Chapter 16

Mr. Henry meets us at the bus stop when we get back to campus. He drops us off at the dining hall to get some lunch.

“Meet me back at my office in an hour,” he says.

Calvin and I gather some food on our trays, but neither of us eat much. We’re both nervous about what will happen next. I’m also nervous about what happened at the end of the camp—what the coach from Branford said.

I haven’t told Calvin about it, and I’m guessing Calvin is too worried about what UCC thought of us to even consider the Branford coach. Besides, I’m not even sure if anyone there will actually contact me.

We throw away our half-eaten food and slowly walk across the campus. We’re still fifteen minutes early when we get back to the athletic building, so we walk down to the football field and look at it through a closed metal gate.

“Do you picture yourself down there?” I ask Calvin.

He’s quiet a moment and stares down at the green field.

“Yeah,” he says. “I really do.”

I’m not sure what I picture for next year, but for now it’s out of my hands, so I try not to think about it.

I look at my phone again. I realize it’s time to meet Mr. Henry, and I don’t want us to be late.

We head up to the third floor. Kasey meets us there, takes us to a conference room, and tells us Mr. Henry is still in a meeting. I can’t tell if she knows anything. Maybe we won’t get offers, or maybe she’s just already really good at this part of working with prospective athletes. She leaves Calvin and me in the room and closes the door.

“I feel like I can’t breathe,” Calvin says, nervously tapping his toes. “What if I don’t get an offer and you do?” he asks.

I shake my head. “That’s not going to happen,” I say. “I messed up the three-cone drill and my throwing. They seemed more interested in you than me anyway.”

For what feels like an hour, we wait in that room. Calvin starts pacing, and I can’t help but stare at him as he walks around the room. I can’t tell if it’s his pacing or my own anxiety, but something is sitting in the pit of my stomach, making me feel sick.

Finally, Mr. Henry comes in. Coach Washington isn’t with him, and I take that as a bad sign.

“Calvin,” he says. “Please follow me.”

I don’t know what this means, but after sitting in that room for nearly another thirty minutes, I’m convinced they’ve decided to take Calvin and not me.

Kasey finally appears.

“Do you know what’s going on?” I ask.

“Follow me,” she says.

When I get to Coach Washington’s office he’s sitting behind a desk, and Mr. Henry is sitting in one of the chairs in front of it, but Calvin is gone.

“Sit down,” Coach Washington says.

I sit next to Mr. Henry and do my best to look Coach Washington in the eye.

“We’re willing to take a big risk on you,” he says. “I want you to work with a couple of our coaches and train to be a backup quarterback for the Titans.”

I’m stunned. “I haven’t played quarterback before, sir,” I manage to get out.

“You’re fast, and you have good instincts and a strong arm,” he says. “I think you have what it takes. We can’t give you a full ride, but we can offer you a partial scholarship that often offsets what financial aid doesn’t cover.”

“Umm, thank you.” The words stumble out of my mouth. They don’t sound sure or strong. I stand up, extend my hand, and correct myself: “Thank you, this is a great offer.”

“A verbal offer,” Mr. Henry says. “We’ll get the paperwork in order and you’ll be able to review it before signing day.”

I can’t help it—I have to ask. I need to know. “What about Calvin?”

He nods and smiles. “You two push each other. We’d like to pair you out there. Now keep up with your school work, get your application and financial aid paperwork in to us as soon as you can, and we look forward to hearing from you on signing day!”