*********PLEASE READ AUTHOR'S NOTE*********

I'M BACK! My vacation was so much fun and I had a great new year! How was your guys' Christmas and New Years? IT'S 2011 GUYS! What's your resolution? (:

I just want to let y'all know that I literally JUST got home from vacation like a minute ago. You better love me because it's three in the morning right now and I'm updating my story when I could be laying in bed sleeping, huh? Lol, well since I am up and wrote during my VACATION I'm really hoping for a bunch of reviews! PLEASE READERS! Only takes one minute (: Or you can send me an email telling me your ideas and such. I would love to hear them! Please do so! :)

Just letting you guys know that I will not be updating everyday from now on. Possibly every other day or every two days. Just because my school schedule is a lot and I have improv and play practice and a bunch of shows this month :P but trust me, this isn't the end yet! There is still a lot more to go for this story ;) So please send me your ideas by emailing or if you just want to talk, I love that too (: PLEASE REVIEW! It just takes one minute to review, but like an hour to write this. So, return the favor please? (:

There's more to come!

-Madi.

Chapter Eight.

Julie waited in her mother's car while Tami was getting some last minute things for tonight's game. She grunted and wondered why in the world was she going to this thing? She could have stayed home and hung out with Tim watching movies. She could have pleaded her mother to let her stay because, knowing her mother, Julie knew she would have caved in. But why didn't she?

Julie wanted to be with Tim, but at the same time, she was a bit intimidated by him. They were friends but she still couldn't get over the fact of how awkward it would feel to be around him. She wouldn't be able to do it because she knew that they had done something together that friends don't normally do.

Come to think of it, Julie wasn't even that close with Tim till it came to that night. She had never been close with him. They had only been acquaintances. He took her wherever she needed to go and they would go out to eat at the Alamo Freeze once in a while, when Matt wasn't working of course. They never had deep conversations; they talked about school, football, and friends. They talked about Lois, one of Julie's best friends, and her big crush on Riggins. Tim would smirk, always happy to know that another girl was crushing on him.

Julie just always noticed that whenever she was around him, she tended to be nervous and her stomach would churn. Even when she was angry at Tim, there was still something about him that made Julie yearn for his presence. She had a feeling that Tim felt the same way about her, too.

Tami came back to the car with two Panther jackets and a blue blanket to wrap around Gracie. She threw them in the back and started the car. "My, oh my, is it cold out there," Tami rubbed her hands together shivering. "Julie, you sure you're gonna be warm enough in that?"

"Yeah," Julie shrugged.

Tami kept her gaze on Julie wondering what had happened to her daughter. The daughter who always listened to what her mother said. What happened to the daughter who would always cuddle with her father on the couch watching football reruns? What happened to the daughter that would always have something to talk about the moment they picked her up from school? What happened to Julie, her prize-possession daughter?

"Alright," Tami sighed and put the car into reverse, pulling out of the driveway. "I sure hope Tim won't get himself into any trouble. I worry about that boy. He looked so down."

Julie wondered the same thing. God knows what kind of trouble he could get into in such little time. She worried about him and was starting to wish that maybe she had tried to beg her mom to let her stay. Football was literally all he had in his life. The last time he saw his father, he bruised up his face. His brother could care less about him, and the last person he lived with was a drug dealer who woke him up in the middle of the night with a rifle poking Tim in the chest.

"Yeah," Julie mumbled quietly. "I hope so, too."

Tim sat on the couch watching TV. He clicked through the channels until he found ESPN. Sports were the last thing he wanted on his mind but they seemed to be the only thing that he was interested in. He watched as they reviewed NFL players and Riggins laughed trying to imagine him getting there. "I'm too fucked up to get into NFL," he thought.

He leaned over and dropped the remote making it change the channel. "Damnit," Tim grunted and reached down. He sat back up and glanced at the TV. It was switched to the Panthers game and Tim laughed when he saw the score was twenty-eight to seven. The Panthers were losing big time and it was only the beginning of the second quarter. "See what you get when you decide to suspend Tim Riggins," he yelled at the television screen. He stood up, pissed. "Motherfucker," he mumbled underneath his breath.

He went into the garage and opened the refrigerator revealing three six-packs of beer. Riggins' frown had suddenly turned slowly into a smile. He knew they had been Coach's beers, but did Riggins care? He grabbed the three packs and walked back into the living room setting them on the table in front of him. He unscrewed the top and nearly chugged it. It had been too long since he had that stuff and he was going to have fun with it tonight.

By the fourth quarter of the game, he had finished a pack and half already. The bottles were spread across the coffee table. The Panthers were losing and Tim was about done with the game. He was ready to have some fun. He stood up walking to the kitchen standing by the phone. He picked it up chuckling to himself and dialed a number.

"Hello," he heard on the other end. He knew Jason Street would be home. He hadn't been going to the games lately ever since he was coaching. He used to be the star of the team but ever since his bottom half had been paralyzed, his life and dreams were ruined. But that didn't stop Tim Riggins from being his best friend.

"Jason Street," Riggins mumbled in a high pitched voice. "I knew you'd be home, buddy!"

"Riggins? What the hell? Why are you calling me? Aren't you supposed to be playing right now? Why are you calling from Coach Taylor's house?" Jason Street bombarded Tim with questions.

Tim chuckled, "Relax, Six! I live here now." He uttered. "And didn't you hear? I'm sus… sus… suspen… suspended! Yeah, that's the word."

"Riggins, are you drunk?" Street asked, trying to count all the times he had gotten late night phone calls from drunken Tim.

"Maybe… Maybe not." Riggins burped and slapped his knee, cracking himself up. He sipped some more beer.

"Look, you stay there. I'm coming to get you, alright?" Jason yelled through the phone.

Riggins pulled the phone away from his ear gulping down the rest of the beer. "No way, man. I'm coming to get you!" Tim smiled and pointed as if Jason was right in front of him. "Just let me grab another beer, okay?" Jason kept trying to interrupt but Tim wouldn't let him. "And no I will not share. See ya soon, Six." Riggins hung up the phone running back to the living room.

He grabbed another pack and walked outside with it. He could barely walk straight. He was mumbling illogical words as he walked to his car. He pulled out his keys and tried opening the car but he couldn't manage to get the key into the whole. "Aw man, the key is broken," Tim chuckled. He dropped them on the floor and strutted down the street. As he finished the beers he would drop them on the lawn of the neighbors' houses. He enjoyed it, beer after beer. He hadn't been this drunk in God knows how long. But he loved it.

Coach Taylor walked into the locker room silently with his team following behind. Nobody spoke, it was quiet and everyone went to their locker to change. There were a few whispers here and there but it was still dead silent. Coach stood in the front as everyone turned around at his attention.

"Saracen, Williams. My office. Now." He said walking into the office. Matt Saracen and Smash Williams looked at each other from across the locker room and walked in together. Eric was going through his computer as Saracen and Williams stood awkwardly in front of his desk. "What the hell was that, tonight?"

"What do you mean, sir?" Matt asked raising his eyebrow. He clutched both his hands to the collar of his pads.

"What do I mean?" He stood up and pointed his finger at the both of them, something he tended to do whenever he was mad. "I'll tell you what I mean. Forty-two to thirteen. That's what I mean. Where were your hearts? Were your eyes open?"

"Yes, Coach," Smash said clearly. "Our eyes were wide open."

"No," he shouted. "If your eyes were wide open maybe we would have won the game. If you put your heart into it, maybe we would have won the game. Clear eyes. Full hearts. Can't lose. Where were your heads tonight? Cause they obviously weren't in your helmets."

"It was just difficult, sir, without Riggins and all." Matt mumbled.

"Riggins or not, you do your best, because what if Riggins doesn't come back to the team? Ever thought about that? I suppose you two better start workin together or else the Panthers won't get to State." Coach sat back in his chair looking at them with stern eyes. Smash and Saracen stood there watching him closely. Coach sighed and shook his head. "Get the hell outta my office."

"Y-yes sir," Smash and Saracen both mumbled and walked out of the office. They shut the door behind them and Smash all the sudden started laughing. "Think he's pissed about Riggins and Little Julie Taylor?"

Saracen shrugged his shoulders and went to his locker, suddenly thinking of the words he just said. Was he speaking of Julie Taylor? The coach's daughter? Matt Saracen's ex-girlfriend? No, not Julie. Julie would never fall for a guy like Tim Riggins, Matt thought. Or would she?

Matt questioned if he wanted to turn around and asked what Smash was talking about. He turned once or twice and then came to the conclusion that if he desperately wanted to find out, now would be the time to ask. "Hey Smash," Matt called and wrapped a towel around his neck.

"Yo, what's up, Seven?" He turning around, greeting him with a slap on the hand.

"What were you saying again? About Tim and, uh, Julie. My ex," he mumbled quietly, looking to see if anyone around him heard.

"Oh, I see what's goin on here! Matt Saracen's jealous ain't he?" Smash shook his shoulder with his hand and people started laughing. Saracen awkwardly joined in.

"I'm not jealous. I just don't see Julie being with someone like… Riggins." Matt shrugged.

Williams stopped giggling and turned to Matt. "Look, man, all I know is that today Riggins got in a fight with some kid for Julie and then they ditched school together and drove off in the middle of nowhere," Smash shrugged. "Guess Coach caught them and was pissed!"

Matt's jaw dropped. Riggins and Julie? Never would he believe it to be possible but he figured Julie had changed since they had been together. Matt was with Carlotta and he was happy with her, but he actually felt a little jealous of them. Riggins and Saracen were so different from each other. Matt was the sweet, caring quarterback and Tim was the drinking, partying running back slob. Saracen rolled his eyes and went back to changing.

All the sudden, there was a slam on the door and everybody turned around thinking it would be some kind of angry mob running in because of their loss. It was sad how people react to a loss of a game in these small towns. Football was all this town had.

But it wasn't an angry mob. It was worse and smelled like extreme B.O. The team had all turned around to find a drunken Tim Riggins standing in front of them all with the cheesiest grin plastered on his lips.