The Game

June 19th, 1999

It was that time of the year; summer was about to begin, along with the killer heat, and so were the holidays, school was about to end and so were the months of peace, where high school students were too occupied with exams to go messing up the neighbourhood. And in McLean, Virginia, it usually meant a lot of spoilt brats messing around whilst their parents went to government meetings in Washington for days on end.

McLean, Virginia, was a residential area for military and government officials, politicians and senators due to its proximity to the capital, Washington. This meant money; a lot of it. McLean was a nice place to live, with the huge houses obscured from view by acres of land and high rising trees, but it was extremely dull. Especially for the children. As soon as their parents left, each time it was like they discovered freedom for the first time ever. Parties here and there, streets littered, other students hospitalised either from fights, drugs or drink.

It was a normal neighbourhood with a revered reputation; of course something had to go wrong at some point. It's just surprising that it took so long.

It was one of the last days of term and there was an excited hum in the air; everyone knew of the freedom that awaited them once school ended. The Seniors, who were leaving to go to various universities, mostly in Washington (Georgetown University in particular), were planning what the hell they were going to unleash on the rest of the school. The Juniors and a few popular Sophomores were trying to predict their plans and try to come up with their own retaliation but it was never going to work.

It was the final of the statewide high school football season. McLean High was going against Yorktown High: some hotshots from Arlington. McLean High won the game; just. All they had to do now was party and rub it in the Yorkies faces.

Their best player had won it for them in the last minute of the match, touchdown right on the whistle. The afterparty had ended and he was in his Ford Capri with his girlfriend, about to drive her home.

"So…" He'd been telling the story for the past 10 minutes. His girlfriend was letting him savour the victory. He'd been waiting for this for months. "I know I have to do this for the team; they need someone to finally do something. And I know I'm a quarterback and it's rare to do a touchdown but I know I can make it happen. So… I see JJ launch it into the air, like 50 yards from me, just before two Yorkies took him to the ground. My helmet is kind of like blocking my view, so I try to knock it into place…" He's doing the hand actions and everything at that point. "But I lose my balance and before I know it my hands are out, like this, like this, and it falls into them. I'm trying to regain my composure, you know, and stay on my feet. Then I see like an army of them running at me, just running, like a herd of fu-"

"Hurry up." His girlfriend rolled her eyes and smiled.

"Like a herd of zombies." He continued, ignoring her. "So, I turn and run my butt off. I'm nearly at the line, you know, that close, when one of them grabbed my foot and dragged me backwards. I tried to reach for the touchdown but I was too far. I would never make it. So I just hugged the ball and clung on for life, you know. And, boy, am I glad I did!"

She chuckled in anticipation of her own joke. "So am I."

"L, come on! I'm not that bad."

"You're not. Still, I wouldn't want to see what would've happened if you'd lost."

He stared out of the front window, trying to remember where he left off.

"So, then, I kicked the guy. It doesn't work. I see no other option. He's crawling up me, like a hornet, trying to get the ball, his helmet getting closer and closer… And I know, trust me, from personal experience, how it feels when the bottom of your helmet gets shoved up into your chin. I know how bad it hurts and I did not wanna do it. But then, I remembered that that Yorkie had jerked me off earlier when he tackled me and it was a foul, the son of a… And so, his chin went over my knee and I brought it up hard, shoving the helmet into his chinbone, is that a thing?, and jaw, making him fall off me and roll over, like a newly trained puppy, clutching his face. I jumped to my feet and dived… TOUCHDOWN! The sweet sound of victory."

"Wow." She slow-clapped. "With all those metaphors and crap... (I think like a newly trained puppy was my favourite.) You'd have made a great author. But you'll be an even better football player. Be the new Jerry Rice, huh?"

He chuckled. "Jerry Rice was a Wide Receiver. I'm a quarterback. Maybe the next Joe Montana."

"Oh, shut up, smartass."

"But, seriously, do you think Football… Do you think it's the right career for me?" He put the keys in the ignition, getting ready to drive, before turning in his seat to face her.

"Look, whatever you turn your mind to, you'll do good. You've been accepted and you've already been accepted into one of the best college teams in the country. You're good at whatever you do."

"I'm gonna miss you, L. I really am." He leaned over and hugged her.

"I'm gonna miss you too… Montana."

He laughed and pulled away, his eyes glistening though he tried to hide it.

"Now, cut out being corny. It's not like you." She grinned and put on the radio.

The song The Killing Moon came blasting out on the radio as he started to drive round the sharp bends of Virginian country roads.

"My brother loves this song. It ain't that good."

She laughed a little then paused for a while. "I like your younger brother. He's a nice boy."

"Trust me, you don't have to live with him." He looked out of the side window to look at his friend's house. They both knew everyone in the neighbourhood: McLean was just that kind of place. "I wonder how Brad's getting on." He said, trying desperately to change the subject.

She was having none of that. "Come on... I know you are going through a hard time with your brother's diagnosis and you feel bad about leaving but you can't do that to yourself... you just need to focus on yourself. This is your future, your brother will be fine. You just need to focus on getting Müller on the back of a shirt and number one in the list of the best quarterbacks of all time. Huh?"

"I know but it's so hard. What if it was one of your sisters? I'm sure you'd feel the same, L. Mom and Dad are either busy or away. Busy usually means away with them as well. I feel like someone just needs to be there for him."

"Yeah but that someone doesn't always have to be you."

He slowed the car down and pulled up onto the pavement. He'd been on this street a thousand times before, during the two years he'd been with her. The street was a pretty street but similar to the other few streets in McLean. McLean was such a small community. Just on her street alone, two people who attended their high school lived there: Jimmy and Charlie. Charlie had asked L out to prom but she refused and instead went on to ask him. That's how everything had begun.

***

He remembered it clearly, Prom night. A night he would never forget and would treasure for the rest of his life.

They arrived in a hired limousine; him and all his loud friends. They left their alcohol in the car as they left for the hall, laughing and staggering all over the place. He hadn't had much to drink so he was still well aware. He didn't like the taste of beer. For some reason, he always thought it tasted somewhat like wood shavings. However, it was starting to grow on him.

As he entered the hall, he started to feel nervous and his hands started to shake. It was all really happening. People dressed in their finest clothes, dancing with each other to naff pop music. Pushing his way through the crowd, he saw her. She was so beautiful.

She wore a bright blue dress, a pale turquoise almost but more bluey, sprinkled with silver beads. As she turned around, he saw that she was wearing this beautiful silver necklace with a clear diamond held in a sort of silver diamond frame. Her dark hair was done up in a kind of plait bun and little wisps of curly hair framed the side of her face where she had tried to tuck them behind her ears.

"Hey!" She shouted, moving away from her group of girls who had been chatting and drinking water or something. He hadn't really paid attention to the others.

They talked nervously for what felt like an eternity to him. She seemed completely at ease: smiling, laughing, joking. Eventually, he tried to do the same and he started to relax after a while. Then, she asked if he wanted to dance.

He started to panic a little. He had no idea how to dance properly. She stood, trying not to laugh at his shocked expression, awaiting his response. He had no choice.

"Sure. I'd love to."

At first, there were a couple of fumbles, but she just laughed. I mean, all they did was just sway side to side, so much couldn't really go wrong but somehow he still managed to mess up.

At the end of the night, he walked her home, both of them gossiping about the people in their grade, or laughing at stupid things people had done that night. It was the best night of his life.

***

He smiled as he remembered that night. He knew her road well as he'd been there plenty of times since.

On her road there were only about 5 houses on either side but it was still nearly 100 metres long, before it split into two other residential roads. The pavements were lined with tall lime trees and birches. The street was dark, empty and silent; everything was still except for the cicadas chirping. Summer nights were always like that in McLean.

They were parked under a street lamp but it wasn't very bright. He looked up at her house. He could barely see it at the end of the tree lined drive, due to the fixed positioning of the leaves on the trees and the dark shrouding it, but he could just about make out the gleaming whiteness of it, the 4 front steps, the porch with it's comfy window seats and the roof balcony, decked with chairs and a table, where they once played cards, above their garage.

The song changed to his favourite: Smells Like Teen Spirit.

"Some good music at last. It is a work of art."

His green eyes were still staring out of the window beside her head, not moving even as he said that. Her hand resting on the car door handle she said to him: "What is it?"

"We played cards up there once. Just us." She couldn't tell if the light was making his eyes glisten or the tears in them.

"Yeah... I remember you cheated."

"Once, L, once." A smile broke across his face for a second before it became serious again. "It was such a long time ago. Damn, I wish things could go back to how they were then. Everything was just more simple. We had none of... none of this to worry about."

"Course not." She seemed to agree with him, putting on a serious face. "We didn't have brains back then." Her contagious laugh started again, a dimple forming in her left cheek the way it always did when she laughed or smiled. She tucked a loose strand of her wavy hair behind her ear, only to fall forward laughing and let it out again. "Oh man, come on, laugh. This is supposed to be us having the time of our lives. Don't let this pointless crap get to you. I can't handle this either. It makes me depressed. Come on... for me? You'll find ways around it. Like you always do. Things will work out in the end. I know it."

She opened the door. "I'll see ya."

His eyes were now fixed out of the front windshield. At first he was looking at nothing. Then, his eyes focused on a figure in the distance. Whoever they were, they looked like a moving shadow, not a person. They hid themselves from the lights, clinging to the shadows cast by the tree.