"Damn it... Is he seriously ignoring me? How dare he..." Regina's smile froze on her face as Mike casually brushed past her without a second glance. She gritted her teeth, feeling a surge of annoyance.
To the "Queen Bee," nobody was allowed to ignore her—that felt like an insult to her charm.
Karen could tell things were heading south. She knew all too well how dangerous it was to get on Regina's bad side.
So she quickly jumped in to cover for Mike: "Chill out, Regina. Nobody's ignoring how gorgeous you are. Mike probably acted like that because he's nervous—he's brand new to the team..."
Regina shot Karen a skeptical look. She'd caught those little flirty moments between Mike and Karen earlier.
But between admitting her own charm wasn't enough and deciding Mike was just blind, she much preferred the second option.
Glancing at Mike's retreating back, Regina waved it off magnanimously: "Fine, whatever. Since he's new to the team, I'll let it slide this once..."
With that, she flipped her long blonde hair and strutted back to the cheer squad, head held high.
Out on the field, big ol' Sam was warming up when he saw Regina and her crew actually approaching Mike to chat. Jealousy hit him like a truck—his eyes practically turned red.
Sam's beef originally started because he couldn't stand that little genius Sheldon strutting around school, which sparked some friction with Georgie.
The two had even thrown down on the field once.
And since Mike was the guy Georgie brought onto the team, straight-shooting Sam lumped him in with the hate list too.
Now, seeing Mike talk to the girl of his dreams? The jealousy in Sam's chest was burning like wildfire.
The big dude's eyes darted around, and he sidled up to the captain, who was doing solo warm-ups. He whispered, trying to stir the pot: "Hey Aaron, that new kid's got the nerve to ogle Regina. Want me to go rough him up a bit for you?"
Aaron, the quarterback and team captain, was the guy everyone figured was perfect for Regina, the cheer captain. They'd make a classic power couple.
There'd even been some rumors about them hooking up, though neither had ever confirmed it.
Sam might look like a dumb jock, but this move was pretty clever.
If luck was on his side, he could drag Aaron into dealing with Mike together.
Once the team's star quarterback had it out for Mike, life on the team would get real rough for both him and Georgie.
Of course, the whole plan hinged on Aaron actually having a thing with Regina.
But after hearing Sam out, Aaron just frowned and said, "Regina and I aren't like that—not what you think. Plus, Coach has his eye on Mike. I don't want you messing with him."
Aaron knew Sam's hot-headed personality and didn't want off-field drama screwing up practice.
The guy genuinely loved football. He was stoked about a talented newbie like Mike and wanted to nurture that.
Sam, feeling shot down, quietly trashed Aaron in his head but plastered on a fake smile and promised he wouldn't cause any trouble for Mike.
Watching Sam walk off, Aaron shook his head with a helpless look.
Football's a team sport. To win big, you need good vibes and unity.
A troublemaker like Sam? If the team wasn't short on players, they wouldn't bother keeping him around.
Over on the other side, while Mike was stretching with Georgie, Coach George showed up wearing his shiny new whistle around his neck—the little gift Mike had given him yesterday. It gleamed in the sun.
He nodded at Georgie to keep warming up, then turned to Mike: "Mike, how much do you know about football?"
"I pretty much got the rules down from Georgie," Mike replied.
"Good." Coach George liked that Mike had come prepared. Then he dug deeper: "What do you know about the running back position?"
Running Back: On offense, the RB usually lines up in the backfield. They take the handoff from the quarterback and gain yards by rushing the ball.
There are generally two types: power backs and agility backs.
Power backs are big and strong—they bulldoze through for short yards and get used like a battering ram in goal-line situations.
Agility backs don't need to be huge, but they've got speed and quickness. They're great at finding holes on the outside for bigger gains.
Right now, big Sam was their power back. Mike leaned more toward the agile type.
Mike recalled what Georgie had explained during study hall and nailed the answer.
"Nice," Coach George said with a grin. Then he followed up: "Okay, what about safety?"
Safety: On defense, safeties play deep as the last line of defense.
Mike aced that one too.
"Perfect. Put this on for practice." Coach George unfolded a big blue jersey with the number 20 in yellow.
(Quick note: In football, jersey numbers have rules. 20–49 are typically for running backs—like fullbacks and halfbacks—plus defensive backs like cornerbacks and safeties.
Looked like Coach George had already decided Mike's spot on the field.)
Once Mike pulled on the jersey, Coach George blew his whistle from the middle of the field to call everyone in.
The whole team gathered—Mike figured there were about a hundred guys on the roster.
But a big chunk of them were wearing blank practice jerseys with no numbers.
Those dudes were obviously just there for the easy credit. They wouldn't see the field in real games.
Benchwarmers, basically—the hype squad.
Over in the crowd, Sam spotted Mike in his new No. 20 jersey. The fact that the newbie got his own number on day two made the big guy's face twist up even more.
Next up was a solid hour of conditioning.
The guys with numbers pushed themselves harder. The credit-chasers could tap out and chill on the sidelines when they got tired.
Mike's stamina was over 100—way above these sixteen- and seventeen-year-olds. He was one of the top dogs.
An hour of intense work left him huffing and puffing, but in a good way—like that satisfying burn after a killer workout.
As Mike was wiping sweat and catching his breath, somebody suddenly slammed into him from the side.
Caught off guard, Mike stumbled but stayed on his feet. He whipped around and saw a huge teammate smirking at him.
The guy was rocking a No. 21 jersey.
Surprised he hadn't knocked Mike down, the dude still trash-talked: "Listen up, kid. Just 'cause Coach likes you doesn't mean you can get cocky. Watch your back."
Before Mike could respond, the guy slipped back into the crowd, acting like nothing happened while no one was looking.