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Which meant Todd knew how to apply himself. He was a smart kid and a good student…when he wanted to be.
“Todd,” Lincoln said slowly, “do youwantto play football next year?”
The boy’s throat worked with a swallow. “What do you care?”
“I’m just asking.” He held up his hands. “I’m not going to be here in the fall, so it makes no difference to me. But I know how hard Miss Berry has been trying to help you, and it pisses me off to think that you’re scamming her. What the hell is going on?”
Todd stared at Lincoln’s shoulder. Though his chin trembled, his eyes were hard. “Nothing.”
“You’re doing well in all your classes except hers.” He folded his arms and narrowed his gaze on the boy. “If you wanted to flunk your classes, you could’ve just given up on everything. Why’d you only check out of Literature?”
“Because I still want to go to college, okay?” Todd snapped. “I want to major in engineering. And like my dad says, Literature is a pretty damned useless subject, so I figured the admissions boards would forgive a bad grade. If I fail her class, I’m out of football next year, but my GPA is still okay and I still have a chance of getting accepted somewhere.”
Lincoln stepped back. Though he suspected he already knew the answer, he asked, “Why don’t you want to play football?”
“I…I’m just so fucking tired.” The boy slumped against the lockers, dashing a hand across his eyes. “My brother was an All-American at LSU, and so my parents always pushed me to follow his path or whatever. But I never loved football like he did…I mean, yeah, I’m good at it, but only because my dad has been making me play since I was six years old.
“So everyone expects me to be the best, and there’s all this pressure…I hate it. I just want my senior year to be…normal, you know? I want to hang out with Katie and my friends and go to the dances and prom and all that stuff. I don’t want to slog on the field and be forced to perform for recruiters. I don’t want to face another four years of this shit in college.”
Lincoln unfolded his arms. “Have you talked to your parents about it?”
“I tried.” Todd scrubbed his face on his sleeve. “But my dad is kind of an asshole about football…well, about most things…and he has me signed up for all these summer football camps and college recruiting apps. He didn’t want to hear any of it. And my mom goes along with what he says, so…it’s all fucked up. Failing one of my classes was the only thing I could think of that would get me out of football but hopefully not screw up the entire rest of my transcript.”
“How’s that working out?”
“I don’t know.” A tear slipped down Todd’s cheek, and he wiped it angrily away. “I just knew Literature and Poetry was the one class I could actually bomb. Miss Berry…I mean, she’s all nice and sweet, and everyone loves her, but, man, I’ve seen her lay down the law. She can be tough. I knew she wouldn’t give me a passing grade just because I’m the quarterback or because the coaches and Spruce told her to. All that crap about me needing to work and earn my grade…shemeansit.”
“She’s also been going out of her way to try and help you.” Lincoln battled back a wave of anger. “And you’ve been duping her this whole time.”
“I just wanted…” Todd gulped. “I couldn’t think of another way out. I didn’t want…I knew she was one of the few teachers who’d fail me if I didn’t do the work. But she’s been making it so damned hard for me to fail. I didn’t expect her to be so…supportive.”
Lincoln gave a humorless laugh. “Surprise.”
“No kidding.” Todd scrubbed his face again.
“What about Katie? Have you been doing all her work?”
“Just a few papers.” Todd glanced at him, fear glinting in his eyes. “Are you going to tell? Is she going to get in trouble?”
“I don’t know.” Lincoln leaned one shoulder against the lockers. “But you both have to come clean. I think you already know that. You and Katie need to talk to Miss Berry about the papers you’ve done, and you need to talk to your parents about football.”
“Man, I can’t. I already told you. I’ve never been able to talk to my father.”
“I couldn’t talk to mine either,” Lincoln admitted. “Which is how I ended up one of the biggest overachievers of all time. Not in a good way, either.”
“What does that mean?”
“I forced myself to excel at everything. Sports, academia, extracurricular activities, community service, you name it. Not because I liked all of it, but because everyone—especially my father—pushed me to. I never figured out how to say no. It was the opposite with my brother. All he did was say no, and I envied the fact that he ended up doing whatever he wanted. For most of my life, I just did what other people wanted.”
Todd eyed him warily. “What about being a writer?”
“That was years in the making. It’s what I want to do, but it’s a career that has a whole set of other expectations.” Lincoln pushed away from the lockers. “Even though you messed with Miss Berry, I give you credit for trying to figure out how to do what you want. If you tell the truth now, you might face less of a fallout.”
Todd scuffed his tennis shoe on the floor. “What if I don’t?”
“Not an option.”
The boy’s shoulders slumped. Despite his anger, Lincoln couldn’t prevent a stab of sympathy. He knew something about sibling rivalry, demanding fathers, and the intense pressure to be “the best.”
