Second Down
Copyright© 2025 by Lumpy
Chapter 32
Thankfully, whatever had annoyed Melanie wore off by the end of the day, and we talked on the phone that night for almost an hour. The fact that I had to do it sitting on the couch, with the cord wrapped around from the kitchen to the living room, made me miss cell phones from my dream life.
It was one of a dozen subtle reminders I’d get each day about all the stuff dream me had taken for granted, that were missing from my life. Thirty years didn’t seem all that long until you realized all the things that had not only been invented but had become indispensable.
The internet and cell phones were the ones I think I missed the most.
While I was still wondering what had gotten her so riled up, I was also happy to just let it be. Friday night, I walked over to her house ready for our date. I was really looking forward to it. My initial excitement about Melanie, mostly framed by my memories from the dream life, had started to be replaced by real affection for her here and now.
She was incredibly sweet, was maybe the most supportive person in my life when it came to football, and we had so much fun together. There was still that little thought in the back of my brain that Elijah had planted, but after homecoming, there hadn’t been the inkling of anything supporting it, so I just kept ignoring it.
I was smiling when I got up to the porch and rang the doorbell, just thinking about her. The girl had really done a number on me.
My smile faded when she opened the door. She was still in the same oversized Wheaton High sweater and jeans she’d worn to school and her eyes were red-rimmed and puffy, like she’d been crying. As soon as she saw me, she looked away, which was never a good sign.
“Hey,” I said. “Everything okay?”
“Blake, I...” She twisted the sleeve of her sweater. “I’m not feeling well tonight. I should have called earlier.”
Before I could say anything, movement past Melanie from the direction of their living room caught my eye. I could see Donna, Melanie’s sister, sitting curled on the living room couch. Even from here, I could see her eyes were red and puffy and it looked like there were tear tracks on her cheeks. As soon as she noticed me looking, she got up and walked quickly out of the room.
I could see why Melanie would lie and say she was not feeling well, since whatever had happened, it had been serious. I had enough demons in my family, literally in Josh’s case, to know this wasn’t the kind of thing you wanted to discuss with outsiders, even the person you were dating.
At least not right as it happened.
I mean, I’d made excuses for Josh’s weird behavior the other day, but I hadn’t actually explained to her what was going on there either. Not even the more reasonable ‘my brother is a little sociopath’ explanation, leaving out the dream stuff.
Melanie saw me looking past her and turned just in time to see Donna retreating from the room. Her shoulders tensed.
“I’m really sorry about tonight,” she said, starting to close the door. “I just need to...”
“Wait.” I caught the edge of the door. “What’s wrong? Did something happen?”
“Nothing happened. I’m just...” She started to say something else, then stopped. “I’m not feeling well.”
“Mel,” I said, trying to keep my voice gentle. “I can tell you’re upset. Whatever it is...”
“I said I’m fine.” Her words came out angry, but her eyes were pleading. “I just need to be alone right now.”
“Okay.” I held up my hands, letting go of the door. “I’m not trying to push. I just want you to know you can talk to me, if you need to. I’d just listen if you want, if you think it would help.”
Her expression softened.
“Blake, I,” She started, wrapping her arms around herself. “Thank you. Really. But I can’t...”
“Can’t what?”
“Nothing. I just need some space tonight.”
“No problem. I get it.” I stepped back. “I’ll head out, but call me if you need anything, okay? No judgment. Otherwise, I’ll see you at the game tomorrow.”
I turned to leave, but she took a step forward, coming halfway out the door, and grabbed the back of my jacket. “Wait.”
I stopped and turned. She was biting her lip, conflict written all over her face as she grabbed my wrist.
“The thing is...” she started.
Whatever she was going to say was cut off by Donna, who’d come back into the living room doorway and was looking at her sister, hard.
“Melanie!”
Melanie’s grip on my wrist tightened. She glared at her sister, furious, the two glaring at each other.
“You should probably go,” Melanie said finally, letting go of me.
“Are you sure?”
“Yes,” she said, her voice cracking. “Please.”
“Okay,” I said, reaching out and gently touching her shoulder. “But remember what I said. Call if you need me.”
She nodded without looking at me and took a step back inside, shutting the door. I turned to walk off the porch and down the path to the street when shouting erupted from inside, stopping me in my tracks.
“I don’t want to hear it!” Melanie screamed. “You gave up any right to tell me what to do fifteen years ago!”
There was a beat and then a door slammed somewhere in the house. For a second, I just stood there, trying to figure out what that meant, but then I realized I was still standing on her porch. I didn’t want her to catch me and think I was eavesdropping, especially since, whatever was happening was pretty serious. I quickly walked out to the street and then went back to a normal walking pace as I headed home.
I tried to think about something I might know from the dream that would explain what was going on, but Melanie and I had never actually been friends in that reality. I’d noticed her and been infatuated, but I’d been kind of a jackass with Elijah and a lot of the cheerleaders had avoided us. By the time I’d started to figure out that wasn’t a great way to be, Dad had died and I’d dropped out of school.
Whatever she’d gone through, I had no idea what it was. Which meant I could only wait for her to tell me what was going on, and, hopefully, be able to help then.
Saturday night, we had our turn at taking on Midland High School after they beat our varsity team at homecoming. Of course, we had a bigger disadvantage, having to face off against them in their stadium. Even with that, I was pumped.
All week, Coach had not only had us practicing more passing plays, and he specifically told us that, after how well things had gone in the second half of the last game, he was changing up the playbook. This included some new formations, which even I hadn’t expected to happen. The seniors and juniors seemed completely in shock, and we all knew how far out of character it was for Coach Holloway to ever change the way he did things.
The guy was stuck in tradition in the worst way.
Or at least, that was the prevailing wisdom. Considering I thought that with either the game last week or my argument afterward, he’d actually changed his mind, I didn’t think that was fair to him. At least not anymore.
Midland was going to see a whole new Wheaton JV team, and I couldn’t wait to show them we weren’t going to be pushovers.
To say the home crowd was hostile would be an understatement. The bleachers overflowed with maroon-clad fans ready to see their team crush us, and they were screaming with all their might. Thankfully, our town folks showed up, even though we weren’t the varsity. I wouldn’t say our stands were overflowing, but they were far from empty. True, of all the away games we’d play, this was the closest, but it was still heartening to know our neighbors would take the time to drive out and support us.
“Big game tonight,” Coach Holloway said as we gathered for warm-ups. “We have a new playbook. I know you’ve all wanted to shake things up, so now’s your chance. Show me this was the right decision and let’s make some history.”
Wheaton had lost every game we’d played against Midland High School for the last eight years, including varsity, JV, and freshman teams. So to say he’d put a lot on our shoulders was an understatement.
We at least started with some good luck at the coin toss, where Jerry called heads and it landed in our favor. We opted to receive the ball.
We followed that up with a solid kickoff return that the kick returner got to our thirty before being dragged down. Not a bad start.
In the huddle, I could feel the tension. “Strong right, twenty-six dive on one.” We still kept the first play simple with a running play. We knew their defense was solid, but Jerry managed to follow Cecil’s block through the hole for six yards.
Not earth-shattering, but I’d take it for a first drive.
On second down, the defense shifted to cover our three-receiver look, leaving Mickey one-on-one outside. At the snap, I hit my three-step drop and fired the ball as Mickey broke his route. The pass hit him in stride for a quick ten yards.
The momentum built as we pushed into Midland territory, making steady progress with a mix of mid-ranged passes, short passes, and runs. After two more runs, we had another good pass to Miles, who I hit just as he cleared the linebacker. He made the catch and picked up fifteen yards, giving us a first down at their thirty-five-yard line.
Their defense was applying a lot of pressure, but with the playbook more open, every time they started to react to a series of longer passes, we’d insert running plays and then switch back to passing.
It was how football was supposed to be played. Almost like a game of chess between the coaches, trying to read the other guy’s mind and guess which play he was going to run.
Unfortunately, our luck didn’t hold out. Midland’s defense tightened up and Jerry got stuffed for a two-yard gain followed by a passing play where none of our receivers could shake free, forcing me to throw the ball away. That was followed by a third down where I had to go with the shortest option in my reads, which only got us two yards, putting us at fourth and six, and effectively ending our drive.
The drive had shown that we could be competitive with a less rigid game plan, but we were also against one of the strongest defenses in the division. Gerald’s punt pinned them inside their fifteen. A good defensive stand here could get us right back in scoring position.
Midland had other plans, though. We’d heard the freshman running back they had was a Walter Payton in the making, and the word on him hadn’t been wrong. On their first play, he found a crease between Malcolm and Ronald, breaking into the second level for eight yards. The next play, he bounced outside containment for twelve more.
“Come on, defense!” I yelled from the sideline. “Wrap-up!”
They tried mixing it up with a quick slant to their tight end. Luke came up to make the tackle after a five-yard gain. But two plays later, their freshman found daylight again, nearly breaking Wilbur’s ankle tackle attempt as he cut hard. Ernest had the angle but this guy had rockets on his feet and we couldn’t catch him. Twenty yards later, he was celebrating in our end zone.
The extra point sailed through, 7-0.
I gathered the offense as we prepared to take the field again. They’d all seen what I’d just seen, which made everything a lot more serious real fast.
“We can’t do anything about what happens on defense,” I said, trying to keep everyone focused. “Let’s focus on what we can do and play our game. There’s plenty of time left so let’s answer them back right here.”
But watching their defense celebrate that score, I knew we were in for a fight. The crowd was totally into it now, and Midland’s sideline was jumping.
We started with a run play again, this time from our twenty-one, but I didn’t think this was Coach reverting to his old ways. I think he felt we needed to wear their defense down, but part of me wanted to air it out, take some shots downfield. We’d proven we could move it through the air on that first drive. We should do it again.
I took the snap on first down, and gave Jerry the ball, but Midland’s defensive end crashed inside, forcing Jerry sideways. He bounced off a tackle but ended up losing a yard as he tried to get outside. On second and eleven, Mickey ran a short crossing pattern. He got a step on his man, but the pass found his hands at the same moment a linebacker got to him. Mickey was driven back, though he held on to the ball. We gained about four yards, not enough to spark anything big, but we were chipping away at their defense.
That wouldn’t last. Midland’s defense was freaking everywhere, pushing our line and all over our receivers. I swear I wanted to count and make sure they hadn’t snuck extra players on the field.
On the snap, their linebackers rushed us, but Andre and our guys held strong long enough for me to make my reads.
Unfortunately, my reads sucked. Dwight tried to shake his corner on a post route, but he was stuck to Dwight’s hip. Mickey’s route was completely jammed up, and Miles was surrounded. The pocket started to collapse, so I tried to throw over the middle and drop it into Miles’s hands, since my other two receivers were impossible to hit. Miles jumped and reached for it, but a defender got his fingertips on the ball and the pass ended up incomplete.
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