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“You want to appeal to a raw human emotion like love. It’s too sterile right now. You give all the facts, but why is anyone going to care? On the other hand, if you profess your love publicly and give up football for Brooke, people are going to sit up and take notice.”
I nodded.
“You know, Brian. You’re a smart dude.”
“I have to get ready to go into the newsroom and put the paper to bed, but if you have it ready, email it to me.”
“Yeah, give me a few more minutes. I want to love it up some like Brian said.”
“Good idea.”
Teddy stood up. Brian did the same. I turned my attention back to the screen of the laptop. The words swirled and danced on the page in front of me. How the hell anyone sat down and typed up any amount of words that made sense when read together was beyond me.
Word by word, I went over the letter to the editor. I would likely go down in school history as a great football player who was an idiot and gave it all up for love, but in the heat of the moment, I pushed all doubts and fears aside.
Brooke needed my help. I loved her. End of story.
Maybe I would get lucky and Coach would still help or at least not throw me off the team. Would the students and faculty allow him to get rid of me?
Questions flew through my mind as I emailed Teddy a copy of the letter.
“Here it is, bro,” I wrote at the bottom. “Thanks for the help.”
I hit send then sat back in the kitchen chair.
Did I just make the biggest mistake of my life?
Only time would tell.
THIRTY-FOUR
Austin
The letter appeared in the campus newspaper the next day thanks to Teddy.
Dear Buffalo State Students,
Many of you know me from the football team. It pains me to say this, but I will be quitting soon. Why? Unwritten rules have put me in a terrible position. I’m being asked to choose between the two things I love most in life, football and a very special woman I met recently.
This wonderful woman means the world to me. Because of her, I’ve begun to understand love and that football may not be the most important thing in the world. I know, you’re probably surprised I would say such a thing, but it’s true.
My writing abilities are not great, but I want to publicly state that I was with Brooke Harrison on November 3rd, 2017. We were together from dusk until dawn, wrapped up in each other’s arms. She means the world to me, and I don’t care who knows anymore.
As I said, I will be quitting the team. This will affect our chances at winning the regional championship, but that doesn’t matter as much to me as my love for Brooke. To Coach and everyone else I let down, I apologize, but this is the right decision.
Yours if you will have me,
Austin King, Running Back
I read it three times, wondering what people would think. What Brooke and Coach and Trey would say. As I scrolled down the page, I saw the first comment. It was supportive. Over a dozen people had already commented, saying they backed me up and would protest if I got kicked off the team.
Was this really happening? Did I make the right decision?
As I sat in the Student Center food court, eating a bagel and reading the comments, my phone rang. Fuck. It was Coach.
I accepted the call and put the phone to my ear.
“Hey, Coach, about the letter…”
