Chasing Football Dreams (Diner Girl #2)

Chapter Fourteen

E veryone showed up at the ESPN studio together. The squad was quite excited to appear on TV as it would give them a boost in their future careers as football players. We were relieved and excited when we found out that the host was Ian Lawrence.

He was friendly and didn’t show any signs of misleading us more specifically me.

We met him at the door and he accompanied us to the stage. After our final checks, the show was ready to start. Duncan and I planned to sit a few chairs apart. He made Xander sit next to me so when anything happened, he was at least nearby. Talk about my defender on and off the field.

“Today, I have quarterback star, Zoey Reynolds and her team known as the Warriors with me.” Ian started by introducing everyone. He read our scores, our wins, and our losses. And then he started with the integration.

“Now, Zoey here is the first-ever female to play in the quarterback position and what we’ve learned so far is that she can definitely rock that position with her long passes.” The audience cracked smiles and some chuckled.

“I mean just look at her.” He said playing replays on the screen behind us of me and my passes or whenever I made a run for a touchdown. The audience cheered when he showed me my latest record-breaking pass.

“Right from the hail Mary you didn’t hide that you are a girl ” He noted. “You showed up and went for it. It’s a huge risk you took. Were you afraid that your team would reject the idea of a girl as their quarterback?”

I looked to my left and right, finding my team giving me reassuring grins and nodes. I then gazed back at Ian—my hands curled into a ball on my lap. “As a girl, it’s sometimes hard to imagine that you would be accepted into a male-dominated sport but I was lucky enough to have found a team that knew from the tip of the bat of my skill. They are the ones who approached me after their First-String Quarterback, Riley sustained an injury that cost him his season,”

I thought Ian was content with my reply when he nodded and smiled. “You were also in competition with BJ who took over the position but later through the season, you were put in his place. It came to our attention that BJ wasn’t welcomed with open arms by the team,”

I controlled the urge to roll my eyes on live TV. “BJ got replaced because he couldn’t get out a hail Mary when we were in the fourth quarter and relying on him. Zoey, on the other hand, didn’t dwindle under the pressure and led us to victory,”

I bit the inside of my cheek when Duncan answered the question. It was evident in his voice that he wanted to smash Ian’s smash into his desk. I wasn’t far behind him.

“Duncan Jones everyone. All-state Center and captain of the Warriors,” Ian introduced.

“I don’t want to look but I think Duncan is ready to end this interview,” Xander whispered to me.

I shrugged. “The whole team is giving me those vibes,”

He chuckled but wiped the smile from his face when we caught Ian looking at us.

“It must have been nerve-wracking for you to be sent out right at the end of the game,” Highlights of the night popped up and I noticed that he didn’t miss to include the massive tackle on me.

I smiled instead of pondering into a corner. “All was unplanned but worth it as I finally got the taste of victory,”

He nodded, looking at his clipboard. “According to Coach Shane, it was your request to have your whole team here with you?” He asked.

I nodded. “I am who I am because of them. They could’ve shown me away but they didn’t. They gave me a chance and I owe them.” The boys all cheered and gave me pats on the back.

“Looks like you and the team are very close.” He said looking at them.

“We are. Even if it was hard in the beginning and we had our arguments but worked through it and we are stronger than before.” I felt Wesley's hand on my shoulder.

“Was it hard for the boys to accept Zoey?” Ian asked looking directly at Duncan.

“We more awed by her skill than cared whether she’s a girl,” Duncan answered curtly.

“But for you as captain, it must have bothered you at one point how other teams talked about your team for letting a girl on the team,”

“I believe we shut the door on those speculations when we beat them,” Duncan gave no space for objections and I think Ian realized he should just skip to the next question.

“He’s on fire,” I whispered to Xander.

“I am never messing with you,” Xander whispered back making me smile.

“I was voted as their captain because my team trusted me to make rational decisions and because they also know I don’t care about what other teams speculate. We wouldn’t be running for the third year for championships if we cast out our ears into their speculations,” He made it obvious that he wasn’t going to share any juicy pieces about our arguments before we shaped ourselves into a team.

“You’ve without a doubt showcased your position quite well by being voted the all-state captain when your team got joined by Coach Shane Martin. Retired Atlanta Falcon Quarterback and father to Zoey,”

There were murmurs under the team, but nobody understood his question.

Everyone seemed uncomfortable when the article from sixteen years ago popped up on the screen behind him. I watched the news article and how Angela was crying in her husband’s arms.

"Coach Shane is not my father," It was harder to conceal my emotions when I said those words on live television.

“Oh,” Ian looked sincere with surprise. “I just thought that you had ties to him since his daughter’s case has been reopened and that new evidence was found,”

“And there are rumors that you are an orphan, Zoey,” My mind was all over the place as I tried to keep my focus on the screen behind his head.

I felt the team’s tension rising.

I wasn’t aware that the case was reopened or that they found new evidence. What evidence could they possibly have found? Was this all a lie? Was this to trick me? Was I ever going to stand a chance for an NFL position?

“I am an orphan,” I answered calmly but inside I was trashing around and screaming “And it’s my job as someone who lost her parents and grew up in the system to keep on making a difference for everyone out there to never give up,” I wasn’t going to become a beacon of hope but I wasn’t going to turn my back on anyone either.

A photo of a little girl appeared on the screen. It was the same photograph I had in the back of my father’s playbook. That little girl was me.

Nobody uttered a word and I felt rage seeping through me. Ian called for the broadcast to be ended and I could feel everyone’s tension circulating the room.

Xander pressed a comforting hand to my back trying to help me stay calm as flashbacks of my dreams appeared in the back of my mind. The screams of a little kid being taken away from her family. I had no words, my voice paralyzed, and my heart racing.

My world crumbled down all around me, and the walls that used to be there vanished. My mind overflowed with memories of me as a child before I was found at the orphanage. I could suddenly remember that day crystal clear. The faces of my mom and dad. And the face of my kidnapper.

All the memories returned in a flash. I heard the laughter of a little girl in my mind, her dad’s games, and smelled the sweet coconut scent of my mother and the pancakes she used to make. My whole body became paralyzed as everything started to become too much to handle at once. The world around me spinning as I reached for a glass of water.

My legs gave out and I dropped to the ground. I heard my teammates calling out my name, immediately forming a huddle around me shielding me from the people in the stands.

Duncan’s face appeared above me. “Deep breaths, Zoey,”

“Come on, QB. This is just another day on the field, dealing with cocky bastards,” I heard Wesley say somewhere off to my right.

I sat up slowly with Duncan holding my hand as he pulled me to my feet. His hand instantly went to cup the back of my head. “You, okay?” He asked.

I nodded. “I don’t know what happened. Everything was alright until everything started to spin,”

“Who’s got a protein bar on them? Come on fellows, I know you guys love hiding chocolate bars in your pockets,” I smiled at Duncan’s commanding voice.

It was that I only realized that they pulled me backstage when a woman ran up to me, pressing an ice pack against the side of my head.

“Here,” Duncan opened the wrapper and handed me the chocolate bar.

“The ambulance will be here in two minutes,” Coach Shane said coming up to me.

I shook my head. “I am not going to any hospital,” I grumbled.

“You just hit your head,” He pointed out.

“I am fine. I hate hospitals,”

“We have to get you checked out. You could have a concussion,”

I rolled my eyes. “I am not going,”

“What if I tell you that you will be benched if you don’t go?” Coach Shane wasn’t standing down.

“Damn coach,” I heard the guys mutter.

I glared at him. “That’s not fair. I worked my butt off for the finals,”

He nodded his head. “Yeah, I know. Are you really going to throw it away because of stubbornness?”

“I am not stubborn,” I caught the way Duncan and a few of the team dipped their head as if they were disagreeing.

“We’ll be there with you, QB,” I looked at my team and how everyone was pleading with me to get checked out.

“Fine, I will go to the damn hospital but I am not taking the ambulance,”