Page 11 of 1st and 10 (Season of Change #1)

Arms over my head, I bend down to stretch my back. I bounce a few times, groaning at the pleasure-pain of feeling my muscles push to their limits. I’m keyed up and ready to play, but we’ve still got another half hour before game time.

My phone beeps from my locker and I jump up to retrieve it, hoping it’s Phia.

I haven’t seen or talked to her since this morning when I kissed her goodbye to head over to the stadium.

Game Day is a big deal around here and Coach insists we arrive hours before we need to, so we don’t get hounded by rabid fans as we enter.

It gives us time to decompress, workout, tape up, dress, and mentally prepare for the grueling hours on the field.

Only problem is I’ve usually caught at least glimpses of my girl by now. Moving around with the other support staff getting everything ready. Today though…nothing.

Mom: We love you, Crue! So proud of you! Go out there and whoop some butt!

Chuckling, I respond to my mom.

Crue: Love you too! Their ass is grass!

Mom: Language!

“Your mom yelling at you for cussing again?” Gill bumps his shoulder into mine as he passes me for his own locker.

“Always.”

Dad: Stomp them fuckers into the ground!

Dad: Quit cussing at your mother.

Crue: I didn’t cuss *at* her, I cussed *near* her.

Dad: Don’t use that college education to weasel your way out of this.

Crue: Then what’s the point of it if not to argue my way out of trouble eloquently?

Dad: When are we gonna meet your girl? Your mother is champing at the bit and I’m having trouble keeping her *distracted*.

Crue: Bye week, we’ll be down next weekend. And I’m about to play an intense game of football and you decide now would be a good time for innuendos?

Dad: There is never a bad time for innuendos. Play smart, play hard. Love you!

Crue: Love you too!

“My dad is a cruel man.”

Gill snorts, “Oh, yeah?”

“He implied things about keeping my mother distracted from meeting Phia.”

“Meeting the parents. If memory serves you’ve never had to do that before. Nervous?”

I shrug, “Not really. They’re gonna love her as much as I do.”

In a rare moment of sentimentality, Gill sobers meeting my eyes. “She’s incredible, Crue. And perfect for you. Good to see you happy.”

“I am happy. Happier than I thought possible.” I glance around the locker room, staring at the main doors like I have x-ray vision and will spot Phia in the corridors. “I’d be ecstatic if I could lay eyes on her before the game.”

“She’s around somewhere, probably staying away from you so she doesn’t jump your dick. You are irresistible in those tight, white pants.” I smacked him as he fans himself dramatically.

“Fuck you.”

“Not on your best day. You fill out those tight pants well, but that ain’t my scene.”

I scoff, hitting the call button on Phia’s name…again. It rang four times before going to voicemail. I hung up and threw it in my locker, slamming the door. “Not what Yanok said.”

“Dude!” Gill was offended and it made my lips twitch, but not enough to actually smile. “I’d rather fuck a meat grinder than Yanok!”

“Can you help me look for her?” I whisper to Gill, knowing he’ll help me out.

“Yeah. I could use a walk.” It was a lame excuse, but I appreciate him playing it off for me. My stomach is churning, a clear indication of my nerves. I don’t get nervous before games anymore. What happens, happens. I play my best and that’s all I can do. But this…something is off.

Gill and I make a quick pass through the facility, but everyone we come across remembers seeing her earlier, not sure where she is now, though. “Beiler!” I see him up ahead coming out of Heacock’s office with a scowl. “Hey, sorry. Have you seen Phia?”

Beiler shakes his head, his brows creasing. “Not for a while.” We follow him to the trainer’s room where she fills up the large water dispensers. They’re loaded onto the cart, all her cups and towels stacked and ready to go. No Phia.

“Maybe she’s taking a shit?” Gill suggests unhelpfully. I look under the cabinet and find her bag. Hands on my hips, I survey the room.

“Her stuff’s here…where is she?”

Beiler pats my shoulder on his way past me. “She’ll turn up on the field. She’s a consummate professional.”

“Yeah. I know. I just…”

“I get it man, but you need to get ready. We’re on the field in less than 10 minutes.” I suck in a deep breath and exhale slowly. He’s right. I follow Gill and Beiler back to the locker room. Heacock gives his usual speech that none of us pay much attention to, but his last words catch my interest.

“Distractions are a liability you cannot afford. The next play, the next touchdown, the next game. Your focus should be in this locker room, on that field, and on the reputation of this university.” He steps aside and Beiler starts speaking.

His words don’t register, my mind working overtime processing Heacock’s very pointed speech.

Usually, one of the first through the tunnel and on the field, I linger toward the back, hoping to find Phia. The surge of the crowd is difficult to ignore. I get through a quick warm-up, and offensive line huddle with Beiler before I allow myself to check on Phia. She’s not out here.

Lyndell is doing double duty today, as he fills cups and bottles and hands out towels to a few players. “Hey, Lyndell. How’s it going?”

“Good. Good. I’m water boy today.”

“I see that. Where’s Phia?”

“Oh, she had the green apple splatters and went home.”

A chuckle bursts free, “What?”

“Mr. Geary said she had the green apple splatters and had to use the home throne.”

I squeeze his shoulder with a smile. “Thanks, Lyndell.” I find Mr. Geary, the head athletic trainer for the team, a little further back on the sidelines. “Mr. Geary, Lyndell said you saw my girl.” His grin is infectious.

“Didn’t see her.” My lips dip down instantly.

“She left me a note. Explosive diarrhea.” Leaning in close, he whispers, “I didn’t tell coach.

He’d lose his shit if he found out she didn’t even talk to me.

” Smirking, he snickers, “Pun intended.” I can’t bring myself to find any humor in the well-placed pun.

The game begins a few minutes later and I’m forced to put thoughts of Phia to the backburner.

It’s not my worst performance, but certainly not my best. I know we haven’t been together for long, but we love each other.

Surely, she would have found me to tell me she wasn’t feeling well.

During half-time, I rush to my locker and find my phone. No messages. What the fuck?

“Any word?” I shake my head, my lips pursed, jaw clenched.

Gill sits next to me on the bench in silence.

Heacock screams and yells and throws a fit about our lackluster first half performance.

We’re winning, but only by a touchdown, it’s still anyone’s game.

He glares at me the whole time he’s talking, and I have zero fucks to give at this point.

“Crue.” Beiler steps up to me as we stand around to head back out. He waves his phone at me. “I called campus security; they’ll send someone to her apartment to check on her. Proof of life at least.”

“Dude, relax. She’ll yell from the toilet that she’s good and you can bring her some of the electrolytes mix from Geary’s office to aid in her recovery.”

“Yeah. Ok.” I nod at Gill. “Thank you, Coach.” I address Beiler who just offers me a closed-mouth smile and heads out to the field.

Second half isn’t much better, but we do manage to win by a field goal. Our kicker is getting shit-faced tonight in celebration of saving our asses. I’m the first in the showers and dressed. I book it down to Geary’s office for that drink mix Gill mentioned.

“Mr. Geary, can I get—” I stop short, my mouth snapping shut when my eyes land on Phia’s bag. In the same place it was earlier. I snatch it and dump it on the padded table. Her keys and phone are here. “BEILER!” I rush out, yelling his name.

He jogs to meet me in the corridor. “Campus police weren’t able to make contact.”

“She’s not home! Her bag is here with her keys and phone. She’s in this building.” I spin around, frantically searching for a sign of where to start looking for her. “Where is she?”

“What the fuck is going on out here?” Heacock stomps out of his office, glaring at both of us.

“Phia is missing.”

Coach laughs. I tell him my girlfriend, a support staff member of his team, is missing and he laughs. I don’t even realize I’m lunging for him until Beiler’s arms band around my middle to hold me back.

“Relax, lover boy. She’s probably at an all-you-can-eat buffet, pushing them closer to bankruptcy.

” He chuckles at his own joke, and I make another run for him.

He steps back, but smirks. “I say good riddance. I’ve been telling everyone from the beginning…

she ain’t right for the team and certainly not a star player like you. She’s not NFL material.”

With absolute certainty, I know he is responsible for whatever has happened to her. “You will get what’s coming to you Mr. Heacock.”

“That’s ‘Coach’!”

“Not anymore.” I turn around to find the security office. “I quit.”

“You can’t quit! You have a scholarship! We own you!”

“Fuck you.” I vaguely hear my teammates pouring out of the locker room, the din of their voices barely audible over the ringing in my ears. Gill, Hall, and Staunton catch up to me at the elevators.

Gill presses the button. “Beiler is staying behind to deal with Heacock. You can’t quit, man.”

“I can. I did.”

“We’ll find her. Then we’ll nail Heacock’s ass and get him gone.”

“Doesn’t matter.”

“We’ll talk about it later.” Staunton steps out of the elevator first, walking backward to look at me. “Phia is our main priority.”

“Thank you.” Inside the security office, they are reluctant to help until Geary and Beiler both confirm that security footage is needed to find a missing person. A threat or two to their personal safety might have sped up the process as well.

“Why is she dragging the cart into the hydrotherapy room?” Hall leans closer to the small screen.

Staunton stands upright, “Why isn’t she coming out?”

“That’s weird.” One of the security guards rewinds the video, then does it again. “The footage is looped. Look at the time stamp.” He points to the bottom of the screen, and it jumps backward.

I’m out the door, running to the elevator, my boys behind me.

I must hit the buttons on the elevator 100 times, and as soon as the doors open, I’m sprinting back to the locker room.

Most of the team is still hanging out, probably waiting to see what’s going on.

Through the locker room, past the showers, I throw open the connecting door to the hydration therapy room.

It’s empty. The sauna, the ice bath, the room…empty. “AGH!!!” I thread my fingers through my hair and pull hard as I scream. My heart is racing, my lungs burn, every muscle in my body coiled with tension. I open my mouth to scream again, when Staunton puts his hand over my mouth.

“Shut up.” Several seconds of silence pass and then I hear it. A weak whimper.

“Jesus Christ!” I drop to my knees next to the in-ground hot tubs and fight with the ties for the covers.

I toss the first one back, but the tub is empty.

Hall and Staunton throw the other off and there is Phia, gasping for breath.

I crawl into the nearly empty tub with her and pull her into my lap.

“Phia! Breathe, baby, just breathe.” I look up at Gill, “Call 911 and Beiler.”

Everything is a blur around me, my focus on Phia and Phia alone. It isn’t until the paramedics arrive that I loosen my grip on her. She hasn’t said a word, drifting in and out of consciousness, her fingers gripping my shirt so tight, they are white.

Schultz and Duffy find me in the back of the ambulance just as they are about to close the doors. “Her bag.” Duffy holds it up to me and I take it.

“Thanks.”

“We’ll follow you.”

“You don’t have to—”

“You’re team. She’s team.” Schultz cuts me off.

The doors shut and we’re on the road. I sit next to her, holding her free hand as the paramedic works fast to get her hooked up to an IV and a bag of fluids, checks her vitals, and tries to ask her questions.

Phia’s mouth never opens, she never tries to answer, her eyes never move from the roof of the rig.

She isn’t dead. But I fear I may have lost her just the same.