“Mrs. Greir, Hathmec is a town in Georgia, where we’re from, and it was named after its founder many years ago. Probably a better example would be Travis, where we live now.”
“I don’t know of any Hathmec, Georgia. Oh well, you are correct—Travis is a good example, so let’s work with that.”
Connor patted Matthew on the hand. “Thanks, bro. I’ll do better next time.”
The boys survived their first class and were startled by the ringing of a bell that seemed to come out of nowhere. They watched their classmates jump up from their seats and head for the door. Matthew noticed a younger looking girl staring at him. She seemed a bit awkward, with her glasses sagging on her nose. Her coveralls seemed a size too big for her.
Matthew asked, “So are we done for the day?”
She giggled and said, “We are for this class, but we have five more to go. Where are you headed next?”
Matthew pulled out his schedule and said, “Looks like I have Chemistry 1 with Mr. Knott.”
The girl frowned and grabbed her bag. “That’s too bad. I have Advanced Chemistry next period.”
Matthew shook his head in disbelief and asked, “You’re old enough to be in Advanced Chemistry, as a sophomore?”
“I’m not a sophomore; I’m a freshman. I just get to take upper-level classes.”
“Come on, Cassie, we’re gonna be late, and you know I like to get the best seat in the lab.”
Matthew asked, “Who is that?”
“That’s my brother, Jack. We’re twins, but I’m the smart one.” It was clear that Jack was Cassie’s twin. Besides the scar on his nose and the hair on his face, they looked quite similar.
The boy walked over and said, “Yeah, she got the brains and the looks. So, are you and your brother twins, too?”
Matthew replied, “Not exactly, but we might as well be. Isn’t that right, Connor?”
Matthew turned to see that Connor wasn’t there and began to look around the room. Jack asked, “Did you lose something there, Matt?”
Matthew grabbed his backpack and stumbled past the desks in the room. “Sorry, I need to go. Maybe we can talk more later.” He took off out the door and almost knocked over Mrs. Greir.
Cassie grinned at Jack and said, “He’s kind of cute.”
Jack replied, “He seems a little strange to me. Come on, we’re gonna be late.”
Matthew walked around the corridor of the school and searched for Connor. He made his last turn and saw his brother standing with Amanda Curry at her locker, along with three rather large boys. They looked upset with Connor. Matthew got to the locker in mid-conversation and interrupted. “Is everything OK here?”
The boy at the front of the pack turned to Matthew and snapped, “Who the hell are you?”
Matthew quietly replied, “I’m Matthew and this is my brother, Connor.”
Amanda grabbed the large boy by the arm and pulled him toward her. “Trey, get a grip! These are a couple of new guys that I showed around this morning, that’s all. Connor was just asking me about the classes.”
Matthew noticed that the other two large boys with Trey had created a cone around him and Connor. Matthew assumed that this would make it easier to pounce on both of them when the time came. Trey explained how things worked at the school, at least in his mind. “You two losers stay away from my girl or you’re gonna get pounded. That means no talking to her, looking at her, or even thinking about her.”
Connor wasn’t one to back down from a fight. He furled his brow and responded, “Oh really? Well, I’m thinking about her right now. In fact, we’re having a great time hanging out together in my mind.” He looked to Amanda and said, “How about we make it a reality?” Trey told his buddies to hold Connor and he prepared to pound him.
“All of you boys OK?”
Trey turned around to see Principal Baxter and backed off from the brothers. “Yes, sir, we were just introducing ourselves to the new guys here.”
Principal Baxter motioned down the hall and said, “Yes, I met them this morning as well. I think all of you need to head on to class now. The last bell will ring in exactly two minutes. I wouldn’t want our star quarterback being late for class.”
Trey grabbed Amanda’s hand, and they began to move toward their next class. The boys heard Amanda mumble, “You are such a jerk.”
Principal Baxter turned his attention to Connor and Matthew. “It looks like you two are making a quick impression here at the school. Just remember, I know all and see all here, so keep your noses clean.”
Once Principal Baxter was out of earshot, Matthew turned his attention to Connor and gave him a shove. “What the hell was that all about? You’re gonna get us killed before the end of the first day.”
Connor shoved Matthew back and said, “Look, I just made an impression on the girl that we are trying to woo here, and now she knows that I won’t take any crap from anybody.”
Matthew replied, “Oh yeah, I’m sure she’ll be impressed when you’re lying in a bloody heap in the middle of the hall. We’ve got to figure out how to get to this girl. Just pissing off her boyfriend isn’t going to do it.”
The boys continued to go to class through the morning, with no more incidents until they reached their lunch period. Both boys were sitting alone at a cafeteria table trying to decipher what they were about to eat. Connor threw something onto Matthew’s tray.
Matthew just stared at it and asked, “Why did you do that?”
Connor responded, “I’m not sure if that is some kind of meat or fruit or what it is, but I’m not eating it.”
Matthew heard a familiar voice. “Wow, you two sure didn’t waste any time getting in the doghouse.” Matthew turned to see Cassie and her brother, along with another friend, moving toward them with their trays. “Do you mind if we join you?”
Matthew motioned for the small group to join them and asked Cassie what she meant. Before she could answer, the third in their group spoke up. “You stood up to Trey and his pack of goons and basically told them all to stick it, and that was before second period had even started.”
Connor asked, “Who exactly are you?”
The small-statured boy replied, “Sorry, I’m Pete, or Pete the Meat, as most around here call me.”
Matthew asked, “Why do they call you Pete the Meat?”
“It’s in reference to dead meat. I get picked on a lot. I’m small, they’re huge, and it’s just the law of the jungle.” Matthew attempted to force down a french fry and told Pete that he shouldn’t get picked on for being small.
Pete explained that Trey and his buddies were stars on the school football team and it was just natural for Amanda, a lead cheerleader, to date the starting quarterback, whether he was a jerk or not. “It’s just the way things are. The cheerleaders date the ballplayers and the rest of us get what’s left over.”
Cassie jumped in. “I am not a leftover! Isn’t that right, Matthew?”
Matthew looked to the girl in the black-and-white striped glasses and wanted to be diplomatic about his answer. He shook his head. “Of course you’re not a leftover.”
Pete sensed the tension and said, “Regardless, the hottest girls in school are cheerleaders and Amanda is at the top of that list, so unless you’re planning to join the football team anytime soon, I would just cut my losses and avoid the big three.”
Connor asked, “The big three?”
“Yeah—Trey and his two goon offensive linemen, Rick and Austin.”
One of the goons came by the boys’ table and grabbed the tray in front of Pete and dumped it in his lap. He cackled, “Nice one! Looks like Pete the Meat has some cleanup to do!” Connor began to get up from his seat to confront the boy, but Matthew pulled him back down.
Cassie and Jack helped Pete clean himself off and Connor asked, “How exactly would someone get on the football team
?”
Jack replied, “The season just started, but I know that walk-ons are allowed up to the fourth game, so you would just have to convince Coach Dane to give you a tryout.”
Pete asked, “You aren’t really considering joining those Neanderthals, are you?”
Connor responded, “Don’t worry about that. I’m planning on taking your dear friend Trey’s job.”
Pete and the others laughed and flexed their muscles. Cassie said, “You guys are crazy! You’re just gonna get hurt.”
Matthew put his hand to his chest and looked at Connor. “I think we’ll be OK. We just need to get a tryout.”
Chapter 10
pity date
“I guarantee it; you won’t regret givin’ us a look. I know we don’t look as big as most of the guys on the team, but we’re really strong for our size.”
Connor responded, “Speak for yourself. I’m plenty big enough to handle your guys.”
“We’re both quick and tougher than we look.”
Matthew and Connor had the head football coach for the Eastview Chargers cornered for over ten minutes and were trying everything to convince Coach Dane to let them go out for the football team. He didn’t seem impressed. “Boys, I’m telling you, I just don’t think you’ll be cut out for the team. We take football real serious around these parts and you don’t have any background in the sport. I don’t even see where you played back in Georgia. Not that we have much respect for football coming out of Georgia around these parts.”
Coach Dane’s bright red trousers cut into the overhung belly of the seasoned high school football coach. He had seen it all in his twenty years and his gut told him that two walk-on sophomores weren’t worth his time. The tobacco stuffed into his jaw was problematic for the boys, as they struggled to understand the words coming from his mouth.
“But coach, we found out that you still have four open spots that freshmen are filling. I promise we are worth more than some fifteen-year-olds.”
The coach looked the boys over again, impressed by Connor’s build, and asked, “So what positions are you trying out for?”
Connor responded, “My brother here is a trailer and I’m a tosser.”
Matthew’s eyes grew to the size of grapefruits. “He means that I would like to try out as a cornerback and he’s a quarterback.”
Coach grabbed a clipboard and chuckled “Let me get this straight; you think you can cover and tackle my boys in the open field, and you think you’re better than Trey Wilson.”
Both shook their heads in the affirmative and said, “Yes, sir.”
The coach pointed to the locker room and said, “Just for pure curiosity’s sake, I’ll give you a shot. There are extra uniforms, pads, and helmets in the locker room. Go find some that fit and be on the practice field at four and we’ll see what you got. Don’t blame me if you both have to go to the nurse’s station when we’re done.”
The boys only had an hour to get their gear on and figure out a way to impress the coach. Luckily, there was a picture of a football player hanging up in the locker room, so the boys positioned all of their pads in the correct orientation. For someone who had never suited up for a football game it could be a confusing proposition.
Matthew and Connor discussed their strategy. “Connor, we have to make you look good, so let’s try to set it up so you throw to me as much as possible. The guys on the team will probably drop passes on purpose just to make you look bad.”
Connor responded, “I’m a little worried about the plays these guys run. I don’t know any of them.”
Matthew stood up from the bench and ran through some things that he had picked up on Sunday. “Remember what we saw on the television. You take the snap from the player in front of you, drop back four or five steps, find the open receiver, and throw it.”
Connor looked at the clock on the wall of the locker room. “It’s 3:55, we better get to the field.” They grabbed the helmets that they found in a locker that could best be described as disgusting and walked to the practice field behind the school.
The rest of the team had already practiced for over an hour, and the first-team offense was running plays. The boys walked up to the coach and noticed a small crowd gathered around the fence surrounding the field. On the other side of the fence resided the majority of the school’s cheerleaders, including Amanda Curry. There were also faces not normally interested in the football team, Cassie, Jack, and Pete among them. They were as interested as anyone to see if the two new guys could survive an audition with Coach Dane.
The boys sneaked up behind the coach and said, “We’re ready, coach. What do you want us to do?”
Before Coach Dane could answer, a shout came from the field from none other than Trey Wilson himself. “You gotta be kidding me, coach! What are those two losers doing out here?”
Coach snapped back, “You didn’t hear, Trey? These boys wanna be on the football team, so we’re gonna give ‘em a tryout.”
Coach Dane looked to the shorter of the brothers and asked, “Matthew, right? I want you to cover that receiver, number eighty-one. Don’t let him catch any passes. I’ll give you five chances to stop him.” Matthew ran out to the field while the coach lumbered out to the offensive huddle. Matthew and Connor couldn’t hear what he was saying.
“Look, boys, we have to let some of these kids try out every once in a while just to keep the parents and principal off my ass, so just run our plays, catch the ball, and run over this kid a few times and we’ll be done with it.”
Trey added to the coach’s comments. “Let’s run a couple of picks on this little prick. He won’t make it five plays.”
Matthew was still wearing his health Hathmec and took a position covering number eighty-one. Trey Wilson walked up to the line and barked out the plays. “Thirty-two, thirty-two, set, hut…hut.” All the players were in movement, along with number eighty-one, and Matthew tracked him closely. Number eighty-one was moving laterally across the field when Matthew felt a thunderous blow to his chest.
He had just run into another offensive player who had set an illegal pick on him to clear him out of the way. Number eighty-one easily caught the pass that Trey Wilson had thrown. Connor saw what happened and began to open his mouth, but the coach stopped him, “You have to deal with what’s thrown at you in this game.” He yelled to the field, “So, Mr. Chance, do you wanna try this four more times?”
Matthew bounced right up, looked to the sidelines, and said, “Let’s try it again.” The coach was surprised that the boy had gotten up so fast, but he was confident that another shot or two like that would get him off the field.
“Go ahead, run another one.” Again, Matthew was lured into an illegal block and knocked down, only to pop up again. This went on for four plays. The coach looked to Connor and said, “Well, he may not be a good ballplayer, but he can sure take a shot.” He yelled back to the field, “This is your last shot kid; make it count.”
Trey Wilson yelled out the final hut on Matthew’s last chance to make the team, and his receivers all started on their predetermined routes. This time, as Matthew tracked number eighty-one, he made a split-second decision to dodge the player who tried to block him. In doing so, he got farther behind the receiver than he anticipated so he had to make up the gap.
Trey Wilson threw the ball high into the air and it headed straight for number eighty-one. It looked as though he would make the catch in stride. Matthew saw the ball in the air, and his mind replayed the catch that he had made to save the beamball game just a few days earlier. He remembered the power that he felt in his legs and the speed that he had gained through the health charm, so he called upon it once again.
Within an instant, Matthew had made up the ground on the receiver and he leaped toward the ball with extended hands and caught it before it ever got to number eighty-one. He was lying on the ground with the ball, and as he got up, h
e extended it into the air for all to see. As if a firecracker had been detonated, the few students behind the fence started to cheer. Even the lovely Amanda Curry smiled in appreciation of the accomplishment.
On the sidelines, Connor peered up at Coach Dane and saw the look of astonishment on his face. The coach told his offense to run another play. Trey Wilson objected and said that it was just luck. “Then run another play and prove me wrong,” yelled the coach.
The offense ran ten more plays, and Matthew Chance either intercepted or knocked down every ball that was thrown his way. The crowd around the fence started to grow as they watched something that they had never seen before: Trey Wilson getting shown up.
“Ten out of ten isn’t luck. Connor, are you as good as your brother?”
A small glint pierced through Connor’s eyes as he overflowed with confidence and said, “I’m better.”
The coach turned his attention back to the field and called Trey and Matthew to the sideline. “Trey, you’re out. I want to see what the other brother can do.”
A look of panic and pure anger gripped Trey Wilson as he tensed up and verbalized his frustration. “You’re gonna let this little twerp take snaps from my team!”
Coach Dane was not deterred. “I make the decisions on who steps on that field, son, and don’t you forget it!”
Trey threw his helmet to the ground and stared a hole through Connor as he made his way to the bench. “Can I work with Connor at wide receiver, coach?” asked Matthew. Coach agreed and pulled one of the other players off the field. Connor and Matthew hustled to an unpleasant huddle.
The boys in the huddle looked grudgingly at the sophomore who now ran their practice. “OK, guys, I don’t really know any of the plays that you run here, so let’s just run the same play Matthew’s been whippin’ you on.” Connor pointed to Matthew. “You run straight down the field and cut in at about thirty yards.”
The rest of the guys in the huddle started to laugh and Connor asked what the problem was. One of Trey’s best buddies, Austin, said, “That would be like a fifty-yard out pattern. There is no way you got the arm for that.”
Last Chance Page 14
