TITUS REYES

Coaching football turned out to be a great distraction from actually playing football. It may have only been two weeks since the first coaching session that my brother had ambushed on me, but I could see serious improvement in the team.

The new school year had started so my work now only consisted a few hours every afternoon, but I was enjoying it more than I thought I would. The spotty, hormonal teenagers were starting to grow on me, and it helped that they looked at me like I was King.

"Coach!" Ryan, one of the wings, ran up to me. "You're late, coach."

"I'm not late." I chuckled and checked my watch to make sure I'm not incorrect. "I'm actually ten minutes early."

"We've all been here for half an hour now." He said, jogging beside me as I headed onto the field to get started with training for today.

"Half an hour?" I quirked an eyebrow in surprise. "All of you have been here for half an hour?"

"Well, I got here half an hour ago, but some of the guys were already stretching."

"I guess I'll have to start showing up sooner then." I murmured under my breath. "Has everyone warmed up?"

"Everyone but you, coach."

"Don't worry about me, Ryan." I chuckled. "Go join the others. I'll start training in a few minutes."

Training was only a few hours after school every day, but I remembered how hard it was to stay focused after a long day at work. However, these boys seemed to take it in stride as they always arrived on the field with hard work, determination, and a thirst to learn.

It helped that I had managed to set up a local game with one of our rival schools next month, so we had that to motivate us before the season started.

"Come on boys, let's get started on some drills." I ordered and joined the boys at the end of the line. They had already set up the mini obstacle course the way I liked, and I always demanded it that each boy complete it five times before we could get started with the ball.

Football was about more than just throwing and kicking the ball. It had a lot to do with stamina as there was more running involved than most people thought.

We spent the next half an hour running some drills and when we finished with that, we did some sprints up and down the pitch. It stroked my ego immensely that I out-drilled and out-sprinted all of them.

Before we got started on the actual practice part of practice, it was time for a short water break.

"What's it like being an Eagle, coach?" Herman asked, his eyes wide and flushed, still panting heavily from the sprints we had finished a few minutes ago. We really needed to walk on his stamina.

"It's the best feeling in the world." I grinned.

Nearly everyone raised their hand in the air, ready with a question and I couldn't help but laugh as I moved onto the next person.

"Did you always know that you wanted to play football professionally?"

"I was a freshman when I made it into football team in Mountbatten high, but I didn't get to play a game until my junior year. I made quarterback in my senior year and got a full ride to NYU. I've known that I've wanted to play football professionally since high school, but things really started moving when I got to college and we had scouts watching our games every now and again."

"How did you feel when you beat the world record for the number of points scored like an individual?"

"I felt like I was on top of the world." I grinned at the fond memory but as always, it was overshadowed by all the pain that followed afterward.

I was quick to move onto the next question.

"What piece of advice would you give someone that wants to follow in your footsteps?"

"Make sure you're able to work in a team. You might be a very talented player and a force to be reckoned with on the team, but you need to know how to work in a team. There's fifteen people on a team, not just you alone. It doesn't matter as much how good of a player you are if you can't work in a team. If you don't know when and how to leverage your team mates to do what's ultimately best for the team." I said, really trying to drive the message home. "Teamwork is something that I see is lacking from you guys. We're going to work on that because you need to be able to trust your teammates to have your back at all times. Both on and off the field. If you can't trust your teammates, you won't be able to work together like it's needed for a successful team. How else do you think the New York Eagles won the last season?"

My heart swelled with pride when at the end of my mini speech, all of the boys stared up at me in awe, looking as if they had hung from my every word. Trying to absorb as much information as possible.

"We have time for one more question before we have to get back to practice." I said.

"Do you think you'll be back playing in the next season with your team?"

"Yes." I answered even though I wasn't sure yet. Football just didn't have the same appeal it used to, but I wasn't going to give out a solid answer yet. Not before I made a decision and spoke to coach about it. "Now, come on. The break is over. Let's get back to work!"

Football training ended a few hours later and I had to admit, even I had broken a sweat with all the running, kicking, and throwing that we had practices. By the end of it, I felt like every single player had improved a little bit, but there was still a lot of work left to be done.

Once all the players had either left or been picked up, I headed to my car but just my luck, it wouldn't start. You'd think that last year's Audi which I bought as soon as it was available to the public wouldn't break down in less than a year, but I guess that's what happened when I left it in my parent's garage for four months, idle and uncared for.

Thankfully, my brother was at home and could swing by to pick me up.

"What's wrong with your shiny toy?" Tiberius teased as I slid into the passenger seat, reaching for the seatbelt.

"I don't know." I grumbled, hating having to rely on people like this.

After playing as a New York Eagle for seven years, and the star quarterback at that, I had succumbed quite the net worth. Most of my money was invested and yielded returns monthly but in a small town like Mountbatten, money didn't mean as much as it did in a city like New York.

"It sounded like there was something wrong with the engine."

"All the garages would be closed by now, but we can swing by tomorrow to pick it up and get it checked out."

"Thanks, Tib." I sighed and ran a tired hand down my face. "And thanks for picking me up. I really didn't want to talk home after practice."

"You don't have to thank me, T. You know you can rely on me anytime." Tiberius assured me, but the feeling like I was imposing weighed heavy on my mind.

I felt like I was imposing on my parents as well. I was their youngest child and had officially moved out of home for college an entire decade ago. I can only imagine how difficult these four months must have been on them both, to adjust to having a child home again. Especially one like me who was still healing, both physically and mentally.

"Thanks, Tib, but I hate imposing on you like this."

My brother spared me a funny look. "This isn't imposing. This is just what family does."

"I may not be imposing, but I really need a place of my own. Living with mum and dad was great at first, but I think I need some privacy." I sighed, already imagining how against it mum and dad would be once they found out what I wanted.

"Yeah, I wouldn't want to move back in with mum and dad too, no matter how much I love them." Tiberius chuckled. "Are you looking to rent a place for a short while or buy something."

"I think I should buy something." I murmured, turning to look out the window.

I knew what it sounded like. If I planned to be here for another two months only before returning to New York for the upcoming season, it would make sense to rent a place, but I was adamant on investing in something.

Or that's what I was telling myself, anyway.

"There's a few new builds that have finished being constructed these past few months if you're interested."

"Oh, I'm very interested." I was quick to say. "I just need a place of my own."

"Don't worry, little brother. We'll make that happen. We'll have your freedom back and back to your old self in no time."

I spared my brother a small smile and went back to aimlessly staring out the window.

If only that were true.

-

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