Chapter 45

Days passed and as expected due to the short attention span of teenagers in general, all the drama related to Regina didn't last more than a week and a few days. Gradually, the gossip about what happened faded away.

Also, since the next game of the season was about to happen, the animosity felt to my person by the male student population changed to the usual pre-game mood.

By mid-October, the school hallways slowly filled up, surely due to the decision of the school council, with Halloween-related decorations.

"So, are you going trick-or-treating this year?" Kat asked, next to my locker in what had become a regular event lately, surely also noticing the increasing amount of decorations in the school hallway, with a smug smile.

"Oh, I think so," I replied shamelessly to her obvious attempt to embarrass me.

"Really?" Taken aback, surely not getting the response she expected, Kat asked incredulously.

"Yeah, I promised to go with Gabe," I said, "plus, a few candies as payment don't sound too bad," I continued ironically.

"Yeah, not bad at all," Kat said, smiling slightly.

"Are you also going to take your brother for candies?" suddenly appearing from down the hallway, surprising both Kat and me alike, Alan calmly asked as he reached his locker.

"You're going to give someone a heart attack one of these days, man," I chided my friend, lightly tapping his shoulder in greeting. "Also?" I said, remembering his question, "Are you going to take Christian and Braxton?" I asked, deducing his response.

"Yeah, Mom's worried about Christian," my calm friend replied, organizing his things for the day.

"Well, then you should come with us. I'm sure Gabe will get along with them," I offered to my friend. "And the company would be appreciated," I said again, lightly tapping Alan's shoulder, causing my usually stoic friend to smile a bit.

"You can come too, Kat, only if you don't think going trick-or-treating with great company is childish," I reminded the present teenager, continuing to take Alan, who still hadn't responded to my offer, into a shoulder hug, smiling exaggeratedly at the girl.

"Yeah, sure, why not. At least I'll get to meet another Duncan guy and find out if they're all equally annoying," Kat sarcastically replied, adjusting her backpack, before leaving.

A moment after Kat disappeared into the growing crowd of teenagers, Alan, who hadn't said anything else, with a small chuckle, returned a weak tap to my shoulder. "You work fast, man. It hasn't even been two full weeks," he said with an almost imperceptible smile on his face.

"Oh, don't be gross, man," immediately understanding what he was implying, I said offended, "She's my friend, our friend," I continued, "nothing more," I clarified.

"Whatever you say," lowering the volume of his voice, Alan said ironically.

"What are you guys talking about?" immediately after, much louder than my calm friend, David arrived down the same hallway, asking cheerfully.

"Nothing," I quickly said, ignoring the knowing smile of my calm friend. Kat was certainly beautiful, but apart from being a great friend, I don't think I could see her any other way.

Again, a few days passed without many changes in the daily routine. On Thursday, the day of the next game of the season, despite having a small streak of losses, the stands were filled with spectators waiting for the game. In such a small town with few things happening, football season games were an interesting event, regardless of the result.

"They're out there thinking this game is easy," in the locker rooms, as a tradition, walking in front of my teammates, I said disapprovingly, receiving shouts of disagreement.

"They see a bunch of losers," I continued, receiving the expected response from the other teenagers with a lot of shouts and insults directed towards the, frankly, even innocent opposing team.

"I want to ask you guys, is this game going to be easy for the other team?" I asked, shouting over the shouts of the other people, receiving an energetic negative from my teammates.

"Are we going to lose this game?" I asked again, receiving negatives from my teammates.

"So, who wants to go out there and show those idiots who the real losers are?" I asked immediately, receiving shouts from the excited teenagers.

"Let's go then," I continued, making my appropriately fired up teammates quickly leave the locker room with excited shouts, banging their helmets as they trotted out of the room.

"You're getting better every time," Mr. Cooper told me as he and I followed the others out of the locker room, "you know, if medicine doesn't work out, you could do this for a living," the man continued, putting his hand on my shoulder amusedly.

The game started after both teams entered the field. One person from the opposing team and I approached the head referee for the coin toss, unfortunately favoring the opposing team, allowing them to choose the initial kickoff.

With the rest of my teammates, we watched as our defensive team prepared to stop the opposing team after the initial kick-off.

The game started, and we quickly found ourselves on the losing side of the scoreboard. With their first four downs, the opposing team somehow managed to pass the defensive line, quickly scoring the first touchdown of the game, and then using their try, they managed to get an extra point.

Encouraging the now crestfallen defensive team, along with my teammates, we went out to now catch the kick-off, after the initial whistle, Alan, who was prepared, managed to catch the ball before quickly starting to run to the other endzone, surprisingly without help, he managed to dodge tackle attempts on his way to almost thirty yards into the opposing team's midfield.

"Good job," along with my teammates, we approached Alan to congratulate the usually calm teenager.

After trying several plays, unfortunately, the score remained the same for several minutes, while we failed to cover the ten yards giving up possession of the ball, fortunately, the defensive team managed this time to prevent the opposing team from scoring again, allowing once again to make the change.

With the new opportunity, trying not to waste each down, we managed to advance a few yards, achieving a second set of downs.

In the last down with a few seconds left in the first quarter, being only ten yards from the end zone, seriously along with my teammates, we lined up, ignoring all the sweat on my face as I shouted orders to my teammates, I took a deep breath before shouting "set hut," initiating the cacophony of hits in front of me.

Taking a few steps back still with the ball in my hands, I moved looking for some free space among the players while my teammates pushed and clashed against the opposing team.

Georgie, being physically overcome by one of the tackles, fell to the ground, leaving space for the incredibly wide opposing player to run straight at me.

With a few seconds before he reached me, I frantically searched ahead of me for the end zone, where a moment later I found David raising his hands trying to separate from one of the opposing team's safeties, without thinking I immediately threw the ball being tackled practically the moment the ball left my hand.

"Eat some dirt, pretty boy," with the mouthguard in his mouth, it was difficult but I managed to understand what the opposing team's tackle said, hitting my helmet while he was on top of me, a moment before he stood up releasing his weight from my chest.

Taking a little of the air that I now lacked, I quickly stood up, hoping that my teammates were celebrating the touchdown to join them, unfortunately finding the opposite, beside me the opposing team's tackle laughing trotted to where his teammates were celebrating what seemed like an interception.

With the referee's whistle, both teams regrouped walking towards our locker rooms.

"That was an incredibly precise pass PJ, unfortunately the opposing safety was lucky enough to stretch his hand enough," Coach Cooper said, breaking an awkward silence in the locker room.

"Now, what we're going to do to recover those points is as follows," apparently deciding to ignore the heavy feeling in the locker room, Coach Cooper began to explain with the help of Coach Wilkins, who was drawing on a board with many arrows and figurines.

The game continued following the coaches' instructions, and playing seriously both teams managed to score several goals in the remaining quarters of the game.

In the last quarter with us in possession of the ball with five minutes left in the game, despite scoring several touchdowns, the score was still in favor of the opposing team by four points.

After the third Down, we were on the twelve-yard line unsure of what to do, "get ready to change position for the punt team," I said to those close enough to me before running to Coach Cooper who was discussing with Coach Wilkins.

Before I could get close enough, Coach Cooper from his place with practiced gestures ordered me to go for it, he seemed sure of his decision while Coach Wilkins worriedly watched, we had enough time for the change of possession and in the position we were everybody know you have to punt.

Following the coach's orders, I ran again with my teammates causing them to gather around me, "Coach says we're going for it," I said making my teammates, like me, surprised by the decision.

"Stupid brother," Georgie muttered with annoyance beside me, speaking loud enough for seemingly only me to hear what he said.

Looking again at Coach Cooper, who had a confident look on his face, I quickly searched for Mrs. Cooper, who always attended the games alongside my mom. She seemed equally confident, unlike the other spectators who appeared disgruntled with the coach.

If this decision was based on something Sheldon said, there might be a mathematical reason behind it.

Acknowledging this fact, I felt much more secure about the play. "Power left jumbo one two one two, ready?" I asked, and immediately my teammates responded by shouting "break" in unison.

Breaking the huddle, we all trotted to our positions, lining up opposite the opposing team. The drums and trumpets of the band were loudly playing, and so were the cheers of the cheerleaders, where Regina and her friends were no longer part of.

"And the Wolves are going for it on the fourth down," the announcer said over the speakers in the stadium, eliciting applause from the spectators, seemingly out of courtesy.

"You didn't have enough, eh, Goldilocks?" taunted the opposing team's defensive lineman from the line, laughing dryly. "I'm coming for you," he continued rudely pointing me out.

Prepared in our positions and having shouted the orders again, I prepared to receive the ball. "Set hut!" I yelled a few seconds before receiving the ball.

The play was an option play; I was going to either hand off or fake hand off the ball to my fullback, Alan, depending on the reaction of the defensive line.

Noticing a gap where I could run, I decided to fake the handoff and try to run on my own.

Managing to advance a few steps, I thought I was going to make it until suddenly a strong hit from my side knocked me to the ground quickly.

"I told you, Goldilocks, you're mine," I heard the annoyingw teenager's voice nearby, laughing before my head was rudely pushed back to the ground again.

"Hey!," I heard a bunch of my teammates shout as I quickly got up, trying to stop any attempt at a fight. A moment later, there was another collective shout, but this time of surprise. Turning quickly to find out what had happened, I found the opposing tackler on the ground in a very uncomfortable position while Alan somehow had him subdued on the ground with one of the tackler's arms trapped between his legs.

"Let him go, Alan, it's okay," I quickly said, trying to avoid any kind of sanction.

Fortunately, my usually calm friend heard my plea, releasing the arm of the much broader player and pushing him a second later before he could get up.

I hoped that at least the teammates of the opposing tackler would try something in retaliation, but strangely they only looked worriedly scared at Alan, even some of our teammates looked at him the same way.

"You okay?" I asked my friend, pulling him gently by the helmet. "Yeah, I got your back," Alan responded seriously and a bit agitated.

"Yeah, I can tell," I said jokingly, nudging his helmet.

A moment later, the referee blew his whistle. I was sure we would be penalized for Alan's actions as I walked with my teammates to regroup and prepare to switch with the defensive team.

"Too many men on the field, defense!" the referee shouted, throwing a yellow flag. "Replay fourth down," he said, to everyone's surprise on the field.

"What?" I asked incredulously while still standing. Hadn't they seen what Alan did?

While the players from the opposing team argued with the referee, even taking the tackler with them, I gestured to the coach to see what we should do.

As Coach Cooper seemed to contemplate the next decision, Coach Wilkins seemed to say something serious to him.

After Coach Cooper responded to something visibly displeasing to Coach Wilkins, he signaled me to repeat the play.

The arguments from the opposing team didn't change the referee's opinion, so the fourth down was replayed.

"Set hut!" After we reformed in the formation, I shouted again, repeating the same option play, this time handing the ball off to Alan and running in the opposite direction, pretending I still had the ball to deceive the other players.

Fortunately, I could hear the crowd starting to cheer excitedly moments after Alan received the ball.

Dodging the other players and running much faster than I could have, Alan carried the ball down the field "he's at the thirty," the announcer shouted as Alan kept running, "the twenty, the ten, touchdown, Wolves!" the man shouted, causing the spectators in the stands to rise excitedly, cheering along with us on the field.

Running with my teammates, we surrounded Alan, who, despite panting from the sudden sprint, maintained his calm expression, receiving helmet taps as congratulations.

The celebration lasted several seconds more before the referee made us stop.

After scoring another extra point by field goal, we went out to allow the defensive team to enter, everyone still excited by Alan's feat.

"That's what I was talking about, well done son," proud Coach Cooper arrived next to Alan, pressing his shoulder and shaking him slightly.

Sitting next to me, Alan with an almost imperceptible smile silently stretched out his fist waiting for a blow that I happily gave.

Apparently inspired by Alan's run, the defensive team managed to stop the opposing team's attempts, quickly allowing us to enter the field again.

The scoreboard didn't change even though we had advanced several tens of yards before the final whistle sounded, allowing us to finally celebrate a won game after some lost matches.

After bidding farewell to the opposing team, we entered the locker rooms again, still excitedly celebrating our second victory of the season, my teammates and even I shouting with excitement.

"Okay, okay," Coach Cooper entered the locker room with the game ball in his hand and a big smile on his face, trying to quiet the shouts and chants of my teammates.

After a few seconds of trying, he finally succeeded. "Incredible game, guys, great run, Treveiler," Coach Cooper said, pointing at Alan. "I have a feeling this is the beginning of a winning streak to come," the man continued seriously, causing my teammates to cheer again. "But for now, what you guys need to do is hit the showers, it stinks in here," Mr. Cooper said after a moment of silence admiring the game ball with a wide smile.

Letting my teammates leave the locker room, I approached Coach Cooper in his office, who was still looking at the ball in his hand. "You should wash it before handing it over," I said, surprising the man.

"What?" he asked, not understanding.

"The ball, Sheldon won't accept it if it's dirty. You should wash it," I said, smiling at his incredulous look. Now I understood House; it's fun to show you know something you shouldn't know. Before Mr. Cooper could ask anything, I bid him goodbye, quickly walking to the showers.

After everyone cleaned off the sweat and dirt from the game, we returned to the lockers.

"Alan, are you some kind of ninja?" Suddenly brave, David asked, catching the attention of many present.

"Yeah," my calm friend responded with a hint of sarcasm, ignoring the strange looks from everyone as he dressed calmly.

"Yeah, I thought so," David said cheerfully, apparently ignoring the sarcasm in Alan's response. Brock, beside David, tapped the back of his head as a reprimand. "What?" David asked sincerely puzzled. "We all saw what he did; it was like a ninja from the movies. One second he was walking towards the stupid ogre, and the next he had him on the ground with his arm about to break," David said, making exaggerated movements.

"There's a movie my mom watches about a man who does the same; he's like a super spy," one of our teammates said. "But like the neck-breaker type," making a strange noise with his mouth, the same teenager said, aggressively moving his head on one side with the help of hand gestures.

"It's just a wrestling move," Alan said, closing his locker firmly, symbolically ending the conversation. "Whatever it is, it was pretty cool," David said, supported by everyone.

When everyone except my four friends at my request, finished dressing. "Let's go grab some pizza," I said, grabbing my things. "I'll drive," I said, playing with the key to 'Debbie' on my finger.

"Yeah," Brock said excitedly, also grabbing his things and walking out of the locker room. "I'll let my parents know," he continued before disappearing much faster than I had ever seen him run.

"I will too," David and Georgie said equally excitedly, also leaving the locker room.

"Well, then, I have to go too," Alan said calmly, taking his things from the bench. "Yeah, I'm sure your parents didn't come today either," I said, forcibly hugging my friend's shoulder. "Let's go; I have to tell my mom," I said to my friend, dragging him out of the locker room.

"I don't have any money with me, PJ," Alan reluctantly said, easily removing my arm from his shoulder.

"I'm inviting you; I didn't ask if you had money," I said, pulling the teenager back under my arm, squeezing tighter this time.

"No, PJ," Alan tried to remove my arm again, saying, "none of that. Don't be stupid, Alan. We're friends for a reason. I got your back, remember?" I repeated his words, amused, making him stop struggling to break free.

"Mom, Mrs. Cooper" coming up next to Mom who was chatting happily with Mrs. Cooper and Georgie, "congratulations PJ" Mrs. Cooper said happily while carrying Georgie's backpack, "Thank you Mrs. Cooper" I responded to the woman.

"Oh, PJ, that was an incredible game," excitedly, Mom jumped up, hugging me. "What's your friend's name?" she asked after letting go of me. "Alan," I quickly replied, deducing what Mom was about to do from her body language. "Alan, that last run was impressive. Come here," pulling Alan into a hug too, Mom continued, confirming my deduction.

It was amusing to see my incredibly skilled in fights friend being easily handled by a woman the size of my mother. "Although what you did with the opposing player was wrong, young man," Mrs. Cooper, always religious, scolded my friend, who seemed unsure how to react again. "Yes, it was, but I understand you did it for a good reason. I saw how that gorilla treated PJ," letting go of the hug, Mom said, softening the scolding from Mrs. Cooper a bit.

"Yeah, I wasn't looking for a fight," surprisingly embarrassed, Alan admitted, avoiding Mrs. Cooper's judgmental gaze.

"Well, Georgie here says you're going for pizza," Mrs. Cooper spoke again, inquisitively. "Yeah, I can take him home, Mrs. Cooper," I assured the woman, who silently thanked me with a smile before giving some bills to her son.

"Then give me your backpack, PJ," excitedly, Mom said. "Alan, don't you have to ask your parents if you can go?" looking towards the stands, Mom asked, surely trying to expand her circle of friends.

"My parents couldn't make it," Alan calmly explained. "Oh, that's too bad," Mom said sadly, probably for not being able to meet more people. "Well, do you need more money?" Mom asked, taking her purse. "No, I got it," I quickly said, avoiding her pulling out her wallet. "But if you can take Alan's backpack too, that would be perfect. We can swing by to pick it up later," I said, practically snatching the backpack from Alan's hands, who seemed especially nervous about letting go of his bag.

With my friend's backpack in my hand, I noticed it was surprisingly heavier than mine. "You know, Mom, why don't we accompany you to drop the backpacks off in your car, and when you get home, you can ask Gabe or Dad for help so you don't have to carry anything," hanging my friend's backpack over my shoulder, I said.

"Always so considerate," probably due to pregnancy hormones, Mom said, inhaling through her nose and wiping her eyes.

After accompanying the two women to their cars, we regrouped with my other three friends before heading to the parking lot where 'Debbie' was waiting.

Brock, who was the biggest of my friends, sat in the passenger seat, while my other friends sat in the back of the car. And since Brock was sitting in the front, he had the mission of choosing the music disc that would play on our way from the variety that Kat made me buy.

Eating pizza at the local joint wasn't much different from any other day in the cafeteria, except this time it was to celebrate the victory of a game.

The conversation practically revolved around what happened several minutes ago in the game.

"We could go to the arcade next time. I went with my siblings the other day, and it's a fun place," as I drove after eating, towards David's house, I said, receiving positive responses from my friends.

After dropping off David and Brock at their homes, before I could drop Alan off at his own house, I had to go get his backpack at my house. Upon arriving in front of the house, I parked the car, allowing Georgie, who had won the front seat, to get out before letting Alan out.

"See you tomorrow," Georgie said excitedly, as a farewell, walking to his house.

"You really are neighbors," Alan said amused, watching Georgie enter his house. "Yeah, sometimes my dad and Coach Cooper have barbecues; you should come to one," I said to my friend, walking towards my house.

"I'm home," I announced upon entering, greeting Bob who was sitting on the couch reading his insect magazine. "Oh, champ, I heard congratulations are in order," Bob said, getting up, affectionately patting my shoulder. "And you're Alan, right?" smiling kindly at my friend, Bob also patted his shoulder. "Yes, sir, nice to meet you, sir," straightening his back, Alan quickly said. "Wow," taken by surprise, Bob said, "I'm Bob, champ," continuing Bob said joking about my friend's actions.

"I heard you guys went for pizza, but if you want to stay for dinner, you're completely invited," Bob said kindly.

"Oh no, I don't want to be a bother; we just ate, and we had a lot of pizza, but thank you very much for the invitation," matching the man's kindness, Alan declined the offer.

"Pizza?" before Bob could say anything, from behind him, through the hallway that connects the rooms in the house, Gabe shouted incredulously, "you went for pizza and didn't invite me?" with a hurt expression on his face, he asked again.

"Sorry, kiddo, it was just for those who were at today's game. I don't recall seeing you there," I immediately replied to the little boy, although I knew he couldn't go because of his music classes.

"I was in music class," offended, he said, raising his hands.

"Oh, right," I said, pretending not to remember that fact as I shrugged.

"I'll remember this," raising his finger, Gabe threatened before running back to our room.

"Do you know where Alan's backpack was left, Dad?" I asked Bob. "Yeah, your brother took it to your room," the man replied, giving my shoulder one last press before walking back to the couch.

"Let's go get your backpack," I said to my friend, who followed me a few steps behind. "What's all that commotion?" as we passed by Teddy's door, it suddenly opened, letting out the usual music racket from my sister's room.

"Did you brought pizz—" Teddy was saying but upon seeing someone she didn't recognize in front of her, she suddenly fell silent, letting out a small, sharp scream and quickly closing her door.

"Your sister?" Alan asked amused.

"Yeah did you also see her face peeling off?" after nodding at my friend's question, I asked.

Thinking erroneously that she was safe inside her own house, Teddy, upon opening her bedroom door, had some kind of wet paper covering her face along with some tubes of plastic holding her hair in a strange hairstyle.

"Let's ignore the fact that my sister's face was completely falling off; and let's get your backpack," I continued amused, walking to my room.

After getting my friend's backpack, I took him to his house. After being there at least three different times, I already knew the way to get to his street by heart. "See you," before getting out of the car, Alan calmly said, bidding farewell with a fist bump. 

Standing at the beginning of his garden, it seemed like Alan wasn't going to move until I left his street. Understanding that he possibly didn't want me to see or hear something in his house, I reluctantly moved out of the street, watching my calm friend follow 'Debbie' with his gaze until he was no longer visible.

---

Author's Thoughts:

As always, I'm not American and not a doctor.

If anyone was expecting Kat to have a romantic relationship with the MC, I'm sorry, but that's not going to happen, at least I didn't plan in that way. Obviously, as the relationship develops, there may be mixed feelings from one or both parties, but I won't delve into that topic. Why? It's necessary for some points in the plot that their relationship remains a close friendship, nothing more.

From now on, there will be a few time skips. Since I follow the timeline of the "Young Sheldon" show, there are some things that don't align, so I'll make them up. Certain events in the world's development occur on specific dates, and I wouldn't want to change those things. I may also leave out some things related to the development of the "Young Sheldon" series, simply to make my job easier.

In terms of shows episodes, in "Young Sheldon," we're only on Season 1, Episode 5. There are still a few chapters (of the novel) left before it jumps to Season 2 of the show to take another step in world and character development.

I'm very interested in having the friendship with Alan evolve for future important events. Given the family I placed him in, many can probably imagine the general aspect of these events (while writing this chapter, I imagined a development with this character that I'll have to review in my notes for what I have planned; it could be interesting or not; I read theories).

I know what a face mask is; I have sisters, and although it may seem strange, I've used them. They're really like a wet wipe for your face.

I'm interested in knowing what you think so far. If I could divide this first volume into sections, I would say I'm about to finish the first section of this volume, with possibly two more to come.

Another chapter has passed, so new thanks are in order. I would like to especially thank:

keyakedo

RandomPasserby96

11332223

With that said,

I think that's all. As always, if you find any errors, please let me know, and I'll correct them immediately.

Thank you for reading! :D

PS: PLEASE LEAVE A REVIEW.

PS2: On average, the novel reaches 300 power stones per week. If by Wednesday (Tuesday night) the story reaches that point of power stones, I'll publish a new chapter on the same day, hoping to break the novel's record and reach around 600 power stones weekly.