Small Town Hero - #ONC 2024

Chapter 8

Friday night lights sparkled beneath a black-velvet sky.

Electricity permeated the air, passing from one fan to another, each person's voice adding to the crowd as a whole, building to a crescendo of living, breathing spectators. And I got to experience it all. There was a buzz of excitement as everyone anticipated the big game, number one Pineville versus number two Central. Everything leading up to this moment had mounted up in my mind to the size of Mount Everest. I was about to climb that gargantuan peak or freeze up in the higher elevations. It would be the life or death of my high school dreams. The winner would win the area championship for their region and lock up home field advantage for at least the first two rounds of the playoffs. So much was at stake. I could feel the heat bearing down on me, but I had every intention of rising to the occasion.

With so many things changing in my life, getting named the starting quarterback, garnering Layla Robinson's attention, and also catching the eye of Lexa Thorn, I felt a surge of energy and confidence changing me on the inside. I wondered how much of it came from the pill, or was it just me changing from the experience of it all?

I turned my gaze to the sky. The stadium lights lit up the football field as the team captains gathered on the fifty-yard-line around the wolf logo for the coin toss. With Pineville set to kick off, Elijah and Casper trotted back to the end zone nearest the field house where a pair of cheerleaders held up a giant paper sign that read Go Wolfpack! Beat those devils! Two lines made up of cheerleaders and some students stretched away from the huge banner, creating a path for the football players to run out onto the field.

In front of me, Koby Sanders shifted his weight from one foot to the other, getting amped up for the game like everyone else. I peeked around him at the bleachers on the home side, which stood three stories high with a press box on top. Fans of all ages filled the stands, overflowing onto the sidelines and leaning on the perimeter chain-link fence. Coming out of the field house, I had glimpsed the visitor's side and saw their large, but smaller set of bleachers, packed to capacity and overflowing, too.

Over the loudspeaker, the announcer said, "Let us pause for a moment of silence as we remember the loss Pineville suffered this week when a beloved student and football player, Austin Campbell, was taken from us tragically." After the moment of reflection passed, a girl came on the loudspeaker and prayed, and then the stadium came to life again.

The band boomed from their section of the home bleachers, ratcheting up the fervor and expectation of the game to come.

With Elijah, Casper, and Ryan at the front of the line, we burst through the paper banner and stormed the field, following the path made by the cheerleaders and fans. The band kicked it up a notch as we ran to the sideline and gathered near midfield, jumping and bumping helmets, getting riled up for the game. We wore red jerseys and pants with silver helmets, a wolf logo emblazoned on both sides.

A few seconds later, Central rushed the field, decked out in all white with scarlet helmets, their iconic pitchfork on both sides. This was the game we'd all been waiting for, and now it was here.

As the pregame excitement died down, I searched the crowd for my mom, who always sat near midfield, about halfway up. I found her and she gave me a wave. For whatever reason, I looked for Layla up in the stands, too. I spotted her with a group of friends. She had her head turned, talking to the person next to her, and never looked my way.

"Good luck, Evan," a female voice drew my attention as she passed by with a tiny wave of her hand and an excited smile. My eyes widened when I saw Lexa Thorn and her all-red cheerleader outfit. My tongue couldn't form a reply, but my heart kicked into rhythm as she bounced away, long hair held back in a ponytail.