"The Teal Killer"
That plot bunny I had didn't develop easily, but I finally wrangled it into something to be shared. Just a simple little story about one young man's week, where he comes into his own. And gets stuck with a lame nickname. ^____^
A Langford University Story
THE TEAL KILLER
by Hatcheter
Saturday
“Aaron, what was the key to Langford’s win today?”
“Well, Emmett, I’d have to say it was their relentless defense, allowing Oklahoma State only one touchdown in the game. That and Ronnie Dex’s dead-on passing led them to an easy victory.”
“There won’t be anything easy about next week’s game against the Pendergast University Wraith, who are ranked third in the national polls. Can Dex or another Explorer step up and become this generation’s Teal Killer? Tune in at 3 pm next Saturday to find out.
“The score is Langford University Explorers, 27, Oklahoma State Cowboys, 13. For Aaron Boch, I’m Emmett Bregman. Goodnight.”
Ryan Gifa stood at the back of the locker room, watching dispassionately as Coach Dixon gave the game ball to Dex. His teammates cheered loudly for the quarterback, for the coach, and for the team as a whole. It was their third win in three games, and all against nationally ranked opponents. Nobody in the locker room talked about it, but they all knew ESPN was already talking about Langford as an outside contender for a National Championship bid.
As the group broke up Ryan walked to his own locker. He quietly stripped off his jersey and hung it in his locker. His pristine white jersey. He dressed quickly, not needing a shower, and slipped out of the room. He ducked down a side corridor and found his way to one of the public exits, on the other side of the stadium from the press area. It had taken one week to learn that they were only interested in what he could tell them about what the great “Teal’c” Gifa would have thought of the game.
Monday
Ryan slouched in his chair, wondering how he was fifteen minutes early for Doctor Zelenka’s 8:30 physics lecture. He rubbed one tired eye and again considered developing a taste for coffee.
“Is this seat taken?”
Startled, Ryan looked up to find a dark-haired girl looking down at him. “N-no, not at all,” he quickly replied, straightening in his seat as she sat next to him.
“Thank you,” the girl said, smiling at him. “I’m Karen.”
“Karen?” Ryan repeated, mimicking the emphasis she put on the second syllable. The smile he received for that sent a small thrill through him. “I’m Ryan.”
“It is good to meet you, Ryan,” she replied.
“You too,” he said, glancing at the clock. There was still a dozen minutes before Zelenka arrived, and it wasn’t everyday a pretty girl just sat next to him. “Where are you from?”
“Argentina.”
Ryan nodded. Langford had one of the most international student bodies in America, drawing from dozens of countries around the world.
“Hey, Gifa.”
Ryan waved to a teammate who had walked in to the classroom. “Morning, Baker.”
“Your name is Gifa?” Karen asked. “Are you related to Mister Teal’c?”
Ryan smiled wanly. “He’s my father.”
“Oh, wow,” Karen said. “Your father is a very nice man.”
“Well, he was an exchange student once. He understands what foreign students can go through.”
“He has been a great help in adjusting to America,” Karen agreed. “May I ask you a question?”
“Anything,” he answered just a little to quickly. He hoped the blush he felt on his cheek was hidden by his dark complexion.
“Why is he called Teal’c?”
Ryan said leaned back in his seat, reciting an answer he had given dozens of times. “It was a typo.”
“A typo?”
“My mother explained it to me once. The first game of his freshman year was against the Wraith,” Ryan explained.
“Our…” Karen frowned, searching for the term. “Our archrival.”
“Right. By half time he knocked the starting quarterback out of the game, and he took out the first and second-string running backs in the third quarter. Pendergast’s colors are Black and Teal, and dad’s teammates called him the Teal Killer afterwards, and shortened it to Tealk. T-E-A-L-K,” he spelled.
“The campus paper’s reporter was there, and wrote it down for his article. Apparently he wrote the article by hand, and the printer misread his handwriting and used apostrophe-C instead of a K.”
“Your father didn’t correct it?” she asked.
Ryan shrugged. “It was just a nickname. He didn’t expect it to stick for thirty years.”
“Dobrý den.” Doctor Zelenka walked hurried into the room, one minute past his class’s start time. “Good morning. Open your books to chapter three and we’ll begin.”
Tuesday
“Move your ass, Gifa!”
Ryan hurried back to the line, trying to pull clumps of grass from his helmet as he ran. Coach Dixon was happy to keep him on the field in practice, making up for the time Ryan spent on the sidelines during games.
He was also thrown out against the top defensive unit, as little more than a tackling dummy. The quarterbacks threw to him as a last resort, and only then when the defense had him well covered.
Ryan frowned when he saw his father on the sidelines. The large man was still an imposing physical presence, fifteen years after a car accident forced him to retire from football. He was in deep discussion with defensive coordinator Bosworth, and one of them would occasionally glance in his direction.
Focusing on the field, Ryan listened to the quarterback’s audible count. The center snapped the ball back, and Ryan shot forward. He charged ten yards forward and cut sharply toward the center of the field, turning to look toward the quarterback. He met Dex’s eyes and the quarterback launched the ball.
Ryan twisted his body to catch it, jumping slightly to receive the ball firmly against his chest. Before his feet touched the ground again he was hit by Aiden Ford. The linebacker drove head first into his midsection, sending them both to the ground.
“Yeah!” Ford yelled as he got off Ryan. “Feels good, don’t it?”
Ryan ignored Ford’s offered hand, getting to his feet himself.
“Loosen up when you catch the ball, kid,” Ford said, slapping his helmet. “Relax a little.”
Ryan nodded sharply, and stalked back to the line of scrimmage.
“Again!” Dixon called.
Wednesday
Karen let out a frustrated sigh as she closed her book.
“You okay?” Ryan asked.
“I cannot understand half of what Doctor Zelenka says.”
Ryan laughed. “Neither can I sometimes. His accent gets thicker when he really gets into his lecture.”
“You still manage to take a lot of notes,” Karen replied. “Do you think that I could…”
“Copy my notes? Of course.” Ryan paused. “Do you have another class now?”
Karen shook her head.
“Then, uh, would you like to maybe go get some breakfast?”
Karen smiled brilliantly and Ryan’s heart rate tripled. “I would.”
Trying not to grin stupidly, Ryan held the door for her as she walked out. “So why did you come to Langford?” Ryan asked as they headed for the cafeteria building.
“I wanted to go to an American university. My family does not have much money, and I thought it wouldn’t be possible for me to come to one. But the staff here helped me find scholarships and financial aid that other schools wouldn’t.”
“You must be something special for dad and Miss Langford to pursue you.”
Karen blushed and ducked her head as Ryan opened the door to the cafeteria. She hurried in and grabbed a tray, moving quickly through the line. “So why did you come to Langford?” she asked after Ryan had paid for his meal.
Ryan hesitated to answer, scanning the cafeteria for an open table. He spotted a small one across the room, in front of the large windows.
“Did you come because this was your father’s school?” she asked after they were seated.
Ryan nodded. “For as long as I can remember, I wanted to play football just like he did. He was in the NFL when I was born, but I knew he played here first.”
“It must be nice to be somewhere that everyone will know you.”
Ryan frowned and shoveled a forkful of egg into his mouth. “Not really.” Seeing Karen’s puzzled expression, he explained. “A lot of people automatically compared me to him. Some think I only made the team because I’m his son.”
“That doesn’t sound fair.”
“I had scholarship offers at several other schools. Dad even encouraged me to seriously consider them. He said I didn’t have to come here because of him, that I was my own man and could choose where I wanted to be.”
Ryan sighed. “I think he was trying to warn me that I might be stuck in his shadow here. In his first game for the Explorers he crushed their biggest rival all by himself and set the stage for Langford’s first national championship. In my first game, I dropped two passes and got benched.”
Thursday
Ryan gasped as he slipped into the tub of ice water. He struggled to breathe as the warmth was sucked from his body, slowly settling chest deep in the small tub.
“How does that feel?” the head trainer asked.
“It’s cold, Cam.”
Cameron Balinsky chuckled. “You’ll be thankful for this later. You took quite a beating today.”
“I know,” Ryan replied. His teeth were starting to chatter. “I was there.”
“I’ll give you a couple of minutes in there, and then you can hit the showers.”
Ryan settled into the tub gritting his teeth as he waited for Cam to release him. He watched the second hand slowly crawl its way around the clock mounted on the far wall.
“Hey Ryan,” Simon Wells called. “Did you hear about Riley?”
Ryan shook his head. Riley was one of the top receivers on the team. “No coach. Did something happen to him?”
“He’s sprained his ankle, it’s pretty bad,” the offensive coordinator said. “He won’t be facing the Wraith. Be ready to play Saturday.”
“Sure,” Ryan snorted. “What, really?”
Wells nodded. “Show us the effort you had in practice today, and you’ll get your chance.”
“Okay,” Ryan quickly nodded. “I will. Thank you coach,” he called as Wells walked away.
Ryan settled down in the tub, glancing at the clock. A full minute had passed without his noticing.
Friday
”Hey Gifa, wait up.”
Ryan paused, looking back to see Ronnie Dex emerge from the athletics building. He frowned, wondering if he had forgotten something when he left the locker room.
“So I hear you’re playing tomorrow,” Dex said.
Ryan nodded
“Good for you. Loosen up when you get on the field.”
Ryan frowned. “What?”
Dex shrugged. “You tense up as you catch the ball. You’ve got good hands, and great speed, but you go stiff when you receive.”
“It makes you a bit easier to hit,” Aiden Ford said, joining them.
“A bit?”
Ford grinned. “You’re not an easy target to hit, Gifa.”
“Thanks…I guess,” Ryan muttered. A group of students was playing on the soccer field next to the athletics building, forcing the three football players to walk around instead of cutting across the field.
“Can I ask you something?” Ryan said to Ford a moment later.
“Sure.”
“What was my father saying during practice?”
Ford was momentarily confused. “You mean a couple days ago? He told Coach Wells not to go easy on you. I guess he thought you needed to be pushed. I think he’s right.”
He grinned at Ryan’s glare. “Hey man, don’t be mad at me, I’m just the messenger.”
“And the guy who’s beaten on you all week,” Dex reminded Ryan.
“I think he was trying to make you prove to the Coach Dixon that you’re up to the challenge.”
“And?”
“Heads up!”
The trio turned toward the soccer field to see the ball soaring towards them. Aiden reached up to catch it, but Ryan jumped in front of him, grabbing the ball out of mid air.
“Yeah, like that,” Dex said as Aiden half-heartedly tackled Ryan from behind. Ryan laughed as he struggled out of Ford’s grasp, sending both of them to the ground.
“Aiden, over here.”
Ford looked up to see Teyla on the soccer field, smiling at him. He quickly got to his feet and offered a hand to Ryan. He pulled Ryan half way up, then snatched the soccer ball away and pushed him back down.
Ryan glared at Ford as the senior trotted onto the soccer field. Dex continued to laugh. “I’ll see you tomorrow, man,” the quarterback said, walking in the opposite direction.
Ryan jogged onto the field, sighting on Aiden. The linebacker stopped when he reached the group, striking up conversation. Ryan locked onto the small of Ford’s back and took two powerful strides. And then stumbled when he noticed Karen at the edge of the crowd.
Ryan tumbled to the ground, landing at Ford’s feet. “So if we include him,” Aiden said, “the teams will be even again.”
“What?” Ryan asked, getting to his feet.
“On the other team,” Ford continued. “Not the one I’m on.”
“You’re playing real football,” Karen said, taking his arm and pulling him toward one end of the field. “You do know how to play, right?”
“Soccer?” Ryan asked.
Karen smiled. “Football,” she corrected.
Saturday
“The offensive line comes onto the field for the first time, looking to make up for Pendergast’s field goal. They have a long way to go, with the ball on Langford’s own eighteen, and the Wraith’s top ranked defense in their way.”
Ryan jog across the field, taking his place on the left side. A tall, lean Wraith stood in front of him, sneering across the line of scrimmage. Frowning at the cornerback, Ryan turned to his head toward the football, listening as Dex called the play.
The ball snapped and Ryan shot forward, running between the defender and sideline. The Wraith player matched his speed, keeping between him and the quarterback and slowly edging him off the field
Ryan looked back to see the running back get pulled down. He trotted back to the new line of scrimmage, five yards ahead of the last. The cornerback defending him leaned out, bumping Ryan with his shoulder. “You’re not going to get past me,” the Pendergast player growled. “I’ll bury you.”
Ryan shrugged and planted his feet. Tensing, he watched as the center picked up the ball. He snapped it back to Dex and Ryan charged forward. He started to run outside of the corner, then doubled back as the Wraith turned to follow, leaving him stumbling the wrong direction.
Ryan raced across the field, watching as Dex stepped back. Their eyes locked and Dex threw the football. It was a perfect pass, and Ryan caught it without breaking his stride.
He quickly planted his feet in front of him, coming to an immediate stop as a Wraith dove past him. Exploding forward, Ryan slipped out of the grasp of another diving defender, and there was suddenly nothing between him and the end zone.
His cleats tore the grass as he ran, widening the gap between himself and the Wraith chasing him. The lines flew by underfoot as he ran to the goalpost, twenty yards away, ten yards, five…
“Touchdown Langford! Ryan Gifa ran the ball seventy yards for the first touchdown of his college career.”
“He just made Stevenson and Roberts, two of the best safeties in the country, look stupid. I’m sure that Ryan and his father are both breathing a sigh of relief. Ryan is an immensely talented kid, and this is just our first glimpse of what’s to come.”
“Game ball,” Coach Dixon called, quieting the noisy locker room. “For scoring three touchdowns, Ryan Gifa.”
Ryan grinned as his teammates cheered. Coach Dixon shook his hand as he handed over the football, and the other coaches slapped him on the back.
Ryan turned around and pulled his filthy, grass-stained jersey off, and threw it at Aiden Ford. The linebacker scurried away from Ryan’s locker, grinning. Reaching his locker, Ryan glanced at the nameplate. His name had been scribbled over with a marker and another word was scrawled next to it.
“Rya’c?”
Aiden shrugged and grinned. “Ryan’c is too hard to say.”
Author's notes: This wasn't beta'd, so any mistakes are my own. Point them out, and I might get around to fixing them. At least the little ones, big one like plot and characterization are staying as is. ;)
I've written up a list of new names from this for the character list. Should I post it here as a response, or send it to someone?
A Langford University Story
THE TEAL KILLER
by Hatcheter
Saturday
“Aaron, what was the key to Langford’s win today?”
“Well, Emmett, I’d have to say it was their relentless defense, allowing Oklahoma State only one touchdown in the game. That and Ronnie Dex’s dead-on passing led them to an easy victory.”
“There won’t be anything easy about next week’s game against the Pendergast University Wraith, who are ranked third in the national polls. Can Dex or another Explorer step up and become this generation’s Teal Killer? Tune in at 3 pm next Saturday to find out.
“The score is Langford University Explorers, 27, Oklahoma State Cowboys, 13. For Aaron Boch, I’m Emmett Bregman. Goodnight.”
Ryan Gifa stood at the back of the locker room, watching dispassionately as Coach Dixon gave the game ball to Dex. His teammates cheered loudly for the quarterback, for the coach, and for the team as a whole. It was their third win in three games, and all against nationally ranked opponents. Nobody in the locker room talked about it, but they all knew ESPN was already talking about Langford as an outside contender for a National Championship bid.
As the group broke up Ryan walked to his own locker. He quietly stripped off his jersey and hung it in his locker. His pristine white jersey. He dressed quickly, not needing a shower, and slipped out of the room. He ducked down a side corridor and found his way to one of the public exits, on the other side of the stadium from the press area. It had taken one week to learn that they were only interested in what he could tell them about what the great “Teal’c” Gifa would have thought of the game.
Monday
Ryan slouched in his chair, wondering how he was fifteen minutes early for Doctor Zelenka’s 8:30 physics lecture. He rubbed one tired eye and again considered developing a taste for coffee.
“Is this seat taken?”
Startled, Ryan looked up to find a dark-haired girl looking down at him. “N-no, not at all,” he quickly replied, straightening in his seat as she sat next to him.
“Thank you,” the girl said, smiling at him. “I’m Karen.”
“Karen?” Ryan repeated, mimicking the emphasis she put on the second syllable. The smile he received for that sent a small thrill through him. “I’m Ryan.”
“It is good to meet you, Ryan,” she replied.
“You too,” he said, glancing at the clock. There was still a dozen minutes before Zelenka arrived, and it wasn’t everyday a pretty girl just sat next to him. “Where are you from?”
“Argentina.”
Ryan nodded. Langford had one of the most international student bodies in America, drawing from dozens of countries around the world.
“Hey, Gifa.”
Ryan waved to a teammate who had walked in to the classroom. “Morning, Baker.”
“Your name is Gifa?” Karen asked. “Are you related to Mister Teal’c?”
Ryan smiled wanly. “He’s my father.”
“Oh, wow,” Karen said. “Your father is a very nice man.”
“Well, he was an exchange student once. He understands what foreign students can go through.”
“He has been a great help in adjusting to America,” Karen agreed. “May I ask you a question?”
“Anything,” he answered just a little to quickly. He hoped the blush he felt on his cheek was hidden by his dark complexion.
“Why is he called Teal’c?”
Ryan said leaned back in his seat, reciting an answer he had given dozens of times. “It was a typo.”
“A typo?”
“My mother explained it to me once. The first game of his freshman year was against the Wraith,” Ryan explained.
“Our…” Karen frowned, searching for the term. “Our archrival.”
“Right. By half time he knocked the starting quarterback out of the game, and he took out the first and second-string running backs in the third quarter. Pendergast’s colors are Black and Teal, and dad’s teammates called him the Teal Killer afterwards, and shortened it to Tealk. T-E-A-L-K,” he spelled.
“The campus paper’s reporter was there, and wrote it down for his article. Apparently he wrote the article by hand, and the printer misread his handwriting and used apostrophe-C instead of a K.”
“Your father didn’t correct it?” she asked.
Ryan shrugged. “It was just a nickname. He didn’t expect it to stick for thirty years.”
“Dobrý den.” Doctor Zelenka walked hurried into the room, one minute past his class’s start time. “Good morning. Open your books to chapter three and we’ll begin.”
Tuesday
“Move your ass, Gifa!”
Ryan hurried back to the line, trying to pull clumps of grass from his helmet as he ran. Coach Dixon was happy to keep him on the field in practice, making up for the time Ryan spent on the sidelines during games.
He was also thrown out against the top defensive unit, as little more than a tackling dummy. The quarterbacks threw to him as a last resort, and only then when the defense had him well covered.
Ryan frowned when he saw his father on the sidelines. The large man was still an imposing physical presence, fifteen years after a car accident forced him to retire from football. He was in deep discussion with defensive coordinator Bosworth, and one of them would occasionally glance in his direction.
Focusing on the field, Ryan listened to the quarterback’s audible count. The center snapped the ball back, and Ryan shot forward. He charged ten yards forward and cut sharply toward the center of the field, turning to look toward the quarterback. He met Dex’s eyes and the quarterback launched the ball.
Ryan twisted his body to catch it, jumping slightly to receive the ball firmly against his chest. Before his feet touched the ground again he was hit by Aiden Ford. The linebacker drove head first into his midsection, sending them both to the ground.
“Yeah!” Ford yelled as he got off Ryan. “Feels good, don’t it?”
Ryan ignored Ford’s offered hand, getting to his feet himself.
“Loosen up when you catch the ball, kid,” Ford said, slapping his helmet. “Relax a little.”
Ryan nodded sharply, and stalked back to the line of scrimmage.
“Again!” Dixon called.
Wednesday
Karen let out a frustrated sigh as she closed her book.
“You okay?” Ryan asked.
“I cannot understand half of what Doctor Zelenka says.”
Ryan laughed. “Neither can I sometimes. His accent gets thicker when he really gets into his lecture.”
“You still manage to take a lot of notes,” Karen replied. “Do you think that I could…”
“Copy my notes? Of course.” Ryan paused. “Do you have another class now?”
Karen shook her head.
“Then, uh, would you like to maybe go get some breakfast?”
Karen smiled brilliantly and Ryan’s heart rate tripled. “I would.”
Trying not to grin stupidly, Ryan held the door for her as she walked out. “So why did you come to Langford?” Ryan asked as they headed for the cafeteria building.
“I wanted to go to an American university. My family does not have much money, and I thought it wouldn’t be possible for me to come to one. But the staff here helped me find scholarships and financial aid that other schools wouldn’t.”
“You must be something special for dad and Miss Langford to pursue you.”
Karen blushed and ducked her head as Ryan opened the door to the cafeteria. She hurried in and grabbed a tray, moving quickly through the line. “So why did you come to Langford?” she asked after Ryan had paid for his meal.
Ryan hesitated to answer, scanning the cafeteria for an open table. He spotted a small one across the room, in front of the large windows.
“Did you come because this was your father’s school?” she asked after they were seated.
Ryan nodded. “For as long as I can remember, I wanted to play football just like he did. He was in the NFL when I was born, but I knew he played here first.”
“It must be nice to be somewhere that everyone will know you.”
Ryan frowned and shoveled a forkful of egg into his mouth. “Not really.” Seeing Karen’s puzzled expression, he explained. “A lot of people automatically compared me to him. Some think I only made the team because I’m his son.”
“That doesn’t sound fair.”
“I had scholarship offers at several other schools. Dad even encouraged me to seriously consider them. He said I didn’t have to come here because of him, that I was my own man and could choose where I wanted to be.”
Ryan sighed. “I think he was trying to warn me that I might be stuck in his shadow here. In his first game for the Explorers he crushed their biggest rival all by himself and set the stage for Langford’s first national championship. In my first game, I dropped two passes and got benched.”
Thursday
Ryan gasped as he slipped into the tub of ice water. He struggled to breathe as the warmth was sucked from his body, slowly settling chest deep in the small tub.
“How does that feel?” the head trainer asked.
“It’s cold, Cam.”
Cameron Balinsky chuckled. “You’ll be thankful for this later. You took quite a beating today.”
“I know,” Ryan replied. His teeth were starting to chatter. “I was there.”
“I’ll give you a couple of minutes in there, and then you can hit the showers.”
Ryan settled into the tub gritting his teeth as he waited for Cam to release him. He watched the second hand slowly crawl its way around the clock mounted on the far wall.
“Hey Ryan,” Simon Wells called. “Did you hear about Riley?”
Ryan shook his head. Riley was one of the top receivers on the team. “No coach. Did something happen to him?”
“He’s sprained his ankle, it’s pretty bad,” the offensive coordinator said. “He won’t be facing the Wraith. Be ready to play Saturday.”
“Sure,” Ryan snorted. “What, really?”
Wells nodded. “Show us the effort you had in practice today, and you’ll get your chance.”
“Okay,” Ryan quickly nodded. “I will. Thank you coach,” he called as Wells walked away.
Ryan settled down in the tub, glancing at the clock. A full minute had passed without his noticing.
Friday
”Hey Gifa, wait up.”
Ryan paused, looking back to see Ronnie Dex emerge from the athletics building. He frowned, wondering if he had forgotten something when he left the locker room.
“So I hear you’re playing tomorrow,” Dex said.
Ryan nodded
“Good for you. Loosen up when you get on the field.”
Ryan frowned. “What?”
Dex shrugged. “You tense up as you catch the ball. You’ve got good hands, and great speed, but you go stiff when you receive.”
“It makes you a bit easier to hit,” Aiden Ford said, joining them.
“A bit?”
Ford grinned. “You’re not an easy target to hit, Gifa.”
“Thanks…I guess,” Ryan muttered. A group of students was playing on the soccer field next to the athletics building, forcing the three football players to walk around instead of cutting across the field.
“Can I ask you something?” Ryan said to Ford a moment later.
“Sure.”
“What was my father saying during practice?”
Ford was momentarily confused. “You mean a couple days ago? He told Coach Wells not to go easy on you. I guess he thought you needed to be pushed. I think he’s right.”
He grinned at Ryan’s glare. “Hey man, don’t be mad at me, I’m just the messenger.”
“And the guy who’s beaten on you all week,” Dex reminded Ryan.
“I think he was trying to make you prove to the Coach Dixon that you’re up to the challenge.”
“And?”
“Heads up!”
The trio turned toward the soccer field to see the ball soaring towards them. Aiden reached up to catch it, but Ryan jumped in front of him, grabbing the ball out of mid air.
“Yeah, like that,” Dex said as Aiden half-heartedly tackled Ryan from behind. Ryan laughed as he struggled out of Ford’s grasp, sending both of them to the ground.
“Aiden, over here.”
Ford looked up to see Teyla on the soccer field, smiling at him. He quickly got to his feet and offered a hand to Ryan. He pulled Ryan half way up, then snatched the soccer ball away and pushed him back down.
Ryan glared at Ford as the senior trotted onto the soccer field. Dex continued to laugh. “I’ll see you tomorrow, man,” the quarterback said, walking in the opposite direction.
Ryan jogged onto the field, sighting on Aiden. The linebacker stopped when he reached the group, striking up conversation. Ryan locked onto the small of Ford’s back and took two powerful strides. And then stumbled when he noticed Karen at the edge of the crowd.
Ryan tumbled to the ground, landing at Ford’s feet. “So if we include him,” Aiden said, “the teams will be even again.”
“What?” Ryan asked, getting to his feet.
“On the other team,” Ford continued. “Not the one I’m on.”
“You’re playing real football,” Karen said, taking his arm and pulling him toward one end of the field. “You do know how to play, right?”
“Soccer?” Ryan asked.
Karen smiled. “Football,” she corrected.
Saturday
“The offensive line comes onto the field for the first time, looking to make up for Pendergast’s field goal. They have a long way to go, with the ball on Langford’s own eighteen, and the Wraith’s top ranked defense in their way.”
Ryan jog across the field, taking his place on the left side. A tall, lean Wraith stood in front of him, sneering across the line of scrimmage. Frowning at the cornerback, Ryan turned to his head toward the football, listening as Dex called the play.
The ball snapped and Ryan shot forward, running between the defender and sideline. The Wraith player matched his speed, keeping between him and the quarterback and slowly edging him off the field
Ryan looked back to see the running back get pulled down. He trotted back to the new line of scrimmage, five yards ahead of the last. The cornerback defending him leaned out, bumping Ryan with his shoulder. “You’re not going to get past me,” the Pendergast player growled. “I’ll bury you.”
Ryan shrugged and planted his feet. Tensing, he watched as the center picked up the ball. He snapped it back to Dex and Ryan charged forward. He started to run outside of the corner, then doubled back as the Wraith turned to follow, leaving him stumbling the wrong direction.
Ryan raced across the field, watching as Dex stepped back. Their eyes locked and Dex threw the football. It was a perfect pass, and Ryan caught it without breaking his stride.
He quickly planted his feet in front of him, coming to an immediate stop as a Wraith dove past him. Exploding forward, Ryan slipped out of the grasp of another diving defender, and there was suddenly nothing between him and the end zone.
His cleats tore the grass as he ran, widening the gap between himself and the Wraith chasing him. The lines flew by underfoot as he ran to the goalpost, twenty yards away, ten yards, five…
“Touchdown Langford! Ryan Gifa ran the ball seventy yards for the first touchdown of his college career.”
“He just made Stevenson and Roberts, two of the best safeties in the country, look stupid. I’m sure that Ryan and his father are both breathing a sigh of relief. Ryan is an immensely talented kid, and this is just our first glimpse of what’s to come.”
“Game ball,” Coach Dixon called, quieting the noisy locker room. “For scoring three touchdowns, Ryan Gifa.”
Ryan grinned as his teammates cheered. Coach Dixon shook his hand as he handed over the football, and the other coaches slapped him on the back.
Ryan turned around and pulled his filthy, grass-stained jersey off, and threw it at Aiden Ford. The linebacker scurried away from Ryan’s locker, grinning. Reaching his locker, Ryan glanced at the nameplate. His name had been scribbled over with a marker and another word was scrawled next to it.
“Rya’c?”
Aiden shrugged and grinned. “Ryan’c is too hard to say.”
Author's notes: This wasn't beta'd, so any mistakes are my own. Point them out, and I might get around to fixing them. At least the little ones, big one like plot and characterization are staying as is. ;)
I've written up a list of new names from this for the character list. Should I post it here as a response, or send it to someone?