Amitej Babra

The Game

“So, what do you think about Zike?” Jimmy demanded as he grabbed his towel off the
hook.
“I don’t know,” I shrugged. We were in the new boy's locker room that the school had just
renovated.
“I’ve seen him yell at a lot of other people. I don't know if you’ll like him.” Jimmy
suggested as he stood up to wear his shoulder pads.
“After all, he is the team captain. But since I'm new to the team, I'm worried he won’t like
me. He looks really nice sometimes and other times he seems extremely mean.”
“I don't know. You’ll find out.” And then he darted out to the field, leaving me by myself
all alone in the secluded locker room. I decided I didn't want to be late to my first practice, so I
scrambled out after him.
Out on the field, I was playing catch with Jimmy. I was running routes around the field
when I was slammed to the ground. Literally slammed. And it hurt. Through my blurry vision, I
could see three kids laughing. I could tell it was Zike, but I hoped it wasn't. Zike was my role
model. He was my inspiration for joining the football team in the first place. On either side of
him, two people stood, snickering at me. Kind of like sidekicks, but they looked more like his
slaves.
“We've got a game this week.” He said in a surprisingly nice tone. “ If you can't get up
how will you play?”
“What a guy.” I was thinking. He seemed kind of nice to some people. Mean to others.
And here he was showing me both sides. Then I saw that Jimmy wasn't here. I didn't even
notice when Zike left because I was so lost looking for Jimmy. He just vanished all of a sudden.
I pondered about why Jimmy left me. I decided not to take it so seriously and joined the rest of
the team back by the bleachers. I couldn’t seem to see him there either. The practice was
completely colorless without Jimmy. After practice, I scanned the whole field for him but still
could not seem to find him. I finally gave up when I saw my mom walking towards me. I told her
about the game on Friday. Then I thought about Zike. I hoped that nobody, especially Zike,
would ruin my first game. I entered the car with these sour thoughts but soon the excitement
overwhelmed me.
 After my long, boring, and tedious wait, gameday had finally arrived. We were warming
up during the pregame out on the field. I saw Jimmy practicing his throws. The ball soared so
smoothly and bulleted through the air straight in the hands of the wide receiver. I ran up to
Jimmy. I felt like asking him why he left me at practice but he was so excited, I decided to leave
him alone. I was ready to go in my shoulder pads. I was all hyped up and running around the
track surrounding the field when I saw Zike all alone like the last leaf on the tree. I walked up to
him hoping I could help.
“Hey Zike. Is everything okay?” I asked.
“You think you can help me?” he laughed.
In that moment he was as big as a bear and I was as small as a squirrel. He started to push me
continuously. The bleachers were starting to fill up and it looked like the game was about to
start.
“If we don't win today, I will hurt you!” He looked quite serious.
I started to back away. My knees were weak and my palms, heavy. Almost tripping on a
bench I managed to scramble away. My eyes instantly started to water. This was nothing to take
lightly. Zike had really scared me. I knew I had to get serious if I wanted to have a chance
against Zike but thoughts zoomed through my head and I started to think about Jimmy. Why
didn't he get bullied? Not like I wanted Jimmy to get bullied, but what's so good in him that I
don't have? Why does Zike always target me? Why does he hate me so much? I don’t even
know him. I tried my best to not think about what Zike would do if I lost, but instead thought
about how I could be the hero and win the season opener for my team. We got ready for the
opening kickoff. We were returning the ball. As I was pushed on the field, I could see the hatred
in Zike’s eyes. The angry glare made my eyes widen and my teeth clatter. We were ready for
our first offensive drive of the season. We had a great start in the first quarter. Our running back
took a fifty-two yard run for a touchdown. And the kicker kicked the ball straight through the field
goal post. That brought us to the top. Seven to Zero. The second quarter turned things around
though. Jimmy threw the ball for an interception touchdown. Anger filled up inside me because
now we were tied. And I didn’t want to think of the consequences that I would face if we lost
today. Then I realized that everyone made mistakes. The time was ticking and I got worried. We
would have to get a comeback to secure the win and there was only one half left. It was like an
hourglass, but my life depended on it and each grain of sand one by one slowly emptied to the
bottom. During halftime, I stayed and practiced my routes with Jimmy. I was sprinting as fast as
I possibly could all throughout the field trying to run routes. Then I saw Zike come by. As he
came closer, I backed up until I tripped over the bench. I felt the turf scrape against my palms.
 “The first quarter was good, but if you keep up with what you did in the second quarter,
you know what I’ll do.”
“It wasn't my fault what happened in the second quarter.”
“I don’t care! Just win the game!” he got up and kicked the bench.
It was like the sand in the hourglass kept on sliding to the bottom. This was the most stressful
moment of my life. I jogged over to the cooler to grab a quick drink right before the third quarter
started, then sprinted to the field. I could taste my sweat. We kicked off this time so I was
watching from the sidelines. Through my peripheral vision, I could see Zike staring at me. It was
hard to tell his expression so I looked over at him. He immediately turned to watch the game. He
looked really sad though. I didn't help him because I knew that offering him help would be
playing with fire. After a couple of minutes, I looked toward the field. It looked like the other team
was punting. That meant I had to go back for another drive, so I darted onto the field. As I
reached, the play had begun immediately. Cluelessly, I ran behind Jimmy and opened up wide
for a great pass. Jimmy bulleted the ball to me in a great speed and as I grabbed the ball and
bolted towards the end zone, I was shoved by this defender inside the five-yard line. With time
ticking, I immediately got up ready for the next play. I was desperate for a touchdown so Zike
would leave me alone. During the next play, Jimmy was under pressure, so he threw the ball
high up in the air. I had to get it. I put together all the strength I possibly could. Jumped as high
as I possibly could. Then I reached for the football, tipped it up and it came right to me. The
crowd went wild! Their cheers blasted through my ears. I may have just won the game for my
team! That epic touchdown late in the third quarter just turned things back in our favor. We
jogged back to the sidelines and watched the kicker as he lined up for the field goal. The
weather was breezy and it looked like a tough job to get the ball in. The kicker kicked it to the far
right side of the post. Kicking against the wind on his good foot. As I walked over to Jimmy, I
was tripped by someone. Laying on the ground, I already knew it was Zike.
“Hey punk! Stop trying to act so smart.”
“Shut up.” I mustered all my courage into saying that.
“Shut up.” he mimicked me.
What a childish person I thought. I decided not to tell him that because I didn't want to
piss him off, especially because of this happy moment for me. We were winning. As the fourth
and final quarter launched, we started on defense. Fortunately, they were forced to punt. We
were on offense now. In a huddle, while we were talking about the play, I was thinking of the
consequences. Suddenly, I snapped in the game. We had to win. I told Jimmy to throw to me.
He said he would if I was open. I got wide open to a spot that no one was covering, but this time
I was out of luck because they took an interception. My hands were in the air. I chased him as
fast as I could but he was too fast. Fast like a lightning bolt. There I was watching this guy do his
celebration. I was a little concerned because the game was now tied like it had been for the first,
second, and third quarters. Unfortunately, the next drive did not go well. We started at the
twenty-yard line and gained no yards which forced us to punt the ball. Seven minutes were left.
If they got a touchdown, we could either lose or tie. It would be so hard to win if they got a
touchdown. Luckily it became fourth down for them at the thirty-three yard line. I was so
engrossed in watching the punt return, I almost drooled. It was so intense. As the opponent's
punter hiked the ball, everyone was on the edge of their seats. He stepped up to kick and then
Psych! He passed the ball to the tight end who was wide open. Spinning out of the tackle, he
ran all across the field for the biggest touchdown of the game! It was an amazing play but was
terrible for us. I looked at Zike. He was raging. It was like he just lost the biggest opportunity of
his life, but it was just a game. I was scared thinking about the consequences of losing. Now
there were only four minutes left. I couldn't think of a possible way to victory. We were at the
twenty-three yard line. It was third down and seven yards to get to the first. Jimmy handed the
ball to running back. He ran for twenty yards and tried to get out of bounds but failed. Only three
minutes left and it felt like the time was running away from us. 2:59, 2:58, 2:57. The play started
up again and Jimmy was sacked. That quickly took away half a minute. At the thirty-six yard
line, the time continued to empty down to two minutes. Second down. Jimmy snapped the ball
and decided to scramble. This was the most surprising moment of the game. He ran. He
sprinted. Then he fell. Everyone was still blocking so he got up and kept running. To the thirty.
Then the twenty. Then the ten. And finally, touchdown! Who knew the quarterback would save
the team and miraculously score a sixty-six yard touchdown. We were going to take the field
goal, but some people decided to go for two and win.
“Hike!” Jimmy snagged the ball and stormed toward the end zone. Then BOOM! Shoved
by a defender, Jimmy looked injured and the game was over. 10. 9. 8. 7. 6. 5. 4. 3. 2. 1. And the
time ran out. I couldn't hear him from the distance, but I could see Zike. He was furious. I
realized what he was capable of over the past week. Crying, I ran back to the locker room. I
remembered where I first met Jimmy before P.E. class. That thought didn't last long. I was
actually breaking. Like a dam. But in this case, my eyes were the water. I tried finding a clean
towel to wipe my eyes. A strong chill rushed through me.
“Why! Why me!” I screamed. “What did I ever do?!?! Maybe I should run away.” I
shivered. “ Ma Ma Maybe I should just die. Then a paper airplane hit my back. I turned to pick it
up from the tiled flooring. I was in no mood for fun. As I crumbled it, I noticed the words on it. I
reopened the paper and read it aloud.
“Dear Jon,
I know you have no reason to forgive me, but I wanted to say I am sorry. My so-called
“friends” forced me to bully you. They said they won't be my friends if I didn't. I decided to stop
after the game, this Friday, is over. Just know I would never hurt you. I really wanted to be your
friend, but I know I messed that up. I don't want to be your best friend, but can we at least be
friends?
Sincerely,
Zike

At this moment I learned the lesson about how everybody deserves a second chance.
Over the past week, I saw what he would do for a friend. Even though he did such a bad thing, I
could see that he wasn't enjoying it. Instead, he regretted it. I saw how sad he was after the
interception. It probably wasn't because of that, but instead, because of his mistake. I knew I
needed some time before becoming his friend. But I forgave him in a flash. That night I decided
to take him out to dinner to show my forgiveness.