And why? he
wondered. Hadn’t his goal from day one last year been to become Crocker’s next
QB?
As soon as Hutchinson was gone, as
soon as QB1 was all his, that was when he’d started looking for an escape. Like
a classic case of the overconfident asshole who stops working the minute he gets
the position he wants. That wasn’t what Erick had thought he’d been doing, but
from a distance it sure looked the same. He felt sick to his stomach.
As soon as Candace woke, he’d be
ready to move on. The only thing he was aching for right now was to be himself,
the Erick who wanted to quarterback for Crocker more than anything else.
Chapter
Five
Erick dropped his baggage onto one
of the beds in his new dorm room in Hopkins Hall. There were two moving boxes
and a big black suitcase on one of the other beds, but the room was empty.
Erick sat down on his bed and pulled out his phone. There was a text from
Candace, and she sent a photo of a flower in her parents’ back yard. Erick
snapped a photo of the dorm room and was sending it to her when a tall guy walked
in and opened the moving boxes. He looked Erick over.
“Erick West, right?”
Erick put his phone away. “Yeah.
Are you...?” He had only glanced at his roommate assignments this year -- he’d
been so out of it in the spring that he hadn’t arranged to room with anyone he
knew.
“Anson Dempsey. Tight end. Freshman.”
Erick grinned and bumped fists with
him. “Quarterback. Sophomore. You know anything about our other roommate?”
Anson made a face. “Men’s water
polo, if you can believe it. I’m not going to hold it against him, though. He’s
from Canada.” Anson started unpacking, then paused and pointed to the bed his
stuff was on. “Okay if I take this one? No one was here when I got in...”
“Nah, it’s fine. First come, first
served. Water Polo will have to deal.”
“You’re a sophomore, how come you’re
stuck in a triple?”
Erick shook his head a little. “Because
I got a little stupid the end of freshman year. Let me be a warning to you.”
Anson chuckled and said, “This
place is sick, though. Looks like the whole team’s living here.”
“Practically. There’s a bunch in
Harris Hall, too. It’s a newer dorm, the rooms are nicer, but it’s farther from
the practice fields.” Erick unzipped his bags and pulled his clothes out. “Actually,
one of my friends is a tight end, he was there last year, might be there this
year.” Erick muffled the empty feeling in the pit of his stomach over not
knowing where Lowell was rooming this year. For all he knew, Lowell had moved
off campus with Kelly; only freshmen were required to live on campus.
He glanced at Anson and said, “Maybe
later we can head down to Harris, I can introduce you to a bunch of the guys,
and if Lowell’s there, you can meet him. You guys will be practicing together.”
“Lowell Menacker?” Anson said, as
if mentioning a celebrity.
“Yeah. You know him?”
Anson smiled goofily, stuffing
clothes into a dresser. “I sorta memorized last year’s Crocker roster when I
knew I was coming here. All-Indiana tight end. You think he’ll get on the field
this season?”
“I’m sure of it,” Erick said. “Where
are you from?”
“New York.”
“No way. Really?”
Anson grinned. “Yeah. Little town
you never heard of, north of the city, total suburbia. My dad’s a high school
football coach. He coaches at the public school, I went to the Catholic high.
We beat their asses four years running, so I give him grief about it.”
“You Catholic?”
Anson’s grin widened. “No, but my
family’s a little bit of everything. My mom was born in Haiti but was adopted
by a Jewish family, so we got a little bit of that even though my mom’s not
religious. My dad was raised Southern Baptist. And my oldest brother married a
Catholic Filipino girl. Little bit of everything.”
Erick laughed. “True melting pot
you got there. I’m from Texas, and my family
wondered. Hadn’t his goal from day one last year been to become Crocker’s next
QB?
As soon as Hutchinson was gone, as
soon as QB1 was all his, that was when he’d started looking for an escape. Like
a classic case of the overconfident asshole who stops working the minute he gets
the position he wants. That wasn’t what Erick had thought he’d been doing, but
from a distance it sure looked the same. He felt sick to his stomach.
As soon as Candace woke, he’d be
ready to move on. The only thing he was aching for right now was to be himself,
the Erick who wanted to quarterback for Crocker more than anything else.
Chapter
Five
Erick dropped his baggage onto one
of the beds in his new dorm room in Hopkins Hall. There were two moving boxes
and a big black suitcase on one of the other beds, but the room was empty.
Erick sat down on his bed and pulled out his phone. There was a text from
Candace, and she sent a photo of a flower in her parents’ back yard. Erick
snapped a photo of the dorm room and was sending it to her when a tall guy walked
in and opened the moving boxes. He looked Erick over.
“Erick West, right?”
Erick put his phone away. “Yeah.
Are you...?” He had only glanced at his roommate assignments this year -- he’d
been so out of it in the spring that he hadn’t arranged to room with anyone he
knew.
“Anson Dempsey. Tight end. Freshman.”
Erick grinned and bumped fists with
him. “Quarterback. Sophomore. You know anything about our other roommate?”
Anson made a face. “Men’s water
polo, if you can believe it. I’m not going to hold it against him, though. He’s
from Canada.” Anson started unpacking, then paused and pointed to the bed his
stuff was on. “Okay if I take this one? No one was here when I got in...”
“Nah, it’s fine. First come, first
served. Water Polo will have to deal.”
“You’re a sophomore, how come you’re
stuck in a triple?”
Erick shook his head a little. “Because
I got a little stupid the end of freshman year. Let me be a warning to you.”
Anson chuckled and said, “This
place is sick, though. Looks like the whole team’s living here.”
“Practically. There’s a bunch in
Harris Hall, too. It’s a newer dorm, the rooms are nicer, but it’s farther from
the practice fields.” Erick unzipped his bags and pulled his clothes out. “Actually,
one of my friends is a tight end, he was there last year, might be there this
year.” Erick muffled the empty feeling in the pit of his stomach over not
knowing where Lowell was rooming this year. For all he knew, Lowell had moved
off campus with Kelly; only freshmen were required to live on campus.
He glanced at Anson and said, “Maybe
later we can head down to Harris, I can introduce you to a bunch of the guys,
and if Lowell’s there, you can meet him. You guys will be practicing together.”
“Lowell Menacker?” Anson said, as
if mentioning a celebrity.
“Yeah. You know him?”
Anson smiled goofily, stuffing
clothes into a dresser. “I sorta memorized last year’s Crocker roster when I
knew I was coming here. All-Indiana tight end. You think he’ll get on the field
this season?”
“I’m sure of it,” Erick said. “Where
are you from?”
“New York.”
“No way. Really?”
Anson grinned. “Yeah. Little town
you never heard of, north of the city, total suburbia. My dad’s a high school
football coach. He coaches at the public school, I went to the Catholic high.
We beat their asses four years running, so I give him grief about it.”
“You Catholic?”
Anson’s grin widened. “No, but my
family’s a little bit of everything. My mom was born in Haiti but was adopted
by a Jewish family, so we got a little bit of that even though my mom’s not
religious. My dad was raised Southern Baptist. And my oldest brother married a
Catholic Filipino girl. Little bit of everything.”
Erick laughed. “True melting pot
you got there. I’m from Texas, and my family
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