Thanks to those who posted reviews so far! I also want to thank you guys for following and favoriting. Hopefully more people will start reading and/or keep tabs on this story. Also, sorry for taking so long with the updates. I am trying to bounce back from a bad college semester, and I'm focusing on finals right now as well as working on my other stories, so the new chapters might be coming in slowly. Thanks for your patience and support!
DISCLAIMER: The only things I own are my OC(s), Disney owns everything else!
August 15 finally came and Rae couldn't be more excited. She woke up early that morning and found her mother reading the morning paper and her father at the stove. "Daddy's cooking? Lord, have mercy!" Rae exclaimed dramatically, getting her mom to laugh with her. "Oh, you think you're fresh, huh, little girl?" Saul retorted back in jest, pointing the spatula at her. "But seriously, what's the occasion? You rarely cook breakfast. Usually it's either Mom or me here at the stove," Rae wondered. "We just wanted to send you off to camp with good wishes before you leave. Your father even made your favorite: short-stacked pancakes, bacon, and some toast," Florence answered as Saul put the plate in front of Rae. "Besides, we want to meet the coaches that accepted you."
"Eat up, champ. You gotta get dressed properly and be there by 7:29, right?" Saul asked. "Dammit," Rae muttered under her breath, slightly hoping that they would forget about the professional attire. "Language, Rayelynn. Besides, it's just on the way there. It ain't like you gotta wear it the whole time at camp," Florence said. "I guess," Rae mused while eating. "I got the perfect outfit for you, dear." Florence practically dragged her daughter to hers and Saul's room. "Now, where is it?" she wondered while sifting through her work outfits. When she reached the back of the row, she pulled out a sharp-looking black pantsuit. "Your Aunt Clarisa gave me this for Christmas two years ago, but it doesn't fit me. Maybe you'll get into it." Rae hurried to get dressed and showed her mother. "It fits," Florence gasps. With her bags packed from the day before, the family headed over to the school gym.
Both of her parents drove down in their Jeep and saw the other players either boarding the buses or they were already on them. However, the players and their families were completely divided. Not only did the white and black players get into separate buses, but their families stood on separate sides of the parking lot. Rae happened to spot a familiar face about to head up to the bus, "Hey, Julius." "Rae, what's gon' on?" he responds with a one-armed hug. "Julius, how are you, son? Haven't seen you much since we moved in," Rae's dad greets as he patted him on the back. "I'm fine, Mr. Saul. Is Rae going to camp with us?" Julius asks. "Absolutely," he responds pointing to her bags. "Now, don't doubt her abilities. She's been playin' with her brothers ever since she was a little thing. Being the only girl never stopped her, and it doesn't bother her now." "I may be tiny, but I bet I could run circles around you, Campbell," Rae scolds playfully. "Is that a challenge, Barstow?" Julius retorts back in jest. "Maybe it is," Rae quips. "Alright, you, go find your mother and take her to the Coach," Saul advises. Rae looks for her mom and heads off in her direction. "Son, make sure you watch over my little girl at camp, will you? She may kill it on the field, but as her father, I worry about how the others will treat her. Also, her mother is on edge with her even doing this thing, cause this sport is pretty dangerous. Can I depend on you?" "I'll do my best, sir," Julius responds and earns a quiet, "Good man" from Saul.
"Coach Boone! Coach!" Rae calls causing him to look her way. "Well, well! Good morning to you Miss Barstow. Glad to see you here early and properly dressed!" Coach Boone greets the girl and shakes her hand. Rae also greets Yoast and Tyrell before her parents come over. "I wanted to introduce my parents to y'all," she motions to her mother and father standing on both sides of her.
Saul reaches out and greets them firmly with Florence gently shaking their hands. "It's a pleasure to meet you coaches. Saul Barstow, and this is my wife, Florence," he announces and gestures to her. "We want to thank you for accepting her on the team." "It's not a problem, Mr. Barstow. We look forward to having her and she made a convincing argument during the meeting," Coach Yoast responded. "Will she be doing the same practice workouts as the gentlemen? If so, is it safe?" Florence asked, trying to hide her nervousness. "Mrs. Barstow, I can assure you that she will not be treated differently than any of the other players, and we will ensure the safety of all," Coach Boone replies. "Besides, your daughter has a strong will and looks capable of holding her own slack. We could use a player like her on the team." "That's good, and thank you Coach," Florence said, relieved.
Her parents took her off to the side one more time and gave her a quick good-luck hug and kiss before she boarded the bus with the black players. Rae started looking for a seat, but instead found familiar faces from the meeting. "Hey y'all! What's good?" she calls out. They glance over to her and her bags, surprised that a girl was joining them. "Wow, would you look at that! If it isn't the Titaness doll!" Petey smiles from his seat and goes to greet her. "The one…and only, Petey!" Rae points to herself in jest and high-fives the grinning boy. She hears Big Blue humming, and leans over to him and cheers "Sing it, Blue! Sang it loud and proud, man! Give us that soul power." This gets the guys cheering for him, and Big Blue starts humming louder until she turns to Julius and sits next to him, "Ready to play some football, Campbell?" "As ready as you are, Barstow," Julius responds with a slight smirk. "Hold up, hold up. How come you know our names, but we ain't heard yours, girl? That's a cryin' shame! And how do you and Julius know each other?" Blue asks, pausing his humming. "Right, how silly of me. I'm Rae Barstow, and I live a few houses down from Julius," Rae responds receiving hand slaps from around her. "Well, alright then, baby!" Petey announces shaking her hand. Rae turns to another boy and it's the one who has the "good boy" attitude around him. "I'm Jerry Harris, but you can call me Rev. Everyone else does. Nice to meet you, Rae," he greets politely. "Likewise, Rev. You're a quarterback, if I remember correctly," Rae responds. "Yes, ma'am." Rev said smiling warmly at his new teammate. "Rev, ain't no need for this 'Yes, ma'am' business around me. We're all friends here," Rae gently shut down.
Outside the bus, she could hear Coach Boone mock two white players named "Jerry Lewis and Dean Martin" in front of the crowd. But the man's ire didn't end there. He came on to the buses and pulled everyone out. "Listen up; I don't care if you're black, green, blue, white, or orange. I want all of my defensive players on this side, and all players going for offense over here." They all got into their lines and he started pairing them up to sit next to each other. "Get comfy, because the person I have you sitting next to is the same one you will be rooming with for the duration of this camp."
"Miss Barstow, you will be rooming with my daughter, Sheryl. Usually she has a room with me, but it would make sense for you to be with her since you're both girls," Coach Yoast said and pulled Rae aside. "I understand, Coach," Rae replies. "Go find a seat on the offensive bus. There should be some room since the others have a partner." Rae nodded and started looking for an empty seat inside the bus. She eventually found one near the back and sat down in awkward silence. The tension was so thick; you could cut it with a butter knife.
"Cause, baby, there ain't no mountain high enough. Ain't no valley low enough, ain't no…" Blue started to sing. He tried to get Julius to sing with him, but he wouldn't even crack a smile. Blue tried with a player in front of him, and they started singing some more until Julius got annoyed at them. "Blue, shut up. I don't want to see you smilin' and shufflin', and hear all yo' minstrel show singing on this bus. You too." "Jerry Lewis" was sitting next to him and added his criticism while looking at the window, "You got that right." "You can shut up, too," Julius snapped at him. I whispered to myself, "Lord, give these fools strength not to kill each other at camp."
When the buses finally arrived at Gettysburg College, all of the boys rushed out of them like they were on fire, hurrying to grab their bags. Rae was about to grab her stuff when the stern-faced boy shoved her and made her fall, "Outta my way, nigra. Besides, you won't last long here, anyways." Rae, irked at his choice of terminology, huffed in response. "Doll, you alright? How'd you fall?" Petey asked as he found her on the ground. "Jerk pushed me down as I was grabbin' my bag," she said. "Where's that white boy?" he started to charge, but Rae held him back. "Don't; we're here to play football, not fight and get kicked out after the first day," Rae warned. "At least let me help you," Petey offered. "Thanks, man," she accepted and he helped her up and got her bag for her.
"Barstow, this is my daughter, Sheryl. Sheryl, meet your roommate, Rae," Coach Yoast motions between her and his daughter. "Nice to meet you, Rae," Sheryl replies, but Rae could tell that it was kind of forced. "You as well, Sheryl," Rae returns back with a handshake. "Good to know I can talk football with a girl, and not just with Daddy," Sheryl says kind of smiling. "Likewise," Rae responded as Coach Yoast led them to their room.
The girls had barely sat down on their beds when they heard shouting from the hallway. Rae and Sheryl peeked their heads out from the doorway. "What's goin' on?" the little girl asked. "I don' know, but stay inside. I'll go check it out," Rae warned. "What?" Sheryl complained. "Your daddy would kill me if you got hurt in this crowd, and I was supposed to be watching you, so stay here, okay?" Rae explained. "Fine," the girl pouted and Rae went to go investigate. "What the hell?!" "Whoa girlie, you don't wanna go in there," someone held onto Rae's shoulders and she turned around to see Rev holding her back. "What happened?" she asked. "Not sure, but Julius and Gerry are rooming in there," he pointed over the crowd of guys. Rae wiggled out of Rev's grip and wormed her way to the center. "Who started it?" she asked over the shouting. One of the white boys, a bit caught up in the fight, didn't notice her but answered. "Don't know, they just started arguing…" He didn't finish when everyone started backing up and gave Julius and Gerry space to tussle. Not three seconds later, a pained cry echoed through the hall and the crowd went silent. Apparently, Gerry had accidentally punched Rae in the face, where a black eye would soon form. He was aiming for Julius, but missed and hit the girl instead. There were hisses from both sides until black and white started to go crazy on each other. There were shouts from both sides blaming each other.
"What is going on here?!" Coach Boone's voice bellowed and got everyone to quiet down. "A bunch of tough guys, huh?" He paces up and down the room where the coaches are standing in front of the players. "You look like a bunch of 5th grade sissies after a catfight. No offense, Barstow," he replies, taking a quick glance at the girl with a blooming black eye. "None taken," Rae responds quietly. "You got anger, that's good. You're gonna need it, son," Coach Boone says to Julius with a hard look on his face. "You've got aggression, that's even better. You're gonna need that, too," he directs this at Gerry who gives him a hard look back. "But any little two-year-old can throw a fit. Football is about controlling that anger. Harnessing that aggression into a team effort to achieve perfection!" He continues his speech. "No some coaches, they cut a player if they think they're not up to snuff. When they think the player is hurting the team," he lectures on. It is dead silent in the room. "But this is a public school program. I will never, ever, cut a player who comes to play for me. But when you put on that Titan uniform, you'd better come to work." He finishes his lecture with the following ultimatum. "We will be perfect, in every aspect of the game. If you drop a pass, you run a mile. You miss a blocking assignment, you run a mile. You fumble the football, and I will break my foot off in your John Brown hind parts…and then you will run a mile. Perfection!...Let's go to work."