The ball swirled through the air and was coming down toward me. It came down faster and faster and I stumbled around ready to catch it. My teammates were racing over to help me, but were shoved away by the Fillionbridge Falcons. The huge Falcon players were running straight at me and I screamed and ran to the goalpost, clutching the ball like it was a prized possession. The ground shook as I ran, and I could tell that they were gaining on me. My legs suddenly felt stiff. The football shoes that I wore over my spray-on shoes felt tight and I felt my breath coming out fast. The goalpost was there. Right there.

I lifted my arm and threw the football. It soared through the air gracefully and spun as it went along. Just as it was about to cross the goal line, one of the Falcon players jumped and snatched from the air. A cheer erupted from the Fillionbridge bleachers and the cheerleaders went into cheers. Then the Falcon player shoved me aside and ran passed me. I slammed to the ground and felt the grass and dirt under me.

"Better luck next time, weakling! You don't belong on the football field, anyway! Get off!" the Falcon player called over his shoulder and dashed off, with my teammates hot on his trail. A rage electrified through my veins. Did he just say what I think he just said? DID HE JUST SAY WHAT I THINK HE JUST SAID? Oh he will pay. I ran down the field and watched Denis now get the ball and ran with it past me, with it clutched under his arm. The giant Falcon players ran too.

For the next hour, the game played along well. But no one had scored yet. Whenever someone was close to the goal, the crowd would lean in and hold their breath. It was too much. The Sharks were as good as The Falcons. I, on the other hand, hadn't got a chance to get the ball anymore.

There had also one tackle. Brent had gotten the ball and three Falcons pounced on him. Brent managed to escape by punching one in the stomach and almost smashing another's helmet. Then he broke free from the last one and raced down the field. There, he threw the ball to one of our teammates and the ball was snatched by the Falcons. It was brutal. Our team was trying their hardest, but the Falcons were there to take the ball away. That's when the whistle blew. It was a break.

"Listen, you guys are doing great. Just try harder to score. There is still 90 minutes left of the game. Please score a goal." Our coach told us when we huddled around him. We still had ten minutes of break, so many ran off to get some water to drink. I took my football shoes off and ran off in my spray-on shoes to get some water to drink. When I came back, my shoes were sitting on the bench, rather than on the ground. And the inside was all black. My shoes had white on the inside. I turned one shoe over and saw my name on the bottom. These were my shoes!

But then what was with the black stuff? Ignoring the black, I pulled the shoes on and ran back on the field. For some reason the shoes seemed lighter and brought a bounce to my step. I seemed to run faster too. Maybe it was adrenaline?

"FLINT! INCOMING!" someone from my team shouted across the field and I saw the ball coming at me. When I caught it, I clutched it hard and raced down the field. A Falcon player was not too far away; blocking my way. When he was about to cuff me on the head and knock me out cold, I ducked and ran under his arm. Smirking, I continued my race to the goalposts. If I reached the End Zone, that'll be 6 points. A shot into the goalposts would be an extra point. My teammates had also started to run after me, along with a few Falcon players. I decided that this time, instead of shooting the ball at the goalpost, I'll just reach the End Zone and score my team a touchdown.

Suddenly, my shoe began to get tighter as if it was choking my foot. I felt something sharp flinch against my ankle and the shoe sent an electric jolt through my leg. Literally. I felt the spray-on shoes hold on tight to me, protecting my foot from whatever was in my shoes. There was something alive in my shoes, because I felt something move around, trying to bit at my spray-on shoes. This was making me run slower. I looked down as I ran and saw something black crawl up the ankle of my pants and then bit down hard. It wasn't an animal. It was some sort of goo.

I yelped in pain and ran faster.

Flint you can make it! Do this for your team! I told myself

The Falcon players saw me slowing down and found their chance. I knew that I wouldn't reach the End Zone in time. So, I threw the football at the goal post. Before I could see if I scored, a group of Falcon players tackled me. Most of the bones in my body crackled when they landed. I felt someone's fist slam into the cage of my helmet and their fist reached my face. A monstrous pain bellowed through my face and I felt someone slam into my hip.

"HEEEEELP!" I cried out and tears actually formed in my eyes. Another fist drove into my ribs and I howled.

"GOD DAMMIT! HE DOESN'T HAVE THE BALL!" I heard one of the coaches roar and then I felt the football players get off me. My body felt so hurt. I had no words to describe the pain. Much, much worse than just breaking your leg. My ears pumped with blood and I felt the crowd yell. Or was that a cheer? I couldn't tell. My teammates were running over as well as people from the bleachers. I felt the presence of many people, but I could barely see them. My eyes were sore from the way the guy whacked me. They were limply half open.

"Look at his leg!" I heard various voices and I wondered what was there.

"It's all in blood. There is something black on his leg." I heard the voice of my coach. Blood? Black thing? What was the black thing? I felt someone crouch beside me and gently take my helmet off. I squinted and saw that it was a cheerleader. Or some girl. I felt free when my helmet was off.

"He's hurt." She (whoever she was) whispered and took a step back.

"THAT'S MY SON!" I heard dad cry out as he pushed his way through the crowd. Then I felt him kneel down beside me. My mind couldn't take it anymore. I felt weaker. The words around me seemed slurred. Except for one sentence I managed to hear.

"Oh my, what happened here?" came the slick voice of the Mayor. He didn't seem sorry at all. Of course I couldn't hear anymore, because just then I blanked out…

My mind was so tired that I could barely think. What time was it? Was I late for school? I didn't want to open my eyes. My cheekbone ached. What happened? My body ached too. What happened? Had I fallen off something again? My eyes half opened and I glanced around. Everything was blurry. I blinked a couple of times and my vision became clearer.

White walls blinked back at me. Panicking, I turned my head and opened my eyes fully. More white walls looked back at me. Then a window. Where was I? I moved my head a little more to the left and saw a table filled with cards, flowers and one bag of gumballs. I squinted at the writing on the cards.

They all said either 'Get well, Flint!' or 'We need you back!' I blinked at the cards in confusion. Then it all came back to me. The football game. How I got tackled and was almost beaten to death by the Falcon players. Now it all made sense. But who ended up winning the game? What happened after I passed out? Most importantly, what was the black thing on the inside of my shoe that ended up making my feet bleed?

Then the door opened and a doctor walked in. I knew who it was instantly. It was the doctor who owned the clinic. I was in his clinic.

"Flint, how do you feel?" he asked and sat down on a chair near my bed.

"I can't feel anything on my body." I told him.

"Ah… Well that's quite fine. You'll be better before you know it!" the doctor smiled and adjusted the glasses on his face. I nodded and then wondered about asking him about the black stuff. When I did, he sighed and adjusted his glasses again. A dark look passed through his eyes and he looked scared.

"Someone must have played a nasty trick on you. What were in your shoes were black leeches. Nasty things. Suck on blood." The doctor shuddered and my face went white. Leeches? Oh god. Those things were gross. But who was thick enough to stuff them into my shoe? I bit my lip and felt thankful that I wore spray-on shoes. Nothing could get passed those.

Suddenly, the door slammed open and my football team marched into the room. The doctor smiled and left the room, so they could talk with me. All ten teammates crowded around the bed and glanced at me. Huge grins were spread across their faces.

"Flint we won." Denis grinned and the rest of the team nodded.

"How?" I managed to say.

"You got us a point. Fillionbridge couldn't score on us after that. We won 1-0!" someone guy from the team told me and I stared at them in shock. My flimsy throw, got our team a point? That was incredible.

"I guess you won't be playing football for a long time." Brent suddenly spoke up and looked at my body. The rest of the team winced. I craned my neck, to look down at my own body. There were bandages around my ribs and chest. Now I noticed that my football jersey was hanging on a chair. My football pants had been rolled up and the lower parts of them were bandaged. Plus my wrists on my arms were bandaged too.

"What happened after I got hurt?" I asked the team to change the subject. At the moment, I didn't want to think about me not playing football. I was on the verge of quitting. I knew I'd be letting them down, but I couldn't risk getting hurt like this again.

"Well, you were carried off field and we got a replacement for you. We couldn't stop the game, because it was Homecoming. If it was a normal game, then the game would have been canceled off. But after we won, these trained acrobats came on to perform and the school band played." Another from the team responded.

My stomach clenched. What would have happened if I didn't score? What happened of the score stayed 0-0 until the end of the game? But I felt horrible, even if I scored a goal. I should have fought them off. When they had tackled Brent, he had fought back. Why couldn't I have done the same?

"Guys? I think I should just quit." I stammered and the team turned to me in shock.

"Quit?" Denis gasped.

"But you saved the game!" others cried.

"I'm sorry. But first of all, I won't be able to play. My injuries would probably only get better when football season ends. Second of all, I'm not as good as any of you." I told them and hung my head. My teammates frowned at me and I saw them sigh and get up slowly.

"But you were a good player. If you'll ever want to change your mind, we'll accept you without tryouts." Brent nodded at me and I nodded back.

"Thanks for saving The Homecoming Football Game." Denis nodded and then they all left, waving sadly at me. I sunk back into my bed and glanced at the door. I hoped we all still stayed friends. But they'll most likely forget about me.

At least I was done with football. Now I could slip back into my normal life. I longed for my lab coat. And sitting in my lab, thinking of crazy invention ideas.

Wait a sec. I almost forgot about the leeches. I still had to find out who did that! But I think I already know who it was. Whatever. I wasn't doing football anymore, so leeches inside my shoes wouldn't bother me anymore. I had my spray-on shoes. And I was grateful for them.