Ethan wished that he could just fix everything.

Undo everything in his life and somehow make it all fine again.

But things just didn't work like that in his life and at this point, he already understood that even if it stung a little to admit.

Sometimes, however, he could get a second chance at things and he could start fixing them bit by bit until suddenly things would maybe start making a little more sense again. And that was exactly what he wanted and what he would try to achieve.

And it seemed as if now was a time like that.

"Pair up, boys," shouted Coach immediately after scolding all of them for not being fifteen minutes early. "Emmerson and Hamilton, the two of you go together."

Ethan rolled his eyes but he was curious to see what Coach had in store for them.

Sure, being paired up with Hamilton wasn't great, especially since he had been doing so badly recently and Hamilton could easily outshine him, but that meant that something would change and he had the chance to change things.

And if he could change things, maybe they would finally get a little better and his life would get a little less hectic through that.

He grabbed a ball off the floor and passed it to Hamilton, and his throw was confident and proper for the first time in a while.

Hamilton shrugged, seemingly almost disappointed at the return of Ethan's return of skills, and passed the ball back flawlessly.

Ethan felt a lot more confident now, one on one with Hamilton with a new chance to prove himself as a worthy opponent, as a rival who could properly play against him and who could beat him despite the two of them being on the same team.

He positioned himself properly and threw the ball with all the force he had, passing it directly into Hamilton's hands. It was a good throw, not the best he had ever done but a lot better than the ones he was passing the last few weeks.

And for some reason, that was enough for him.

He would do more than one throw like that, of course, but it felt good just to know that he could pass properly like that.

The next two hours were spent as expected and Ethan couldn't be happier that he was back on his game.

"Ethan, can I talk to you?" asked the Coach as the rest of them went back into the lockers.

Ethan stayed behind, his bottle in his hands as he stood there awkwardly. "What did you want to talk to me about, Coach?"

"You played a lot better today than you did the last few times, and I'm glad to see you back to this kind of game. I want you to play like this on Friday again. I had some doubts about keeping you in the starting composition, but if you can play like this or better, then I'll have no regrets. Can you do that?"

Ethan nodded enthusiastically. "Of course I can."

"Good. Now go, I don't want to hold you back for too long."

Ethan thanked him and left back into the lockers.

He grabbed a towel from his locker and checked his phone, just in case. There could have been a phone call from his parents or a text message from one of his siblings, but instead, there was a message from the person he really didn't want to be hearing from.

Ava: (16:37) date after the game this weekend??

The message was probably just to piss him off and he knew that, but it worked. It pissed him off a lot more than it should have.

He texted back.

Ethan: (16:55) leave me alone.

It was a proper response, one she couldn't exactly reply to in some smart-ass way and that was exactly the way he wanted it to.

Then, with a towel over his shoulder, he passed into the showers, finally able to wash all of those feelings and sweat off him and into the drain.

He was all alone in the showers, and that was the best thing in the world. He wasn't exactly uncomfortable with others around him, but he definitely didn't love it, to say the least.

As soon as Lucas walked into the showers, Ethan turned his off and turned away.

He wrapped a towel around his waist and ran his hand through his hair to get it off his face. "Good work out there."

He meant it with a pinch of sarcasm, but what he said was true after all, and Lucas just... He just smiled at him.

And it wasn't a weird sort of smirk but the sort of smile Ethan got when they were still friends.

"Thanks, you too," answered Hamilton. "You played a lot better than the last few times today. Glad to see you're back on your game."

It was strangely friendly, but it was probably because he wanted some good competition and it wasn't fun when he could outdo all other players on the team without a proper effort.

"I just hope Coach doesn't pair us up again," pointed out Ethan as he picked up his clothes.

"Yeah, he really doesn't understand some things, but he's a good guy, I think. He means well and that's what matters."

Ethan knew that he was lucky by having Coach Langdon be his coach since the beginning of his freshman year. Most other football coaches were brutal, aggressive, and insulting, but Coach Langdon got the work he needed from his players while still being nice to them most of the time.

Sure, he shouted at them from time to time, but he meant well, like Lucas said.

"Yes, that he does."

For some reason, Ethan stepped closer to Lucas and suddenly memories of Hamilton when he was younger suddenly flooded his mind.

When they would play stupid video games all day long or just sit around and do nothing or run around the house pretending to be professional football players. It all seemed so embarrassing, yet so embarrassingly heartwarming at the same time.

Ethan put his hand above Hamilton's shoulder and smirked at him. "You know, in another life, we might have been friends. Not in this one, though."

"We used to be friends, I think you're forgetting that."

It was true, but that was something Ethan didn't want to think about at all.

His friendship with Lucas was when he was probably the happiest and he didn't need a reminder that the particular part of his life was over and now he was constantly in the middle of stupid, pointless high school drama that he despised almost as much as he despised most of the people that surrounded him.

"In another life, our friendship might have worked out, then. It's a shame this one didn't, because it really was fun when we used to be friends."

There was a change of expression on Hamilton's face and Ethan for a second thought that he really got to him, that the power imbalance between them would suddenly change and he would have the upper hand.

But of course, Lucas Hamilton was one step ahead of him, like always.

"Or maybe it'd be worse than we are right now. And for some reason, I'm glad we didn't risk it."

Ethan shrugged and pulled his hand away but still stood just inches away from Lucas. "Yeah, it's for the best."

And he knew it was because if it weren't for Lucas, he probably wouldn't be the version of himself he was right now, because for better or for worse, he still liked himself enough to be happy with the skin he was in.

Fraser walked into the showers and turned his on, seemingly oblivious to the situation he was interrupting. "Don't start a fight right now, I'm too drained to keep you guys off each other."

Ethan laughed it off and for the first time, his laugh was sort of genuine. "I would never."

Lucas shook his head and laughed as well. "I'd never do something like that either. Wouldn't even dare thinking about it."

"I don't know what the fuck happened to you two, but you better keep it that way. Teammates are supposed to get along and the sooner you figure that out, the better off we are."

Ethan didn't believe that especially not in Hamilton's case, but he was willing to put his feud with Lucas aside just to get a proper scholarship.

If it meant getting a ticket to a better life, he would be willing to do anything, even put up with the bastard for a while longer, just enough for people to see who he truly is.