Page 6 - Top Prospect

I could hear Alex’s speech ringing in my ears—
football’s my life . . . no second-best in me . . . it’s who I am.
The echo of his voice pushed me past the pain. It helped
me outlast the tightening knots in my stomach muscles,
all the way to five hundred.

Those final ten sit-ups felt amazing. Despite the
strain, knowing I was going to make it brought me
nothing but joy.
“Four ninety-seven. Four ninety-eight. Four ninety-
nine. Five hundred.”
I was sweating so much, I needed to change my
shirt and towel off or I’d drip sweat all over my assign-
ments. The endorphins pumping through my body
had me feeling too good for homework. Instead, I

phoned Damon, just to talk about football for a few
minutes.
“You played great on Friday. I know. I watched
almost every down from our bench,” said Damon, who
only got into the game on a few plays. “But there’s a
question I’ve wanted to ask for a while.”
“Go ahead,” I said.

“Is football still fun for you? I mean the way it used
to be, like when we were kids playing in the park?”
It took me a couple of seconds to get my mind in
gear before I could answer his question.
“Yeah, I’m having fun. Who wouldn’t? Why would
you even ask me something like that?”
“Ever since they gave you the scholarship,” Damon

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