Thanks for all the reviews. Keep em coming. I am on a roll right now so the next chap should be up shortly.
Disclaimer: SM owns Twilight, I own all the football knowledge. :)
EPOV
"Edward."
My father peered at me unhappily from across his desk. He called me into his study when I got home from practice. I hated meetings with my father in his study; they always consisted of us going round and round in circles over the same conversation and always left me feeling like shit afterwards.
"Coach Swan called me this afternoon." I watched my father place his hands neatly on his desk, I would never be able to understand how those hands could save people's lives every day, offering people a new lease on life, yet those hands belonged to a man who would do everything in his power to hold me back.
"He mentioned something about a recruiter coming to watch you play?" He raised his brows at me in question.
I didn't answer, I hadn't told him about the recruiter for this very reason. My father sighed and shook his head at me.
"Why didn't you tell me Edward?"
I shrugged, "It doesn't matter."
"Of course it matters; this is a great accomplishment for you. It will look great on your application to Stanford."
He was doing it again and I had enough of it.
"I'm not going to Stanford," I stared right into his eyes, "I'm going to Penn State if the recruiter accepts me."
My father narrowed his eyes at me,he unclasped his hands and gripped the edge of his desk, "And just how are you planning to pay for that?"
I shrugged again, not really having an answer.
"Edward," my father began again, "we've already been through this…your mother and I have told you the only college we are willing to pay for is Stanford on the condition you enroll in the medical program. Any other college and you will have to pay your own way; we will not support a nonproductive career."
The sting of my father's words left a lump in my throat the size of a baseball, I didn't answer, I had given up answering months ago. I remember the first time I actually argued with him proclaiming that a professional football career was not something I wanted to do based on a whim, I truly loved the game and I was good at it, I wanted to at least have a chance. But he would hear none of that and when he realized I wasn't going to budge he finally gave me the ultimatum, he would only pay for my college education if I went to Stanford University and majored in medicine, no other college or major would be considered. I was supposed to follow his footsteps and be the next Dr. Cullen, successful in every way possible, but of course, deeply unhappy. I rebelled at his demands that night, my brain desperately searching for ways around my Father's words. I fought with him bitterly until the tears threatened to spill over, I did want to go to college, but I did not want to be a doctor, that was my Father's dream, not mine.
Over the last few months the idea of being recruited briefly flashed across my mind, and now here it was a reality, something no one, not even my Father, could take away from me.
"May I be excused?" I spoke in a monotonous tone not wanting him to know how much his words hurt.
"Edward…" my Father's grew soft, "your Mother and I love you very much, we only want what's best for you…" his words trailed off when I stood up. I simply nodded at him and began towards the door.
"Edward…" he spoke again, I hesitated at the doorway, my hand gripping the doorknob.
"Is there a young lady in your life?"
I froze; there was no way I wanted to let him know about Bella. I could only imagine how he would try and control that too.
"No sir." I didn't turn around to face him; he would be able to see the deceit in my eyes.
I heard my Father sigh heavily, "If there is, your Mother and I would love to meet her."
Without another word I pulled open the door and made my way down the hall avoiding the next ambush I knew was coming. There was only one thing keeping me going at that moment, Bella, and all my plans for my future, our future.
Coach Swan never pushed me as hard as he did during our last practice of the season. He spent every minute of our final four hour practice barking in my ear, making me feel worse than I already was.
"Come on Cullen! What the hell was that throw all about?! Do you want to throw like a girl tomorrow night in front of Johnson?" he sneered at me.
I gripped the football he tossed to me tightly, and attempted a 30 yard pass to Whitlock. The ball spun out of control and landed up about ten yards away from the target.
"Damn Cullen! What the hell did I ever see in you!"
I winced. The harsh tone of Coach's voice was breaking my concentration and I was feeling completely out of control.
"Do a reverse play instead!" Coach flung his hat to the floor in anger, "Do it right this time!"
Whitlock ran up to me tossing the ball in my direction with a look of concern on his face. In fact all the players had that same look, everyone except Newton.
I attempted a reverse flea flicker play next which failed miserably, both Whitlock and I were out of sync leaving the ball to fly through the air and bounce down the field out of bounds.
"When did this league turn into pee wee football? Where the fuck are my players?!" Coach bellowed.
We all blanched at his words.
Coach turned to our assistant coach, his hands on his hips.
"Gibson, take over, see if you can get these guy's noses out of their asses, and let me know when you do!"
Coach Gibson quickly herded us into a huddle and began offering words of encouragement as Coach Swan stalked off the field.
I had been avoiding Bella's eyes the entire practice mostly due to the sheer embarrassment I was feeling at being screamed at by her father, but I finally allowed myself to steal a glance in her direction once her Dad was off the field. Her face held a sympathetic worried look making her beautiful eyes haunted with anguish. She offered me a small apologetic smile as her eyes locked onto mine making me feel like a failure. I sighed and ran my fingers through my hair, at this rate I had might as well kiss Penn State goodbye.
BPOV
I was feeling terrible for Edward during practice. My Dad was totally riding on him and I couldn't understand why he kept it up knowing that it was causing Edward to lose his concentration. With each passing minute I found myself getting angrier and angrier at my Dad. I nearly flung my clipboard at him when he told Edward he was throwing like a girl, and when he started swearing I knew he would have to leave the field soon to cool down. I could see Edward struggling to keep his composure but I knew my Dad's words stung.
We didn't have our usual date on the bench that night. My Dad kept the players on the field for four hours so the sky was already dark when he finally let them go. I was disappointed of course, but told myself that it was better that way so Edward could get all the rest he needed for tomorrow's game. The sad look he gave me when he said goodbye tore at my heart and I wanted to fling my arms around him and tell him it would be okay, but my Dad was still looming over all the players barking orders at them to get a good night's sleep, and not eat anything heavy, so all we could do was say goodnight to each other.
When we got home my Dad snatched up the mail that had been placed in our front door mail slot and pounded up the stairs to his room, slamming the door behind him. I left him alone and busied myself in the kitchen trying to throw together a quick dinner for the both of us at this late hour. Deciding on spaghetti, I grabbed a pot and filled it with water. While the spaghetti boiled I finished up a few worksheets that needed to be turned in the next day. Finally, as I was pouring the sauce over the pasta my father made his reappearance at the foot of the stairs. His face still held a scowl and I quickly placed his plate down on the table. I turned to him in mock cheerfulness.
"Dinner's ready." I smiled
My Dad huffed and walked over to his chair. Before sitting down he threw a small stack of mail in my direction,
"That came for you."
I glanced down at the magazines and envelopes, my eyes catching Alice's handwriting on one of them.
"Thanks." I scooped up my mail and placed it on the empty chair next to me. We both began eating in silence. Finally after a few minutes my Dad picked up his glass and took a long drink of the ice tea I had poured him.
"Bella, my friend Larry Johnson will in town this weekend. He invited me to go fishing with him and a couple of other friends on his new boat docked down at the lake, I told him I would go." He took another drink of his tea.
I looked up and nodded, my Dad hardly ever did anything fun with his friends so I knew this would really do him some good. Last year he had come home from his fishing trip refreshed and full of good spirits making him much easier to get along with.
He picked up his fork, "I called Mrs. Cartwright to come down and stay with you overnight."
I nearly choked on my spaghetti.
"What?" I stuttered. I think the last time I saw Mrs. Cartwright was when I was fourteen.
My Dad gave me a half shrug, "I can't let you stay here alone. You're my little girl; I won't be able to check on you since there isn't any phone signal in the middle of the lake. "
I stared at him in disbelief, blinking at his sudden onset of parental concern.
"Dad, I'm not a baby, I can stay home by myself." I shook my head at him.
"I just don't feel good leaving you for two nights Bella." My Dad wiped his chin with his napkin, looking at me with sad eyes.
"I'll be fine," I assured him, "I have all these magazines to read and my lit essay is due Monday so I need to finish over the weekend."
I could see he still wasn't convinced, I kept up my chattering before he got that no way in hell look on his face,
"Look, maybe Alice will make it down this weekend," I shuffled through my mail sitting on the chair next to me grabbing an envelope, "she wrote to me, maybe she is coming home."
My Dad sighed and pushed his plate away from him, he looked up at me with the saddest expression I had seen in a long time.
"Bella." He closed his eyes for a couple of seconds his hands rubbing his temples; the air around us was thick with tension.
"I know…" he opened his eyes, his features dead serious, "I know you are a responsible young lady. I know you are old enough to stay here alone, I trust you, will you at least check in with Mrs. Cartwright in the evenings?"
I nodded once and watched him push his chair back from the table; he looked down at me once more his eyes still held a troubled look.
"Thanks for dinner; I think I turn in early."
"You're welcome." I stood and began clearing the table, "Good Night Dad."
I knew Edward was nervous the next morning when I walked into Calculus. He also looked tired, so so tired.
"Hi." I slid into the desk next to him. He gave me a weak grin and reached over and squeezed my hand.
"Hey."
"Are you okay?" my eyes searched his face, something was off and I didn't know what.
"I'm okay, just tired, and nervous." He half laughed but I could tell his heart wasn't in it.
I pulled out my book and passed my homework forward all while watching Edward out of the corner of my eye. I knew better than to press him to talk to me right now, he gazed absentmindedly out the window while Mr. Banner began his morning lecture. My mind spun, ignoring Mr. Banner's words, I could only focus on Edward's dejected appearance, did my Dad's words last night affect him that much?
Desperate to make him feel better I reached below our desks and placed my hand on his knee. He jerked his head away from the window and turned to me; I offered him a shy smile and squeezed his knee letting him know that he was never far from my heart.
He placed his free hand over my own and squeezed back, there it was, just a hint of a sparkle in those chocolate brown eyes of his sending a tingling jolt up my spine.
My actions seemed to shake him out of his funk and by lunchtime he was almost back to his normal self as we sat in his Volvo munching on apples and sharing a bag of chips.
"Bella," Edward's irresistible voice lured me to attention. "Thank you," he smiled affectionately at me, "thank you for being there for me this morning."
I watched those dimples return to his face for the first time all day; my heart floundered in my chest. I held back the urge to grab him in a passionate kiss. Instead I smiled back warmly and grabbed his hand. I intertwined our fingers bringing his hand onto my lap.
"I'll always be here for you." I whispered tilting my head to the side. My hair fell over my shoulder at my movements partially covering my cheek as I spoke.
With his free hand Edward reached out and pushed my hair behind my ear, he let his hand open up behind my head and slowly he guided me towards him. When his face was less than an inch away from mine he stopped, his eyes watching mine hungrily. How I wanted to kiss those lips, to pull myself into him and kiss him. I leaned into his body closing the distance between us. He let his bottom lip brush across my own in the most alluring way.
"Reina." He whispered before his mouth closed over mine.
There was so much feeling between us at that moment, Edward wasn't just kissing me with his mouth, he was kissing me with his entire soul. His kisses traveled everywhere over my cheeks, my eyes, my neck. He made his way back to my mouth; ever so softly he took my lower lip between his teeth biting down gently. I quivered from his touch, a low moan escaping my throat.
EPOV
I never knew I could feel this way about someone before. Bella's moans were intoxicating; my hand clutched the back of her head against me unwilling to let her go. I needed her, in the worst way. I didn't want to lose her, lose this ever.
I continued to brush my lips against hers kissing her softly until we heard the bell ring. I let her go reluctantly, pulling my head away from hers.
"You can't be late." I whispered. She mewled softy in my arms and placed a final kiss on my cheek before breaking away from me. She smiled, her black eyes sparkling as the sunlight danced over them. I watched her grab her bag from the backseat and sling it over her shoulder. She blew a final kiss at me and headed across the campus toward her class.
Grabbing my own backpack I headed in the opposite direction finally feeling in better spirits than I had been in the last 12 hours. I rounded the corner and up the stairs, trying to get my mind psyched for the game.
"What do you think Coach is going to do to you when he finds out you're screwing his daughter?"
I knew it was Newton; I could spot that nasal drone of his instantly. I debated on ignoring him but feared that the students around us would pick up on his words.
"Fuck off Newton." I tried to brush him off.
"What's the matter Cullen? You sound pissed, does that mean you haven't gotten into her pants yet?" Newton's laugh echoed down the hall.
I pivoted around to face him, I wanted to rip that smug expression off his face and shove it down his throat.
"Coach is going to find out you know," Newton drawled on, narrowing his eyes at me, "it's all over school about you and Bella. What do you see in that B anyways?"
The red haze that surrounded my brain exploded at Newton's words and without even realizing it my backpack was on the floor and I had Newton shoved up against the hallway wall.
"Shut the fuck up," I hissed using every ounce of self control I could find. I knew what Newton was trying to do. He wanted me to punch him, it would get me suspended. The recruiter would have no one to watch play but him, "You don't know shit!"
I pushed away from him hard making his head slam into the concrete wall. Without another word I grabbed my backpack from the floor and stomped away still seething. The foul mood that I had been in all day returned with a vengeance making my body hurt and my head heavy.
It was still there when I ran out onto the field that afternoon. I tried to channel it into determination as I started calling the plays in the huddle. Coach Swan continued to shout and glare at me the entire first quarter, I ignored it as much as I could. I kept reminding myslef that my entire future was riding on my plays, Holden was totally protecting my ass on the field, giving me all the time I needed to throw the ball, and Whitlock was a lightning bolt zigzagging all over the far end, opening himself up as much as possible so my throws could reach him easily. Both guys had my back, I owed them big-time.
After I had thrown my fourth touchdown I knew I was in my element and the atmosphere around us relaxed. We were ahead 28-7, I continued to play hard and encouraged my teammates to do the same. The crowd vibrated with a thunderous roar as I threw a 60 yard touchdown to Whitlock in the final seconds of the game. The burden I had carried all day finally lifted from my shoulders, Holden and Whitlock were whooping and slapping my back, Coach was finally smiling standing next to who I hoped was Johnson the recruiter. He gestured me over to them with a wave of his hand. I slipped my helmet off and jogged over to them.
"Cullen, this is Larry Johnson."
I immediately offered my hand in greeting, "Honor to meet you sir."
Johnson was a big man, at least 6'5" and strong too, when he shook my hand I could feel my circulation being cut off from his grip.
"Edward Cullen…very impressive out on that field young man." His hearty voice matched his size and I felt more at ease upon hearing his praise.
"Thank you sir." I couldn't help but grin.
"Penn State will be getting in touch with you soon." He replied with a nod of his head which I could tell was a dismissal, Coach noticed it too.
"Hit the locker room Cullen, I'll be there shortly."
I jogged across the field my eyes searching silently for Bella; she was standing alone smiling at me, radiating happiness, three fingers pressed against her lips. I winked at her as I ran past heading for the locker room. She laughed, clapping her hands together and giving me a thumbs up sign. My heart soared as I flew into the locker room on a high.
"Way to go Cullen!"
"Great Game Cullen!"
The guys were all slapping me on my ass congratulating me.
"Party tonight! My house Cullen!" Whitlock threw me a towel and winked, "Bring your girl."
I grinned at him, catching the towel with one hand.
"Whitlock has the best fuckin parties, my friend," Holden pulled his jersey up over his head and started fiddling with his shoulder pads, "no coach, no parents…"
I raised my eyebrows and grinned even more.
"Lots of hot chicks, booze, and food…" Holden suddenly chuckled at his own words, "well just booze and food for you my friend, you already have a hot chick."
I laughed feeling surrounded by friends for the first time since I started Forks High.
"We'll be there."
Yes, that's right...time to party! :)
