S.C.A.M. by Emma Harrison

Author:Emma Harrison [Harrison, Emma]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Published: 2010-11-14T08:09:12.896000+00:00

Chapter Eight

Part 2

“And that’s the end of the game! The Hillside Cardinals beat the Westmont Bears, forty-two to seven!” the announcer cried. “Let’s hear it for Mike Riley and the entire Cardinals team!”

The crowd went crazy, exalting us with cheers and rushing the field. I was crowded by hundreds of people, adults and kids, guys and girls, everyone according their adulation to me. I took it all in, ecstatic over the win. We had just run all over the most dominant defense in the league. This was a huge triumph. If someone had told me yesterday that the score would be forty-two to seven in our favor, that Odewale would not have recorded a single sack, I would never have thought it conceivable.

“Mike! Mike Riley!” a slightly older guy cried, waving a tape-recorder at me as he tried to navigate the crowd. “I’m Seth Meisel from the Hillside Gazette! Can I get a quote?”

“Guys! Guys! Let him through!” I said, dispersing the fans who fettered the reporter. He shot me a thankful smile as he finally broke through the masses and hit the record button on his recorder.

“Hey, man,” I said as people screamed and cheered all around me.

“So, Mike Riley, how does it feel to be the paragon of New York state football?” he asked, shoving the little microphone at me.

I laughed, for some reason, as the guilt started to creep back over my shoulders. “I don’t feel like a paragon of anything,” I told him. “It was a team effort tonight, and I’m just really proud of my guys.”

“And he’s even modest,” Seth said, amused. “The consensus in the stands and at the paper is that you’ll be going to a top-ten school next year. Division One. What do you think about that?”

“I think it’d be great,” I said. “But right now I just want to concentrate on a winning season for the Cardinals.”

The team started to head for the locker room, and I made to follow. “Thanks, man. I gotta go.”

“Thanks, Mike! Good luck with the rest of the season!” he called after me.

On the way toward the school, I tried to keep the smile plastered to my face, but already the feeling of victory was waning. I could hear the guys’ cheers echoing off the locker room walls up ahead and wished I could bypass the usual post-win celebration and the coach’s laudatory remarks, but I knew I had no choice. If I skipped out, it would mean days of explaining to my teammates, and I wouldn’t even have a plausible excuse. I just had to try to stay composed and get through it.

Inside, everyone cheered my arrival and slapped my shoulder pads and back. I smiled genuinely as Daryl ruffled my sweaty hair and someone popped a fizzed-up Sprite, spraying it all over the room like champagne. Finally Coach came in and settled everyone down. As much as they could be settled, anyway.

“Well guys, I think you silenced any detractors you had after last week’s loss,” he began.

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