"Dude, get the hell up already!" Leo yelled, shaking my shoulders.

"Five more minutes!" I yelled back, burying my face in my pillow. Leo yanked the hotel blankets right off of me, causing me to shriek and curl into a ball, since a certain curly-haired kicker decided to set the thermostat super low.

Realizing I wouldn't last much longer in the cold like this, I got up and put on a shirt and sweatpants. Leo, Jason, and I shared this room since the hotel closest to the Falcons' stadium had limited rooms available.

"What time is it?" I asked Jason.

He checked his watch. "Six thirty."

I stared at Leo. "Why the hell did you just wake me up this early?"

Leo held up his hands in surrender. "Chiron's rules, man! The game's at one and as he said it, clowns like us take way too long to get ready."

"What time are we due at the stadium?" I asked.

"Nine," Jason told me.

"Great, so we have two hours to do nothing," I grumbled. "Unless you boys had anything planned?"

The boys shook their heads in unison. We called each other boys, even though Jason was twenty-five, Leo was twenty-two, and I was twenty-one. Even though Jason was a three-year veteran running back, he was the first to befriend Leo and I when we walked in the door on the first day of training camp.

I walked over to the phone and looked at the breakfast menu. "Anything good here?" I asked them.

"There's a sweet quesadilla in there somewhere. Jason and I haven't eaten yet, though. We were waiting for the slowpoke quarterback to wake up," Leo told me.

"Jason?"

"I'll get whatever Leo gets."

I ordered three quesadillas and three orange juices on the phone. "They'll be here in fifteen minutes," I told the boys.

"Awesome," Jason said.

I took out my phone and was greeted by a new message.

Annabeth Chase: Hey Percy, wanna head over to Central Park on Tuesday? That's my day off.

I stared at my phone, too surprised to respond. That was my mistake.

"What do we have here, Percy?" Leo asked, wriggling his eyebrows.

"Nothing," I said quickly, putting my phone down. "Absolutely nothing at all."

"Annabeth, isn't it? You two are dating now?" Jason asked.

I shrugged. "What's it to you?"

"We're not judging you or anything," Jason said, always the mature one of us three. "We're just curious."

"What can I say? We had a date at the coffee shop on Thursday. Annabeth just asked me out this morning."

"Is she a good smoocher? I can imagine those glasses getting in the way," Leo asked.

My face reddened. "We haven't kissed. Or even held hands. And I like her glasses."

"Why?" Jason asked.

I shrugged. "It makes her seem down-to-earth and self-confident, I guess. Not like any of those bimboes we dated in college."

Leo laughed. "Hey, you gotta admit you liked Rachel!"

I glared at him. "That was the worst month of my life."

"Don't even try to deny it, man. You—" I shoved Leo off of the bed, causing him to writhe in feigned agony.

I groaned. "Don't remind me."

Just then, I heard a knock on the door. Jason hopped up and opened it, with Leo still curled in a ball on the floor and yelling curses in Spanish.

"Here are your—is he okay over there?" the delivery man said, looking at Leo.

I laughed. "He's fine. Thanks for the service," I told him, handing him a twenty for the tip as he gave Jason our breakfasts.

He looked surprised, but he didn't question the money. "Thank you sir, enjoy your breakfast."

Leo stood up on the bed indignantly and planted a hand on his hip. "I'M THE MEXICAN HERE. QUESADILLAS ARE MY TERRITORY! IT'S MY JOB TO OPEN THE DOOR FOR HIM," he yelled.

Jason laughed. "Dude, you were curled in a ball on the floor."

"EVEN WORSE!" Leo ranted. "YOU GUYS MADE ME LOOK LIKE AN IDIOT IN FRONT OF HIM. BOW DOWN OR PERISH!"

Of course, neither Jason nor I listened. I handed Leo his drink and quesadilla, which calmed him down.

"Why didn't you guys play along?" Leo asked. "That would've been funny if the delivery dude heard it."

"We're immature, but we're not seven," I told him. "Plus, I need my voice to call plays today. Just because you're the kicker doesn't mean the rest of us can sit on the sidelines for ninety-nine percent of the game and steal credit for winning."

Leo paused before shrugging his shoulders. "Whatever. I'm digging in, amigos," he said, stabbing his fork into the quesadilla.

Jason turned to me. "Is it just me or has Leo been downright…classic this morning?"

I shrugged. "Must be game-day nerves."

I shook my head as I walked off the field. My latest throw was my first interception of the day, but it was a costly one. I overthrew Connor—just like I did in practice—and the ball sailed right into the safety's hands.

Our team was still winning, 31-24, but the Falcons were coming back. They had the ball at midfield with two minutes left, and with one of the better quarterbacks in the league they'd have no trouble chewing through our defense if he threw well.

I threw for three touchdowns, Jason ran for another one, and Leo nailed a long field goal to put us in the lead, but it'd be for nothing if we couldn't close the game out. I watched as our defense, which had been having problems stopping the Falcons all day, took the field and lined up.

The Falcons quarterback, known as Matty Ice for his chill-ness in big situations, took the snap on first down and rolled to his right. He fired a bullet to his go-to receiver, which he caught in stride. He made it to our twenty-yard-line before getting shoved out of bounds by our safety.

I watched, powerless to help, as the Falcons converted three more passes, the last being a corner fade in the end zone. The kicker nailed the extra point, tying the game at 31.

I looked up at the scoreboard, and it showed that we had a minute and two seconds and one timeout to get some points and win the game.

"LET'S WIN THIS THING!" I yelled, running up and down the sideline to get my teammates' attention. I clapped my hands three times and continued, "EACH AND EVERY ONE OF YOU. GET UP, GET LOUD, AND LET'S GO HOME WITH A WIN."

Even though most of them were in their late twenties and I was just twenty-one, all of my teammates listened to me. Not one of them remained sitting down as I made it to the end of the sideline. Leo, Connor, and Travis in particular were full of energy, and they knew as well as I did that the game was far from over. I needed to inspire my team before I went into vintage-Percy concentration for the game.

The Falcons' kicker sent the ball out of the back of our end zone for a touchback. After hearing our go-to plays one more time from Coach Douglas, I jogged out onto the field with my team trailing behind me.

Once we got set and the ref blew his whistle, I stomped twice. "Set…HIKE!" I yelled, receiving Frank's snap.

I dropped back to pass, and saw Travis wide open on the left side. He beat his defender one-on-one and was streaking down the sideline. I reached back and threw a high floater to lead him, and thankfully Travis got the memo. He kept running and caught my perfectly-placed pass in stride, juking the free safety and managing a few more yards before the strong safety pulled him down.

"THAT'S WHAT I'M TALKING ABOUT, STOLL!" Coach Douglas yelled. Not allowing myself to get distracted, I ignored him and jogged down the field. I stopped where the ball was spotted at the Falcons' thirty-yard-line. It was a long kick, sure, but it was nothing Leo couldn't make. I looked at the scoreboard. Forty-six seconds. Enough time for at least one play.

Coach Douglas told me the play via the earpiece in my helmet. I nodded, stomped twice, and called for the snap. I faked a toss to Jason, rolled to my left, and threw a short slant right back to him. He caught the ball even though my pass was behind him and slid to make sure he wouldn't fumble.

We let the clock tick down until there were three seconds left when Coach Douglas called our last timeout. The offense jogged off the field so Leo and the field goal team could do their thing. I took a deep breath and took my helmet off, even though I couldn't relax just yet.

As they lined up, I knelt on the sideline, sipping a bottle of Gatorade. The ref blew his whistle, and the play began. Good snap, good hold, and Leo's kick…was good! Leo jumped up and pumped his fist before turning around and running down the field, waving money signs in the air to taunt all of the fans in the stadium.

I ran onto the field with my hands in the air, making a beeline for Leo. I gave him a chest-bump and the rest of the team came storming off the bench to celebrate. I high-fived and hugged the rest of my teammates as well before we all took our equipment and headed back to the locker room.

"Percy Jackson, what was going through your mind on that last possession?" a brown-haired reporter asked me. Dang it, I forgot about interviews. They were a little annoying, although I tried to be respectful to the reporters. They were just doing their job.

"I was just taking things one play at a time," I told her. "Doing things to help the team win."

"What were you thinking about as you threw Travis Stoll that bomb that set up the game-winner?"

I shrugged. "Nobody on that Atlanta secondary can cover him, and they know it. Props to Travis for getting open there. I just threw it up there, and he beat his defenders. That's all there is to it."

"What were you thinking as Valdez lined up for that game-winning field goal?" she continued, as if she was reading from a script. That was one of the main things that annoyed me about interviews. They felt so unnatural.

I laughed. "I knew he was gonna make it. The kid doesn't know how to miss."

"I take it your relationship with Valdez extends outside the white lines?"

I nodded. "Yeah, definitely. We were bros in college, always hangin' together. Still do."

"You made that clear to us today, Percy. Thanks for the time," she said.

"No prob," I replied, walking back to my locker. Just then, it occurred to me that I hadn't thought of Annabeth since my conversation with Leo and Jason this morning.

I know Percy isn't quite head-over-heels yet, but that'll come in time. It's still just Week 1! (The season is 17 weeks.)

And how's that for a first NFL game?! Leading his team to a last-second victory, and of course having Leo Freaking Valdez finish it off.

If anyone has questions about the confusing-ish football game, just ask me in a review/PM and I'll gladly explain! I know there aren't a ton of football fans on here, so I'm not sure if people are interested in that part.

Question of the Chapter: Do you want more football games or not? I'm happy either way; if you guys don't want more games they will be replaced with hanging out and Percabeth.

Please don't forget to review!