Hey everyone!
This is a bit of a short update, and I'm sorry about that.
Thank you for continuing to support my story. I'm slow to update, but as long as you don't give up on me, I'll return the favor.
A Black and White Film: A Titans Documentary
Chapter Eleven: I Want To Hold Your Hand
"This is it," Dahlia mumbles softly to herself. She grips her camera nervously, squinting against the bright lights that lit the field they'd be playing on tonight. The amount of energy in the air was practically electric. All the excitement, the competitiveness, the nerves. It all seemed so surreal.
The high pitched calls coming from the cheerleaders and hearty shouts from the crowd, were merely muffled background noise to Dahlia as she continued to gaze out at the open field. She jumps when a heavy hand suddenly lands on her shoulder.
"You ready?" Glancing back she's happy to see Coach Boone staring back at her. She quickly pulls a small notebook out of her pocket and writes—
Game #1
T.C. Williams vs. Hayfield
Flipping it closed and shoving it back in to her pocket, she nods and turns to follow Boone to the locker room. The silence that falls over the two catches Dahlia's attention. Boone was never this quiet. He always has something to say, always has a point to make.
"Everything peachy, Coach?" She asks just loud enough to catch his attention over the crowd. Now that she got a good look at him she notes just how tense and pale he appears to be. In all honesty, he looked a little ill. Dahlia slowly comes to the realization that Coach Boone was nervous.
"You don't look too well," she observes placing a gentle hand on his arm, halting his steps. Boone glances back at her and sends a confident grin her way, which makes him look a little more like himself.
"Just a bit too much adrenaline running through me, that's it. Nothing a little football won't fix," he assures while placing his hand over hers. Dahlia smiles at this and takes one more longing look out at the field.
"Don't blame you, Coach. The pressure's on today," she admits, taking in the now overwhelming shouts from the crowd. "I can only imagine what you're going through right now." This catches Boone's attention and he turns to stare at her questionably. Sensing this, Doll's quick to explain.
"The Titans are making their big debut today. The world is being introduced to not just them, but the idea of integration, of unity, of equality." Boone's stare slowly morphs into one of surprise at the young lady's mature words. Dahlia shakes her head causing her short ponytail to whip her cheeks, before turning back to face Boone, "If I have learned anything from this past week of school, it's that we'll be facin' a lot of scrutiny out here today." The two stand there in silence for a few seconds, before Coach clears his throat and motions over his shoulder.
"Why don't you head on in and see the boys first," he suggests. Dahlia raises an eyebrow, but spares him her questions after realizing he already began to leave. She stares after his figure, a troubled expression on her face as she debated going after him or not. Ultimately she decides against it and turns to head into the locker rooms.
"Hope you're all decent!" She calls out while bursting into the room happily. A few high pitched yelps came from some of the guys at her sudden appearance, which sends her into a fit of laughter.
"There you are, Doll!" Gerry comments while stepping forward to hug the cheerful girl. A few of the guys are quick to follow his lead, and she's all too happy to hug them in return before glancing around to see if everyone was ready.
"Hey, anyone see Bosley?" One of the guys call out catching the attention of all the players. Dahlia's eye widen as she quickly scans the room to look for the teams' blonde sweetheart (not to be confused with Ronnie, who was the teams' blonde "dreamboat"), but only grows concerned when she can't spot him.
"He isn't here yet?!" Gerry's voice raises towards the end of his statement, hinting at the stress already beginning to fall on him.
"Did you happen to see him while you were coming in?" Dahlia is quick to ease her expression into one of false peace in hopes of keeping their team's leader calm. It seems to work, but when she answers his question with a shake of her head, Gerry sighs and rubs the back of his neck.
"Maybe he's just running late?" She suggests rubbing his arm in an attempt to soothe his nerves. The boys all seem a bit on edge, which made absolute sense to Dahlia. It had to be the pre-game jitters, her brothers would get them all the time back when they were in high school.
"Yeah, and I'm almost certain I know why he's late," Gerry nearly growls out catching Dahlia off guard. Commotion from the locker room entrance catch their interest and Dahlia sighs in relief as she sees a frantic Alan make his way in, vehemently yelling out apologies as he goes.
"Mind helping him get ready, Doll? Game's about to start soon and I need to gather the other guys up," Gerry asks causing the petite girl to nod and begin to walk in the direction Alan headed to.
"Wait—" a hand grips her wrist causing her to stop and look back at Gerry, "his father... He was late because of his father. I'm almost certain of it." Dahlia furrows her brows and clenches her jaw trying to reign back the sudden anger that consumes her. She didn't know exactly what Mr. Bosley could have been doing to make Alan so late, but she had a pretty good idea.
"That ain't no father," Dahlia denies causing Gerry's jaw to drop slightly before a surprised laugh escapes his mouth. Despite the fact that Gerry was often on the receiving end of Dahlia's spite (for valid reasons, of course), he still found it amusing whenever he witnessed it.
"Yeah, no kidding," he agrees before letting his grip on her go. The two exchange an understanding look, which causes Dahlia to smile at Gerry in response.
"No worries, I'll get him ready in time. Go round up your boys," she assures sending him a wink before walking away from him. Gerry shakes his head at her antics.
When she reaches Alan, he doesn't seem notice her standing there and continues to throw things into his locker. She can see that his cheeks were splotchy, and wondered sadly if he had been crying. Whether he had been crying because he was hurt, or because he was angry, she couldn't tell. He was mumbling to himself quietly, but she couldn't catch exactly what he was saying no matter how much she strained to hear.
Without warning, he suddenly rips off his shirt causing her to blush and glance away as he changes into his white under-armor. Alan was petite, thinner and shorter than most on his team, but that didn't mean he wasn't fit or attractive.
Trying to compose herself, she catches sight of the bottom half of his Titan uniform laying on the bench and quickly begins to place his knee and thighs pads in place. She decided that if she could keep herself busy, she could distract herself from blushing so heavily.
After a few seconds Alan turns to grab his pants only to jump when he finds Dahlia there holding it out for him.
"Doll!" He shrieks in surprise causing the slightly shorter girl to smile cheekily back at him.
"Hi," she greets casually tossing the pants his way. He's quick to catch it and notices his pads are already in place. Glancing back to her he blushes heavily as she continues to eye him curiously.
"Uh—Hi— Can you, uhh —" he struggles to finish his sentence, but the heavy blush and stutter is enough for Dahlia to catch a hint. His blush only tints darker as she sends him a teasing roll of the eyes before turning around to give him some privacy.
Quickly changing out of his pants, he puts on his girdle and slips into his pants that Dahlia had prepped. Alan could barely believe the day he had. His father had cussed him out nearly all day. Lecturing him on and on about how much this game meant to him. Talking of how he needed to prove himself and not be shown up by the new members on the team. The crude comments he had made about some of his teammates caused Alan to lose his cool, and that only started a shouting match between the two.
"You done yet?" Dahlia's soft voice snaps his attention away from tying his pants. He had nearly forgotten she was there.
"Uh yeah, sorry about that," he replies a bit sheepishly. Dahlia turns around and gives him a gentle smile, which calms him significantly. He didn't quite understand what it was about her, but he always felt better whenever she was around.
"You don't have to help me," Alan insists as Dahlia walks over with his shoulder pads in tow.
"I know… but I want to," Dahlia admits lifting the slightly heavy pads up and over his head. Alan stares at her while she buckles him in, his blush still in place. There's just something about having a pretty girl, especially one like Dahlia, helping him get dressed. It made his chest ache, but man, was it a good ache.
With Dahlia's help, Alan manages to get dressed in under five minutes. The only thing left was to tie his shoes, which Dahlia is quick to help with once again.
"I was worried you weren't going to make it," Dahlia finally admits while she ties his right shoe tightly. Alan finds himself smiling at her finally catching sight of the fading blush on her own face.
"I almost didn't. My dad had a few words of encouragement for me before our first game," he admits, recalling the talk he had with her at camp. He felt a lot more comfortable with Dahlia now, almost as if that night back at camp was a turning point in their relationship. A small turn, but an important one none the less. He knew he was probably fooling himself, because why would a girl like Dahlia want someone like him?
"Encouragement, huh?" She mocks before standing up and staring down at him. Alan simply gives her a shrug and a sort of forlorn smile that causes Dahlia's heart to clench. She gently places both hands on the sides of his face and runs her thumbs softly over his still splotchy cheeks.
"No offense, but I think your father and I have very different ideas of what encouragement is," she informs him with furrowed brows. Alan closes his eyes and hums in agreement, involuntarily leaning into her touch. This causes the corners of Dahlia's mouth to raise.
"I don't know what your father might have told you," Dahlia tells him with a stern face, "but know that as long as you try your best out there tonight, me and the rest of the team will be proud of you, hun." Alan finds himself smiling giddily as he hears the endearing nickname slip out of her mouth. He and the other guys noticed that Dahlia had a habit of slipping out small pet names whenever she was talking about something she was passionate about.
"Thanks, Dahlia." Alan breathes out as she removes her hands from his face. The sound of her actual name slipping out of his mouth shocks her slightly, but she smiles widely, displaying the dimple that Alan found himself adoring more every time he saw it. She reaches out to grab his helmet and hands it to him.
"All right, everybody on your feet." Coach Boone's voice is heard from the other room causing both teens' eyes to widen. Pulling Alan up, Dahlia's quick to tug him into the next room to listen to Coach's pep-talk. Once they enter the main room, Dahlia finds herself standing between Alan, Lastik, and Blue.
"Listen up," Coach Boone announces as a hush falls over the anxious team. "I'm not gonna talk to you tonight about… winnin' and losin'." Dahlia finds herself focusing on Boone a little too intensely. She couldn't figure out what it was about him, but he seemed a bit off. She didn't expect such a calm pep-talk to startup this game.
"You're already winners, 'cause you didn't kill each other up at camp." A few chuckles escape the boys, which causes Dahlia to smile and dismiss her suspicions.
"Tonight, we got Hayfield. Like all the other schools in this conference, they're all white. They don't have to worry about race. We do." He pauses and takes the time to glance at everyone around him, an appreciative expression on his face. "But we're better for it, men."
"Nothin' tears us apart." Dahlia finds herself frowning at this statement. Deep down she knew that the team was still tight, but there has been conflict a brewing. She still remembers what happened between Gerry and Julius on the first day of school.
Alan who had been listening intently to Coach Boone's speech, glances over to see Dahlia's troubled expression. Her brows were furrowed and she had a small pout that he found himself staring at a little too long. He hesitated slightly before reaching down to grab her hand gently. She seems to blink before looking up at him a bit surprised. Alan feels himself tense up and wonders if he had pushed things too far, but his mental-berating is put on hold as Dahlia squeezes his hand back with one of the gentlest smiles he has ever received.
"Greek mythology, the titans were greater, even than the gods. They ruled their universe with absolute power." Dahlia looks away from Alan and back towards Coach. She found herself impressed at the reasoning behind the team's name.
"Well, that football field out there tonight, that's our universe." Boone glances at everyone once more, "Let's rule it like Titans." The room erupts in smiles and cheers as everyone begins to put on their helmets and run out. Dahlia releases her grip on Alan before gripping his shoulders.
"Remember, just do your best. That's all we expect." She offers his nervous figure before looking to the other boys and shouting a last, "Good luck!"
Hope you all enjoyed it!