts in this chapter. I know exactly where I want this chapter to stop! I'm so glad that you wanted to read more, and I hope you enjoy this chapter!
Blue Alaskan Wolf: Thank you for the review and I'm extremely happy to know that you like the story so far and that you were looking forward to knowing what's coming! Thank you, and I hope you like this chapter!
Enjoy!
Wearing His Jersey
Chapter Three
Beatrice's P.O.V.
"Everybody, line up!" Coach yelled. We all formed a long line right in front of the coach as he walked back and forth in front of us. "Y'all may not know, but size is a big part of football." When he said this, he stopped walking in front of me and I swear he had a smirk on his face as he motioned for me to step forward from the line. I did.
"See, Beatrice here, she's small. She's short; she's thin. It doesn't really look like there's any muscle here," he said.
"And it doesn't really look like there's any rudeness there," I said and gestured to him. "I guess we were both wrong."
I heard a sound like someone holding in a laugh from further down the line. I smiled at the kid and nodded to Coach, telling him to continue. He glared at me for a good few seconds before continuing his speech.
"Being small in football is not a good thing; it puts you in more danger and it makes the rest of the team have to work harder to pull your weight, for you'd have a harder time doing well in football." I shook my head in disbelief. I hope no one believes this. "Therefore, being smaller than others trying out immediately puts you at a disadvantage. There's a smaller chance that I'll pick you to put you on the team. Are we clear?" Almost everyone else mumbled a sort 'yes' but not me, and not the kid who almost laughed. I noticed him shaking his head right as I said 'no'.
"Not one bit," I muttered to myself. This guy is so unfair; I understand that size is good in football but that shouldn't put the smaller people at an immediate disadvantage.
"Alright, everyone, I want you to all find a partner and get a football. Just pass back and forth for a few minutes; warm up." I ran over to the bag of footballs and took one out, than turned to look around.
"Hey," I said to the boy right behind me. "Got a partner yet?"
"No," he answered.
"Well, now you do." He laughed and I led him away from the crowd of people all huddled around the bag of footballs and to the opposite side of the field, away from everyone else.
"What's your name?" I called out as we split up to form a larger distance between us.
"I'm Uriah," the boy said. "You?"
"Beatrice."
"You know, I like the way you stood up to the coach," he said as I passed him the football. "Not many people here do that. We ll, nobody does, really."
"Seriously?" I asked, slightly surprised. Some of the kids at this school have quite the attitude, so I was surprised.
"Seriously." He passed the football back.
"Want a tip?" I asked as I caught the ball.
"Sure."
"Don't point your elbow forward as much when you throw. It might end up hurting your arm in the long run."
"Okay. Thanks." I nodded. We kept passing the ball for a few more minutes as the coach paced up and down the field, watching. In that time, I learned that Uriah's got a brother named Zeke and two friends, Will and Four, who are also trying out for the team. He said that all of them, him and I are all in the tenth grade, along with the rest of his friends, Christina, Shauna, Marlene and Lynn. I know Lynn already, we're partners in Science. I also learned that, according to Uriah, I throw the 'best spiral to ever exist to man on Earth and Saturn and Mars'.
"What about the other planets?" I asked.
"The other planets don't have anyone there to throw a football, so how would we know?" he said. "Duh!" I raised my eyebrows.
"Okay, well if that's your theory," I said and paused, throwing the ball to him. "Then who does throw footballs on - what did you say? - Mercury and Mars?"
"No, Saturn and Mars. And the aliens do. Common, Beatrice, get it together! Who else would throw footballs?" I laughed and shrugged.
"I don't know. I really don't." We kept passing the ball, and a minute later, he spoke again.
"If you do make it onto the team - which I'm sure you will - then I think we need to . . . adjust your name a little bit." I gave him a confused look.
"What do you mean? I like my name."
"No, no! It's a great name! It just doesn't seem to, well, match you, I guess. 'Beatrice' sounds too nice for you."
"So you're saying I'm not nice?"
"No! No, you are nice, but not as nice as 'Beatrice' makes you seem. I think that when you make the team - " He was interrupted by a group of adults walking down the hill together in a pack; there were four of them.
"Coach Jap! It's been a while!" one of the people yelled out as they reached the field and began making their way over to the coach.
"Who are they?" I asked Uriah, who, like me, was watching them as they greeted Coach Jap.
"I don't know."
"What are you guys doing here?" Coach said.
"We came to help choose who makes the team!" Coach's smile faltered.
"Really?" he asked.
"Yeah!"
"Oh," he said, and I could hear how fake his excitement was with every word. "Well, that's great!"
"It is, isn't it?" one of the other people said.
"They're coaches," Uriah said. "Only coaches can help pick the members of a team, so they have to be."
"Oh," I said. Then, a thought popped into my mind. "Hopefully that'll help make Coach's choice of the team fair." He nodded and then the coaches called us into a huddle.
We ran back and forth down the field over and over again so that the coaches could check our speed. I was a few steps ahead of everyone else each time. I could see the coach named Coach Lee nodding at me in approval with the others while Coach Jap scowled at me as I ran past.I smiled at him and looked ahead, increasing my pace for the last three yards. I came to a stop and turned around just as the others came across the line we stopped at.
After that, we threw multiple passes - long, direct, and short - with different players. Then, we did mixed passes for a little while.
"Water break!" Coach Jap yelled and everyone filed off the field. I headed over t where my water bottle was, which happened to be by Uriah, who was talking to someone I don't know - probably one of his friends he was telling me about. I took a long sip of my water and then closed the cap.
"Hey, Beatr - well, you," I heard and turned to face Uriah.
"Why didn't you call me my name?"
"Remember? I think you should have a nickname, one to suit you better." He pauses. "As I had been saying when we were passing the ball, 'Beatrice' makes you sound really, really nice. I think that when you make the team, you should have a name that matches your skill, one that sounds, well, a little tougher."
"Wow, thanks," I said sarcastically and rolled my eyes.
"Any time," he smiled. "Oh! I forgot. Four, this is . . . I don't know what I'm going to call her yet." He gestured from the boy standing next to him, who still had his helmet on, to me. "You, this is Four. I told you a little about him." Uriah gestured from me to Four.
"Hi," he said.
"Hey." He turned around and took off his helmet, then took a long drink of his water. When I turned around, I got a good look at him. He had a long nose with dark brown hair, and his eyes were a beautiful, deep blue that reminded me of being under water.
I snapped out of my daze and looked back to Uriah, feeling my cheeks redden.
"So, if you aren't going to call me 'Beatrice', what are you going to call me? You are not calling me 'you' and 'her' forever."
"Um . . . I don't really know yet," he said. "Any ideas, Four?" I watched as his eyes narrowed and his lips puckered. I wonder if that's what he does when he's thinking about something.
"Tris."
"Hmm?" Uriah asked.
"Tris. That's what she should go by," he smiled.I smiled back.
"I like it," I said.
"Yeah, good work, bro." Uriah paused. "Ya know, we have another minute, and you still have not met Will and Poophead."
"Pooophead?" I asked, my eyebrows raised.
"My brother, Zeke," he explained. I nodded. Uriah turned around and I watched as he yelled. "You! You! Come!" He'd posted to two boys.
"Me?" one of them called back, pointing at himself.
"Yah! Come on! You're so slow! Let's go, let's go! Come on, Will, I told you to come, too! Let's go! Hustle!" Uriah yelled at them as they walked over to us.
"What do you want?" the one who I assumed was Uriah's brother, for the similar features, said.
"I want you guys to meet Tris! Zeke, Will, this is Tris. Tris, Will and Zeke."
"Nice to meet you," I said and put my hand out for theirs to shake. They did.
"You, too," Will said.
"What he said," Zeke said, smiling, as he nodded in Will's direction. He rolled his eyes.
"Everyone back on the field! Now!" Coach Jap yelled. I sighed and slid my helmet on.
"Here we go again," I muttered. With every exercise we've done so far, Coach had glared at me as I did it. As I did it well.
He clearly hates my guts already.
I headed out onto the field.
"We're almost finished! There are just a few more things we must go through," Coach said. He smirked at me. "It's time for me to see your tackles." I smirked back; what he doesn't know is that I have practiced tackles before, so I know how to take someone down easily, despite my size. He split us up into groups of four; I was with Four, Zeke and this kid named Peter. We got together and Coach Jap continued. "So, what's going to happen is three of you will begin running and just a second or two later, the fourth one of you will come at them and try to tackle them, as many ays can. Will set you up at different angles - coming from behind the person, the side of them, at an angle coming toward the front of them." I nodded and soon we began.
I went first. Coach put me behind them all, and I tackled both Four and Peter. When he put me to the side, I tackled just Peter, and coming from the front, I got Zeke and Four. I stood from the ground and brushed some of the dirt off me. I smiled at Coach Jap. He just looked at me for a minute and set us up again for another person, this time Four. He tackled Zeke once, Peter all three times, and me twice, each time taking me down but not landing on top of me. I think he thinks that I can't take the fall. It annoys me. Zee tackled me once, Peter twice, and Four allotter times. Peter tackled me once, Zeke twice, and Four no times.
"Okay, everybody," Coach started. "One more thing: how you work as a team. In the groups that you were assigned before, one coach will come over and watch as you four work out a play. You do not have to show it off, just make it and tell the coach that you are with what the play is. It has to be able to work like a good play; it would not be too hard to pull off. These plays may be used in games or practices. Begin!" I got back with my group and we began to figure it out. Coach Lee was with us, and she nodded along as we sorted through our play. We decided that our play would be easy, basic. The ball would go straight to the quarterback, and two people would run further down the field. One would be in the end zone, the other a little closer to the quarterback. The ball would go to the player that's closer to the quarterback, and that player would throw the ball to the player in or close to the end zone; they'd get a touchdown. Every other players would work to keep the other team's players away from the three people passing it together.
"So, what should we name our play?" I asked.
"How about . . . " Zeke began. "'Play #0091'."
"I like that," I nodded.
"Yup; that works," Four agreed. We all turned to look at Peter.
"I don't like it," he said. I raised my eyebrows.
"Really?" I said in a flat tone. He nodded.
"I think we should name it 'The Peter'."
"Seriously?" I deadpanned. He just nodded, and I shook my head. "Okay. Whatever." I said, not in the mood for an argument.
"Dude, no," Zeke said. Four nodded in agreement. "We're making it a number; that way it's easier to call out on the field and that way, it's fair." Peter rolled his eyes and grumbled something under his breath.
"We'll stick with 'Play #0091'," Four said.
"Okay," I agreed.
"So, are you guys all set?" Coach Lee asked us. Zee and Four nodded, and Peter just stood where he was and glared at us all.
"Yeah, we're all set. Thanks," I said. She nodded and walked away to talk to Coach Jap about our play.
A short time later, all the coaches had discussed the plays and everything else; they'd talked about our overall performance and were each calling players over to tell them if they had mad the team. I sat on the grass in the middle of Four and Uriah.
"Are you nervous?" Four asked me as I bounced my leg up and down.
"Kind of," I replied.
"Four Eaton!" a coach I didn't know the name of called. Four stood and looked down for a moment at me, Will, Uriah and Zeke. Then, he walked off.
A moment later, I heard Coach Jap's voice call, "Beatrice Prior."
"She goes by Tris now," Uriah called to him. Even from this distance, I saw him scowl. I smiled at Uriah and stood, walking over to my coach.
"Hey, Coach Jap," I said. He just nodded.
"Beatrice, you did - "
"It's Tris."
"Beatrice, you did pretty well, I guess, but the other coaches and I talked. We decided that we liked your performance on the field, but you need to keep practicing. Sorry; you didn't make the team."
