The Hunter's Werewolf

(8) Friday Night Lights

A few days later, it was finally Friday, which means it is the very first football game of the season, and the town is extremely excited about it. In our town, called Broken Arrow, football is important, especially in the community. Our town likes to go full-blown with decorations, parties with bonfires, many types of fundraisers to help raise money by helping anyone in town who needs help, and many other things. Our high school is named Broken Arrow High School, and our mascot just happens to be the Warriors, which, honestly, I have no idea why, but I am guessing it must have something to do with our town name or something that has to do with the town's history.In the town, everyone is close together, so if someone needs help paying for some food or even clothing, someone in the town will step up to pay. Our football team is one of the best teams in the county if you count high school football, and they are well-known too. Our football and cheerleading teams have been back-to-back champions for about ten years now, which is a huge commitment for our town because before winning the first championship, we were one of the unknown towns. Anyway, it is cool to be known as one of the best and hardest-working sports teams in the county. I honestly cannot wait for the first game of the season; the cheerleaders get to show off the new cheers, and the football players can show off the new plays.The morning of the football game is especially important to my mother and aunt, who are serious about going all out, especially for team spirit. I am talking about red dye chocolate chip pancakes and waffles and tons of bacon and sausage that will make you have a heart attack, but it is game fuel. Also, they tend to dye the milk red, which looks creepy like a cup of blood that vampires drink or like a fruit punch that is used for the kids' drink that we used at our Halloween party. My mother and Aunt Karen have the cheesiest ideas for spirit week, like swap gender day, swap sports day, color days, which are for each grade to wear a certain color, and many other things that their crazy minds come up with too. Although some of their ideas are fun, like making a bet with the football guys on a random game like a scavenger hunt, Anyways, this is the first game that Hazel gets to cheer for us, and everyone is extremely excited about her being with Kaylie and me on the sidelines of the football game.I woke up and came down to the kitchen to eat breakfast while holding Hazel in my arms because she was too tired to walk down the stairs. Mom took her out of my arms and placed her in her chair at the long table that is in the kitchen. As soon as my mom put Hazel in her chair, she immediately went back to sleep until she heard the magic word that every morning person likes to hear in the morning, and that word is..."Coffee?" mom said, holding out a coffee cup after pouring some into it for me."Did someone say coffee?" Hazel jolted out of sleep and almost fell off the chair. For some weird reason, she loves coffee, but we tricked her with hot chocolate instead of coffee because she is too young for coffee."Yes, I did, darling; would you like some whipped cream on yours?" mom asked while getting her a cup."Yes, please, and double on the whip; I have my very first game tonight with Charlie and Kaylie. "I need all the sugar and caffeine I can get today; I need to be wide awake this time and not fall asleep like at cheerleading summer camp," Hazel said while yawning and putting strawberries on her toast with a plastic knife."Oh, don’t worry, you will do fine," I said while grabbing the plastic knife from her hands."Hey, I was making my toast like a big girl," Hazel yelled while trying to kick me under the table."Sweetie, please do not yell; it is early in the morning," mom said while finishing packing Hazel’s bookbag and cheerleading bag."Whoa, that is a lot of whip cream for your coffee, Hazel." Moms, are you sure you packed my football cup for tonight’s game? Colton said while checking his football bag with Troy and Hunter."Boys, your football cups are in the dishwasher; I hope mom didn’t mind that I put them there because, my god, they smell so bad. No wonder you don’t get any action from girls from school." Hazel while trying to sneak some extra cookies into her book bag."OH MY GOD!" Kaylie and I said it at the same time while everyone else was spitting their coffee out of their mouths and gasping for some air."I think I am done with my coffee, and well, that just made my day," I said while trying to catch my breath from laughing too hard."Kids, it’s time to go to school, and we will be at the game later," Aunt Karen said while cleaning up the coffee mess."Bye kids, enjoy your day at school," Mom said while gathering the dirty dishes from the table.Once we got to school, we went our separate ways to our morning classes, and some of us have the same classes, especially things like math, biology, or even social studies. Sometimes I like morning classes on Fridays because it just seems more relaxing, especially when it is so close to the weekend and freedom. Anyway, it was the end of the school day, which means it is finally time to get ready for the first game of the football season. I am so excited to show off my new cheerleading, gymnastics, and dancing skills. I also cannot wait to have Hazel have her first cheerleading experience, especially in front of the whole town. I hope she does not have a panic attack or end up fainting in the middle of her solo preference. Hazel wanted to have a cheer all by herself so she can practice for future cheerleading shows.A few hours later, it was finally time to start the game. The crowd was pumped up with energy. Our side of the stands was full of red, white, and black school spirit, colorful posters with things saying, "Go Warriors! Go Team!, etc.," matching school hoodies, hats, and many other things. Our football team was in the locker room having a team prep talk while the girls were warming up with some stretching and tumbling, and Hazel was making sure the banner where the football games ran was set by the little tunnel from the locker room. My mom and aunt Karen are at the concession stands, which are right next to the field, where they have a beautiful view of the game. They are raising money for the Harvest Fest, which is coming up in a few months and is one of the biggest festivals we have in our community.A sports team school reporter announced..."Welcome to Broken Arrow High School’s very first football game of the season. Tonight, we are playing against the River Brooke High School Catfish football team. My mom and aunt Karen are at the concession stands, which are right next to the field, where they have a pleasant view of the game. Now is the moment you are waiting for the Broken Arrow High School Football team! "All right, let's get this game started and start with the national anthem," he said into the microphone while trying not to panic.*The national anthem starts to play with everyone on the field and in the stands having their hand over their hearts while a high school student is signing.As soon as the anthem finished, the coach yelled:"Alright guys, let us win this game. I know the other team is easy to beat, but let us show them what we are made of." One, two, three, we are going to do our football chant ready... One. Two. Three. Go, Warriors!" the coach said while looking at the boys."GO WARRIORS!!" The whole team shouted at once, put their hands together, and then raised them in the air.Colton gathers all the starting players in a circle on the field to begin the first play."Alright guys, we are going to play 42 red, 21 blue, ready set go," Colton said, then clapped.The players got into position in a line, and the head referee blew his whistle to begin the game. The two teams went at each other like a huge once-in-a-lifetime shopping sale at a random store, and boy, did they crash into each other like two cars in a car crash. You can barely see anyone running, tackling each other, or even knowing what is going on, especially with all the chaos that is going on in the field. The look on Hazel’s face was very worried about knowing if any of her friends from our team were injured while cheering on the sidelines with us and knowing she was scared out of her mind due to seeing a football game up close. Sometimes the guys on the football team do get injured with minor injuries like a broken bone or even major injuries like a brain injury. Usually, Hazel likes to sit on the sidelines and help take care of players, like being the little water girl and helping with first aid, where she likes giving the boys pretty child bandages. Anyway, the whistle kept blowing, and there were red and yellow flags being thrown in the air from the game. Our team was in the lead with 44 points, while the other team had only twenty. It was halftime, which means we can do our halftime cheer, the best thing about the game besides winning the game.About ten minutes later, it was finally halftime, which is my favorite time of the game. I am so excited that I will pee my pants—not really, but it feels like I might, and that would be embarrassing. Anyway, I was standing on the sideline with my girls, getting ready to put on a show for the crowd, and doing one of the many things I love. The feeling of my uniform pressed against my body, the feeling of having all this energy build up around me, the feeling of thousands of people watching me, the fear of messing up, and, of course, knowing that I have my girls cheerleading with me make me feel calm. Anyways, I stepped onto the football field and walked right to the center with my girls and got into position to dance the night away. When the music started, my heartbeat was the rhythm of the song, and I suddenly started to move my body in coordination with the other girls and started to yell a cheer."Let's go, Warriors." "Stand up, it’s time to shout, come on fans, yell it out, say it out loud, say it proudly, let us go Warriors and win this game."The cheerleaders dance while yelling out the cheer and moving around the centerfield into a new position for a new cheer."If you come to win, do not even think about it." We are warriors. There are no buts about it. Red and black, we will attack!Some of the girls did some tricky flips, and others made a human pyramid with a few girls in the back to catch the flyer just in case she fell. Hazel runs to the center of the field in her little matching cheerleading uniform, carrying a big sign for the final act.The game flew by fast like the Flash scored a touchdown; we won the game, and once again, we won our homecoming game back-to-back like it was easy. Anyway, the other team has never stood a chance to win the game against the state champions, and soon we will be the best football team in the whole country. As soon as the boys took a clean shower because there were no-way-out packs, moms let them ride in the cars with us with their smell like a farm on a sweltering day in the summer.