Chapter Five
Channing
I had enough of zombies. Now I was a sword-bearing messiah, ready to save the kingdom from the dark cloud threatening them all. I finally found the cave with the best armor, and I was slashing past a pair of demented purple tigers, back and forth, over and over. They had enough HP to last me an hour. There was no way I was going to get past them, but something about the way the swords slashed through their bodies was satisfying.
One tore into my character, and he fell over—dead. “Shoot,” I set my phone down. It was barely 9 o’clock, and it was already 90 degrees. If it weren’t for my water bottle, I would’ve been dying. I slammed the rest and sat back to take a look around.
Everyone was still psyched about the game Friday night. The buzz around campus was infectious. The girls had a bit more swagger in their step, and the guys were all huddled around a table across the courtyard watching them pass.
“Hey,” Mike walked out of the dorm.
I waved him over. “What’s up?”
“Tired, man. Barely got a wink of sleep last night.”
“Was it Cara?”
“Nah, I left early. I had to study for western civ.”
“Man, you could’ve easily,” I shook my head.
“It doesn’t matter. It’s not like she’s going anywhere.” He held up his phone to show the three messages she sent that morning.
“And you call me a dog.”
“At least I study.” He motioned to my phone with the words ‘Game Over’ on the screen.
“Hey,” I pulled my physics book out. “I’m studying.”
“Mm-hmm.” I looked up to see Jason’s bright red face and even redder topknot. He was standing behind Mike. “The coach brought me into his office after the game.”
“That’s nice,” I opened my book and pretended to start reading. Mike looked down at his phone.
“He said that he wants me to prepare for the next game. Looks like I’ll be practicing with you guys.” He sat down next to me. “Isn’t that awesome.”
“It won’t happen, Jason.” I wanted to jump up and bash him in the face. Instead, I kept my nose in my book. “You’re just an alternate.”
“Yeah, don’t you get tired of being a bottom-feeder? You’re like, what—30?” Mike swiped something on his phone.
“Don’t matter. I’m gonna be the one making the winning pass.” He got up and walked away. “Keep reading, Barker.” He disappeared into the science building.
“I want that guy hanging from the flagpole.” I shut my book.
“It doesn’t matter. You’ve got this. You always did. You just haven’t been doing what you’re supposed to.”
“I don’t care. I’m about done with this. The team is ready to put Jason, of all people, in my place, and I’ve got a bunch of senior citizens chewing me out all day.”
Mike sighed. “You just don’t get it. If you can’t make it here, what’s gonna happen?”
“Yeah, you’re right. Can’t give up now. We’re almost in the top 10; just one more game to go.”
“Which is why you’ve got to get your butt to the tutor’s office.” Mike held up his phone. It was almost 20 after.
“Shoot.” I laid my head back. “The tutor’s probably gonna be all enthusiastic, like concentrated caffeine. What I need is a good dose of bitter. It’s too early.”
“Just go. Don’t complain. Do what you need to do because we both know Jason can’t throw.”
“Yeah, yeah,” I got up and picked up my bag. “I’ll see you.”
The library was the tallest building at Mountain University. My first week there, they held a gala with local dignitaries dressed in expensive suits, running around with glasses of champagne. The owner of a local car dealership, Max Quebedeaux, paid to have the top floor renovated into a tutoring lab. The result was a big gold plaque with his face on it hanging on the wall across from the elevator. It looked like something from the 19th century, with his handlebar mustache and ridiculous sideburns.
The lab was a big square room with rows of empty round tables and doors to private rooms lining the wall. Near the side wall, to my left when I walked in, there was a stoner with a braided black beard and shoulder length corn rows. He was sitting at the computer behind the receptionist’s desk. “Can I help you?”
“Yeah, I have a 9:30.”
“Barker, right? Saw the game. That was awesome.”
“Thanks, man. Is she here?”
“Sorry, not yet.” He went back to his computer. “You’re in room four.” He pointed at a door in the corner to his left. I started to walk away. “Hey,” he growled, “go Lions.”
I gave him a half smile and walked up to the door. The place smelled like skunk weed, bad cigarettes, and rancid urine, so potent I wanted to puke. I left the light off in the study room when I sat down and let my head fall on the table.
I didn’t trust this. I’d seen people work their butts off and still fail. The game was rigged. Maybe it was only a matter of time before I failed out of class. I had no right to be in that room. There were people 10 times smarter than I was that deserved a chance at this school. The only reason I was there was because my parents made enough money to pay my tuition.
In a world where most people could barely afford a house, we had three family cars and a five-bedroom in the hills. My life was a dream. If I quit school, my dad would be mad, but it wouldn’t be the end of the world. He’d pull some strings and get me a job. I’d probably make just as much money without a degree as I would with one. I was at the university for football, that’s it.
I had one dream, just one. I wouldn’t be happy sitting behind a desk telling screw-ups what to do. I’d have a nice car, every girl I wanted, and a million-dollar home, but I wouldn’t have a ball in my hand. I wouldn’t have lights flashing down on me and everyone cheering. I was a star, and I had to maintain that somehow.
I pulled my physics book out of my bag and opened it up. I hadn’t opened it once all year unless I was pretending to read. Even then I didn’t really look at it. I was guessing on all my tests. It was pathetic. I didn’t know what was wrong with me.
With chemistry, it was understandable. Hamburg was always screaming at us, and it drained everyone’s enthusiasm. Just thinking about the woman got me upset. Every time she handed me a test I heard her voice screaming in my ear.
“You’re all gonna fail!”
She was just driving it in, making sure that we all walked out of this place with nothing but regrets. I got up out of my chair and flipped on the lights. There was a reason I chose to study physics.
Chapter one. It was always the same racket about the scientific method and an introduction to what physics was. I was 12 when they started drilling that crap into my head. Obviously, I knew what a hypothesis was. I didn’t have to read six pages about it. That’s what bothered me about these books. It was $300 for that thing, and 600 pages of nothing but filler with a few key terms mixed in. They probably charged per page.
I threw the thing across the room and shot up out of my seat. I had no business being there. This wasn’t my world. I could easily make it without this, but I had to have a dream, didn’t I? I couldn’t just have the sports cars and the beautiful wife. I had to have the game.
It wasn’t worth it. I walked up to the door, and it swung open and hit me right in the face. “Ah,” I grabbed my nose.
“I’m sorry,” the tutor walked in. “Are you okay?”
“Yeah,” I sat back down and tried not to bring attention to my book laying on the floor. She had a strand of black hair leaning down and blocking her face from my view when she sat down. Maybe she didn’t notice. Maybe she was just being nice. Either way, something told me that she was poised, professional, and that maybe she might give me a little bit of dignity.
At least I’d have something to look at. When I dipped down to pick my book up, she was staring down at her tablet, pretending not to notice that I was looking. She reminded me of a tight-lipped baby doll with creamy skin, and a twig-thin frame, the kind of girl you’d expect to see at the head of the class hanging on the teacher’s every word. I knew what I was dealing with: Miss Ambitious. We wouldn’t click, but we were both adults. We’d make do.