The sound of the coach's whistle was supposed to mean hope. But for J.J., it meant something else.
"List is out. If your name's not there, better luck next year," Coach Tunde announced, pinning the team sheet on the notice board as the other boys crowded around.
J.J. stood at a distance, heart already sinking before he even looked. This was his third tryout. He had practiced every morning, done all the pushups, and tried to mimic YouTube drills… but it was never enough. He could hear the laughter already.
"Abeg shift, 'Benchwarmer J.J.' coming through!" sneered Dare, the team's cocky right-winger, as he brushed past.
J.J. looked anyway. Scrolled. Scanned.
His name wasn't there.
Again.
He clenched his fists, trying to hold back the sting behind his eyes. He hated that it still hurt this much. Hated that people laughed when he played. Hated that even his own uncle called football a "fool's dream."
As he turned to leave, someone bumped into him hard—papers flying.
"Oh God, sorry—!" said a girl's voice.
He looked up.
She had hazel-brown skin that glowed under the sun, eyes sharp like she could read you in seconds, and a confident stance like she didn't care what anyone thought. She picked up her books and adjusted her oversized hoodie.
"Wait… are you Jason Adewale?" she asked.
He blinked. No one called him that. Only his late dad used to.
"Yeah," he said, puzzled.
"I watched your tryout. You're raw, but there's… something." She raised a brow. "You just play scared."
He stared, stunned. No one ever said that before. Most people just said he sucked.
"I'm Faith. New transfer. But I've been around pitches longer than most of these boys have been in school." She smirked. "You want to get good?"
J.J. raised a brow. "I mean… yeah, obviously."
She stepped close—too close. His heart thumped fast.
"Then listen to me. I don't do things halfway. If we're doing this, we go all in. Every day. You follow my lead."
He nodded, too confused—and too intrigued—to do anything else.
She turned to go, then paused and added, "Oh… and Jason?"
"Yeah?"
"Stop letting them call you weak. You're not. You just haven't unlocked it yet."
And just like that, she walked off.
J.J. stood there frozen, staring after her, something warm and dangerous igniting in his chest for the first time in months.