Talent Showcase

'Boring, this is so Boring' These were the thoughts that were running through Marvin's head as he tried on what seemed to be hundreds of clothes, and they had only taken about half of them. Marvin was frustrated with the amount of time he had spent in the store and wasn't the only one.

"How much longer, we've been here for like four hours" Austin complained, he wasn't exaggerating, Brooklyn and Olivia had been walking around for so long it was surprising they hadn't walked around the whole mall. "Quit complaining, you made us wait for thirty minutes, all so you could see a stupid Beaver" Brooklyn barked at her brother.

 "Berry's not stupid, he's awesome. What's stupid is taking an hour to pick a fricking scarf" Austin barked back, Marvin just watched on as the two siblings began arguing, 'They argue every fucking second' Marvin thought to himself, he was getting tired of the siblings.

Olivia and Joel were walking behind the three kids, they didn't seem to care for the argument breaking out between their children. After years of living with them, they had become used to it and had even gained a skill in tuning them out, something Marvin was wishing he could do.

As the group walked they passed by a man handing out flyers, he quickly got in front of the group halting their progress "Hey guys, come sign up for a 3v3 football tournament going down at the Academy store on the fourth floor, it's gonna be starting in twenty minutes and there's only two spots left. There's a six hundred dollar academy gift card for winning the tournament" The man spoke a mile a minute.

Austin grabbed the flyer from the man, he got hooked as soon as the man mentioned football, Joel grabbed the flyer from his son not caring much about his protest. Reading the flyer Joel saw the rules and prizes up for grabs, first place got a six hundred dollar gift card, second place got a two hundred dollar gift card and third got a pair of cleats or a hundred dollar gift card.

"Looks like it could be fun," Joel said showing the flyer to Olivia. She looked at it but wasn't sure if it would be worth it, a six hundred dollar gift card to a sports store was not that much to her, Austin already had his cleats and mouth guard for football after all.

"Mom pleasseee, we've been shopping for so long" Austin gave his mom some puppy dog eyes, Olivia was unsure, "Well three people are needed so if Marvin says yes then we'll go cause I'm not playing and you know Brooke won't even consider it"

Austin quickly went to Marvin, 'Fuck sakes' Marvin thought in his head, he could already feel the headache he would be getting as Austin came to him. "Marvin dude, we gotta do this, aren't you tired of shopping, we could go play some football instead and have some fun" Austin began persuading Marvin.

"It would be me and Dad as the receivers and you would be quarterback, we'd sweep the whole tournament and we'd get a sweet gift card, come onnn" Austin continued persuading Marvin. 'Why put the decision on me, you're his mom' Marvin complained about Olivia pushing Austin onto him.

Getting tired of hearing Austin's begging Marvin said "Sure". Austin fist-pumped the air at Marvin's agreement. Brooklyn gave him the stink eye as she watched her brother's eccentric celebration, "You're a caveman you know" she said.

Austin immediately stopped celebrating at his sister's insult and began an argument with his sister, ignoring them Joel signed up himself, Austin, and Marvin for the tournament. "Wait, Dad, we should get the spare gloves from the car" Austin stopped the argument to ask his dad for his receiver gloves.

"Yeah sure, I'll meet y'all down there then," Joel said turning around to head to the parking lot. The rest of the group made their way towards the event, as they walked Olivia placed her hand on Marvin's shoulder causing him to physically flinch.

"Sorry, I just wanted to say thank you for saying yes to Austin, he's a huge football fan and always wants a chance to be a receiver like his dad" Olivia thanked Marvin for saying yes, Marvin simply nodded at her words. He didn't mind too much, he figured they'd play a game or two and then leave, plus he got the opportunity to see the great Joel Keppler in action.

Getting down to where the event was going on, Marvin saw a bright green field, it was forty yards in length and was surrounded by quite a large crowd. "Wow, seems like that salesman guy is quite good at his job" Olivia commented looking at the amount of people that had gathered.

"It's gonna be awesome" Austin grew more excited as he saw the amount of people, the group found a spot that wasn't quite crowded and Austin immediately began stretching. "You should do some arm circles, it'll be bad if your arm starts hurting cause you threw too much," Austin told Marvin, his dad had taught him the importance of physical health and he didn't want Marvin to injure himself, especially in a big moment like the final game of the tournament.

Marvin did as Austin told him, moving his arms in a clockwise motion before moving them counterclockwise, as he stretched Joel found the group and handed Austin a pair of gray gloves. "Yeah that's good, stretch out your body, it'll make your performance better," Joel said as he too began stretching.

"Welcome everybody, glad we could get such a big crowd for today's event, we'll be starting things shortly so if you are participating please get ready" A man in a referee outfit spoke into a mike, as he talked the excitement in the crowd began growing, some people began stretching taking the tournament seriously.

"You think we'll see anyone good?" Austin questioned, looking at the amount of people around them he figured that there'd be some people who were decent at playing. Marvin was not worried about the competition around them, he didn't really care about the tournament, he only agreed to this so Austin would stop complaining and so he could watch Joel play. He was also quite confident in his ability to throw the ball, 'Let's get this done' he thought in his head, mentally preparing himself.

"Don't worry about that, we're just here to have some fun" Joel said trying to quell his son's competitive spirit. His words didn't seem to do much as Austin's eyes got even more focused, looking at some of the tall people in the crowd. "We gotta have a gameplan though," Austin said, he understood his dad wanted to have fun but he wanted to win.

"Fair, whatcha thinking?" Joel asked, he wanted to see his son's planning skills. "Well, I'd say we do some short routes, maybe flats, ins or outs, maybe even some, go routes, the field's small enough for them to be deadly, and you and I are shifty enough to get open. Honestly, the only variable is Marvin, we don't know how strong he is or how accurate he is" Austin said, Joel smiled as he heard Austin's gameplan.

"Yeah, that should work, how far do you think you can throw Marvin?" Joel asked Marvin, he needed to know his arm strength for him to determine how deep his routes could be. "The whole field," Marvin said, Joel was surprised by Marvin's confidence, he was expecting him to say something like halfway or a bit more.

"Well, in that case, we'll be good, let's go they're calling for teams," Austin said, he was glad to hear Marvin's words, he was already imagining how he would speed past anyone guarding him. The group made their way closer to the field reaching the edge of the field.

"Alright for the first round, we have Team Carson and Team Jordan" The referee from earlier was calling for two teams. A group of three made their way to the referee, it was a man who was older, a guy who was skinny and younger than the other man, and the last member was a lanky kid. "Alright we've got Team Jordan, we're looking for Team Carson now, that's Gary, Trish, and Donald, Team Carson" the referee called out again.

After several minutes, the referee gave up on calling the other team, "Alright then, I guess you guys get a bye to the next round" The referee awarded a bye to Team Jordan causing them to cheer as they moved on. "Okay then can I get team Keppler and Team Daughty" The referee called for new teams.

"That's us," Austin said as he began making his way toward the referee, Marvin and Joel followed along as Olivia cheered them on. "We're Team Keppler," Joel said as they reached the referee, he nodded at them and the other team approached the referee as well. The other team was composed of a man who seemed to be middle-aged, a lady with an athletic build, and a boy slim boy. 

The boy stood at around 5'6, two inches shorter than Marvin but the same height as Austin, the man was around 6'0 and the woman was quite tall standing at 5'10. They were all smiles as they reached the referee, "We're team Daughty" the man said to the referee.

"Good, now let me explain the rules. We'll be playing two-hand touch, so you'll need to get two hands on a person for it to count as a tackle" The referee began explaining the rules to both teams. "The game ends after a team scores twice, a blitz will be allowed after the five seconds on the clock expires, and whoever is quarterback can only scramble after the five seconds have expired. Tackling the quarterback before they get past two yards counts as a sack." the referee continued explaining the rules.

"If a pass is intercepted that will count as a score, you'll have four downs to score, if you are unable to score in those four downs the ball is turned over to the other team and they will start their drive from the spot the ball is turned over. You guys understand?" The referee finished explaining the rules, both teams nodded yes and the referee continued.

"Alright, please play a fair game, this is all for fun here. Since we all agree, let's decide who gets the ball first" The referee pulled out a coin from his pocket, he pointed at team Daughty for them to make the call. "Heads," The man said, the referee flipped the coin catching it while it was in the air, "It's heads, you guys get the ball first" The referee handed the man the ball first.

"I'm Scott" The man introduced himself extending his hand forward for a handshake, the lady and kid did the same, "I'm Lisa" "I'm Gavin" Both of them introduced themselves. Joel shook each of their hands introducing himself, Austin followed suit and Marvin did the same too. Team Daughty moved a couple of yards away to make a game plan, Marvin took this opportunity to look more at the team, and he noticed the scar that ran alongside Scott's right calf.

He could also see Gavin constantly looking around, 'He's nervous, and not paying attention. They're not gonna be trying as hard as they could' Marvin made a mental decision on the mentality of the opposing team, he stopped focusing on the other team and began listening to Joel talk.

"Alright, Austin you'll blitz after the ten seconds, me and Marvin will guard the recievers. Marvin make sure you stay a couple of yards away, don't try to press him" Joel assigned defensive assignments. Team Daughty was ready and Joel had the boys get to their positions.

(A/N: FOOOOTBALLLLL!!!, is Team Keppler gonna completely dominate, is Marvin's confidence actually arrogance, who knows. As usual please leave a comment on your thoughts and ideas on the chapter, and I hope you have a great day or night.