Gladiators of the Gridiron

Jackson shut the back door of the family car and shuffled away from it on his crutches. The front window rolled down, and his mom leaned over from the driver’s seat, her expression filled with worry.

‘Are you sure you’ll be okay, Jackie? You don’t have to force yourself to go back so soon if you’re not ready for it,’ she said.

Jackson stood in front of the school’s main entrance, and glanced over his shoulder at the campus.

He turned his attention back to his mom and nodded. ‘Yeah, I’ll be fine. If I wait until my leg gets better I’ll have missed the entire first semester.’ He laughed.

Her smile was tinged with sadness and she didn’t share his laugh. ‘Okay, dear. Just give me or your dad a call if you need anything, or even Tommy. We’ll be right there for you whenever you need us.’

‘I know, Mom. Thank you.’

‘Have a nice day.’ She looked at him longingly before she finally peeled away from the curb and drove off.

Jackson watched the car disappear around the corner before he turned to face the school. Already he could feel eyes on him from the other students who were also being dropped off, as they made their way inside.

He hobbled through the halls ignoring the extra attention, even though it was such a strange feeling. It’s not like everyone was openly staring, but compared to how little Jackson usually stood out, he felt like there was a great big spotlight shining down on him now.

He frowned, but didn’t say anything.

This would take some getting used to.

When he got to his locker, the bell for first period rang. Jackson hurriedly grabbed what he needed and sped through the halls as quickly as he could before he came to an unfortunate obstacle—the stairs.

It was only one flight, but even so, it wasn’t something he’d done yet on his crutches, and getting up them proved to be a struggle. He was halfway there when he heard a voice behind him in the otherwise empty corridors.

‘Um, do you need some help?’

He turned his head, saw an older girl standing just a few steps below him.

She was a little out of breath, a few strands of blonde hair had fallen free from the messy bun on top of her head, and her light brown eyes were free of pity.

‘Uhh…’ Jackson’s brain refused to work as he couldn’t help but stare at her aquiline features. The girl moved closer and offered her shoulder for support.

Now that they were on the same step, they stood eye to eye, and she smiled at him when he put his hand on her shoulder, both his crutches now clutched in just one hand.

‘Th-Thanks,’ he stammered.

‘No worries. I’m Jasmine.’

‘Jackson,’ he said. Even with Jasmine’s help, hopping up the stairs was slow going, but he didn’t mind that, he’d completely forgotten that he was late.

When they reached the next floor, she looked around quickly. ‘Is this your stop?’

He took a while to register that she’d actually asked him something before he could answer. ‘Oh, yeah, sorry. Thanks for your help. A-Again.’

She laughed and gently pat him on the back. ‘Like I said, don’t worry about it. Well, see ya around Jackson!’ With a grin, she turned away and sprinted up the next set of stairs, taking them two at a time.

Jackson watched her go, and even when she vanished up onto the next floor, he could still hear her feet pounding down the hall.

He remembered he had his own class to get to, and rushed towards it.

He pushed open the door and swung himself inside the room, blurting out an apology for being so late.

The teacher, who was in the middle of speaking, stopped and turned his head towards Jackson, as did everyone else in the class.

Again, Jackson squirmed under the spotlight before making his way down the rows of desks towards his own empty seat. It was right next to Eddie’s.

Eddie didn’t say anything to Jackson as he sat down and set his crutches on the floor underneath his desk.

Though both Sachin and Marcus, who were seated right behind the other two boys, leaned forward.

‘Yo. We didn’t think you’d be back so soon. How ya feeling, man?’ Marcus quietly said.

Jackson glanced back at him and Sachin, and smiled. ‘Yeah, well, no use just sitting around at home, right? I’m doing good, don’t worry about me.’

‘Bro, Eddie.’ Sachin lightly smacked Eddie on the back. ‘Aren’t you gonna say something?’

Eddie looked back at Sachin, an annoyed frown on his face. He turned that frown towards Jackson slowly. ‘Are you serious when you’re saying you’re alright now?’

That was a punch to the gut, but Jackson felt he deserved it. ‘I just… yeah, I’m fine now, I swear.’

Eddie didn’t say anything, though his eyes studied Jackson coldly before he muttered, “Uh-huh” and turned away.

Sachin’s and Marcus’s lips pursed into thin, straight lines as they awkwardly looked back and forth between their two friends.

‘Hah, but hey, now that you’re back, at least my math grades are saved,’ Sachin said, breaking the silence.

‘Ohh, so that’s the only reason you were worried about Jackson coming back, huh? I see how it is,’ Marcus said.

‘Bruh, that’s not what I meant.’

Jackson smiled and turned towards the front of the class. He was glad for their lightheartedness, it made him feel as if things were normal … almost.

Things were still tense with Eddie, and even Sachin and Marcus felt as if they were being disingenuous at times, trying too hard to lighten the mood. Jackson shouldn’t have expected anything less though. Of course what he did had damaged their relationship somewhat.

It was hard for him to focus on class with this regret and fractured friendship looming over his head, but the day slowly passed bit by bit and eventually, the final bell rang to dismiss everyone and send the students home or off to whatever club activities they had.

It was an interesting first day back, and it passed faster than Jackson expected it would, though he still hadn’t gotten used to the looks he’d get, some people were even presumptuous enough to outright approach him and ask about what happened. He always waved them off with some lame excuse about a simple accident and moved away from their questions as quickly as he could.

He never did see Jasmine again though.

Jackson didn’t quite wanna go home just yet though, so he sent a text to his brother who would be picking him up that day, telling him that he planned to stick around for a bit and that he’d call when he was ready to go home.

After that, he followed Sachin, Marcus, and Eddie over to their track practice.

Eddie kept his head down and earphones in, working up a storm in preparation for the upcoming indoor meet, while Sachin and Marcus were a bit laxer in that day’s practice. They still worked up a sweat, but they also spent a lot of time with Jackson as well, asking about how long he’ll need the cast for, and when he could start training again.

He answered all their questions, and was grateful for them worrying about him, even if he tried to tell them not to be distracted by him and just practice like normal.

When their practice was over, Eddie went straight home without even acknowledging any of his friends. Jackson walked with Marcus and Sachin over to their bikes, though they asked him how he was getting home.

He told them that his brother would pick him up, but… he wasn’t going home just yet. He looked towards the football field; he had one last thing to check before he left.

When he got over to the field, the team’s practice had already finished, but some players were still there, winding down or getting extra reps in. He spotted Kenny, and Tommy’s doppelganger again, both of them were over by the vest racks, so he went over to greet them.

‘Geez… you were carrying my useless butt around out there? You really didn’t have to,’ Jackson said as he saw Shane putting the weights back into Jackson’s unused vest.

‘Hah. I was,’ Shane said. ‘Sorry for touching your stuff without permission, I just, wanted to make sure that you were still a part of this practice… though, it seems like I didn’t need to in the end. It’s good to have you here, Jackson, right?’

Jackson nodded, looking up at this behemoth of a man. Up close, and with a better look at him, he found that it was strange he’d ever confused this man for his older brother, though… at the same time there was a weird similarity between them, not so much as physical but… more like their aura? The way they carried themselves? He couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

‘Right, I’m Jackson, I don’t think we’ve been introduced properly.’ Jackson extended a hand to the taller boy.

Shane stepped forward and took Jackson’s hand, shaking it firmly. ‘Shane Spearhead. I’m sorry about your injury.’

Jackson frowned, looking down at himself; he was a sorry sight.

Kenny moved over and whacked Jackson on the shoulder, shaking him from his thoughts.

‘Welcome back, dude. About damn time I saw your face around here. I’ve missed you… hah, more than you could know… though, doesn’t look like you’ll be BACK back in a while.’ Kenny looked down at the cast around Jackson’s leg.

Jackson was surprised to hear that he’d been personally missed, though, with the situation regarding how few players the JV team had, maybe it was only natural. Thinking about that, he said:

‘Sorry, um, I hope you guys haven’t been in trouble because of me, what’s happened with the two games so far? I…I heard we lost both, did we forfeit?’

Kenny shook his head. ‘No uh… Coach found a… replacement, for you, if you can even call him that.’ He looked around and shrugged. ‘Ah, he’s already gone, but, whatever. Point is, they SUCK, and, we’d have totally won both those games if you were playing, dude.’

‘Oh… sorry.’ Jackson grit his teeth, looking towards the ground.

Shane frowned. ‘Hey. I’m sure this replacement is doing his best, and that’s all we can ask for. Winning or losing isn’t caused by any singular person, it’s a team effort out there. You win as a team, and you lose as a team. Keep working hard and you’ll start winning.’

‘I couldn’t have said it better myself, Shane,’ Coach Otsen said, standing behind the boys. He looked them all over as they turned to face him, and then his eyes stopped on Jackson.

The injured boy held his ground under that unwavering gaze. ‘Hello, sir.’

Coach Otsen nodded to the cast. ‘How long’s that keeping you out of action?’

‘A few months, sir.’

Coach Otsen grunted. ‘Missing your freshman year, that’s quite the setback.’ He paused. ‘…Your folks never did tell me … how’d it happen?’

Jackson squirmed again, always that damn question. His eyes darted to Shane and Kenny as well, curiosity burned in their eyes.

He sighed and shook his head. ‘It was just a stupid accident on my bike,’ he said. ‘A rock got caught under my wheel and I crashed.’

Coach Otsen nodded. ‘Those things happen, be thankful there wasn’t any damage to your ligaments, you’ll recover and with hard work, you won’t even notice it was ever broken… assuming you’re wanting to come back?’

Jackson looked into Coach Otsen’s hardened eyes. Then he looked around the field, at the two boys nearby who were drenched in sweat, and finally, at his lonely vest.

Did he really want to step foot back into this grass hell?

He smiled slightly and nodded. ‘Of course. I promise I’ll be back next season, better than ever, and I’ll make up for the year I missed out on.’

Coach Otsen grinned and slapped Jackson on the shoulder. ‘That’s what I like to hear, but I’ll keep you to your word. When you come back, I’ll need to work you twice as hard, so as to make up for lost time.’

Jackson’s heart pounded at the prospect of the challenge that awaited him in the future, but, he couldn’t wait until he was healthy enough to face it.