Chapter 83: We Are the Champions!

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"Me?"

Reese stared.

High-school football did not have the same rigid substitution rules as the pro game. The bench was also much smaller, and many substitutes simply stood near the sideline.

Reese had watched Nolan from close range.

His view of football had been violently rearranged.

The first-half leap alone had been terrifying. No normal high-school player should have that body. The dizzying sequence of tactics after that made Reese realize something else.

’Football could be played like this?’

He knew the offense had not practiced those designs in private. Nolan had commanded them live.

It was like seeing a mountain appear in front of him.

A Titan from Greek myth.

Compared with that, Reese felt tiny. Weak as an ant.

And all of this rested on the fact that Nolan had only been playing football for two months.

Reese already knew he could not compare with Nolan. The previous game had proved that. But seeing it so close tonight left him with a colder despair.

For a moment, he even felt as if his football career had ended.

Then Nolan came over and spoke to him.

Like a light breaking through a wall.

"Can I?" Reese asked again.

Nolan patted his good... teammate on the shoulder.

"Of course you can. Trust yourself."

In the first row, Lisa saw it happen. Nolan had gone to Reese on his own. The two spoke more easily than she had expected, and the sight loosened something in her chest.

She usually looked decisive, confident, and clean in every move.

But the matter between Nolan and Reese had never truly left her mind. She simply refused to show it.

Backup quarterback Reese entered the game.

Compared with Nolan’s dazzling designs, Reese’s play was conservative and ordinary.

As expected, it did not take long for an old problem to return.

He fumbled.

It was a low-level mistake caused by nerves. Reese had always had that flaw.

"He is not made for this," Thomas said, shaking his head.

"If he fixes the mental part, he can be a normal backup," Nolan said. "His raw level is not far from their quarterback."

Thomas and Nolan argued briefly over Reese.

Reese saw it from the field, and panic crept in.

Not long after, he saw Nolan standing on the sideline making a kicking gesture.

Reese understood immediately.

Field goal.

Mark made it from the forty-one.

Three points for the Normans.

When Reese came back to the sideline, Nolan reminded him quietly to use field goals more often in that kind of situation. Even if he could not extend a lead quickly, he could at least stop the other side from roaring all the way back.

There was no blame in the advice.

Only the broad, mountain-like concern of an old father.

Reese was moved more than he wanted to admit.

He had seen Nolan argue with the coach to keep him on the field. Now Nolan was teaching him how to manage points.

On other teams, starting quarterbacks and backups fought in the dark.

By comparison, Nolan was not bad at all.

Reese’s nature was still reckless. He was still a troublemaker inside the team. But Nolan had pressed everyone under his strength, and that strength made Reese cautious.

Add the lesson Nolan had just given, and Reese truly felt grateful.

He even wanted to become Nolan’s friend.

"After the game, we should celebrate at a Valley club," Reese said, patting Nolan’s chest with a grin only men understood. "My treat."

As Reese used field goals more often, the Normans stabilized. Nolan finally had the rare luxury of waiting for the game to end from the sideline.

Thomas pulled Flea, Ford, and several others too, so Nolan led them toward the south student section.

As he approached, the students who were already in full celebration began screaming even louder.

"Nolan, I want your baby!" one girl shouted above the rest.

Nolan could not fully understand why students who had not cared about football before were happier than the players.

Then he thought about the meaning of Friday Night Lights.

Maybe they only needed a reason to celebrate.

Then let football become this school’s festival.

Nolan started moving with the music. His dancing was stiff, mostly bouncing with the rhythm and swinging his arms. He finished by crossing both hands under his arms and lifting his shoulders in an obnoxiously confident pose.

The approachable silliness only made the crowd love him more.

Rachel took photo after photo.

Jennifer laughed from the stand. Tonight, she discovered that Nolan Callahan could be cute.

Even the cheerleaders joined the fun. Sarah Gellar was tossed into the air by Nolan several times, laughing and shrieking with the rest.

When the final whistle sounded, the cheer squad screamed and rushed the field. The south stand followed. Then the main stand.

Students, parents, and players poured together into the grass by the hundreds, then the thousands, everyone smiling with real joy.

Nolan was lifted high and passed over the crowd like a trophy.

The stadium crew chose the perfect song.

Queen’s We Are the Champions filled Nickoll Field.

The chorus became a thousand-voice singalong. No one needed the lyrics on a screen. The crowd locked arms, swayed together, and sang until their throats turned rough.

Even Mia and Lisa were not immune. For a few minutes, both middle-aged women seemed to return to their own high-school years.

Mia smiled with quiet satisfaction.

Lisa had tears in her eyes.

The championship was not the only surprise.

When the singalong ended and the crowd began to thin, several players suddenly dropped to one knee. The cheerleaders followed, forming a lane on the field. At the end, a large paper wall appeared, painted with a heart and two names.

Ford stood beneath it.

The girl at the center of it all was a cheerleader. She covered her mouth and walked toward him quickly.

Ford held a small bouquet. It was tiny, really more symbol than gift.

They hugged simply. They did not even kiss.

But both of them looked happy.

"I am so jealous," a voice said darkly beside Nolan.

He turned and found Sarah Gellar there, fingers twisted together and expression drifting with longing.

"Are you talking to me?" Nolan asked.

"No."

Sarah immediately turned her face away.

"Upset?"

"Upset? You have no idea how happy I am. Finally. Football season is over. The cheerleaders can take a real break."

Sarah stretched as if a weight had left her shoulders.

"We have a summer party too," she said suddenly. "A farewell for the cheerleaders who graduated. BHHS tradition. Are you coming?"

"Did you just happen to run into me and invite me on the spot?"

Nolan did not answer yes or no.

Sarah looked at him and sneered.

"What else would it be?"

"Then I am not going."

"What if I said..." Sarah put both hands behind her back and kicked lightly at the grass with one clean white sneaker. "What if I said it was not a random invitation?"

"Then I am still not going."

Nolan had not accepted Reese’s invitation either. For normal students, summer was already halfway gone. For Nolan, summer had just begun, and there were things he had to handle first.

Parties could wait.

Beyond romance, the field also held plenty of family scenes.

Flea’s mother, who worked abroad most of the year, had flown back specifically to watch him play. Flea clearly had not known. When he saw her, his face filled with shock, and he ran straight into her arms.

Boar lifted a baby high above his head. It was his little sister. Someone in the crowd made the dramatic chant from the opening of The Lion King, and laughter spread.

Even Lisa and Reese reached a kind of temporary peace.

Lisa hugged him.

"You did well today."

As she said it, her eyes met Nolan’s over Reese’s shoulder.

Lisa winked at him.

When Nolan returned to the locker room, Principal John was holding the trophy and crying.

It was a small trophy, and plastic besides, but he kept saying things like, "BHHS needed this championship," with deep personal emotion.

Given his state tonight, it was not the time to discuss other topics, such as program investment.

Nolan looked around for Thomas. A teammate told him the coach had been called into the corridor by a local television crew after the game.

Nolan followed the direction and found him.

Thomas was catching up with an old friend.

The friend was Matt Millen, the game’s commentator. As it turned out, the two had known each other in college and had been teammates.

"Nolan Callahan," Millen said warmly when he saw him. "Your performance tonight impressed me."

Nolan had come to ask Thomas about the game’s support payment. Instead, he received unexpected attention.

Millen squeezed Nolan’s arm, studied his hands, and even patted his head while making approving noises.

"That frame. Those eyes. You have the eyes of a hawk, the body of a bull, and speed that does not belong on someone that size."

In short, he praised Nolan’s physical gifts with real enthusiasm.

Fox’s national sports operation was inviting Millen to launch a new football interview program. Each week, he would bring in a football player for a feature.

Millen thought Nolan would be the perfect first guest.

Of course, the program supervisor still had to confirm it.

When Nolan left the field with family and friends, he noticed a crowd around the merchandise stand. Most people were buying his jersey.

The school had probably made a good amount of money.

He also noticed that the vending machines that had once stood near the stadium corridor had all disappeared.

"Watching football once in a while is surprisingly relaxing," William said when they entered the motel later.

Jumping, shouting, cheering. It really did release pressure.

"I finally understand why you Americans like football so much," Charlize said.

As a South African, she had originally felt the same confusion Nolan had when he first entered this life. Why was this sport so popular here?

Now she had found an answer.

"Because football is not just a sport to Americans. It is a link between people."

She remembered the scenes after the game. Love. Family. School. Belonging.

"That is not wrong," Nolan said.

He thought of the American flag before kickoff, the flyovers people loved before major games, and the phrase Friday Night Lights.

Here, football had become a vessel.

Nolan, whose heart was never entirely rooted in this world, did not feel the same faith in it. His answer to Allie had already revealed as much.

"Charlize," he said, turning toward her, "we need to talk about your situation."

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