Gerald shared his room with one of his teammates. Something he was beginning to regret. Every night since training camp started the roommate had brought a new girl into the dorm room.
"That's it right there," the girl screamed.
That was the last straw. Gerald grabbed his pillow and his covers then walked out of the room. He pulled the covers over himself as he laid on the small bench in the hallway. It was cramped and uncomfortable, but at least it was quiet.
"Gerald! Wake up."
Gerald slowly stirred as he looked up at his roommate.
"Are you done?" Gerald asked.
"Yeah, about a few hours ago," the roommate said with a huge smile on his face. "We have practice in two hours," the roommate laughed.
"You've got to be kidding me!" Gerald said looking at the time.
"Nope, see you down there," the roommate said before leaving Gerald on the bench.
"Sloppy, sloppy and especially you fucking ridiculous!" the coach shouted as he pointed at Gerald. "My Grandma can make better cuts than you can, at the end of your route cut and pop upwards!"
Gerald nodded as he put his hands on his knees. They had been running routes for over three hours. The lack of sleep mixed with the thick pads and helmet in this summer heat was making him tired.
"We are going to run drills all day until Mr. Slowpoke can carry out the route configuration!" the coach shouted, then blew his whistle.
It was almost mid-afternoon before the coach finally had them stop. They all ran inside to get out of the blazing hot sun.
"Great job star athlete," one of the other players said as he pushed passed Gerald.
Others weren't so polite they pushed passed him, nudged him and one person even spat in his direction. He couldn't blame them of course. He hadn't lived up to his expectations. Last year he had come straight from high school as the number one wide receiver in the division.
Gerald bragged all through training camp that he would blow the doors off of anyone that covered him. But at the end of the season, he was sitting on the bench. He hadn't caught a single touchdown, he had dropped too many catches and couldn't get away from any of the coverage.
To say the rest of the team disliked him would be an understatement. He had brought all of it on himself, with his bragging and calling out others on the team.
"Better get it right tomorrow," one of his teammates said as they passed him in the locker room.
Gerald only nodded. He got his clothes in order then went out the door. He would just shower at the dorm.
"There you are," a female voice said.
"Stacey," Gerald's face beamed at the sight of his only friend.
"How did it go?" she asked.
"Think I am getting the hang of it," Gerald lied. "Like they say it's a lot faster at this level."
"You're lying," Stacey smiled.
Gerald hated that she could read him like a book. They had been friends since the first grade, and they knew each other like the back of their hands.
"So is Andrew coming out anytime soon?" Stacey said as she looked back at the locker room.
Andrew was his roommate and the number one receiver on the roster. He stood taller than Gerald, with jet black hair and a well toned muscular build. All the guys on the team loved him especially Tony the star quarterback.
"Yeah, he should be out soon," Gerald sighed.
"Is it true what they say about him?" Stacey asked.
"What?"
"You know," she rolled her eyes. "About his dick?"
"Ew, Come on!" Gerald said in disgust. "You don't ask a guy about another guy's dick."
Stacey smiled then shook her head. "Sorry, thought you being his roommate and everything you would know."
"No, definitely not," Gerald shook his head.
With that, Andrew and his entourage came out of the locker room. They began walking towards Gerald and Stacey.
"I will talk to you later," Gerald said when they got closer.
Stacey just nodded back at him. He shook his head then walked away.
"Stacey, how is the cutest woman on campus?" Marquis asked.
Gerald looked around to see Andrew give his friend a huge hug. It wasn't that he was jealous of the fame Andrew had. It was something much deeper. Something he knew he had brought on himself.
When he arrived here, he had told everyone that once he got on the field, Andrew would be a faded memory. That had never happened, Andrew blew him away in every stat category, and to this day had never let Gerald forget about it.
After all the classes and his part time job. Gerald went to the gym. He immediately shook his head. Andrew was working out with some of the dumbbells.
"Fancy seeing you here rookie?" Andrew said.
"You know I come here every night at this time," Gerald shook his head.
"Nah, I must have forgotten, seeing as I would be just a memory and all."
"Look, I apologized countless times for that. I am not going to apologize anymore. I was a rookie trying to make a name for myself. I am sure you did the same thing."
Gerald laid down on the weight bench then grabbed the bar. Andrew made his way over.
"Sure I did, I said how good I was going to be. And how much I would light up the scoreboard. But I never called anyone out, Nah that was all you."
Gerald turned to look at him. "What do you want from me?"
"Nothing, absolutely nothing. You did this all to yourself. I just want you to learn the lesson and learn it well. You will be nothing as long as I am here."
Andrew laughed as he began to walk towards the door. "I am going to be the next great white wide receiver, and you will still be looking up at my stats trying to reach them."
"Like the Patriot receiver that went to the Broncos?" Gerald smiled as he laid back down.
"Exactly!" Andrew said.
"Didn't he drop a ball in the super bowl?"
"Laugh it up, rookie. I will get the last laugh especially after tonight."
Gerald shook his head then went to working out. He did some lifts on the bench then went to do some free weights. Lastly, he went to do the treadmill so he could get work on some cardio before he left.
"That won't help you with your cuts," a voice said from the corner of the room.
"Excuse me?" Gerald said as he looked into the darkened corner.
"All the machines in this gym, won't help you with your agility," the female voice said.
"And how would you know anything about my agility?" Gerald said, seeing the outline of a female body standing in the corner.
The female walked into the light. Gerald could see that she was wearing the college sweatshirt with the hood pulled up, hiding her face. She was wearing light blue jeans.
"Oh you," Gerald said brushing her off.
Most of the students knew her as Krazy Chelsea. She hung around the sports teams, just staring at the players. Never talking to anyone, and always wearing the same clothes. No one even knew what she looked like under the hoodie.
"Go away and stalk someone else," Gerald said picking up his stuff.
"You're a good athlete, but you're playing the wrong position," she said.
"Not interested in your crazy talk," Gerald said leaving the gym.
Chelsea just watched him leave then went back inside the gym.
Gerald finally made it back to his dorm room, but then let out a sigh as he looked at the sock over the door knob. He tore a page out of one his books then grabbed and turned it. One time it was wet, he thought it was just water but later found out that it was much worse.
He got changed in the bathroom, then went to lay down. Already the sounds of Andrew and his lady of the night were loud enough for him to hear. He pulled the covers and pillow over his head.
"That's it fuck me," she said.
"You like that big white dick in you, don't you," Andrew said.
"Fuck yeah, fuck me hard!" she said.
Gerald stopped trying to ignore it now. He knew the voice.
"Say my name bitch, say it so he can hear you,"
"Fuck me, Andrew, fuck me like no one has before," Stacey said.
Gerald got up. He bolted out of the door, as he left, he could hear Andrew laughing.He waited in the downstairs playroom. He didn't sleep a wink.
Just before high school Gerald and Stacey had slept with each other not out of love or anything romantic. They just didn't want to go into high school being virgins.
Throughout the rest of high school, they had secretly slept with each other a few times, each of them knowing it was just sex, nothing more. Gerald had never felt anything for Stacey, not until college, she had blossomed from the flat chested, no curves high school girl. Now she was wearing a full C cup bra and had plenty of natural curves.
Gerald saw two shadows pass the room and walk out of the main door. He waited until the last one came back then went back up the stairs. He ran out of the doors and out into the darkness of the early morning.
"Stacey!" he yelled. She kept walking without stopping. "Stacey Mchenny!" he shouted knowing she hated her father's name.
"Don't you dare!" she turned and yelled at him.
"Why not?" he shrugged. "I mean you already hurt me, so why can't I do do the same?"
"Hurt you?" she said rushing up to him, tears in her eyes. "I hurt you?" her face shaking with anger.
"You left!" she shouted. "Off to be a big football star, how did you put it? Oh yeah, you didn't have time for a small town high school, you were off to play with the big boys."
Gerald shook his head. That was what he said to her when he left. She had stayed to take care of her mother. This year would be her first at this college.
"That's right shake your head," she smiled. "You started this whole thing. You knew I felt more for you back then. Now the roles are reversed, and I am supposed to drop everything for you?"
She turned around and began walking away. "Like you said I don't have time for some high school star. I am playing with the big boys now. And for the record, Andrew is much larger!"
Gerald shook his head, another thing he had brought on himself. He went back to his room. He turned on the light, Andrew was wide awake and staring at him.
"Just a faded memory huh rookie?" Andrew smiled. "Guess the saying is wrong. Once you go black, you don't stay that way."
Gerald smiled. "I am going to bury you. I just want to make sure you understand that."
Gerald spent the next three weeks working out in the gym harder than he ever did. He had switched rooms with another teammate, his friendship with Stacey was completely over, the two hardly spoke to each other.
The whistle blew hard. One night at practice.
"Goddamit!" the coach yelled. "Do you even know what an out route means?" he yelled at Gerald.
"Yes sir, I was heading that way, but the ball came early," Gerald said.
"The ball came early?" the coach smiled. He looked at the rest of the receivers. "Did the ball come early to any of you?" They all shook their head. "The ball come out at the same time for them, so why is it early for you?" the coach asked.
Gerald shook his head.
"Bench," Coach said in a light whisper.
"But coach," Gerald began to say.
"Bench!" the coach yelled.
Gerald sat down on the bench throwing his helmet to the ground. Andrew came over to his direction. He grabbed a cup of water.
"Still above ground rookie," Andrew said with a smile.
Gerald watched the team practice from the bench. His anger grew with every passing second.
"The ball did come early," a familiar voice said from behind him.
He turned around to see Chelsea sitting a few behind him.
"What do you want?" Gerald said bitterly.
"There is a piece of paper stuck between the fence, if you want to get back on the team, meet me at the address that is on it."
Gerald watched her go. He didn't make a move for the fence. Then he saw Tony and Andrew look his way they were both laughing. He got up then looked for the paper. He saw it on the ground wedged in the fence. It had tomorrow's date, time and address on it.
Gerald drove out to the address it was a long distance away from the college. When he got there, he found an old farm with an open field. He saw Chelsea sitting on a rusted tractor.
"How did you know I would come?" he asked as he got closer to her.
"You have nothing else to try. You did all you could do in the gym," Chelsea shrugged.
"So who are we meeting, some old coach that is going to teach me the ways of football?" Gerald smiled.
"Nope, just me," she grabbed the hood of her sweatshirt then pulled it off of her face.
Gerald couldn't believe it. She was stunning. Her hair fell past her shoulders, in the bright sun it looked almost a dark purple. She had light green eyes and a beautiful face.
"You can't tell anyone," she said looking at him as she walked into the field.
"Why not?" Gerald asked. He followed close behind her.
"I have my reasons, respect them, and I will keep it a secret that you drove out here to meet a crazy woman to help with your football skills.
Gerald nodded. Not that he cared anymore, he was already on the bench. What else could go wrong?
"You see that iron barrel over there?" she asked.
"Yeah," Gerald said looking over at it.
"Throw this at it," she said handing him the ball.
"I am not a quarterback, I am a receiver," Gerald said.
"Just do it," she said standing back.
Gerald took the right stance then threw the ball. He narrowly missed it.
"See,"
"Your stance is all wrong, do it the right way," she said as she positioned his body and showed him the right way to throw.
A large dog came up to them carrying the football.
"That's Sandy, she is my assistant," Chelsea said.
"Hey Sandy," Gerald said.