Just try to move on.

What can you really do but push forward? You deal with the whispers, and the laughing, and the girls wiggling their pinkies at you over the next week or so, and eventually it fades, as others suffer similar fates, and people move on. Now it's the day of your first practice. You've been waiting for this since you made the team. Even through hell week, you couldn't help but look forward to actually getting on the field and playing football. You know that once you get that ball in your hands, you'll get your mojo back, and be able to move past everything that's happened so far.

You pull a pair of blue jeans up over your white briefs, and slide your jersey on over your lean but chiseled torso. You take a moment to admire your reflection. HSU red and gold looks good on you. Brings out your emerald green eyes. Running a comb through your hair, you rush out of your room, and make your way across the quad.

The sun seems to shine just for you, and you notice no laughing or pointing today. You allow a smile to come to your face, as you spot Hannah coming your way looking especially good in her cheerleader uniform. Her long brown hair bounces playfully behind her, just as the hem of her skirt bounces playfully toward the top of her long legs.

You met Hanna last week. She transferred in from another school, and you've had a crush on her since day one. Best of all, she wasn't around for hell week. She gives you a wide, sparkling smile as she approaches. "Hey Brent! How you holding up? Today's your first practice, right?"

"Yeah. No big deal though. Just one of many. I'll be more excited when I'm starting... so give it a week." She chuckles at your joking bravado.

"Well, we practice after you, so don't tear the field up too bad, Micky Mantle."

"He played baseball." you say with a laugh. "I still can't believe you're a cheerleader, and you pay zero attention to any sport whatsoever."

"That's not true. I like soccer...kinda. Besides, you don't need to know about sports to do a back handspring, and shout in unison."

Now it's your turn to laugh. Looking down at your phone, you suddenly realize you don't have much time. "Sorry, I gotta run. Good luck at practice!" You shout, running toward the athletics building. You quickly throw your pads on, and rush out to the field. You're the last of the players to trickle in, but not by enough to draw any attention yet.

Practice goes exactly as you've been imagining it for weeks. Better perhaps. You only miss a couple throws, and not by much. You even notice that some of the cheerleaders are sitting in the bleachers, waiting for their practice time, and a couple of them even look mildly impressed. Rick does approach you at one point, but even that's only to reassure you that when it comes to the field, he's all business. This calms your nerves, allowing you to play even better. Toward the end, you even notice the second and first string quarterbacks watching you with a mix of nervousness and envy.

Once practice is over, you try to hang back under the guise of running some laps, but the starting quarterback starts pushing you along with everyone else.

"The team showers together, rookie. It's tradition... It's weird, but it's tradition."

Seeing no way out of this, you follow the crowd back toward the building, your heart now beating in your chest. ON your way back, you see Hannah making her way towards the field. She gives you a wink, you return it with a smile.