Out on the Field

Chapter 39

Colby's POV

James and I both decided to move out on the same day so we could pack up all our stuff. I was going to miss the dorm but I wasn't going to miss the small amount of space that we have. James was in his room and I heard him complaining.

I walked into his doorway and I saw that he had made more a mess than he had packed.

"I thought that you were packing not throwing things around," I teased him.

He glared at me and I took a seat on his bed and looked at him.

"It is sad to leave this place," I muttered.

James nodded and started to place things in boxes.

"I'm going to leave and pack up my own stuff. Call if you want any help," I told him and headed into my own room.

It already packed most of my clothes and I was starting to pack other stuff. I was keeping most of my textbooks so I started piling them into a box. I didn't have much else in my room except a couple of photos and trophies.

I taped the last box closed and added to the stack. I was going to drive down to Houston because it was going to be easiest. I had gotten rid of my motorcycle a couple of years ago and got a car. I headed into the kitchen and I helped James pack up the kitchen.

I let him keep everything in the kitchen because Clara was bringing stuff from her dorm and l didn't need it. We slowly cleaned up the dorm until there was nothing left. I sat down on the floor and James sat down opposite me.

"I going miss Alabama," I said.

"I know. It's been my home for four years," he added.

I had to leave tomorrow and James was going to be leaving not long later. We didn't have anything in the fridge so we headed out for dinner. We spent the whole time talking about all the times that we had had together.

I wanted to head out onto the field one last time and James joined me. Coach had given me a long time ago and I used it for the last time. I grabbed a football and we started tossing it around just for fun. We both decided to head back and just as I walked into the dorm room my phone rang.

I looked at the caller ID and noticed that it was Clara so I stepped into my very empty room.

"Hey," I said.

"Your Dad came to my dorm room today and was asking for you," she said.

"What? I don't know why he is so obsessed with me now," I admitted.

"Because you are going to be an amazing footballer player and he doesn't want people thinking that we don't have a normal family," she said.

She was pretty much right and I didn't say anything more about it. I didn't want to talk about it. Clara noticed this and switched the conversation to my upcoming move to Houston. I hung up after twenty minutes and I headed back into what was the lounge.

I headed to bed around ten because I had an eight hour drive tomorrow. My room was completely empty except for the stacks of boxes. I stared at the ceiling, just thinking, before I managed to drift off to sleep.

James helped me stack everything into the car and I didn't really know what to say to him. We would see each other again, hopefully playing against each other, but it was sort of goodbye. I had had a lot of fun with him and we had lived together for four years.

"I'll see you when you come to Arizona," he teased.

"Or when you come to Houston. We should train together in the offseason or something," I suggested.

"We better do something. I'm not going to forget this," he said.

We hugged and I checked that I hadn't left anything behind. I climbed into the car and waved at James as I drove off.

I had brought a house about five minutes' walk from the Texans' facilities. I dumped all my boxes inside and headed straight to bed. I wasn't needed at the facilities until the day after tomorrow so I can unpack tomorrow.

I woke early the next morning and I lay in bed for a couple of minutes without moving. I didn't want to unpack but I knew that I had to. I grabbed cereal and stood in the kitchen as I started to eat in a plastic bowl.

I also needed to go shopping but I wanted to do that even less. I opened my first box and groaned when I realised just how much work this was going to be. I started playing music in the hope that it would help but it didn't really.

I was halfway through unpacking when I decided to go run instead. I changed and I started my run to explore my new city. I ran past the Texans facilities but I couldn't go in so I kept running. I was a bit nervous for tomorrow when I meet everyone but I was ready for it.

I unlocked my house again and I still wasn't used to it. I stared at all the boxes and I walked past them and headed into the bathroom. I stood under the shower for about twenty minutes. I could wait until Clara could join me but she still had to finished college.

I didn't get much further into unpacking before deciding to give up for the day. I went out for dinner and then headed to bed. I struggled to sleep but I must have drifted off because I woke up the next morning around five.

The new players had to be there earlier to get equipment. I was the first one there and Coach was standing outside. I reintroduced myself and we talked about the season coming up as more new players turned up.

We all walked inside and towards the equipment room. I introduced myself to the other rookies. There were seven of us that got drafted by the Texans and we walked into the equipment room. I got handed a helmet and someone started to adjust it.

Once we all got pads and helmets we headed into the locker room. I found my locker and tucked my equipment into it and I started to look around. It was pretty cool to be in here even it was mostly empty.

We had a look around everywhere else before the other players arrived. Coach pulled me aside and wanted to talk to me about where I would play this year.

"Have you ever played safety?" he asked.

"No but I can learn if you want me to," I told him.

"What about special teams?"

"I've played quite a lot of special teams."

"Anything in particular?"

"No, I've played everything," I said as we circled back to the locker room.

Coach left the locker room and I headed over to my locker and introduced myself to the rest of the defensive backs. I still had number 32 which I had in high school and college. The locker next to me was another cornerback, TJ Harris.

"Are you a new corner?" he asked me.

"Yeah, I'm Colby," I said.

"TJ, I'm going to warn you the locker room is a mess," he told me.

"What do you mean?"

"Last year we had a 2-14 record. There are a lot of unresolved issues and there were a lot of arguments in here last year and it wasn't good."

"That bad?"

"I'm sorry that you got involved in this. It is mess," he said and clapped me on the back.

I sat down and thought about it. I looked around at everyone else in the locker room. You could see the tension in the locker room. I was wondering what it would be like this year. After talking to Coach I don't think that he knows what goes on in here.

I don't see this ending well.

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The Wise One