Early that Saturday morning, Ty was at his second favourite place in the world—the team bus, though they were still in the Dominguez High carpark. As he took his seat at the front of the near-empty bus, he couldn't help but wonder where they were headed.
It wasn't even 7:00 yet, and they'd never had a game so early. Only afternoon or night games. He leaned over; Coach Hoang was already settled at the front. 'Coach, where are we playing?' They wouldn't make them go all the way to Arizona and give Desert Christian a home game, would they?
'Back to Vegas.' Coach Hoang's eyes narrowed further. 'Don't start a fight this time.'
Ty scoffed, sitting back down. 'I didn't start it.'
'You know that's bullshit, Samuels.'
Ty shook his head. He hadn't thrown the first punch. No matter how much someone taunted you, a fight only started after someone threw the first punch. Another, more worrisome thought occurred to Ty. 'Wait. Do you know what field we're playing on?'
'Yeah. Apparently, the people organising this tournament are pulling out all the stops. We're playing at Allegiant Stadium.'
'Gross.'
Coach Hoang laughed. 'What? I thought you'd be ecstatic about getting to play in a big NFL stadium with tens of thousands of screaming fans.'
'Yeah, but not the traitors' stadium.'
'Not a big fan of the Raiders?'
'They're scum. And an irrelevant dogshit franchise.'
'I'm gonna laugh when they draft you, Samuels.'
A horrified look passed across Ty's face before he turned away, expression slowly returning to a scowl. 'They would be bad enough to get the number one pick. If that happens, I'll just pull an Eli Manning.'
Coach Hoang's laughter intensified, drawing some looks from the boys making their way onboard. 'Oh God. You're hilarious, Samuels. It's even better that you're completely serious.'
Ty's scowl turned to Coach Hoang. 'What's so funny about it?!'
'A couple of things. First, it's hilarious you think there's gonna be a draft where a Defensive Back goes first overall—something that's only happened once, about fifty years ago—second, you think a Cornerback is gonna have enough influence to force a team to trade him. You're gonna make Prime Time look humble.'
Anger faded from Ty's eyes, though the fire remained, burning, but cold. 'You'll see. By the time my freshman year in college is done, I'll be so good, a team would trade up three firsts just to get me.'
'Alright, Trey Lance, calm down.'
Ty's fiery gaze held Coach Hoang's. There was hyperbole in what Ty said—there usually was—but he still meant the brunt of it. He'd do everything he could from that point onwards to make sure he was the greatest prospect available in his draft. A big enough game-changer that teams would pass up a talented QB for a once in history superstar. Maybe not trade up for him, but if any DB could be the first pick again, it'd be Tyrese Samuels.
Someone clearing their throat drew their attention. Bella stood in the aisle, looking down at Ty with an expression that said they needed to talk. Before she could voice her question, Ty asked: 'Where have you been?'
She was taken aback, her cheeks darkening. 'Wh-What?'
'You weren't at practice all week.'
More blood rushed to her face. She took a deep breath and drew herself up, staring down her nose at him. 'I need to talk to you. Outside.'
Confusion hit Ty like a football to the face. He looked at Coach Hoang, but Coach Hoang was acting as if they didn't exist. Before Ty could even respond to her demand, she turned around sharply, hair flipping, and strode back out of the bus. She waited outside Ty's window, directly in his view.
Ty looked around before standing from his seat. They weren't leaving yet—Deshaun and Stephen were still absent. He exited the bus, thinking of reasons Bella couldn't just talk to him at their seats.
She didn't let him get the first word in, verbally pouncing as he approached. 'You're a horrible liar, Tyrese Samuels.'
He frowned at her as he stopped, six feet between them. 'What?' He didn't have a problem with lying, but he was usually honest; he couldn't remember what lie he'd told her.
'That … stuff you said after the last game. Were you trying to protect me? … Or hurt me?'
The State championship. It felt like so much had happened since then, but the euphoria of winning was still fresh. What had he said? Something that could … she'd kissed him. He pressed his fingers to his lips, only then remembering the feeling of hers. Then what? He'd gotten swept up in the celebrations. But did he say something before that?
'You can't even remember, can you?'
She looked hurt, lip quivering, hands clenched on her arms as she hugged herself. There was a talk after the game, wasn't there? What had he said? It mustn't have been important to him, but Bella was acting like this because of something he said?
'Is there another girl?'
Her words pried the shadows from his mind. That's right. She'd wanted to be his girlfriend. He'd rejected her.
'Another girl?'
'Yes, Ty! … Or another boy. Is that it? Are you gay or something?'
'What? No, it's not—'
'Then what is it?!'
Fuck if she'd just let him think he could explain—
'Is something wrong?'
Of course, Stephen and Deshaun would wait until then to arrive. Bella looked away from them. 'We're fine.'
A knowing look passed between the older boys, then they glared at Ty, a glare more hate-filled and dangerous than any they'd shown him, even when he'd just joined the team. They passed Bella but stopped on either side of Ty, leaning down to his ears.
'If you hurt her, we gon' fuck you up, Freshy.'
What the hell was this? He hadn't done anything! Stephen squeezed his shoulder painfully before the two passed by and disappeared inside the bus. Bella stood, looking at him expectantly.
'Can we just sit down and … I need time to think,' Ty said.
She planted her feet, obviously not going anywhere anytime soon. He sighed.
'I thought I explained it last time. I've never thought about going out with anyone. I don't want a girlfriend or a boyfriend. I care about football more than anything, but I still care about the team. You're all like a …' Like a family but, they were greater than that. '… Like a REAL family. But that's it.'
Bella chewed on her lip as if she were chewing on Ty's words, trying to piece together his absurdity. 'So you're like … ace?'
What the hell was she talking about? 'Who's Ace?'
Bella gave him a dumb look, but before she could clarify, Coach Long poked his head out of the bus. 'Is everything alright out here?' he asked.
Bella nodded. 'Just clearing things up,' she said. 'Or trying to anyway,' she added under her breath before moving past Ty and her dad, back up into the bus.
Ty turned to the bus, frowning. Coach Long looked down at him, his usually open and expressive face now stony. 'You should focus on the game, Tyrese. We'll need you.'
Ty's mouth opened and closed. He HAD been focused before Bella had started this. He put his head down and climbed onto the bus, heading to the back, finding a seat next to Jay, who was already asleep in his seat. Ty sat.
"Who the fuck is Ace?"
The drive was long and mostly quiet. The early start kept energy low, and the continued monotonous drive didn't help. Throughout, Ty felt eyes on him. Most of the seniors filling the back of the bus gave him looks as the drive went on; he even caught Jay peeking out from under the brim of his hat. Evidently, Stephen and Deshaun had told the others about the … issues … Ty and Bella were having.
"I haven't done anything," Ty thought as he did his best to ignore the looks. Thankfully, the upcoming game was big enough to distract him. The Desert Christian Eagles. Another State champion. If they were stronger than Sierra Canyon … had the Dons grown enough in the new year to overcome them?
"I've grown. That's all that matters." Ty would drag the Dons to the finish no matter what.
Seeing the City of Sin on the horizon injected some excitement into the bus, which bubbled over as they reached the streets and started winding their way through them to the stadium.
'I can't wait to ball out in a real stadium,' Stephen said.
'Are we really playing in a stadium?' Donte asked, awe overflowing from his eyes, mixed with a lot of nervousness. 'Isn't it gonna be really empty?'
'I heard there's gonna be cameras. We gon' be on National TV, baby,' Deshaun said, grinning.
National TV. After introducing himself to the nation, now they'd get to see Ty play. See him dominate his competition. … IF JJ failed to contain Joseph Fale. Otherwise, Ty might not see much of the spotlight. That was still good for a CB. Sometimes it was scarier when you didn't hear their name called throughout the broadcast. It meant the other team was too terrified to throw their way. It'd all depend on JJ.
They passed over the main carpark, circling around through a private entrance just for the teams, heading down one tunnel, parking just outside a set of double doors which would lead them into the building and through to their locker room.
The team started to file off the bus, some chants of "Crush, Dons, Crush!" leading them off, almost drowning out the bass-boosted trap beat playing from someone's speaker; Coach Long let the boys operate as usual, not wanting to put further pressure on them by treating the game any different to all those that came before it.
What was different, however, were the people waiting outside of their bus. In the underground loading bay were reporters with flashing cameras. Or maybe they were just paparazzi; Ty didn't see any cameras with them. There were guardrails sectioning off a pathway from the bus to the doors leading inside. Security guards stood opposite the cameras.
Ty looked left and right as he stepped off the bus. His first taste of stardom. Or did the gala count? Either way, it was blander than he expected. He got his bag and entered the stadium, even as people were calling his name.
'We'll head straight to the field so all you boys can get a feel for it,' Coach Long said.
The boys passed through a narrow hallway—clean, but sterile. The only thing separating it from a hospital hallway were the posters and pictures of Raider legends lining the walls. Near the end of the walkway, just before entering the tunnel that led to the field, was a mural of John Madden.
Ty stared as he walked past the larger-than-life tribute to the greatest coach of all time. It was like walking under the feet of a titan.
Stepping foot on the field didn't relieve any of the pressure. It had only built further in the exceptionally long and dark tunnel. Emerging through the light at the end of it revealed a sight to overwhelm. The dome loomed oppressively. Even with the glass ceiling and the massive wall of windows facing the Vegas strip, it was still a cage. A true coliseum.
'Oh shit, there are cameras,' Deshaun said, pointing out the various cameras and their operators surrounding the field. There were more within the stands as well. Not just shitty little handhelds, or cameras set up on cruddy tripods, they were the real thing, like you'd see at any NFL game.
The seats were MOSTLY empty. There were over sixty-thousand, easily over five times the biggest field they'd played at before. People were already finding their seats. It seemed like Donte didn't need to worry about the place feeling empty.
'Fuck dude…'
The massive stadium made every other field they'd played at feel like a playground. But Ty couldn't focus on the awe-inducing coliseum—the Eagles were already on the other side of the field.
There was only a handful of them warming up. They'd looked over when the Dons entered, but that hadn't interrupted them for long. Some were jogging through a speed ladder. Others were tossing a ball back and forth. The Dons had arrived at midday; how long had the Eagles been waiting for them?
The other boys noticed those warming up across the field and pointed them out. That was when Coach Long decided they'd had a good enough look at the field. 'Alright, boys, back inside. Once you're changed, then we can start warming up too.'
The coaches started to shepherd the players back into the tunnel. At least Coach Norman and Long did, Hoang stayed behind, grumbling about the turf. 'We got stuck with the artificial turf.'
As Ty walked back to the locker room, he remembered whose stadium he was standing in and sneered. "It's not that impressive, really."
It was quiet in the locker room. Music bounced around the walls—Kodak Black—but nobody bobbed along. Seeing the stadium, standing within it, just on the sidelines, not even in the heart of that coliseum, even whilst it was empty, had hammered the anxiety home in a lot of Dons. Nationals was an incalculably grander stage than even State, and State had seemed like the pinnacle.
As Ty got ready, he sent a quick text to Meg, telling her about the cameras. If the game was televised, there's a good chance they could watch at home. If Father didn't have work, or wasn't passed out drunk still, he might even flick onto the channel by accident.
Warming up on the field, just playing catch and stretching, was something to make their hearts race. The crowd continued to grow, big enough now that even in that massive stadium the chatter was trickling down to their ears. Ty had been to NFL games before, been in stands like those now surrounding him. When all those voices screamed as one, it was like the roar of a jet engine. How much more amplified would it be at the centre of it all?
Warmups, even as casual as they were, didn't go well. The boys were distracted. There were careless passes, and easy drops. People held their stretches too long. Or stumbled through the speed ladder. Eventually, Coach Long had had enough and called them back to the locker room; maybe putting their pads on—hiding within their armour—would help settle their nerves.
They put on their finishing touches in silence within the locker room. Coach Long called them together. 'Bring it in, boys,' he said, putting his hand out for what would be the Dons' most important pregame huddle yet.
When Ty added his hand to the pile, he noticed he wasn't the only one shaking. He hadn't even noticed he'd been shaking until he saw that everyone else was too.