And her birthday parties.
Christmases spent at my house drinking hot chocolate.
Star Wars movie marathons.
And I chickened out.
As I said, I can’t live without her. So, if our romantic relationship crashed and burned, and I couldn’t get our friendship back, how would I survive that?
I didn’t want to find out.
So, I love Priya from afar and up close.
It’s torture, but it’s the best that I know how to do.
A whistle blows by the door and Coach yells out, “Alright, let’s go! Get your asses on the field.”
I’m not worried about playing college ball.
Football is like church to me.
I find peace out there on the field.
But I’m not looking forward to sharing my sacred space with the brother I never knew that I had.
I grab my helmet.
Here goes nothing.
* * *
Outside on the field, there are about a hundred of us out here, all dressed out.
But it only takes me a moment to find him.
I feel my chest tighten.
There he is. Rayn Trist.
He’s big like me.
Taller in person than he looks on television.
It’s a weird thing to notice, but I feel like we have similar jaws. A jaw like Dad’s. Not a man that either of us wants to look like, I’m sure.
Coach splits us up into offense and defense. And, of course, because I’m a quarterback, that means I’m headed with my tight-end brother.
He splits up the new recruits from the returning players.
So now, the spotlight is on me.
I feel sweat spill down my back.
He goes down the line, saying our names, introducing us, and I recognize a lot of the guys. Big recruits out of high schools near mine. Some of them I have even played against.
And finally, he gets to me.
“Zephyr Trist, Quarterback, New Castle High School,” he says.