Aedan's Story - 11. Chapter 11: Flag Football & Astronomy

August 15 2017

I woke up early in the morning at 7 to the sound of my alarm clock. I groggily sat up and turned it off. "What the hell, Aedan," River complained from his bed.

"Mmm... sorry, bro..." I sleepily ran my hand through my messy black hair before climbing down the ladder from my loft. I walked upstairs and entered the living room/kitchen in my pajama pants.

"Sweetie, take this box to pack your things," mom handed me a box.

"Mom, we're moving?" I whined. Just the thing I needed to hear upon waking up.

"Well, yes, sweet pea. Your... father... technically owns this townhouse, and has given us until the end of August to move out now that the divorce papers are done." She sighed. "But he probably won't be evicted before long. All he does is drink and gamble, so that deadbeat doesn't know how to pay rent..." she chuckled.

"Well, uh, thanks for the box. I'll put some stuff in after practice." I nodded. I poured myself some cereal and grabbed some juice and bacon to eat before flag football practice. Tryouts were in a week and a half and I was getting in shape.

"So, you have football tryouts soon?" she asked. I nodded; my mouth full. "Stay safe, baby."

"Mooommmm..." I whined. "I'll be fine. It's just flag football."

"Ah, okay," she chuckled.

"Bloody hell..." my dad stumbled in the kitchen. He was clearly hungover. "Hey, Aedan... hey... Nancy."

"Hello, Henry..." mom addressed my dad. "Are you hung over again?"

"NO WHAT THE F-"

I quickly put my earbuds in from my pockets to listen to music on my mp3 player and drown out another of my parents fights while I tried to eat.

I quickly finished my food and then grabbed the box mom gave to me before getting dressed in my room. I put on some athletic shorts, sneakers, and a sleeveless shirt.

"Bye mom, bye dad," I said, about to leave. They didn't acknowledge me and continued bickering over something. "Um, y'all...?" Still no response. "Forget it. I'm leaving. I'll be back after practice." I grabbed a cold water bottle from the fridge and my football from the counter before exiting the door.

Flag football practice was on the shared football field between the middle school and high school in town. Practice went well. I didn't know too many of the other boys there, except Ian, a guy I knew from math class in seventh grade. I was still known as the "new kid" in middle school even though I've been here for eight months now. I guess my accent makes me stand out as not being from around here.

We played scrimmage games after doing push-ups, sit-ups, stretches, and running exercises to warm up. To distinguish easily between teams, we played shirts vs skins. It was a warm morning for sure, but thankfully practices are held in the mornings when it's not too hot out. It would suck to play in the afternoon heat.

Practice ended around 11AM after two hours. The coach, Mr. Lincoln, also a history teacher, handed us Gatorade bottles, and we hung out and cooled off in the shade. After finishing my water, I tossed the empty bottle in a recycling bin and went to join Ian and some of his friends who were sitting in the shade of a hemlock tree near the field. "Um, hey, Ian," I smiled as I sat next to him. My shirt was draped on one of my shoulders. I opened my Gatorade and began sipping it.

"Hey, Aedan," Ian said. His cheeks were flushed pink. "Damn, it's hot out here." He used his t-shirt to wipe sweat from his face. The boy had nice abs and arms.

"Yeah," I nodded. "This is pretty normal where I'm from though."

"I'd expect Tennessee to be pretty hot," Ian chuckled.

"Who're your friends?" I asked.

"Oh, this is Connor, and Vincent," Ian indicated the two brunet boys with him. They had also removed their shirts to cool off. They both waved back.

"Nice to meet y'all..." I smiled. I was glad to at least have more than a couple friends.

"I bet you get a lot of girls with that accent," Vincent said. He had a slight New England accent, and didn't seem too friendly.

"Eh, I get bullied about it more often than it gets me dates," I shrugged.

"When did you move here?" Connor asked.

"December." I answered. "Mainly cuz of my mom's job." I shrugged. "That and our old house burned down in a wild fire in November."

"Holy shit, dude..." Connor blinked a couple times.

After practice, I walked home, in a much better mood than at breakfast, which was ruined by my parents. Meeting new friends had certainly improved my day. The door was unlocked, meaning at least someone was home. We lived in a part of town where it was unsafe to leave your home unattended and unlocked.

"Yes, Gran..." I heard my mom's voice as I closed the door. I'm not sure if she heard me enter as she was on the phone. "I know. I'm glad to be leaving him behind. It's for the best." I stepped towards the kitchen, but paused. "Yes, Gran, you were correct. I really shouldn't have married my cousin. It was a huge mistake." My jaw dropped. Mom and Dad are COUSINS?... A wave of nausea washed over me, and I hurried to the bathroom to puke. "Aedan... sweetie... are you okay?" I heard mom at the door a couple minutes later.

"I think so..." I groaned. "I'll be out in a minute."

Aug 22 2017

"That eclipse was crazy yesterday..." I overheard Connor and Kevin talking as I was stretching before the final bi-weekly (hehe I said bi...) flag football practice before tryouts Friday. "Did you see the eclipse, Aedan?" Connor sat next to me and began stretching too.

I nodded silently. My parents, River, Violet, and I were over at Jake's place for the eclipse. Jake's really into astronomy and stuff. But, as usual, like during summer karate camp on Thursdays, he ignored me. He had his other astronomy friends over too, so of course he'd ignore my lame ass for them. "Who didn't see that eclipse?! Looked like the end times or somethin'..." I muttered.

"Right. The sun going dark for, like, eight minutes. Wild stuff, bro," Kevin ran a few fingers through his hair.

"You guys ready for tryouts this week?" Ian walked up and sat next to Connor and I.

"Ye, bro..." I stood up, fastening the flag belt around my waist, over my shirt, just above the waistline of my shorts and grabbed a football. Some of the other boys were already tossing footballs around, so I walked up to the 20 yard line and punted the ball into the field goal.

"Damn, boy..." Connor put his hands on his hips. "You can kick..."

"Thanks," I brushed the shaggy bangs out of my face.

"Wow, stupid hick boy's all famous now," Vincent said smugly.

"Excuse me?" I asked.

"It's called sarcasm," Vincent crossed his arms. "Did you not get to fuck your sister last night?"

"You wish you hadn't said that, asshole..." I gritted my teeth and my vision darkened.

"Aedan... cool off. Don't listen to him." Ian pulled me back before I punched him. "He's just being a jerk."

"Remind me why he's your friend..." I grumbled.

During practice, we played a scrimmage game as usual. This time, I was on a team with Ian, Connor, and Kevin, among a few other boys. We were on the skins team, and it felt nice to play shirtless. I was playing as a wide receiver during one play. I caught the ball from Kevin, and began running towards the end zone for a touchdown. At around the 15 yard line, I was tackled by someone from the other team. I landed on my ass. I looked over to see Vincent on the ground too. It was he who tackled me. What a dickhead... "What the fuck, man...?" I sat up. My torso was bruised up and dirty. "This is FLAG FOOTBALL... no tackling, you idiot!"

"You okay, dude?" Ian helped me up.

I nodded. "Just a little bruised. My head didn't get hit."

"That's good," Ian nodded. "Vincent... what the hell happened?"

"Sorry, guys, I guess I forgot it was Flag Football and not Real Football."

"Bullshit..." I crossed my arms.

Coach had me sit out for the rest of practice, while Vincent had to run extra laps and then sit out.

"Thanks a lot, hick boy... You got us in trouble..." Vincent sighed.

"What the...? You're the one who tackled me!" I punched him in the shoulder. It was more playful than harmful.

"Ow..." he whined. "Aedan punched me, coach..." He was totally faking.

"Jackson. Run a lap," the coach said.

"DUDE!" My jaw dropped. "I didn't actually hurt him."

"2 laps..."

"Fuck it... I'm out," I stood up and gave Vincent the middle finger before leaving the football field area.

I heard footsteps behind me. "Leave me alone, Vincent..." I gritted my teeth and held back tears.

"Aedan... are you okay?" I heard Ian's soft smooth sweet honey voice.

"That jackass Vincent is getting on my nerves. He hates my guts," I huffed and sat down before taking a long sip of water. "The coach does too."

"You're really short tempered. Is anything wrong?"

"Well, my parents got divorced..." I shrugged. "But, I should be happy for that. Mom, my siblings and I will be leaving my drug addicted loser dad..."

"Dude. My parents got divorced when I was in fifth grade." Ian comforted me. He was starting to look really hot without a shirt off. Hot enough to kiss those abs... NO! STOP IT BRAIN! YOU HAVE A GIRLFRIEND... "It can be hard to deal with. But it gets easier, I promise."

"That's so cheesy..." I giggled before wiping tears from my face. "I think it's not that though. Like I said. My dad's a lowlife."

August 24 2017

River and I were in the last session for summer karate at the local dojo. I got my orange belt and River got his green belt. Yeah, I get it. My little brother is better than me at karate. Okay. "Hey, Riv… mom's gonna pick us up…" I looked around for River after putting on my flip flops. "River? Bro?" I shrugged. "Great, I lost my brother," I muttered. I looked around the dojo and I found him sitting in the corner talking with none other than Jake. "Hey, bro. There you are," I grinned sheepishly. "Hey, Jake," I blushed. "Riv… mom's taking us to see another place." My little brother nodded in agreement.

"Hmm. Your parents got divorced and now you're moving?" Jake asked.

"How did you know?" I asked, my cheeks as pink as strawberries.

"Dude… our moms are great friends. My mom told me about it the day after our fight," Jake said. I facepalmed. "Why didn't you tell me?"

"Because it's so embarrassing," I sat down. "And you're already mad at me…"

River stood up. "Is mom here now?" I shook my head and showed him the email that said she'd be here at around 4pm, in about 30 minutes. "Email?… Why don't y'all just text?"

"Dad hasn't paid a damn phone bill in like two months…" I responded. "You wouldn't know, Riv. It's not like you have a phone."

"Shut up, bro," Riv laughed. "You didn't have a phone when you were 11…"

"Hey, um, guys," Jake began.

"Wait… um, before you go. I should apologize. I was a shitty friend to you." I said to Jake.

"Aedan it's okay. I'm the one who should be sorry. I created a fake treasure hunt, and maybe pushed you too hard instead of giving you space. I don't know what divorce is like, but I'm still here for you. You too River," he fist bumped my brother. "Oh, uh, I'm also sorry for ignoring you at the eclipse party. I was kind of nerding out with my astronomy club buddies," Jake blushed. "So uh where in town is the apartment you're looking at?" Jake asked.

"Um, in the Waterworks District. Near the hospital mom works at," I responded.

"Eew, gross. That part of town is so ghetto," Jake scoffed.

"Well, it's somewhere to live..." I muttered.

Aug 25 2017

I was at the field warming up for tryouts. The grass was still a bit wet from recent rainfall last night. "Jackson, you're back," the coach smiled.

"Yes, sir. I'm sorry about before, by the way." I stood up and blushed. "I was being immature."

"I spoke with your mother over the phone. I'm giving you a second chance. So don't blow it." He said. I nodded. "I have to ask. Is everything alright at home?"

"Um, yeah," I shuffled my feet. "It's really great..." I paused. "Thanks again, sir! I appreciate it. I won't let you down!" I tripped over my feet as I stepped away backwards. I sighed as the coach went to grab some equipment and Ian helped me up.

"Aedan, I'm so glad to see you!" Ian said cheerfully.

I blushed. "You are?"

"Vincent isn't going to mess with you. I set him straight." Ian explained. My eyes glanced down at my now wet clothes. I scoffed at my clumsiness.

Tryouts went fairly well. When we were rehearsing different plays, I was tackled again by Vincent. My vision darkened and my blood felt like it was boiling. Conveniently, the coach was talking to someone else and didn't see the tackle. The ground was quite wet, and I had landed in a muddy patch. When I got up, I charged at Vincent, and bumped into him with my shoulder, tackling him down.

"Aedan, woah..." Ian and Connor each grabbed a shoulder to keep me from beating the crap out of that arrogant asshole.

"He tackled me again!" I pointed at Vincent when the coach confronted me.

"I didn't see him do it…" the coach said. "You're out of here, Jackson. I gave you a second chance and ya blew it, kid. I don't need a hothead and a rule breaker on the team."

"Fine… whatever…" I scoffed. "Bullshit…" I muttered to myself, unfastening the flag belt from my waist. Vincent smirked.

"Bye, Aedan…" Vincent smirked. "See you in school."

"Oh, like you give a crap…" I rolled my eyes. I sat down on the bench to watch the rest of tryouts. I laughed in amusement when Vincent got thrown out like I did for attempting to tackle Ian. Ian was thankfully nimble enough to not go down, but Vincent got his shirt and left cheek covered in mud. "Nice, dude," I snickered when Vincent sat down next to me.

"Oh shut up. You're out too." Vincent wiped mud from his face and got it on my arm. Thankfully, I had a sleeveless shirt on.

"Hey!" I laughed and playfully shoved him off the bench and we both wrestled on the damp ground.

"Boys…" coach said sternly.

"Sorry, sir," I sat up and fixed my shaggy and now grassy hair. "Friends?" I asked Vincent. He nodded and we shook hands.

Inside, I was going to shower in the locker room, as I had to go to the art hall to help Nina finish the mural. Outside the door, I saw Jake in his soccer gear, and I stopped to talk to him. "Hey, Jake," I sat next to him.

"Oh, hey," Jake smiled and looked up from his Pear Phone. "Why are you here? And why are you covered in mud?" Jake stifled a laugh. I explained flag football tryouts to him. "Oh shit… I'm being replaced by your new friends…"

"Pfft… No you're not," I playfully punched his chest before pulling off my cleats and tank top.

"Hey, um, I talked to my parents about your housing situation. They want to meet with your mom."

"Really? Live with you instead of in a shitty 2 bedroom one bathroom apartment? Sounds awesome…" I paused. "And expensive. My mom can't afford much more than like $1500 a month right now. We were actually going to move into the new apartment this weekend."

"Just… come by for dinner. I think she may like the offer…" Jake smiled.

That evening, mom and I showed up at the Grants' estate with Violet and River. The house was huge and elegant. Very different from my rough impoverished redneck upbringing. The house was 8000 square feet and had 12 bedrooms, compared to our 2000 square foot townhouse with just 3 bedrooms. I was in a pair of jeans, and a polo shirt. Some of the nicer clothes I own for church. Jake and I hung out in the living room flipping through channels on the TV. Most of them were talking about some devastating Hurricane Harvey down on the Texas coast. We ended up watching Dragon Ball Z until dinner time.

Dinner was ready and I sat between Jake and River at the table. I got to try lobster for the first time in my life. After dinner, us boys went to get some banana pudding for dessert. My mom had made some to bring and contribute to the meal. We ate the pudding at the table while the adults discussed things. I was really hoping mom would agree. It would be so awesome to live with my best friend in this super cool house. Best of all, they were wealthy enough to not need to charge us anything to stay for a while. Mom insisted she pay something, like helping out with utility and food costs. Violet and River went with Jake and I to hang out in the backyard since it was getting boring listening to adults discussing finances. "So um, thanks for, like, offering to let us live with you, dude," I smiled.

"Yeah, seriously," Violet agreed. "Even if you are a little creep," she teased.

"Violet, shut up!" I glared at her before opening my can of sprite.

"You guys would all have your own rooms, so there won't be any creeping from me," Jake joked.

"I can't say I've ever had my own room," I blushed a little. "I've always had to share with this gremlin," I pointed at River with my thumb.

"Gross, Aedan! I'm not a gremlin." River whined. "You're the gross one."

I let out a fairly loud burp. Violet rolled her eyes, while us boys laughed hysterically. "You're not wrong, I guess," I chuckled.

A few minutes passed before mom came out to the patio. "Hey, kids," she said. I lazily waved at her. "I think we've made a decision."

Please be yes please be yes... I crossed my fingers, hoping she decided to stay here. Living with my best friend would be so awesome.

"And that is?" Violet questioned.

"We're going to be living here. At least for a little while. Until I can afford a house, okay?"

"Mom you're the best!" I ran over and hugged her tightly.

"Oh..." she yelped. "Baby... you're squeezing too tight..."

"Oops, sorry..." I blushed, ending the hug.