“Why?”
“I just wanted to give you a chance to say whatever you wanted on the record.”
“Why the fuck would I want to say anything to a reporter?”
She stepped forward, her hands up. “You’ve just been through something traumatic, so I figured you would have something to say about it.”
Where did I know this girl from? She looked super familiar, even if she was dressed like a journalist. Of course, journalists had been hounding me for years, coming to all my games, trying to find me after practice for a statement, but this girl looked too young for all of that. I could not place where I knew her from, though, and it was starting to bother me.
Oh shit. It was Lily, Lily from Cal. The girl I had wanted ever since I had met her back in school. I had stayed away from her as best I could, then. I realized as soon as I met her that I wasn’t good enough for her. Not yet. Sure, I could catch touchdowns, but I didn’t think I could be the right man for her - she was different, not like all the other girls, the ones who threw themselves at me.
Any other time and I’d be more focused on trying to get into her pants. Even now, with all I had going on, it still didn’t sound like a bad idea.
“Yeah, well, maybe I don’t really want to talk about it right now.” I expected her to leave at that.
“That’s fine.” She didn’t leave. She just kept on staring at me like that, with those big beautiful eyes of hers. Lily looked different, but more grown up, more mature, but I would know her anywhere. It was shocking to me that it had taken me this long to recognize her.
I could taste the bile in my throat. I was so angry at the world for doing this to me. Here I was, so great at doing this one thing, and they weren’t letting me do it on the biggest stage of all.
The commissioner must have announced another pick, because the crowd went wild enough that I could hear it even down this long hallway, away from the cheering fans.
“Those fans should be cheering for me right now. I’m the one who earned this, I’m the one who spent every day in the gym or on the practice field. This should be the best day of my life.”
Whatever this journalist was, she didn’t say anything. She just kept on looking at me. “But instead, I’m hiding out like this with you. How is that fucking right?”
“Some would say you did this to yourself.”
“Fuck off. Yeah, so I like to have fun, but I’ve never missed a practice, and I’ve never missed a game. And you know that I can ball. So why aren’t they letting me?”
“Maybe because no one thinks they can trust you? Because they don’t want the headache that comes with you being on the team?”
“Who the fuck cares what I’m like off the field as long as I make the play when it’s game time? It’s a business. Scoring and winning games is all that matters. And I do that better than any of those fuckers.”
By now I was thrashing wildly about the room, caught up in my anger, boiling over with rage. How dare they take this away from me? How dare they keep the teams from drafting me?
Lily changed direction. “What’re you going to do now?”
I hadn’t thought that far ahead yet. I didn’t have any time to think, not yet. The tears finally came as I realized that now I had more time than anything else.
“Why don’t they want me?” I broke down, unable to hold it in any longer. “I’m really good at playing football. That’s all I want to do, that’s all I’ve ever wanted to do. And I’m really good at it.”
The reporter came closer. “So why won’t they let me play? That’s all I really want to. Just let me play…”
She looked at me, the most beautiful girl had seen in a long time, if ever, and then she turned to her side and whispered, “turn off the camera.”
It was then that I noticed that there was someone else they are with us, the guy with the camera.
Oh shit.
I had to get out of here.
This shit was gonna hit big.
CHAPTER 05 - LILY
Earlier that day, 8 hours before the draft…
I didn’t need my alarm this morning. Normally I’d be forced awake by its angry peals, calls to wake up and face the day whether I would like to or not, because guess what? The day was already here! Normally I’d pull myself out of bed, and try unsuccessfully to wipe the sleep from my bleary eyes as I walked to the bathroom, wincing as my feet touched the cold floor and ‘helped’ me wake up faster. Thanks, floor, I knew I could count on you to, you know, be floor and all.