03

« It’s her, isn’t it ? The new chick, » John pushed, still steadily keeping his pace with Justin’s as the two of them walked into the stifling locker room. On any other given day, John would have been oblivious to what was going on with anybody other than himself but for whatever reason, he had to choose today of all days to be the perceptive one.

« No, » Justin told him curtly, not wanting to go into any further detail. He wasn’t about to admit that he was in fact thinking about her. Right now, the way that he saw it, she was his problem and he didn’t want to let on to anyone exactly how far off his game this chick had thrown him. Justin may have felt like he had fallen off the proverbial horse, but he was sure as hell determined to get back up on it and ride again. And when he finally rode, he would ride circles around the girl, leaving her to stare blankly at his dust cloud.

« It’s the girl, » John said again, sounding sure of himself when they stopped at their lockers for fresh clothes and towels. Justin glanced in his direction and frowned when he noticed him smirking. He was lucky that he wasn’t looking at him because the way that Justin felt right now, he may have been inclined to smack the smirk right off his face. Instead, John kept his concentration on getting his stuff ready for a shower. Justin followed suit but froze when he heard John casually mumble, « It’s about time somebody got to you like that. »

Justin stopped what he was doing right then and there, dropped his hands to his sides and turned to him.

« What did you just say ? » He had barely heard him, but Justin did not like what John had been implying. To imply that someone was getting to a guy like him grated against every nerve ending in his overworked body. Even if it was the truth, he certainly didn’t want to be reminded of it.

« Nothing, » John replied glancing over his shoulder, « Nothing at all, » he added and flashed one of his characteristically charming grins before turning away and heading for the shower. For the longest time Justin stood there speechless while he stared at his best friend’s back. When he disappeared, he tried to figure out where in the hell he had gone wrong for this day to go downhill so fast. It had started out perfectly normal and now, it has turned out to be anything but normal. And in his eyes, it all seemed to be courtesy of the new girl.

« Justin. »

Justin turned in the direction of the voice. He spotted Coach standing in the doorway and lifted his brow up at him expectantly. Coach was an imposing figure standing at six foot seven and weighing in at approximately two hundred and forty pounds. His presence alone could fill a room, but right now he was just filling the doorway and staring hard back at Justin.

« Yes Sir ? »

« Can I see you for a minute in my office ? » He said it like a question, but from his demeanor, Justin could tell that it was more of an order. Without waiting for a response, Coach turned around and he knew that it was understood that he would follow.

Carefully, he placed his clean clothes and towel down on the bench, turned around and followed Coach off to his office which was just outside of the locker room. Stepping into the cracker box of a room that he liked to call his personal sanctuary, Coach rounded the desk, pulled out his chair and scraped it against the linoleum floor before finally taking a seat. Justin closed the door behind him and walked to the front of his desk.

« You needed to see me for a minute, Sir ? »

« Yes, I did, » he started and rested his chin on his hand as he studied Justin, « I just wanted to remind you about Friday night’s game and make sure that you understood how important it is. Other than Cummings being our long-time rival, I have two scouts coming from Alabama and Penn State to watch you throw the football, son. I expect to see an award-winning performance and nothing less. »

Swallowing past the knot in his throat, Justin nodded his head. He knew all of this already. Coach and his father and been friends all throughout high school and they have been grooming him for this moment since the time that he could walk and hold a football at the same time.

« I know, Coach. » he told him honestly, « I promise I won’t disappoint you or Dad. »

« Good, so long as we are clear then that’s all that matters,” he stated and leaned back in his chair with his dark eyes still trained on the young man in front of him.

Justin felt a little uncomfortable with that question. He understood the expectations and that was a lot of pressure on him. He stood his ground though and nodded in agreement.

« Crystal clear, Sir. »

« Fine,” Coach replied this time with an awkward smile, « Go shower and get ready for your next class. See you at practice this afternoon. »

Justin quickly returned his smile and simply replied, « Yes Sir, » before turning around and heading out of his office. Friday night was still a few days away and he felt certain that he already had that scholarship in the bag. With all of his state records, he pretty much had the choice of any school that he wanted to go to. His heart was set on Alabama.

But the scholarships weren’t what were bothering him right now. No. What bothered Justin was the new chick and why she seemed to have such a hard on for him. She didn’t even know who he was and because of that, her reactions to him didn’t make a damn lick of sense.

By the time he made it to the showers, most of the guys had already finished with theirs and had left. Justin actually felt a little relieved because he still wasn’t up to talking about his earlier confrontation with the new girl. He draped his towel over the bar outside the shower and left his clothes on the counter. Stepping into the shower, he turned the water on as hot as he could possibly stand it. For several long minutes he just stood there under the spray, letting the steam that engulfed the stall relax his tight muscles.

But yet again, his thoughts flitted to the new chick and he couldn’t help but remember how hot she was. Her hair was raven black and the waves landed just below her shoulders, begging for him to run his fingers through it. And then there were her eyes. Her dark mocha eyes had one of the deepest hues of brown that he had ever seen. They were richer than the thickened molasses and Justin could easily see himself getting lost for days in those beautiful bedroom eyes. Then there was her smile, it was…

« What the-«  Justin screamed aloud when from up above, a torrential downpour of ice cold water was ceremoniously dropped on his head. Looking up, he narrowed his eyes on the new chick that he had just been daydreaming of, standing over the shower stall and smiling down at him. He did the best he could to cover himself and scowled at her.

« Oh, you are so going to pay for that ! » he spat out bitterly.

She shook her head back and forth and in her fits of giggles sweetly told him, « I don’t think so. » She then ducked her head and Justin heard her yell out to someone else, « Grab them and go ! » As she was supposedly leaving, all he heard were more giggles and eventually retreating footsteps.

Grab them and go. What could she possibly mean by that ? He wondered and it only took about half of a second for it to hit him.

« Oh, hell no, » he muttered, wrenching the shower curtain open and looking at the empty space where his towel once hung. Seeing nothing there, he glanced towards the counter and noticed that his clean clothes were missing too.

« Mother fu-«  Justin started and darted off out of the shower before he could finish the statement, dripping water everywhere and all to go after this chick who had stepped way over the line this time. He crashed through the locker room door, breathing heavily and came to a grinding halt in the hallway where the new girl stood just a few feet away holding both his clothes and towel in her hands.

« Give. It. Back ! » He demanded between gritted teeth, while cupping himself and shivering to beat the band.

The girl just gave him that same sugary sweet smile and stepped to the side, « Smile player, you’re on candid camera. »

Another girl, one that he had seen several times in the halls, stepped forward holding up her phone and snapped a picture before he could move or even turn his head away from the flash.

« This is going to be perfect, » she spoke again and then dropped his clothes in a heap to the floor, « Point one for Chloe, » she added and then wiggled her fingers at him before adding, « Ta ta for now my friend. Until we meet again. »