“Is that kid Matthew still bothering you?”, his mom asked.
“It’s Mike, and yeah, I guess. I mean he’s just a stupid brat. Nothing I can do will change him.” Devin explained.”His parents already did enough to that kid to make him stay that way for the next century.”
“Well, let's just hope that troubled kid doesn't play football.” she said cheerfully
“One can hope,” Said Devin voice drifting away,”One can only hope.”
“Are you ready for tomorrow?”, His mom shouted across the hall.
“Possibly,” he called, sass in his voice.
“Don’t sass me boy, It’s going to be a big day.”She replied.
“I guess,” Devin replied voice cracking,”Goodnight mom.”
“Goodnight honey.”She said sweetly switching off the lights.
It was the night before the high school football tryouts and Devin was lying on his bed staring at the ceiling. A light breeze drifted in through a window that had been left open last night. He contemplated all the scenarios of the day going as his mind drifted towards an image of a field The sun was shining down on the freshly cut grass of his old practice field in Iowa. Oh how he longed to be back there. Devin had been an all state wide receiver in Iowa but things were different now. His dad got laid off and they were forced to move to  Montana. School was different here, the kids were  different and the teachers weren’t a big help either. There were social classes here and he was immediately placed into the nerd class not having a chance to show his true talent for athletics.
As he drifted off to sleep, he dreamed of the tryout to come, this could be his big break.  Finally, he could shed this title of being a nerd and show his true colors. Sunlight flooded into Devin’s room, he was slowly woken up. The tryout was at 10:00am, it was 7:00 in the morning as he rolled out of bed to go take a shower. Devin then started to get his gear together but  he couldn’t find his receiver gloves. he shoved all his dirty ragged old smelly clothes out of his closet and he saw a flash of red out of the corner of his eye. There they were. under an old bobcats jersey. It had been his first game when he had got them. That was that game that inspired him to play football. His back Leaned against the door to his room. Devin wished he was back home at his old house with his  old friends.
“I’ll be in the car.” His mom cried.
It was time to go now, his future in this state depended on this day. He got up and walked out the door.The car ride was short. His mom was the only one who had gotten up to drive him to his tryout on this brisk Saturday morning. Ten silent minutes passed without interruption until they were finally there, the Darby Mustangs home field. He stepped out of the car.
“Good luck and try your best. You got this.” His mother said as she always did before a big game.
He walked towards the edge of the campus where all his misery for the past month was kept. Into the locker room he went, wishing nothing more than to have a decent tryout.He was the first one there and other kids started to trickle in as time passed. By 9:00, he was ready to play some ball, Then his nightmare came true, the one thing he had dreaded. The one scenario that made him sweat in his bed the night before. The locker room went silent, Mike Andrews, the school bully, walked through the doors of the locker room. His heart skipped a beat.
“Hey nerd! You do know this is a football tryout right?”
His squad of jocks snickered in the background. Devin walked slowly towards the door to the locker room and left. He was going to have to play with that buffoon, he just hoped Mike didn’t play cornerback. The gear was decent but the field was trashed. The turf was all over the place and the goalposts leaned towards the right in the wind. As soon as he got on to the field a tall man greeted him.
“Hello son. Are y’all here for the football tryouts?”
“Yeah.”
And then he was off starting a new journey in football. Another chance at greatness.
The tryout was simple and routine. First they ran some positional drills to evaluate the players in their strengths and weaknesses. Then the coaches held best man drills for the lineman. Finally it was his chance to show his skills. “Of course,” he thought “I’m going to have to compete against Mike.” He couldn’t believe the one chance he had to change everything might be taken away by someone who had made his life a lot worse than it already was.He was ready now. Ready to take down the kid that ruined his life. He could do it. He was an all-state wide-receiver. The drill was simple. Pull a move, run your route and catch the pass. Something he had done his entire life against anyone he faced. He got lined up at the line of scrimmage, crouched down, and stared into Mike’s eyes. He decided to run a route so practiced by him that he could do it perfectly in his sleep: a fake button hook spin out smash.
He ran the route beautifully and to perfection. Mike was left in his dust leaving him with nothing but green in front of him. He looked back and saw the ball spiraling through the air towards him. He reached out his hands and snagged the ball out of the air, never slowing down. He had done it. Triumphed over Mike for the first time. A new confidence fell over him. He could do this. Now it was time for the final part of the tryout. The full game scrimmage. The coaches could analyze your performance in a game situation. He was put on a decent team which was good for him. His team drove down the field fairly well to arrive at the 17 yard line on the opponent's side of the field.
In the huddle, the play was orchestrated. They didn’t know the playbook, so the instructions took a long time to give. Finally, he was told to run a deep outside fade. As he made his way to the line of scrimmage, he saw Mike shadow him to the spot. “Great!” he thought, “I have to go against him, again!” To make it even worse, right as they were about to snap the ball, the coaches yelled, “Last play!”. This just made it worse. With a hard stomp, the snap count began. 1,2,3,4. The ball was snapped. He was off to the races, stutter stepped, then beat Mike around the outside. He was wide open and called for the ball. The QB made the throw. As Devin was getting under the pass, Mike grabbed his left arm and held him from reaching  the spot of the ball. Mike shoved him a little bit to get him off balance. Devin used the momentum from the push, broke away from Mike, and dove towards the ball. With one hand, he reached out and made a fingertip catch.Touchdown!!! He had done the impossible. He had made a catch comparable to Odell himself. His team surrounded him and lifted him into the air all the way to the locker room. Mike knelt on the ground in shock. The locker room was filled with chatter about the tryout, making the team, and his amazing catch. As he took his gear off the assistant coach, coach Rick, sat by Devin
”Well son, that was one heck of a catch you made there. I was wondering if you would like to be a Mustang this season.”
He had done it. He had made the team. He had overcome everything in his way and things were going to be different now.  And so, he walked out those locker room doors with pride in his eyes. He had won.
He walked out towards his mom in the car, she didn’t trust Devin to drive himself to or from practice. Devin was ecstatic. His mom saw it in his eyes and said
“I’m assuming the tryout went well?”
“I guess you could say that.”
He responded, breaking out into a grin. The car ride home was filled with chatter. By the time they got home it was dark outside. Devin went upstairs to take a shower then went to his room. He lay on his bed again ”Goodnight mom!” He shouted.
“Goodnight honey.” She said sweetly, turning off the lights.
He fell asleep with a new confidence, envisioning a day without Mike on his back.