Free Incoming Freshman by Carol Lynne

“You want to play with me?”
    “I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t.”
    Chase looked up at the large digital clock on the wall. “I’d love to, but it’ll have to be a short one. I’m due at work in an hour.”
    “Work?”
    “Yeah. Mr Bianchi gave me a full-time job cleaning offices after hours. It’ll work perfectly once practice starts because as long as I get my work done before the place opens in the morning, I can pretty much set my own hours.”
    In the three years he’d played football at college level, Bobby had never heard of a player having a full-time job. “You on scholarship?”
    “Partial. My tuition and part of my dorm fees are covered, but I still have to come up with money for books, food and…” Chase held his hands up and gestured around the room. “It’s worth it though. I can’t imagine living in the regular dorms.”
    “Take it from me. They suck.” Bobby grabbed the rack off the peg on the wall and set up the table.
    He spent the next thirty minutes getting his ass beat by Chase before the younger man had to quit to go to work. “Sorry, maybe next time we can play two out of three or something,” Chase said on his way out of the door.
    Bobby stared in the eighteen-year-old’s direction long after he’d disappeared from sight. Chase had talked nonstop about his love of the game, and how excited he was to play for Coach Nelson and Coach Sloan. Bobby had hated to break it to the kid that Justin Nelson only helped with the team when he wasn’t coaching the junior high kids.
    Chase had laughed and simply said, “Duh. I’ve read everything written about Coach Nelson, but just the chance to have him give me a few tips here and there is worth it. And getting a scholarship was the only way it could happen.”
    “I hear ya,” Bobby had said. “I’m a scholarship kid, too.”
    Bobby turned away from the door and rubbed his chest. Chase had the next four years in front of him. Maybe, if he was lucky, he’d get a full ride next year. Surely a guy of eighteen could survive on only a few hours of sleep a day, right? Yet another stone of guilt landed in Bobby’s gut.

Chapter Five
     
     
     
    Bobby went to the practice field early to watch the incoming freshmen go through drills before the rest of the team took the field. He’d been ordered to sit the first couple of practices out until Julian and Chet were confident his knee could handle the normal drills the team was put through.
    He’d overheard Chet discussing the talented crop of players with Coach Nelson the previous day and wanted to see for himself how good they really were. It seemed Coach Nelson was more than just a nice guy. He was known around the conference as the Star Recruiter because he seemed to get the pick of the litter every year.
    As Bobby watched the practice, his gaze landed on Chase Hughs, the quarterback he’d met a few days earlier. In the five minutes Bobby observed the enthusiastic player, Chase yawned three times. No wonder. Between conditioning, a full-time job and trying to adjust to life away from home, Chase had to be dead on his feet.
    On the scooter he’d become known for, Coach Nelson drove to where Chase was tossing the ball with another player. Bobby smiled at the expression on Chase’s face as Coach Nelson gave him a few tips. There was something in Chase that made Bobby uncomfortable and it suddenly dawned on him what it was. Chase not only played football, he seemed to live for it, love it. Bobby wouldn’t be surprised if Chase ran through plays in his sleep. Have I ever felt like that?
    He knew the answer as soon as he’d asked himself the question. No. He’d always enjoyed the game more because he seemed to take to it naturally than because he loved the game itself. His childhood hadn’t been like most kids his age. Never had he been allowed to sit in front of the television and watch cartoons all day. If he didn’t have chores to do, he was expected to be out of the house finding