05

This is a continuation of my story. Some of my readers left me concerns about how short the chapters were so I decided to add more chapters to each of the submissions. As of yet, there is no sex, I'm sorry, but this is a novel...not a quicky. I'm also looking for someone to help out, feel free to contact me directly through email. I'm missing a major portion of this book and would be glad for the help. All sex...when I actually get to it, is by of age adults, over eighteen.

Chapter 3

I was strong, mostly from working out in the gym, and when I was working in the market in the old town, I did restock, which consisted of lifting boxes off a truck. Those boxes could weigh up to a hundred pounds. I was in my first period class on the third day of school (for me, after coming here from my old school) when Emily first approached me.

"Hey, you're the new kid, right? Dylan, is it? My name is Emily. How are you adjusting?" She spouted that all off really quickly. She had brunette hair; she was petite as well as shortish...maybe five feet, five inches or so.

"Um...yeah, I'm the new kid, Dylan is my name. And as to adjusting, I wish I didn't have to." I was a dick, I'll just say it. I didn't want to be here. I wish I had never gone to the lake that day. I could have been there with my mom. 'You would be dead, too,' my conscious said plainly.

I walked away, or tried to at least. Emily didn't give up that easily. I didn't want to be someone's "fixer-upper" and said, "What do you want? To know why I'm here? So you can pity me? I don't think so," I said, and continued walking away. Now, I had noticed her the first day of school and knew she was hot. I thought she was just another one of the preps: good looks, cheerleader, football star boyfriend.

"Well, I'm sorry, I was just seeing if you had a job yet. My dad owns a landscaping job, and with those muscles, I'm sure he could use you, but never mind." She walked away in a huff.

Her boyfriend looked at me, giving me the evil eye for talking to his girl. I stared back, begging him to do something about it. I could take him. He might be in football, but while I was working out, I was learning MMA. I could take down a guy twice my size. This creampuff would be a piece of cake.

The rest of the school day passed quietly. After school, as I headed out to my car, the boyfriend showed up, blocking me off, and he had friends this time. I looked at them both. I could take all of them. It might stretch my ability, but I was pretty sure I could take them all. "Yo, dude, what were you talking to my girlfriend for earlier? She wouldn't say anything, but I could tell she was upset."

"I pretty much told her to leave me alone. I don't want to be here, and as soon as I can leave, I will. I got the rest of this year, and next year, and I'll be gone. I didn't ask to move here, and I don't want anyone's pity. I just want people to leave me alone," I tell him.

"What makes you so uppity? Why should we leave you alone? You moved to our town. You go by our rules. Are you one of those guys who doesn't talk to anyone because you think your better than everyone else? 'Cause I can tell you right now you aren't better than anyone here, and we are willing to prove that to you," he says.

"Look, you're the star quarterback of the school, you think you control everything you look at, including Emily, and you think you control me, but you don't. You don't control anything. I'm not looking for a fight, and I know if you fought me, you would wish you hadn't, so please just leave me alone. I have to get to work soon anyway. I trained for MMA; there is no way you guys can take me. I can put all three of you on the ground in under five minutes flat," I say, sounding bored. I wasn't sure I could put them on the ground in five minutes, but I'd rather say that and avoid a fight. I really did have to get to my new job.

"Sure you did. If you know MMA, then you could beat the shit out of us, but I don't think you do."

"I do, and the only problem we have is, this is a three-on-one fight. That is not fair. How about we do this tomorrow? I need to get to work, I'm not chickening out; I will be here waiting for you tomorrow. If I didn't have to work, I would gladly kick your ass right here and now," I say. I walk past them. I really didn't expect them to let me walk away. I was waiting for a punch to come hitting me in the back of the head. It never came.

I went to work that day. I was working for a landscaping company...irony right? I realized I already worked for Emily's dad. We were working on a new house, one that had just been built. It was a small company, and Mr. Connors, Emily's dad, worked with us. There were a total of six of us, including Mr. Connors.

I was laying down sod in the back yard by myself; the other guys were out front putting in bushes. Mr. Connors came back to see me. "Son, I hear that you met my daughter today? She offered to try and get you a job with me and told her to leave you alone is that correct?" he asked.

"Sir, I have an explanation for that. I'm new to the area, and I have my reasons for wanting to stay away from people. I would like you to respect that. If I have to, I will tell you, but I'd rather not. If I were to tell you, you would not be allowed to tell anyone, not even your daughter," I say.

"Well, young man, I think you should reconsider how you talk to people, but you have done nothing to make me mistrust you, so, until then, I will trust you. If you want to tell me that is your choice. The only thing I need to know is if it will affect you working for me? Will your past affect the present or the future?" he questioned.

"No sir, it will not."

"Then I think it is settled, you do not have to tell me unless you want to or you do something to make me mistrust you."

"Thank you sir," I reply, "that means a lot to me."

"You're welcome. Now, about this sod, I'm going to put out markers and I want you to leave the sod off of those areas so we can put bushes or trees there."

"Alright, if you wouldn't mind doing that now, I'm a pretty fast worker and laying out sod isn't that difficult," I request.

"Daddy! What is he doing here?" Emily yells. She must have just showed up after cheerleading practice.

"He works for me, that's what."

She was stunned. "This is the job you mentioned?" she asks.

"Yes. I am sorry for how I spoke to you, but I have reasons, maybe not the best reasons, but they are reasons nonetheless. I would ask you to respect them. Oh, if you wouldn't mind keeping a tighter leash on your dog, too. He seems over protective and confronted me after school. He brought two of his buddies and thought that they would fight me. I told him if he wants to make a scene, he could do it tomorrow. I had to get to work and even if I could take all three of them, I didn't want to get blood on my hands before work," I explain.

"You couldn't take those three. They are a terrible group. Anyone that crosses them ends up with something broken. As much as you pissed me off today, I don't want you to fight them. They will hurt you...."

"Ha, I don't think so. I've been doing MMA for a little over two years. I've been working out in a gym for the same time. Can your boyfriend say the same? I have also done par core, and practiced adding that to MMA and had devastating results...for the other guy. I have no doubts that these guys would not even challenge me one-on-one, at the same time, I could take them, it will just be more interesting. Look, I'll be fine, I need to get back to work, your dad finished putting out markers for me, and I need to get this yard done."

I walked away to get the wheel barrel of sod. It took me about an hour to finish putting out the rest of the sod. It was about four now, and I still had an hour left on the job. I went to find Mr. Connors, see what else he needed me to do. I found him out front with the rest of the workers putting in the last of the shrubbery.

I let him know I was done with the sod. "That's great. That's all I need from you today, why don't you take the rest of the day off and I'll see you on Wednesday, okay?"

"Yes sir. Thank you."

I got in my Mustang and drove home. I got there and my foster family, the Owens, weren't home yet. They don't get in until about five thirty or so. I went to my room. The Owens were an extremely nice family. Their son moved out a few years back, left everything behind. Ran away in my opinion, but I wasn't about to say anything. I was given his old room. He had everything an adolescent could want: a flat screen T.V. with an Xbox 360 and a PS3, a laptop, and a ton of books. I wasn't much of a videogame person. I played some of the games every now and then, but most of the time I wasn't worried about it because I either wasn't home or I was fixing something around the house.

In the time I had grown up with my mom, I had learned to fix a lot of things because we just couldn't afford to have someone come out to do it for us. So I did this for the Owens too. I did a lot for the Owens, and while they were extremely nice and knew a lot about guns and just random things, they couldn't fix anything in the house even if their lives depended on it. I did my best to help out around the house.

Before I got there, they had to wash their dishes by hand because their dishwasher broke. The first night, after dinner they asked me to wash the dishes and I said no. I went over to the dishwasher and pulled it out. I took a look at things and realized one of the wires was fraying. I told them I would be right back, ran to a nearby hardware store and got some wire. I came back, patched it up, and it started working just fine.

I have never been one to do something the easy way. I could have just washed the dishes by hand, but I didn't feel like it. I tend to do what I want if it won't affect others. They were happy to find that I could fix things and started asking me to fix different things. The washer needed to be rebalanced which didn't even require any extra parts, just a few tools that they had in the garage. I ended up replacing the heating element in the dryer because it was not drying clothes in one cycle like it was supposed to.

I didn't know of anything to fix tonight, seeing as I had fixed most of the major appliances already. I was tired so I went ahead and hopped in the shower. The muscles that had been clenched since this morning seemed to finally relax as the hot water flowed over them. I scrubbed myself down and got out. I hear a knock at the door. I got dressed quickly and went down to see who it was.

It was a man, not much older than me, and seemed to resemble Mrs. Owens. I opened the door. He got upset when he saw me. "Who are you? What are you doing in this house?" he yelled at me.

"Um...I live here now. I'm going to guess you are the Owens' son? I'm their foster kid. I moved here not that long ago. If you want, you can come in. They should be home in about twenty minutes. Though, I'm not sure how they will react to you being here. I'm gonna go back to my room...which is your old room," I say to him.

"No. Get out, you don't belong here. If you don't leave, I will make you leave. I going back to MY room," he tells me threateningly.

"No, you aren't. You are going to stay out here. You can sit on the couch until your parents get here. If you don't, I will make you sit there. It wouldn't be that hard." I say slowly and deliberately so he understands I'm being perfectly clear.

"Who do you think you are? telling me what to do. That will not happen. I am in charge now. You will do as I say, and I'm telling you to leave right now," he growls.

"Okay sir, I gave you fair chance, you can wait outside." I grab him and shove him back out the door and lock it behind him. He started banging on the door and yelling at me.

When the Owens got home, they were quite surprised to see their son sitting on the door step. I was waiting for them and opened the door. As I did that, the guy tried to lie and say I wouldn't let him in the house. I cleared my throat and he turned around, eyes going wide. "That is not what happened at all. I saw that he looked like you Mrs. Owens, so I answered the door. When I did, he got all indignant and started grilling me. I told him who I was, why I was here, and that I was going to my room, his old room. At that point he got mad and said no I wasn't. I told him clearly that I was and that he was to stay out on the couch 'til you got home. He tried to become physical and tell me he was in charge, at that point, I pushed him back outside and locked the door," I explained.

The Owens looked from their son to me. "I'm sorry, but this is our son. We believe him. Why wouldn't you let him in the house?"

"Mr. Owens, have I ever done something to make you mistrust me? Did I leave without an explanation? I hear you guys at night crying over him because he left without a word, and I notice you only have pictures of when he was a kid, not when he was older. I have taken my time and even my money and fixed up this house. I do what I can because y'all let me stay here. I have not done anything to revoke that, yet now you say I'm a liar when I have never lied to you or done anything that you find questionable. Yet, he is the one you believe. Fine. I will leave. I will call up my agent and ask to find another family because I'm obviously not trustworthy and I need to go somewhere that I am trusted." I walk back in the house. I had my car. I wouldn't leave the area or call my agent. I would put my stuff in there and sleep in it. The school had locker rooms that were open in the morning I could shower there. I still had my job so I could go to the laundry mat and clean my clothes.

I packed my stuff into the boxes I brought it in. I'd only been here two weeks and I didn't expect to stay forever, so I had kept them. I carried my stuff past a stunned Owens family, though I think the son was smug that he got me to leave.

"Thank you for letting me stay as long as you did. I will take my leave of you now." And with that, I left.

Chapter 4

I slept in my car that night and got to school early and took a shower there. The coach saw me in there and asked what I was doing at school so early. "Sir, can I be honest with you and you not tell anyone else? I can't have anyone else know because I don't want to leave the area yet and I don't want to ridiculed for it either."

"Of course kid, I'm used to that kind of thing. A lot of my players talk to me and I don't speak of it to anyone. What is it kid?" he asks.

"Well, yesterday..." I tell him what happened last night and he looks down at me.

"Son, do you play football? You look like a kid who would make an excellent linebacker or defensive tackle," he asks.

"No sir. I've never played football. I've watched it, and I know how to play, but I never did. I was too busy. I've worked after school since I was fifteen. I still do, I work for Mr. Connors now, doing landscaping. I don't think I could juggle school, work, and football. I have to be able to get by and working is the only thing I can do to get money so I can get by. Otherwise, I might. Though, I don't think I should, even if I could. You see, I got into a confrontation with your quarterback yesterday. I was approached by Emily Connors about her helping me find a job with her father, which I already had a job with him, and I ended up being more rude than I intended. She was upset and the quarterback, who seems to be dating her, was mad that I talked to her, let alone upset her, and brought two friends yesterday to try and "rough me up" after school. It wouldn't have worked, I know MMA and I've worked out for over two years in a real gym, I can do par core and learned to implement it into MMA and I would be a formidable opponent one-on-one, and three-on-one would be interesting, but not too hard that I wouldn't win," I spew.

"I see. Well, I don't want to see you on the streets. I will see what I can do, I want you on my team, even more so now that I know what you can do. It would be happy to see what you can do. Do you work this afternoon?"

"No I don't sir," I tell him.

"I'd rather you call me coach, I've never really taken to the whole "sir" thing. I would like you to come to practice this afternoon. You can settle whatever it is between you and Mr. Summers there. That is the quarterback's name. Colin Summers. I want to see what you can do and if you are good, then I want you on my team. I don't expect you to show up to every practice, I know you work, but if you can make it, I would like you to get to as many practices as you can. Is that understood?"

The coach was giving me a chance to take down Colin without having any possible repercussions? Nothing could be better than this. I would go to the practice, even if I didn't make the cut, I would get a shot at hurting Colin legally! I was willing to do it. I never expected to make the cut. "Okay, I'll do it. I don't expect to make the cut, but a shot at Colin without the possibility of getting in trouble? I'm not going to turn that down. He's a bully and expects everyone to listen to him, and I won't." I walk away from the coach, happy for the first time today.

The day passed with speed, and when Colin approached me to make sure I wouldn't chicken out, I told him I would see him at practice. Emily was with him and looked at me with surprise. I smirked as he glared at me, and said the coach already new of our confrontation and said that we settle it on the field. I told him coach wanted to try me as linebacker. "Colin, I hope your offensive linemen are good, because if they aren't...well, you might be in pain going home." I chuckle at that, and continue on to lunch. I had a few dollars cash and bought a sandwich with that. I couldn't afford much else, I got a water to go with it. I ate that, and left for class.

By the time the last period was through, I was pumped. I never got excited about anything like this, except cutting. Getting away from emotional pain excited me, I didn't have to feel anything. I went to the locker rooms and coach was there waiting for me. "Here I got this ready for you. Put these on and get out to the field. How's your running abilities?" he asked.

"Well, I can run a mile in about seven minutes, maybe a few seconds over that. I haven't done it in a month, but I'm still in shape, I shouldn't be that bad," I reply.

"Good, I'll see you on the field."

As I started to get dressed, the rest of the team started trickling in. "Hey, are you the new kid the coach was talking about?" A guy I didn't know was talking to me.

"Yeah, the name's Dylan."

"My name's Brady. I'm defensive line. You'll be lining up behind me. All right?"

"Yeah, thanks, you seem the first decent football player I've met," I say.

"Well, not all of us fall in with Colin Summers. I hear that y'all almost had a fight yesterday. Supposedly that was part of the reason you're here today. Is that true?" Brady asked.

"A part of it. Coach also wanted to see what I could do. Hey, I'll see you on the field."

I hurry out. I didn't hide my cutting, but I also didn't flaunt it. No one had seen it in these last five years, except my doctor, and when I saw him, I didn't have nearly as many as I do now. Plus I had him use the other arm most of the time. I got into using my left arm last year 'cause I started running out of room on my right.

The first part of practice is warm ups and running, all super easy for me, and I lead the pack in running, even with the pads on I'm fast. Then we start a scrimmage. The team is divided into offense and defense. I line up behind Brady, like he told me. Just before I go out there, coach tells me, "The point of a linebacker is to get the running back before he gets far, get the short pass receiver, or get the quarterback. It depends on the type of play. A blitz means go for the quarterback. A zone defense, means you are covering an area and it's to guard against short passes. Running backs fall into another category all together, they can go into any type of defense. We only play man-for-man coverage, zone defense, or blitz. There is always a blitz on the first down. I want to see what you can do."