Friday, August 1, 2014

In the center of Sentinel Stadium, Coach Carriel strides among rows of fully suited players. "Today..." he has his pure white visor on, along with a pair of aviators, "...is the first day of pre-season conditioning. Stretch it out, boys!" His skin is tan, and a bit wrinkled. For a 50-something year old grouch, he wasn't looking too old, even after spending the last 11 years out in the sun in what seemed like constant anger and passion. These years were definitely stressful for him, but no doubt they were fulfilling. After serving on the coaching staff for the Broncos, he was glad to be head coach at his alma mater.

Why does he need both? Rafa was at the head of the pack with couple other seniors on either side of him, leading stretches. He was still in awe at the freshmen. They were the top recruits across the nation, and definitely had some size on the graduates. He spotted Bustamante, the supposed defensive prodigy from Houston. Right behind him was McKenna, a sizable guy he'd be watching hard throughout the preseason. I guess all these motherfuckers have some fantastic high school story.

Rafa leaned a bit right towards Adam, his choice running back. They both locked down their starting positions Sophomore year, and shared a love-hate relationship ever since. In fact, they've become fairly friendly, even if it was just a superficial friendship based of their commonalities as jock douche bags. "Yo, Adam. It's preseason. Ready to lay out some freshmen?" He had a tone of cockiness, with an undertone of curiosity. Drills were always a great way for Rafa to start off a season. It was the only time he could actually deliver some hits, even if it was just during practice.

The sun stood directly overhead, and the heat beat down on them. The bleachers seemed like mountains surrounding them, but not even they could provide the slightest bit of shade. Today's the day. We'll see what these bitches are made of.

Adam was more than excited for his last season of football with Sentinel State, in fact he couldn't hold still because of it. He just had the widest smile on his face and kept jumping up and down, cheering and hollering. He kept bouncing out to the field, grateful that football season was coming very soon. However, internally he was a bit upset that he had to leave his brothers after this season, as these past few years he had really bonded with everyone on the team. He was in a good mood, still carrying on despite the unforgiving heat pounding down on everyone in the field.

He was humming gently to himself, before the star QB, Rafa leaned over to him and made a remark. "Hell yeah! Let's see how these guys react to our level of playing." He said, chuckling. "I got a good feeling about this season. Something about it man, I just feel so good about it." Adam was in his usual cheery mood, but when it came time to throw down, he got way serious. He was capable of driving through piles of people and laying someone out when time called upon him. The halfback looked around the field as everyone stretched. This year's crop looked pretty good, and he was eager to see McKenna and Bustamante do their thing. He had heard a lot about them, but he sure as hell hoped that they were able to back up those claims.

---

Colin continued along with the stretching, thinking to himself as he spaced out. He had pretty much memorized the entire stretching sequence, so he was on autopilot. He was trying to think about what he was going to do this year in school, but his mind just kept drifting off to Ivy. His high school sweetheart, Ivy was the most beautiful woman he knew, every single second he spent with her was a second he would've cherished forever. Everything he accomplished on the field was for her, and the team, but everything off the field was just for her and her only. Colin liked seeing her happy, so he tried his best to make her happy.

He looked around and looked at this year's new members. For now, they looked promising, but he wanted to see how they would deal with people of their caliber. Adam was a rather difficult HB to deal with, and Rafa was just an amazing QB, and Colin himself was one of the best receivers on this team. He hoped they brought only good things to their team.

Brick Newell began his stretch routine with the rest of the team. He was smiling while trying to keep the sun from getting into his eyes. Watching as coach walked past him he noticed he was wearing a smooth pair of aviators. What Brick wouldn't give right now to get those on his face to keep his eyes from feeling like they had some kind of laser being shoved into them. Shaking it off, Brick decided to turn his attention to his teammate in the line next to him, a fellow junior he entered Sentinel State with almost three years ago.

Colin was in some kind of trance it looked like. He wasn't really staring out at anybody and he definitely seemed to not be paying attention to the seniors that were controlling the stretching drills. In fact, he almost seemed like he was one step ahead of them. Letting out a laugh Brick tried getting his attention. “Colin.....hey Colin.......Colin man you there?” He asked with a laugh as he continued with the stretching. This wasn't the first time he had gone and done something similar to this. Colin seemed to always get lost in some kind of day dream. You almost couldn't believe he was a football player with how much he day dreamed to be honest. Though it wasn't hard to know what it was about.

“You thinking about Ivy again man? I know you are cause you only get like this when you think about her man. Don't deny it,” Brick told him in a whisper. Last thing the two of them could afford was for coach or one of the seniors to hear them chatting like this. It usually ended up in unnecessary suicides that made you want to commit suicide in the end. “You got all day after practice today to be with her in real life rather than your dreams there big guy. Gotta stay focused or coach might take that scholarship away you know. At least that's what he always threatens to do.” Brick told Colin as the sun continued beating into his eyes.

Up in front it sounded like Adam was getting all hyped up again like he always did around this time. He had grown to look at the running back as a leader of the team as well as Rafa. Adam however was much more the loudmouth of the two of them. Brick leaned his head out so he wasn't directly behind the guy in front of him and looked towards Adam up near the front. “Yeah yeah, pick on the freshmen all you want Adam. Once we get to trench drills I'm gonna put you on the ground,” He said as the team's upperclassmen let out a quick chuckle. “Just like I did last year during camp.” The last comment awoke a whole lot of ohs and awes. Brick laughed it off and shook his head. He always liked to start up the competitive juices early in the season like this. Got the young guys in the mood and reminded the more veteran guys that it was business time again.

Brick gave a quick look to some of the new meat that was coming in and nodded his head in approval. Bustamante seemed like he was gonna be a huge help in coverage situations. Not often you found a six foot six corner out among the crop of football talent. Then again Texas was full of man-children waiting to be discovered. Football had a cult like following down there. And then the country strong kid McKenna was not to far off from him. He was definitely gonna enjoy reaping the benefits of having a linemen tearing apart teams in the trench while he got after some easy tackles. The linebacker looked over to where coach was and gave a quick shout. “How soon til we make the pads start popping coach?! I got a fever! And the only prescription is some good ol' contact!” Brick said as some of the other players started laughing in the middle of the stretching routines. God it felt good to be back on the field again.

Jimmy rolled out of bed and stumbled to his dresser to find his bottle of tequila. After a shot he woke up, nothing wakes him up better. Walking away he thought, What the hell, conditioning is easy. Jimmy took another shot and got dressed. He took a step outside and marveled at the weather, it was perfect. Taking the somewhat short jog from the Watch Tower Jimmy arrived at the practice field's field house.

The locker room was abuzz with the preseason excitement. The other freshman who didn't make it seemed to be following around that hot shot Rafa like a cult following. The only other Russian in football Bustamante could even think of was the kicker in an old Simpsons episode, but race never mattered to Jimmy. People always used to tell him he was a dirty beaner who wouldn't amount to anything, but look where he is now. After his moment of personal reflection Jimmy hurried getting dressed and made his way out just in time to hear Coach.

Jimmy hated stretching, well hate is a strong word. At this moment all he wanted to do was fuck shit up and maybe show off a bit. He heard Brick say,

“How soon til we make the pads start popping coach?! I got a fever! And the only prescription is some good ol' contact!” Jimmy knew exactly how he felt. On the field his veins ran with a mixture of hot lead, grain alcohol, and adrenaline. Luckily it wasn't too long before stretches ended and they separated into Indy O and Indy D.

Against one of the practice team Wide Receivers, Jimmy was ready. The tingles down his spine told his it was time to be amazing. The QB hiked it and the 6'6" corner let the Wide Receiver hit the 3 yard mark before he smashed him before the pass was even completed. Technically it was legal, but the Defensive Back coach still sent him to tough the upright since he was supposed to run . After Jimmy made it back he hopped to the front and hoped the QB was ready for an interception.

Colin was interrupted from his train of thought as he could hear the sound of Brick's voice protruding into his mind. As soon as he came back to reality, he looked like a deer in some headlights as he turned towards Brick, a look on his face that said 'Come on, man'. He really didn't like being disturbed when he was in his train of thought, but what could he do? He was outdoors and about to play some football. He was admittedly excited too, his face just didn't show it because he didn't really express any emotions, the polar opposite of Adam the halfback.

"Dude, if you had a girl like Ivy you'd be thinking about her all fuckin' day." He said, leaning over to Brick. His relationship with Ivy was a rather special one, and pretty much nobody else could even compare with the sort of bond he had formed with Ivy. They'd been together since freshman year - of high school, and they were still going strong (hopefully) through their junior year of college. "I am focused!" He said, "Just on something else..." He muttered to himself as he continued with the stretching and all. The star receiver definitely was a rather popular person, but he didn't care about what people though about him. He just wanted to win games and make Ivy happy.

After some time, practice had finally started, and the members of the football team were put into their respective categories. Colin was where he rightfully belonged to be, on the side waiting for the QB to call out some plays. Colin had quite the amount of speed, so he was usually able to run his routes within a staggeringly quick amount of time, hoping that the defense wasn't able to reach him until after he had the ball.

Colin leaned forward in the lineup, waiting for the QB to hike the ball and throw it to any of the receivers, while avoiding the defense's coverage. As soon as the ball was hiked, Colin took off, running in a streak down the field as the QB tried to find a target to throw to. The receiver was sprinting as hard as he could, trying to beat the cornerback who was trying to cover him. Out of all the receivers in the field, the QB picked the one that was in the immediate area of Jimmy the 6'6 cornerback, and before the receiver could even grab the ball, he was smashed and thrashed by Jimmy.

He ran back to the line of scrimmage, lining up in the spot he was in again. The QB called a different play, changing the route he had in mind. This was where he really shined, an outside post. As the ball was hiked once again, he took off down the field, waiting until he was about 10 yards in, then he cut into the right, breaking away from whoever was covering him and receiving the ball cleanly. As he received the ball, he tucked it away and began taking off towards endzone. He could feel the cornerbacks chasing him from behind, but he was still accelerating towards the endzone. Eventually, he got a touchdown, and celebrated by raising his arms.

---

Adam looked back like a gopher as Brick yelled out a rather offensive comment towards the halfback. "WHAT'D YOU SAY?" He yelled back to Brick, still in the stretch he was doing, "You're going to be sorry once you miss!" He said. Adam was very confident as his skill as a halfback, in both blocking defenders and running the ball. Being tackled by monsters like Brick definitely wasn't a good feeling, but he had to get used to it anyway. Still though, that was a good touch from Brick's part. He was hoping stretches were done soon so he could finally get some football in.

After some time, Adam was finally able to get to practice, however he didn't really do much running as the QB wanted to focus on the receiver crop. But, he was fine with blocking for now, making sure the QB was protected against all threats.

Even before the whistle had stopped, Scott exploded out of his stance and slammed into the middle post of the five post tackle sled with a loud grunt, he kept his legs driving to maintain leavage against the sled and bulldozed it across the practice field roughly five or six yards before the Trainer riding the sled had to slap him on the back of the helmet to get him to stop. During stretch exercises, he noticed the glances and the exchange of comments between the upper classmen as they sized up the new crop of freshmen on the team, which was to be expected, but he did get alittle irritated by the way the starting QB and RB looked his direction, then made some comment to eachother and chuckle and Scott made it a point to introduce himself to them sometime during the practice, and not in a pleasant way.

For the next hour or so, the Defensive Line Coach ran his line of new players through tackle dummy drills, the Sentinel defensive unit had suffered the most loss of players to the NFL draft, particularly along the line, so the DL Coach seemed more like a Marine Corps Drill Instructor, making it clear in a loud boisterous voice that he had little time to get his line together and even less time for bullshit, as he stormed back and forth among his freshmen players, giving pointers and tips to some players and jumping the ass of a few others during the course of the drills.

After a ten minute water break, the Coaches called for a scrimmage, first team offense against the Defensive Coaches choice of players, which surprised Scott, normally the freshmen class was given at least a week to get familiar with the Team Playbook and acclimated to the Teams style of practice before being thrown against the Starters, but Scott wasn't about to let his chance of earning a starting position go by, so when the DL Coach called his name and told him to get his ass out on the field at the rightside DE spot, he strapped on his helmet and ran to the defense huddle, his eagerness earning him an amused look by the Junior Linebacker named Brick.

The Tightend caught his attention as he watched the offense came up to the line and get into their stances, the TE seemed to have more pep in his step and looked to be antsy, Scott also noticed the way the TE's eyes scanned across the middle of the defense scheme and Scott's first instinctive thought was pass. He quickly turned and took a step back toward the Junior Linebacker and hurriedly told him, "the TE's got that, 'I'm getting the ball', look in his eyes", then quickly spun back around and got in his stance, lining up toward the outside of the TE and waited for the ball to be snapped.

The ball was snapped and just as Scott suspected, the TE came up out of his stance, not even making a pretense of throwing a block, but going right into running his pass route. Scott shouted out, "PASS!!!...PASS!!!, then took off like a shot. Now in pass rush mode, he slipped behind the TE as he took off on his route, surprising the offensive guard, who was expecting the TE to at least give some help on his rightside, but Scott was done around him and aiming for the fullback who had moved over to block after seeing #99 slip the guards attempt at a block. Since the Coaches had made it clear beforehand that this was only a practice scrimmage and the QB wasn't to be tackled, Scott slowed up just enough to lower his body and catch the FB under his pads and steamrolled him back into the QB, who just managed to get the pass off before having to dodge the FB.

Whether or not the pass was caught, Scott didn't know at the moment, he was busy getting in the QB's face and pointing to the 99 on his practice Jersey and once he got the QB's attention, "See this number, better get used to it, your gonna see alot of it", he taunted before turning and trotting back to the defensive side of the line.

After stretching, the team separated for drills. The freshmen definitely had talent, but it would take much more time and practice before any of them would start seeing field time. The new additions to the offense were the "golden boys" form across the nation, but the dynamic was greatly lacking. College ball is nothing like high school. The same could be said for the defense, except those boys were making bolder moves. Even during the first practice, these guys were playing as if they were on a mission. Shit talk followed every hard hit, and Coach Carriel applauded the enthusiasm. Rafa wasn't all for it, and a mixture of interest from the talent on the field and frustration from the Freshmen's cockiness boiled in him.

Through practice, Rafa was able to watch his backup's fuck-up and the Freshman Bustamante lay out Colin. Even after the follow-up play and Colin's TD, he still wondered if Bustamante would still have been able to do it. Off to the side, Rafa and Coach Carriel exchanged a couple words, and both agreed for a little show before the end of practice: the starting offense vs. a predominantly Freshman defense led by Brick.

Rafa called the play, and both sides fell into place. He saw his tight end to his left, and McKenna lined up in the gap before him. His fullback stood behind to his left, and Adam to his right. Both his receivers were to his left, with Colin behind the line. These were technicalities, though. This was the play that got them into the post-season last year.

The center snapped the ball, and Rafa already knew where this one was going. The tight end moved forward past the line, but McKenna gave the guard a slip and could see him approaching. Rafa jerked his head to his FB and shouted "light him up!". In his sights, he could see Brick ready to lay out the TE and Rafa re-audibled and made a 25-yard pass to Colin before the tackle by Bustamante.

Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the FB fly backwards towards him. Rafa stepped aside as McKenna toppled over the monster. Rafa was furious that a Freshman managed to flat-back his FB, and the shit talk that followed only aggravated it. He helped his FB get back up on his feet, and was ready for a second go. He was bent on some form of retaliation or validation.

But, Coach Carriel blew the whistle. He gave a little congratulations to the Freshmen that made it here, expressed hopes for the season, and ended it with the typical, semi-joking "Don't fuck up my streak".

---

In the locker room, Rafa lightened up a bit. He was ready to get back to the Watchtower and relax in his very-much deserved Captain's room. It was essentially the master bedroom, and had a doped-out full modern bath to itself. He was surprised Bustamante got a room in there and not in one of the Freshman dorms, but he supposed it was part of the agreement to secure the kid.

"Party at the Watchtower tonight!" announced Rafa. His voice echoed through the locker room, and a cheer erupted. He turned towards Adam and Brick, who had lockers adjacent to his: "You ready for the biddies tonight? Cheer team has been here all summer, and I'mma get the Alpha Phi's and DG's that are still around to come through."

"Damn, damn- damn!"

Ivy thought as she pulled up with her shitty car into the parking lot of the stadium. She hated being late for Colin's events, even if it was just some practices. She wanted, no needed- to be there for him. She blamed herself for her art class running over time, even though it was clearly out of her hands. Taking the keys from the ignition and grabbing her purse from the passenger side, she hopped out and did a slight jog into the stadium.

The sun beat down on the bleachers harshly as Ivy finally sat down and adjusted against the hot metal, pulling her bare slender legs under her in an criss-cross applesauce fashion. "Damn, you'd think I was out there running around." Ivy grumbled to herself reaching into her purse and pulling out the water bottle she had brought with. Uncapping it she lifted it to her painted red lips and took a big swig. Refreshing, but it wouldn't stop the heat. Coach Carriel wasn't always to happy with Ivy watching in on their practices and warm ups, but she was one of the most loyal fans in that sense. Sitting through hail, rain, and most often this damn heat. Placing her water bottle down she used the hand as a shield against the rays as she tried to spot the only reason she was there; Colin.

Spotting him in not too much time a big grin came across her face. Damn did he look great. Her grey eyes focused on him doing the last of his stretches, until she started gazing across the field looking at some of the unfamiliar figures that had joined the team this year. It always blew her mind how big some of these guys were, even if they were a couple years younger than her. As far as Ivy could see, it looked like they had a pretty good sized team for this year. She hoped this season did as well as the previous ones the team accomplished since Ivy started attending with Colin a couple years earlier.

Watching a few plays, the practice was wrapping up when Ivy stood up, her thighs sweating as she wiped the back of them with the palm of her hands. She gave a few 'woop woop's' as the team strolled by heading out and towards the locker room. She walked down to the ground as she waited to see what Colin had in mind for the day before he changed into his street clothes in the locker room.

Brick finished up his stretches and got his helmet strapped in. He always loved these days and getting to know the new teammates on his side of the ball. He began getting an idea of what all he was going to be able to do as a scheme setter was ideal. The big and tall corner to his side and his new eighteen wheeler of a defensive linemen in front of him made him pretty confident that he was gonna be able to have a little fun with how he was going to attack offenses this year. Normally the stars on offense like Rafa and Adam weren't going to be playing in these early drills so he was probably going to get one or two shots at them while he and the rest of the freshmen would work the whole time to understand each other's tendencies.

Once the team's were picked by the coach Brick looked around and saw a good helping of young guys around him while he was one of the more seasoned players in the huddle. Brick smiled and looked at them all. Certain guys had the initial nervousness he expected, where a couple of other people in there had that kind of look in their eyes you see every once in a good long while. Brick smiled at them all and began laughing a bit. “Alright boys its time to start making a kind of splash only you guys can. I expect nothing but your best. In time we're gonna be doing this stuff against guys I really don't like. Right now we are going up against brother's in arms alright. Just keep it civil,” He told them while pausing slightly to get a good look at who all they were going to be facing off with the first few snaps. Seeing Rafa, Adam and Colin made him smile. “But don't go too easy on them you know. Make a pop if you can.” He told them with a laugh as he went to his position on the field.

The first few snaps went well for them all. The young defensive linemen clearly had a good eye for tendencies and let him know about the tight end on one play. It allowed him to give a quick audible at the line as they were able to stop the play from really getting off the ground. Bustamante clearly had a knack for letting his presence know as he laid Colin out on one hit and McKenna put some serious pressue on Rafa as he destroyed the fullback on the play. Each sight made Brick jump for joy as he couldn't wait to see all these young guys could do after putting in some more work on the field. This was going to be a hell of a year to be sure.

Brick got pulled a little later on and after practice he went to his locker with a towel over his head. Granted he didn't play much but the heat still gets you even when you stand still. Rafa began talking about a party at the Watchtower and about how he was shooting for some sorority girls to show up as well. He laughed a bit at Rafa's sell of the get together. He always seemed like he wanted to get as much partying done early on that way the team would be partied out come conference play. Brick waved his hand at Rafa. “I'd love to join you in the party Rafa, but I may just be a little late. I promise the LB coach to go over tape of some of the practice footage to start working on what the freshmen need to sort out. Though I don't think McKenna and Bustamante need to work on much. Guys are smart and I think you saw first hand the benefit of country power.” Brick joked at Rafa as he took the towel off his head and began getting his shirt on. Once that was on he sat down to finish putting on his shoes.

Looking over at Colin he gave him a quick smack on the leg to get his attention. “And this guy might already have plans. Ivy was up there cheering you on all kinds. She's getting into mid season form too I guess.” He laughed as he stood back up and gave the group a look over. Giving the other captains a quick nod he walked over to the freshmen Bustamante and McKenna who were nearby each other's lockers. Giving them both a tap on the shoulder and a laugh, he shot an approving look at the two of them. “You boys showed a lot of ass kicking ability out there today guys. Welcome to Sentinel State fellas. You need anything you all just let me know. Brick Newell.” He said as he left a hand out to properly introduce himself to the new guys on the team.

In the south manners matter and the extended hand from Brick made it seem like home. After a firm handshake he continued to get dressed. As he walked out the field house Jimmy thought about what Rafa said, Fuck yes. I love parties, hope they're as good as Houston's. Of course Sentinel State has better parties, that's why Jimmy woke up in twisted sheets, bare ass naked and with a searing headache. The headache was quite unusual, Jimmy was hung over, but this was over the top. Sitting on his bed Jimmy thought back to the very beginning... beginning ... beginning ...

---

Jimmy pulled his put on his sleeveless hoodie. The essence of cool Busta, the essence of cool. he reassured himself in his head. Jimmy didn't never really had esteem issues, but the little mental boost helps produce the aura of cockiness everybody knows and loves. Aloud he said,

"I'm Ralph Macchio, but with better abs." Sure he see's himself as the Karate Kid, but how can you even win at without rituals. So with his winning mantra already said Jimmy went to the lounge, expecting gringos and gangster rap. Jimmy pushed the door open and saw he was right, but it wasn't just white people it a veritable rainbow of color. They had black girls, white girls, half Chinese half Japanese girls, and they had the Latinas. Before he went to go integrate he stopped by the fully stocked bar to grab a two beers for him and the mexican chick he saw in the back. Before he could go talk he heard somebody yell

"Freshman Initiation!" Hijo de puta, son of a bitch! Ol' Jimbo got interrupted from working his magic and of course Jimmy never knew that Initiation was the whole reason this party existed.

By the time the Head Coach blew the whistle and told the Team to hit the showers, Scott felt pretty confident that he had made it to the top spot on the Offensive Linemens shitlist. Since the QB was off limits for this scrimmage, he made it his mission to reek havoc along the line, easily shedding blockers and slipping pulling Linemen on both ends of the line and getting to the runningback before or at the line of scrimmage and with the exception of a few lucky run plays by the Teams star RB, the Defensive line and Linebackers had pretty much shutdown the Sentinel running game, something that opposing Defenders had yet to, earning them a wide grin from the hardass DL Coach.

On pass plays, he made sure the QB felt his presence in the backfield and on more then one occasion, trading heated words with the QB's pass protectors who were not happy about getting their asses chewed on by the OL Coaches after each play. Scott was also impressed by the way the Defensive Coach stood back and let the Junior Linbacker, Brick, call the majority of the defensive plays, which to Scott, meant the Junior LB knew his shit if the Coach had that much confidence in him, which in turn made Scott feel more confident knowing there was someone behind him calling the defense that knew what was going on, the fact that he called alot of defensive fronts that allowed him and the rest of the DL to tear apart the Offensive Line was a big plus as well.

Back in the Locker room as he was buttoning his shirt, he was surprised to feel a hand on his shoulder, then see Brick standing there, introducing himself and holding out his hand. Combined with his play on the field, and now being the first of the Upper Classmen on the Team to welcome the two Freshmen to the Team, Scott took an instant liking to him. Scott finished dressing then headed for the Dorms, half expecting repercussions from some very pissed off Linemen, he'd glance over his shoulder now and then as he made his way through the Campus grounds to the Athletic building that housed the Team members.

By the time the whistle blew, the men finally were able to go to the locker rooms and hit the showers. Colin and Adam didn't have a very good day in practice today. Adam and the starting FB were essentially shut down. Obviously the both of them would give the offensive line a good yelling at, as being tacked like a wrecking ball behind the line of scrimmage constantly frustrated Adam. This meant one of two things. Either the offensive line was sucking badly for whatever reason, or the new members of the defense were incredibly good. He really hoped that it was the latter, because if they were able to keep the likes of him from gaining yards, then there was no telling what they would do with the rest of the teams they came across.

Colin on the other hand, did have a bit more success than Adam. At least he managed to score a few touchdowns, but he didn't really like being laid out by the cornerback whenever he caught him. He definitely needed to work on evading tackles, and not depend on sheer speed to break away from the cornerbacks that tackled him. After a good shower or so, Colin was hurrying up and changing into his street clothes so he could meet Ivy outside. He knew where exactly to meet her, so he was rushing to button his white and red shirt and do his belt. After he finally finished the putting on of his clothes, Colin shut his locker and picked up his bag, patting the quarterback and their tight end on the back as he exited the locker room. He emerged from the room full of sweaty football players, and looked around for Ivy. Once he located her, he smiled. "Hey Ivy!" He said, running over to embrace her and hug her. "How've you been?"

Adam was obviously frustrated and slammed his locker closed as he got dressed in his "Sentinel State" Nike shirt and a pair of shorts. He had a temper on him, and definitely was looking for some blood as he went to go find an offensive lineman. Once he found one, he confronted them, "Yo man?! What the hell?!" He said, leaning against another locker and sighing.

Back at the Watchtower, Rafa stood behind the bar rolling a spliff. A few of his teammates sat around. Some sat around the tables preparing for the semester, some casually drinking, few at the bar with him. He knew everyone there; each and every one of them were brothers to him. Even with the Freshmen, who he had spoken little to, he felt some sort of fraternal bond just with their position on his team.

He picked up his tacky golden Zippo off the bar and lit his spliff. "Kinda absurd we don't even know who we're playing first." He took a deep drag and tossed his lighter back down. "First game's at the end of the month. I get that we should be ready for anything, but I've never seen this fucking scheduling shit take so long."

Many in the room were only half-listening, which was completely fair. Rafa often spoke his mind at people, rather than actually attempting to make conversation. Everyone seemed to be used to it, and Rafa understood the dynamic during these moments. He'd continue regardless, since there were no apparent problems with Rafa just running his mouth.

He passed the spliff to another at the bar and kept going. "It's whatever, though. Our offense is still solid and these Freshmen are pretty dope." A couple of them were gathered at some of the tables along the edges of the room, tapping away at their laptops. "Better hurry up and get your shit done ASAP, boys. Should've done this shit after that whole orientation and class registration shit." The weed was starting to get to his speech, and his voice was progressively getting less and less hardened.

---

11:00 PM rolled around and the Watchtower was packed. Rafa was only 6 beers deep and already he was getting a bit too touchy with everyone. "Take it all the fuck in, boys. First banger of the season!" He wandered back to his post behind the bar and kicked everyone behind it out onto the main floor. The bar was primarily Rafa's territory during parties, and very few actually had enough of his approval to hang back there with him.

A slim, scantily-clad girl in an Alpha Phi hat approached the bar, but after a couple minutes Rafa shooed her away. He knew what tonight was about, and it wasn't long until he heard one of the upper-classman shout "Freshman Initiation!".

After much shoving and drunken yelling by his teammates, all the Freshmen players were lined-up facing the bar completely naked. Most had semi-shameful looks holding their junk, but some seemed to be embracing the entire situation. A sea of beautiful sorority girls and cheerleaders watched on, most who have already witnessed this event in past years and have somehow come to accept it.

On the other side of the bar, Rafa and some of the upperclassmen lined up face-to-face, matching the Freshman 1-to-1. "This is how it's gonna go, boys. The girls started placing red solo cups in front of each of them and filling them to the brim with beer. "We're going to play some fucking flip-cup. Natty Light is the lifeblood of every frat, but here we just treat it as water," he said as he chugged his cup, motioning for the biddy across from him for a re-fill.

"For every match you guys win, both sides will go down a player, and one of these more than willing girls will bring the lucky scrub at the head of the queue home with her." A few giggles erupted, and some eager chatter, but a drunken Rafa quickly silenced them. "But, for every match you guys lose, you'll also take a shot of this." Rafa pulled out a handle of Zelko from behind the bar, having too much pride to even display it on the shelf.

"If you throw up, you're out, and the rest of your team takes another shot of this shit. You boys ready?"