All American Game

ALL AMERICAN GAME: part 2

Wednesday:

Zed was exhausted. It had been a long day of practice in full pads. With the game the next day, the teams had been pushed even harder. Between the hours and hours of practice, he also had endless meetings with coaches and recruiters from football programs across the country. Zed had sat patiently listening to their various pitches and offers. Even though he could definitely see the appeal of some of them, they all lacked the most important thing. Addison.

After a much-needed shower, he finally made his way over to the hotel bed, lugging a massive binder of plays with him. Five pages in, he could feel his eyes start to close. He pushed the binder away and grabbed his phone, dialing Addison's number as he walked out onto the balcony, hoping the chilly night air would wake him up.

"There's my favorite Zombie!" Addison's cheery voice greeted him.

Zed smiled and leaned the back of his head against the glass doors. "My favorite cheerleader. Why do I feel like I haven't heard your voice in days?"

Addison let out a soft laugh. "Probably because you haven't."

"I am so sorry I fell asleep without calling last night, Addie. I've been so busy and so tired."

"Z, you have nothing to apologize for. You've had to squeeze an entire week's worth of practice into just a couple days."

Zed could hear voices in the background as she spoke. "Where are you?"

"Oh! Um, in the van with everyone. Guys say 'hi',"

Zed smiled as he heard his friends shout into the phone. "Tell everyone I said 'hi'."

"Zed says 'hi!'"

"I didn't mean to interrupt your night. I just...really needed to hear your voice," he sighed as he walked back into his room.

"You're not interrupting anything, silly. I'm glad you called….I miss you."

"I miss you too, Gorgeous. So much. I can't wait to see you."

"Me too, Z."

"I think I'm going to make a cup of coffee and try to cram this playbook into my head."

"Okay, handsome. I love you."

"I love you too, Addie," he said as he hung up and tossed the phone onto the bed next to the playbook.

He walked across the room and made himself a cup of terrible watered down coffee. He took a sip and pretended to gag before downing the rest. With a loud sigh, he plopped himself down on the bed and began to read through the plays once again. A few minutes later his phone dinged, alerting him of a text message. To his surprise, it was from Stanley Winters. He opened the message and smiled when he saw a picture of a newborn baby with the caption "Kyla Marie Winters, 6 lbs, 7oz. 18", Tuesday, January 2nd 4:32 pm". He quickly responded with "Congratulations to you and Hannah both. She is beautiful." Zed set his phone down and began to read once again, only to have his phone ring.

"Hey Coach," he said as he laid down on the pillows behind him.

"Zed, I'm glad you're still up. Can you meet me in the lobby?"

"Sure thing, Coach. I'll be down in a minute." Zed hung up and sighed loudly. He threw on a long sleeve white t-shirt to go with his grey sweatpants and grabbed his wallet. If he was already downstairs, he might as well go across the street to the diner for a decent cup of coffee. He walked down the hallway and into the elevator, resting his head against the back wall as the doors closed. When the doors opened he stepped off the elevators and walked a few paces into the lobby before a short, green-haired blur ran into him, throwing their arms around his waist. "Zoey?!"

"Surprise Big Bro!" she smiled up to him.

"When did you...how did you..."

"We drove," Zevon said walking up to him and hugging him close, smooshing Zoey in the process.

"Can't breathe!"

"Oh! Sorry, my little zombie-angel!" Zevon laughed, stepping to the side to let his daughter breathe. "Zed, we wouldn't miss this for the world."

Zed hugged his little sister closer to him. "This means so much guys. Thank you. I can't believe you did this."

"So we surprised you?" Zoey asked hopefully.

"You sure did."

"Bet we can surprise you again..."

Just then Zed heard his name being called from across the lobby. His head snapped up and his eyes automatically found hers. He let go of Zoey and sprinted across the lobby at the same time that Addison began to run towards him. When they reached each other in the center of the room, he lifted her up and swung her around before kissing her with every ounce of passion that he could. He pulled back and looked at her.

"So when you said you were in the van..."

"We were just getting off the interstate," she said smiling and kissing him again.

"Good to see you too," Eliza said as she walked up next to them, "I've only been your best friend basically since conception. Why would you notice I was here."

Zed laughed and set Addison down to her feet but still not letting her go. "Sorry, E. I didn't see you there."

"Well obvi..." she said with a hard eye roll before hugging him.

Zed looked around and smiled. His father, sister, girlfriend, and friends had all driven down to see him. "I can't believe you're all here. You have no idea how much I needed this," he said trying to keep his emotions in check.

"Did you really think we were going to let you stand on the sidelines and commit to SLU on national television without us?" Bucky said walking over and bro-hugging him.

"Besides," Bree said squeezing in and hugging him as well, "someone pointed out that she's never not been on the sidelines to cheer you on...I couldn't have my girl mess with a perfect record like that.

Zed laughed and high-fived Bonzo over Bree's head.

"Wait a second, didn't Coach call me down here?" Zed looked around the lobby and saw his coach standing next to Pops. "Coach!" he called out loudly getting his attention. "Best. Surprise. Ever!"

Coach, Zevon, and Zoey walked over to where they were all standing.

"I'm glad you've got so many people rooting for you, Zed," Coach said looking around at them all. "But, you've got one heck of a big day tomorrow. Time to hit the sack."

"But Coach…." Zed whined. "They just got here. I was about to go across the street and grab a cup of coffee anyway. I have to study the playbook tonight."

Coach let out an exaggerated sigh. "Fine...But just remember you need to be on that bus by 9 am, sharp. Don't make me come find you."

"Yes! Thank you, Coach! Pops, Zoey are you guys coming?"

Zevon shook his head no. "You guys go ahead. I'm going to check us in and get this one to sleep," he said motioning over to Zoey.

Zed gave his father and sister another hug. "Thank you," he whispered.

"We love you, son."

"I love you too," he said quietly, wiping at his eyes. He turned back towards his friends and wrapped his arm back around Addison. "Let's go!"

They all walked across the street to the diner and settled into one of the large booths.

"I can't believe you guys drove all the way down here," Zed said still in awe. "When did you leave?"

Bucky took a sip of his coffee. "Yesterday after breakfast. We stopped halfway for the night and then got back on the road bright and early this morning."

Addison snuggled into Zed's side. "I'm kind of glad you didn't call yesterday. I don't think I could have kept the secret!"

"Zrag grezga zabreg..." Bonzo teased with a soft laugh.

"I was not that bad!" Addison laughed.

"Wait a second, I just realized something!" Zed said with a large smile. "Since you guys drove down, that means you're driving back up...I won't have to fly!"

Addison laughed and kissed his cheek. "I promise that flying gets easier."

"If you say so, Gorgeous," he said doubtfully.

"Speaking of flying, my parents are arriving tomorrow morning on the same flight as Principal Lee!"

Zed almost spit out his coffee. "Your parents are coming too? Seriously? Wow..."

Addison giggled and handed him a napkin. "Z, they wouldn't miss it! When are you going to get it through your thick skull? They love you."

"That and Gloria said it would be a great photo-op," Bucky mumbled under his breath.

"That sounds like Gloria alright," Zed smiled, finishing his coffee. "Alright guys, I really have to get back to the hotel and study."

They paid the bill and walked back across the street, stopping by the front desk to get their room keys.

"So, what floor are you guys on?" Zed asked as they walked to the elevator bank.

"Hmm...let's see...Guys are on 5, girls are on…7," Bree said as she glanced at the hotel keys in her hand.

"That's actually pretty funny. I'm on 6." Zed said as they stepped onto the elevator. As the doors shut, he pulled Addison close. "I don't suppose I can talk you into staying with me tonight?" he whispered into her ear.

"That would be a hard no," she giggled.

"I can give you something hard," he whispered seductively into her ear.

"Z, I'm being serious."

"Sorry, Gorgeous."

"Trust me, I want to. But you need to actually sleep, and our last hotel tryst is not exactly a secret anymore," she whispered.

"You're right, I do rea...wait a second...what do you mean 'not exactly a secret."

"Remember Monday when I said we needed to talk?"

"Yeah…."

"Well, that's what we needed to talk about," she said as the doors opened on 5.

"Grug zonna bruz," Bonzo said as he stepped off the elevator with Bucky.

"See you there, Bonz. Night guys." Zed said. As the doors closed he looked back at Addison.

"Bree, E...I'll be up in a few minutes. I'm going to walk Z to his room," she said as the doors opened on 6.

Eliza glared at them both. "If you're not back in the next hour I'm going back down the boy's room."

"I'll be up soon," she said as she walked off the elevators.

"Ladies..." Zed said following her off. When the elevator doors closed he grabbed Addison's hand and began to walk down the hall towards his room. "Ok, start from the beginning."

"Well right after you left Monday morning, I was lying in bed being all moppy and missing you, when there was a knock on the door. I thought it was you coming back so I wrapped the sheet around myself and answered the door."

"Oh no."

"Oh yes," she said facepalming. "You can imagine my surprise when I opened the door to find Gloria standing there instead of you."

"Oh no...So...How much trouble are we in?"

"Oh, I haven't even gotten to the best part...You might want to sit down."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah."

"Okay," Zed slid down the wall and rested his head against his door. "Lay it on me, Gorgeous."

"She didn't know I was in there until I answered the door."

Zed gave her an odd look. "I'm confused."

Addison shook her head and knelt down in front of him. "Z, whose name was the hotel room under?"

"Pops..." Addison watched his face as the pieces started to click together. "ARE YOU SAYING GLORIA WAS TRYING TO HOOK UP WITH POPS?!"

"Shhhhhh! Keep your voice down!"

Zed stood up and unlocked the hotel room door. "Inside...now." Addison walked in and sat on the bed. "Okay...continue."

Addison let out a loud sigh. "Okay, so I thought we were totally busted when I first opened the door. But then I realized she looked just as shocked as me. She recovered quickly and tried to play it off like she knew we had been together, but that lasted only about five seconds."

"And then..."

"And then I invited her in, and made her coffee."

Zed pinched the bridge of his nose. "I feel like I'm missing a large chunk of this story."

"I'm getting there… So we sat down and had coffee and a long, long, so, long talk. Long story short, yes, she was there to see Pops, not knowing that he had made the reservations for us. She actually commended our super stealthiness."

"Well, I'm glad we actually got something past her...but back to the more important issue of GLORIA AND MY DAD!"

"Deep breaths, Zed. Nothing has happened yet."

"Well, that's a reli...YET? So this...thing...has it been going on for a while?"

"Very slowly for about a year...Gloria showed up at the suite in hopes of 'speeding things up'."

"And Pops never told me?"

"Zed," Addison said kneeling up on the bed and hugging him to her. "I know it's a lot to process. But it's going to be okay. Gloria said that they've been so quiet about everything because she didn't want to upset you and Zoey."

"It was Gloria's idea to keep it on the DL?"

"Yeah. She really cares about Pops. And from what she said, Pops cares about her as well."

Zed let out a loud sigh and hugged Addison tighter. "I knew that this might happen one day...and Pops deserves to be happy. I'll talk to him."

"Are you sure you're going to be okay?"

Zed kissed her softly. "Yeah, I'll be okay. So...remind me again why you can't stay with me tonight?"

Addison playfully smacked his shoulder. "You are incorrigible!"

"You know it," he smiled, kissing her neck.

"You need to study that playbook...and I may have promised Gloria we'd behave."

Zed pulled back and looked at her. "I thought we learned our lesson with that?"

Addison giggled and pulled him in for a kiss. "She could have totally busted us and told my parents, but she didn't...And she may have also promised to get us private dinner reservations at LaBella's for Valentine's day!"

Zed laughed and kissed her again. "I do love me some LaBella's."

"That's what I thought," she said smiling. "You study up and get some sleep. You have a big game tomorrow."

"I do?"

Addison smacked his shoulder playfully again. "I love you, Z."

"I love you too, Addie."

"I'll see you in the morning, handsome."

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Thursday:

Zed's alarm sounded at exactly 7:00. Gameday. Time to focus. He brewed himself a cup of coffee to help him wake up.

"Oh good lord, that is still terrible," he chuckled to himself before downing it. He jumped into the shower quickly before dressing in his black and red All American Game issued tracksuit. He was packing his game bag when there was a knock on the door. He walked over and looked through the peephole, laughing when all he could see was a Starbucks cup.

"Morning, Gorgeous," he said as he opened the door. "And Mayor Missy and Chief Dale! When did you guys get in?" he added once the door was open.

"Good morning!" Missy said, handing him a Venti caramel frappuccino with extra whip and extra drizzle. "About thirty minutes ago. Addie told us you stayed up late studying plays, so we figured you could use a pick me up!"

"Thank you, so much," he said taking the coffee from her and taking an appreciative sip. "This is exactly what I needed. I've definitely been hanging around cheerleaders too much."

"Oh please," Addison said playfully. "When you start drinking it black and not full of sugar and frills, then we'll talk."

"Nooo thank you. Give me whipped cream and caramel any day."

"So, are you ready for today?" Chief Dale asked.

"I hope so," Zed said with a nervous laugh.

"Zed, sweetie, you're going to do wonderfully. Seabrook is lucky to have you representing them," Missy said with pride in her voice.

"Thank you, Mayor Missy."

Missy gave him a hug and wiped away a tear. "I'm just so proud of you!"

"Ooookay, Mom! I think Zed has a bus to be on soon," Addison rushed out.

"Oh, you're probably right, honey. Zed, sweetie, good luck. We'll see you for the big announcement!"

"Thank you."

"Good luck, Zed."

"Thank you, Chief."

"Mom, Dad, I think I'm going to walk with Zed down to the buses."

"Okay, We're in room 308, dear," Missy said as she and Dale walked off.

Addison watched as her parents stepped onto the elevator. "So...9am, right?"

Zed smiled and opened the door wider, "Get in here, Gorgeous."

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Playing in an NFL stadium was definitely something Zed could get used to. The lights, the crowd, the cameras, even the feel of the turf...He had never felt more in his element. With every snap of the ball, he could feel his smile and his confidence growing. By the time halftime was signaled, the muscles in his face were sore. It also didn't hurt that his team was up by 17 points.

At the end of the third quarter, Vivienne approached him on the sidelines. "You ready to do this?"

"Now?" Zed said as he took his helmet off.

"At the next commercial break. Your friends and family are already together."

"Alright then, I'll be ready!"

"Great! Come with me and I'll introduce you to the sideline reporter that will be introducing you."

Zed followed her to the corner of the end zone where his family and friends stood behind a table with baseball caps for each of the teams he had met with.

"Zed, I'd like to introduce you to Suzie," Vivienne said as they approached. "Suzie, this is Zed. Our next announcement."

"It's nice to meet you, Zed," the short, middle-aged blonde said. "I think I may need a step stool to interview you though."

"I'll have Caroline grab one," Vivienne said with a smile. "Five minutes..." she warned as she walked off.

"So, Zed," Suzie said looking up to him. "Are you nervous?"

"Just a little, maybe," he said with a laugh.

"Don't be. You'll do great." She glanced behind her and smiled. "I think you have some people over there anxious to see you."

Zed looked over and smiled. Chief Dale was holding Addison back and his dad was holding Zoey back. He shook his head and jogged over to them. He placed his helmet on the edge of the table and opened his arms. Zoey and Addison both ran and hugged him as tight as they could. Zed laughed and kissed them both on top of their heads.

"I'm so excited!" Zoey shrieked.

"Me too!" Zed replied teasingly, ruffling her hair. He kept his arm wrapped around Addison as he greeted everyone else.

"You're playing a great game, son!" Zevon said clapping him on the shoulder pads.

Missy and Dale hugged him, and he got high-fives from Bucky and Bonzo. Bree gushed and hugged him, while Eliza punched him in the shoulder before stealthily wiping away a tear.

"Zed, we're about to go back on the air," Suzie said walking up to them. A production assistant placed a footstool down next to him and Suzie stepped on. "Okay, so here's what's going to happen. When the commercial break is over they're going to cut to the promo video you did the other day followed by the pre-taped interview and highlights reel. That camera guy over there," she said pointing to her right, "is going to give us the countdown. When he points, we go live. Any questions?"

"I think I've got it."

"Great. Deep breaths and relax….Places everyone."

Everyone stood behind Zed and Suzie behind the table. The cameraman held up five fingers and began to countdown. 5...4...3...2...1...

Suzie smiled as the camera's spotlight turned on them. "Zed I know there has been a lot of interest from quite a few schools. Do you have an announcement to make this afternoon?"

"I do, Suzie," he said stepping towards the table of hats. He took a deep breath and reached for the blue and grey cap and placed it on his head. "I'm happy to say that I'll be playing for Shoreline University! Go Rays!" His friends and family behind him all cheered and congratulated him.

"There you have it, ladies and gentlemen," Suzie said smiling into the camera. "Zed Necrodopolus, the star fullback who led his high school team to four consecutive state championships in four undefeated seasons is going to SLU. I'm sure Coach Roberts has big plans for him this fall. I can promise you one thing, Zed Necrodopolus is a name we will be hearing a lot next season." The spotlight dimmed and Suzie hopped off of the footstool. "Congratulations Zed."

"Thank you, ma'am," he said shaking her hand before she walked over to speak with Vivienne. Zed let out a large breath and smiled over to Addison. "I can't believe I just did that..."

Addison laughed and threw her arms around his neck. "Believe it, Mr. Hot shot-Nationally televised-Football star!"

"Congratulations, Zed!" Principal Lee said, placing a hand on his shoulder. "Just remember, you'll always be a Mighty Shrimp."

"Thank you, Principal Lee...COACH!" Zed exclaimed as his coach ran up to him.

"Zed, my boy! You...you know you'll always be my favorite player," he said wiping his eyes.

"Aww, thanks, Coach. Nice slacks by the way."

Coach laughed and hugged him. "You know the ladies love the slacks!"

"Zed!" Bucky shouted holding up his phone. "Check it out!"

Zed took the phone from Bucky. His jaw dropped at what he was seeing. "I'm trending?"

"What?!" Addison said grabbing the phone from him. "OH MY GOD!"

"What is it?" Zevon asked.

"SLU, the network, ESPN...they've all posted this!" Addison rushed out showing them a promotional still of Zed wearing his All American Game uniform and an SLU hat.

"This is crazy!" Zed exclaimed, swinging Addison around.

"We'll celebrate later. Right now, you have a game to finish!" she said laughing.

"There's a game?"

Addison pushed his shoulder playfully. "And I expect a win."

"With you cheering me on, how could I lose?" he ran his hand down the side of her face and kissed her softly.

Dale was about to say something when Coach held up his hand.

"Allow me," he said with a wide smile on his face. He reached into his pocket and pulled out his whistle, blowing it hard right next to them.

Zed and Addison jumped apart and broke into laughter. "Sorry Coach!" they both said in unison.

"I take it you've done that before?" Dale asked.

Coach laughed and put his whistle back in his pocket. "Maybe once or twice….man, I'm going to miss those kids."

Zed kissed Addison's cheek and placed his SLU cap on her head before grabbing his helmet and jogging back to the sideline bench to finish the game.

AUTHOR'S NOTE: Two posts in one week! Hurray for bonus days off due to tropical storms that don't actually do anything! So, now that I've done it once, what would you prefer? One long chapter posted once a week? Or two shorter chapters posted twice a week? Let me know!