All that was the long way to say that the Trojans’ offensive line was the weak link in next year’s team. David had survived high school ball with young linemen and had paid the price physically. The jump up to college-level competition was significant, and when you were crushed by a defender at that level, the odds of serious injury increased astronomically.
David would much rather be the one providing the punishment than receiving it. He predicted that Matt would miss one if not several games due to injury in the coming season. Admittedly, it was an utterly mercenary attitude. But if David was to play quarterback, he would rather do it later in the year when the offensive linemen had gotten a chance to work out their issues.
Something that David was happy about was the friends he’d made. When he’d come to USC, he’d been down because it was supposed to have been Tim, Wolf, and him. He missed them dearly. They’d become almost like brothers as they traveled all over New Zealand and Australia.
The girls from back home who lived in his townhouse had taken the sting out of it. Then he’d made some lifelong-type friends in the dorm and on the baseball team. Now he’d started to spread out and found some in his classes and on the football team.
While not everyone had come to like him, David felt that he now had a good group he could count on and who he enjoyed being around. The bottom line was that even though there had been some missed signals, in the beginning, he was happy with the way it had all worked out. USC was now home.
David kept running. When his chest felt like it couldn’t expand anymore, and his legs had started to feel like cement, he slowed his pace. He lifted his head and took several deep breaths. David was beginning to feel human again.
He found himself in front of the townhouse and looked up. In the living room window was Precious, eyeing him. Even seeing the cat from hell didn’t dampen his good spirits. David felt like he’d taken the first step on his journey through college and had survived. He thought that everything was in front of him, and he could start to see the path he needed to take.
No, it wasn’t going to be easy, but he knew himself. Everyone should jump on his train because he wouldn’t stop until he reached all his goals. If they did, they would reap the rewards.
The End