WHEN I MEET my parents at the airport I'm all nerves and anxiety. Ever since they got the call from the coach and booked their hotel I've been all over the place. My dad didn't hesitate to accept the tickets and my mother followed right behind despite their schedules, but knowing my dad he probably made his manager clear everything for the championship game. He wouldn't miss that even if his legs were chopped off. The voices in the airport only grow louder the more I think about my parents and their arrival. They informed me last minute that my brother wouldn't be able to make it because he was too busy shooting an Under Armor commercial which was a relief on my part. After all, he and his narcissistic tendencies are one less thing I have to worry about at this dinner.

I checked the time and saw my parents landed a few minutes ago which means they should be coming through the gateway any moment now. I straightened out my shirt, pulled down my sleeves, and adjusted my collar. If a single hair was hair of place I wouldn't hear the last of it from my mother and then I know my father would join in with a lecture on me taking better care of myself because I had a little lint off my shirt. I chewed on my cheeks at the thoughts, the criticism that would come from them both the moment they saw and found something to be displeased about and I searched for it thoroughly but I saw the flashing camera lights before I saw them, the shutters going off on nearby phones by the gateway.

It takes a while before I see them but with the camera flashing to get a good picture I heard my parents entrance before I saw them. Fans of CJ Bergman came up to him with smiles so wide I'm worried they might pull a muscle but they don't care and just want a picture with one do the greatest basketball players of all time, and despite not having played a game since his retirement his stardom has yet to fade. He takes a few pictures, mostly of the kids and teens who already have their phones ready. After nineteen years of dealing with this, I've grown used to my dad and his celebrity status. It was a lot worse when I was younger though and he was still in the league. We couldn't go anywhere without someone screaming his name, wearing his jersey, praising him.

I used to think having a famous dad was the coolest thing in the world, but the more I grew up the more I realized it's more of a curse than a blessing.

My dad takes a few more photos, signs a few more jerseys, and fake laughs at a few more jokes before he and Mom finally make their way over to me. The shades on his face are blockades to his emotions and I can't tell what he's thinking as he looks at me, my mom is always smiling but I've seen her say the meanest things about her friends with that same smile before. I can't read their faces but I know they can probably read my everything. I prepare for the judgment, the head shake, and subtle laughter that's more condescending than it is comforting. I'm prepared; I'm ready.

They step in front of me with their luggage trailing behind them. My mom's head tilts at me as she takes me in, her eyes subtly scanning me up and down in the process and when she's pleased she smiles even harder. My dad removes his shades and does the same, his inspection of me more noticeable but after a quick once over a small grin stretches across his lips. "Good to see you Cassian," he said to me, my mother's oxygen-taking hug coming right after.

"How have you been baby?" She cooed, Chanel perfume filling my nostrils. She pulls apart and looks at me with a sentimental smile. "Good, I suppose. We've seen the articles."

I faked a laugh. "I'm fine. Same as always." I assured.

"Good to hear," my dad said. "Let's hope I'll be able to keep this positive energy all week with your mother here. You know she loves to explore every city we go to." He shifts the attention off me and for the first time during this whole ordeal, I feel myself exhale a breath I didn't even know I was holding.

My mom nudges him with her purse, a laugh escaping her lips because she knows it's true. "After all the sports games you've dragged me to over the years, you're the last one to talk."

••••

After my parents dropped off their belongings at the hotel suite they'd be staying in for the week, they got dressed into something more fitting for the team dinner tonight. My mother changed from her leisure airport attire into a more fitting dress with a matching handbag, and my father into a black button-down and matching slacks. All the boys on the team had a dress code to follow which consisted of a white button-up, black tie, and black slacks.

"The restaurant they picked doesn't look too bad," my mother chimes when the chauffeur stops the car at the front entrance of the restaurant, the three of us seated together in the backseat of the expensive transportation that honestly wasn't even that needed. We could've just taken a regular Uber like normal people and it would've been way quicker but nothing is ever simple with the Bergmans. "I would hope so after all the money people have sent them over the years. It's nice to see that the tuition payments are going to something." My dad turns to her and says, a low laugh coming out of both their mouths.

"We need to hurry," I mumbled to both of them as the driver opened the door for us. I walk up the concrete steps that lead into the restaurant. My parents follow a few steps behind speaking to each other under their breaths but I'm too annoyed to listen so I just ignore them and make my way inside. The doorman of the restaurant opens the entrance door for me and my parents follow swiftly behind taking the lead into the semi-crowded restaurant.

My eyes wander around the scene until they spot a familiar Caleb standing next to someone who looks like a much bigger version of him. He sends me a wide toothy grin and for the first time today, my nerves seem to settle. Caleb manages to sneak away from the man I'm assuming is his dad based on the uncanny resemblance and walks over to me.

"Oh my God, this tie is killing me Cassian." Caleb lets out a raspy groan as he struggles with the tie that's tied entirely too tight around his neck. I take the tie and fix it so my friend can properly breathe and he lets out an exaggerated sigh of relief once I adjust it for him. "Better?"

"You're a lifesaver Cas!"

I patted his shoulder as my eyes started to scan around the restaurant again. "Where's everyone else?" I asked him.

"Well, the team has a reserved room in the back of the restaurant so that's mostly where everyone else is but there's a few of us out here in the main area," Caleb informs me, pointing over to his right where I could easily see embarrassed Idris standing next to a very taller and blonde woman with the same ocean blue eyes at him, a photo-book in her hands as she showed and pointed at the pictures in it to some of the other guys on the team. Not too far from them was Froy and his large family, a little girl on his hip and a little boy tugging at his pant legs as he bickered back and forth with the two twin teenage girls in front of him.

I guess everyone's family is a little chaotic.

"Where's Jaylen?" I asked.

Caleb shrugged his broad shoulders at me. "No clue but knowing him he's probably gonna be a little late which speaking of we should head into the room coach reserved for us before he starts bitching— oh . . ." the sudden pause of his voice cause my brows to raise at him but then his eyes go behind and me and widen as his mouth falls agape.

"Y-you're . . ." The words sputter out of his mouth like a broken sink and that's when I realized what was going on. I could feel my dad's presence behind me before I even saw him. "It's THE CJ Bergman." Caleb's voice falls into a whisper of admiration at my dad who stood behind me with his usual nonchalant smile.

"Cassian, I thought we lost you for a second," my dad said placing a hand on my shoulder as if to keep me in place so I wouldn't run off again. My dad then turns his eyes to my starstruck friend and offers a polite head nod. "You must be one of Cassian's teammates? Nice to meet you."

"Hi, sir, Mr. Bergman . . . CJ or do you prefer Cassian or maybe Big Cas —" I hold up a hand to my friend's rambling mouth and roll my eyes. I grabbed ahold of my parents as my friend's shirt circuits beside me and dragged them to the meeting space where the dinner would be held for us.

It's gonna be a long night.

••••

After a few minutes had passed the families had all found themselves in the back of the restaurant in a large meeting space that the coach had reserved for us. There were circular tables with white cloth and flowers designated for each family, and a glass of champagne and wine set out for them as we waited for the dinner to begin. I looked around the room to see everyone at their tables with their families, talking amongst themselves with soft smiles and playful eyes. Even Froy and his family seem to be having a good time despite their bickering earlier as he coddled the little girl in his lap, tickling her playfully.

Everyone seemed to be enjoying their family's company after being away from them for so long however my table felt a little bit different. My mom was too busy taking pictures of the place and posting them on her Instagram story for the aesthetic so that's where her attention was and my dad was too busy taking pictures with my teammates who would come up to him shyly and ask for a picture which he never declined so I sat in silence, watching the bubble in my champagne glass raise to the top as I waited for the dinner to begin.

The doors to the room open up again and in walks, a face that makes the inside of my stomach feel like fizzling champagne. Jaylen walks in with wondering eyes and an even more curious smile on his face when his eyes land on me across the room. Interlocked at his arm is a much shorter woman with round cheeks that reminds me of Jaylen whenever he'd laugh too hard. Jaylen waves at me and I mirror back at him but his grandmother nudges him to find their seat and he does. Amid everything, amid all this anguish, amid all the misery, he is my moment of peace.

But it's swiftly interrupted when my dad clears his throat from beside me. "That Jaylen Park?" he asked and I locked back in, turning my attention away from the boy and turning to my dad. "Yeah, that's him."

He nods to himself, picking up his glass of champagne and taking a small sip. "He's talented. I've seen him mentioned in the articles with you. You two work well together." I looked back over at Jaylen who finally found his designated table pulling out a chair for his grandmother who quickly slapped away his hands as he tried to assist her very much giving off the notion that she could do it on her own. "Yeah, we do," I say to him.

My dad laughs to himself lowly taking another sip. "You're better though."

"Dad . . ." I sent him a look that he casually rubbed off with another sip of his drink and a soft chuckle. "What? It's a fact. I'm speaking factually."

"You don't have to compare us though. We're teammates." I refrained from letting something more abrasive exit my mouth knowing that it would most likely cause a scene at our table so I settled on a subtle eye roll as I leaned back in my seat, arms crossing my chest turning my attention elsewhere.

At the front of the room, I see Coach Carter in a piece of black suit and white undershirt with a glass of champagne in his hands. Even in moments like this for celebration, that scowl is still present on his face like he's always in need of a cigarette, but after our last few months together I've grown to realize that's just his face and he was probably just born like that. He clings a silver fork against his glass as he walks to the center gathering everyone's attention. Beside him comes Mr. Drew clad in a similar attire, an eager-looking smile on his face. He's been hovering over us this last week of the season. I always catch him on the sidelines during practice watching us and taking notes here and there.

Froy said he thinks he's working on some kind of sports documentary for ESPN about college athletes. Celeb said he's Coach Carter's secret lover who he finally reunited with after years of being apart. I wouldn't be surprised if both answers were true.

"I just want to start by saying thank you to everyone for being able to make the annual team dinner," Carter starts off his speech with the same nonchalance and coolness I've gotten from him since I came to this school. "Your sons have been working hard this season and their hard work has not gone unnoticed. They spent almost every day out in the field from sun up to sun down training for this very specific moment this Friday . . ."

Carter continues but after a while, I start to zone out. I look around the room to see everyone's eyes ahead mostly the parents, but when I turn to the left at the table across the room I see a pair of eyes already looking at me. Jaylen smiles when he sees that I see him, pink lips stretching across his face into a soft smile. He sticks his tongue out at me childish and out of instinct I mirror the face back at him. He then nods towards Carter and Mr. Drew at the front of the room before he rolls his eyes to the back of his head pretending to be asleep.

"Boring," he mouthed.

"Very." I mouthed a replied.

I see his grandmother reach underneath the table his pinch his thigh causing him to jump in his seat. She gets his attention and tells him to listen and I chuckle at the scene. I do the same and turn my attention back to Coach as he continues to give his speech about the team and our accomplishments on the team so far.

"A couple of weeks ago I got a very important call from an old friend of mine," Coach says, motioning towards Mr. Drew who sends out a small wave to the families in front of him. "he called me at like three-something in the morning because he was in the UK looking at a few other teams, but he called me and said if he can come to have a look at my boys and I said sure, why the hell not? So for the past week, he's been out on the field watching the boys prepare for this upcoming championship. I didn't tell them who he was because I wanted to be their authentic selves on the field but Mr. Drew here is a recruiter for Major League Soccer."

"Holy shit," I found myself saying aloud, my parents both sending me a look. My mom was a little caught off guard but my dad seemed to have a smirk on his face. Everyone seemed to be a little taken aback by the news. We all thought he was just some random reporter or some shit, not an actual recruiter. 

"For a week he's been watching the boys and taking notes of their skills, how they play and how they perform because well . . ." Carter drifted his eyes over to Mr. Drew. "I'll let you explain it."

Mr. Drew is all smiles as he looks ahead at the families in front of him, everyone all ears now at his sudden reveal. "It's been an amazing experience seeing you boys prepare for this very important game and I just want to say you all are very talented. It's only been a week but I've seen more skill from you all than I haven't from any team over the last two years. You all really know the value of teamwork and I admire that about you all and if I had in my power I would recruit you all to the league but sadly that's not how it works."

Mr. Drew clears his throat at the front. "Over the week I've been taking a note and analyzing a lot of you to help narrow down a very important decision. The MLS has selected one player from this team to join the league and it's up to me to decide who gets the spot. Me and Carter have spent almost every night going over your guys and your stats and skills to narrow it down but we're stuck on two specific players," he said and I felt my stomach turn. "We were gonna wait till after the game to announce this but I think it's okay to say it now." Carter shrugs his shoulder at Mr. Drew and they both nod in agreement.

"The two players that are in the runnings for being drafted are Cassian Bergman . . ." I felt the shock register on my face before I could hide it, my father turning to me with a sly smile on his lips but then Mr. Drew continued. "And Jaylen Park!" his smile quickly dropped at his name.

I looked across the room to see Jaylen looking at me, Both our eyes widened with surprise and bewilderment but before I could even comprehend what was happening my father stood to his feet, large hands clapping together and quickly my mom did the same, and then entire room stood on their feet celebrating Jaylen and I on the announcement.

"We still haven't decided on who we're gonna pick so just remember to give it your all out on that field this weekend!"

I am at a loss for words because I'm not sure how a take all this in. I should be jumping with joy, running around the restaurant like a fool because this is all I've worked for — all my dad prepared me for. It's a right of passage for my family and yet I couldn't knock this churning feeling in the pit of my stomach. I look over at Jaylen to see Caleb, Froy, and Idris at his table with his grandma, all of them coddling the boy with praise. I know he's probably excited, this is all he's been dreaming about too. He finally notices me looking at him and his lips press into a thin smile.

I mirror with my own, my smile fragile and delicate as I force it upon my face.

••••

After dinner, the reserved room for us becomes a place of soft music, flowing drinks, and exquisite finger foods. Everyone's a little more wined down now after the dinner. The parents mingled with each other on their third glass of champagne. Even Carter seemed to be enjoying him as he and Drew chatted with my dad and a few other parents. Everyone was having a good time but I still felt a little uneasy. I stood by the catering table leaning against the wall sipping away on my drink as I watched everyone enjoy each other's company.

I see a pair of almond eyes lock on me from across the room and I try to fix the look on my face but Jaylen makes a face at me before I can hide it. A small smile played on his lips as he started to make his way over to me. "You good Bergman?" he asked, taking a small sip from his glass.

"Yeah I'm fine," I told him as he eyes from behind the rim of his glass. "It's just a lot is going on all of a sudden," I tell him truthfully.

"Yeah, I understand. First, it was the game now it's this drafted shit." He let out a small laugh.

I raised a brow at him. "You aren't nervous?"

"Nervous about what?" He made a face at me.

"Everything . . ."

Jaylen shakes his head at me, kissing his teeth in the process like a child. "Eh, not really. Should I be? Are you nervous?"

"A little," I admitted, but it felt like more to myself than him. "It's just it's so much happening in so little time. I thought it a championship game was all I had to worry about but now I'm competing to get drafted into the league and I know I should be grateful for the opportunity but it's just –" Jaylen blinks at me, long lashes flutter as his brown eyes locked down onto my own for a moment, softening as he searched my face.

"I don't want to compete with you," I tell him.

"And you won't," Jaylen says to me, stepping a little closer as his lips trickle into a sly smile. "We're in this together so there's no competition. We're just gonna go out there and do our best and whatever happens happens." his words were like vanilla pudding, sweet in their ordinary sort of way, it was the richness of his tones – luxurious and warm that brought me comfort and suddenly my stomach doesn't feel like it's in knots anymore. But before I can even respond another voice creeps up behind us in our little secluded corner in the room that I thought was safe from the world.

"Jaylen Park right?" I hear my dad before I see him, but when I do I'm met with a plastered smile and it took everything in me not to grab Jaylen's hand and drag him away. Jaylen turned around to my dad, the two almost at eye level which is not a regular occurrence for someone like CJ Bergman.

"Hey sir," Jaylen says, his eyes darting back over to me quickly before returning to meet my dad's stare. The two shake hands, firm and tight, and my dad never let his eyes leave the boy.

"You're talented. I've seen you play and I must say I am impressed." My dad complimented but I couldn't help but feel the subtle malice hidden in his words I don't Jaylen could spot it as easily as I because his face was flushed from the compliments or maybe it's just because it's my dad.

"Thank you. That means a lot coming from someone like you." Jaylen replies.

My dad gives Jaylen another one of his famous smiles before looking over to me, my face completely different from the star-stricken boy beside me. "So it's you two for the win huh? Must be exciting? I remember when I was told I was getting drafted it took me days to let the news sink in, and the championship coming up? A lot of pressure."

"Yeah, but Bergman's good and we work well together so I'm not too much worried about the game. I know we're gonna play well."

"Hm," my dad let out a subtle chuckle. "Playing together may not be the best thing for you too. Obviously, play together to help win the game but you still don't want to let him outshine do you?" he asked Jaylen, a blank look on his face as he blinked back at my dad.

"I mean this is it right here, right? It's all or nothing and you wanna give it your all because if you don't then the opportunity is gone,"

"Dad . . ." I call out to him sending a look I wish could kill but he's still breaths and just shrugs me off.

"I'm just saying things are gonna get real this weekend and only one of you is gonna make it out. Jaylen do you want me to make it to the league? Because I know Cassian does."

I exhale a low sigh. "Alright, enough."

"Imma leave you two with this advice as someone who's already made a name for themselves in the sports world. You two . . ." he pointed between the two of us. "are not a team. This is a competition, yeah? You two are each other's biggest threat and on that field, I should see both of you trying to outdo one another because there's only one spot left it all comes down to who wants it so cheer and celebrate for now because when it comes time for this weekend it should be a full out war on that soccer field."

••••
EXCUSE ANY MISTAKES OR ERRORS

Also I know this isn't how the drafts work for athletes but I don't know the details and work that goes into it either so I'm making up my own rules. Sorry athletes!

I also imagine Cassian's dad as Sheemer Moore for some reason. Just light skin and passive aggressive as fuck.