Songs for Cricket by Laine, E. (ebook reader .TXT) 📕

weren’t on. Still, it felt surreal. I used my phone and took a video of our arrival, whispering commentary as I went along.

We still had a couple of hours before the game. Mom texted me that she and Dad had arrived and would be at the field a bit early.

I caught up with Cooper when we got off the bus.

“Does Shepard have a ticket?”

That thought hadn’t crossed my mind until now. Since Cooper had orchestrated his arrival, I thought he might know. Though students could get tickets, I wasn’t sure if Shepard could given his current status.

“I got him one. Don’t worry.”

“Where is he sitting?”

“Next to Mom and Dad. I requested an extra for him just in case. Finn couldn’t come, but Sawyer and Ashton were trying to make it as well.”

I hugged him and gave him a kiss on the cheek. I hoped our older brother, Ash, made it. I hadn’t talked to him lately. He was a lot like Cooper. He didn’t make conversation easily. But if they came, they could be there for Shepard if my parents got to be too much. Dad would have a lot of questions about why he wasn’t on the field.

When I searched for August, he wasn’t looking at me or anyone for that matter. He wore a troubled expression, deep in thought. I wanted to ask him what was going on, but he’d told me to mind my own business.

It wasn’t until game time that my nervousness kicked in full gear. My heart raced, and I felt sweat not caused by heat trickle down my back. I was near the middle of the final huddle on the sideline just before the national anthem. When the guys slapped my back and wished me good luck, I truly felt like a part of the team.

Cooper pointed out the general direction of where Shep and my parents were sitting. They were too far up for me to make them out.

We won the coin toss, so I cheered on Billy and the other starters as they got on the field. It wasn’t until later that August went in. We were shut out in the first half and never got into field goal range. Bryant, however, couldn’t stay off, punting the ball several times.

The locker room at halftime was not a happy place. Coach was red-faced as he hurled curses and gave us a good dressing down before calming down and diving into all the adjustments we needed to make.

My first play in the game came at the opening of the second half when I had to kickoff.

As I jogged out on the field, I tried to ignore all of the camera flashes that were going off. Kickoffs weren’t my specialty, and if I botched it, the world would see because with my luck it would end up the most played video on YouTube.

I cleared my head so only the sounds of my breaths could be heard. I didn’t rush, counting my steps and getting into position. When the whistle blew, I focused on the ball and remembered how Shepard had coached me. He wasn’t holding the ball this time, Cooper was. He’d spun the lacing around perfectly, so I hit the sweet spot and watched the ball fly.

It didn’t land in the end zone. The other team caught it, and they were heading for us. I felt like a gazelle in the middle of a stampede. But I braced myself to tackle the guy with the ball if he got past our defenders. When he didn’t, I let out a sigh and headed back off the field.

“Good job,” Billy said, patting my back as I made it to the sidelines.

“Thanks.”

His eyes didn’t linger, which suited me fine. He was in game mode, and I drifted back where Coach Ari had me kick a few balls to keep my leg warm. It was late in the third quarter when we’d finally scored a touchdown. In my glee, I’d forgotten to follow the team out on the field for the extra point and had to almost full-out run to catch up.

Cooper was in charge of special teams. It was always amazing to watch my brother’s transformation once on the field. Off of it, he stood in August’s shadow. On it, he commanded like a seasoned leader. In the huddle, he gave us the play, and we readied ourselves. When the other team broke, Cooper sized up their formation and checked the sideline. Then he kneeled, giving me the signal to stick with the regular kick.

This was my jam. Extra points were easy no matter what hash mark I kicked it from, left, right, or center. I stepped back and then kicked the ball like it wasn’t my first game. When it sailed through the uprights, our side of the field got to their feet.

I’d done it. It was picture-perfect too. I glanced in the direction of where Shepard and my parents sat. I smiled, even though I couldn’t see them, before hustling off the field only to return to do another kickoff.

We scored two more times, August having caught one touchdown before we were down to just a few minutes left. We’d tied it up with the last score, and it was up to my extra point to put us in the lead since the other team’s kicker missed one.

Talk about pressure.

“Just do it like before,” Cooper said before we got into position.

The crowd was silent, making everything eerie. I focused on my breathing before I took off, only for the whistle to blow a time-out just as I kicked the ball.

The ball had gone through the uprights, but it didn’t count. They were “icing me” as was said. They had done it in hopes of psyching me out.

Everyone said something to me, but I hadn’t heard much more than just do it again.

I got back into position once the time-out was over and silenced all the doubt in my head. Then I moved, and angled my