Prefab Rough Draft

Joseph Ho

Thomas Maltman

Fictional Writing 

9/9/20

Two different lives 

He stared him down with resentment and jealousy, there he was, Brad Brown. One of the most stereotypical jocks of high school, one of the meanest and popular kids of the school, weird how that works. Jake and Brad used to be best friends in middle school but all of the sudden they became arch rivals and to this day no one knows why. As Brad got out of his Black 2018 Range Rover the energy around the field shifted. Brad was very intimidating and demanding, almost all of the underclassmen were his pets they all sucked up to him. Jake was the opposite of Brad, he was a very hard worker and worked for everything he has. He works 50 hours a weeks at a nearby diner in their neighborhood, he is also one of the top players on the football team. Now that he is a junior he is going to be competing with Brad for the starting quarterback position this year. 

Jake loved football. It had been his ambition and goal to go to the NFL and support his family. He was the definition of a grinder, Jake woke up at 4am, went to the gym then he would head to school around 6:30am, get home around 2pm, go to practice, get out around 4pm, and lastly go to work from 5pm-10pm. Jake's family was not wealthy, they were under the middle class but very good people, his family was very loving and caring. They had so much pride and very strong traditional values around family.

Brad plays football, hockey, and baseball, but his passion lies with football. Brad’s family is very wealthy and Brad has been spoiled his whole life. He has always gotten what he wants and has very little discipline. 

Finally practices begin, they’re tough coaches are scouting around and just trying to get a feel for the team. Right awayJake and Brad are standing out as the stars of the team. By the second practice the team began to practice plays, Jake was placed at quarterback and Brad got moved to wide receiver. Jake stayed humble whereas Brad was outraged with anger. That night Brad got home and complained to his father. “I couldn’t believe it, they took that little junior Jake over me” his father responded saying “calm down, it is only the second practice. I am sure you will get your spot at quarterback”. 

After a whole week of practices the team got together over the weekend. The coach had a huge announcement, “Today you boys will become men. We will be having a competition for each position. I will be bringing scouts from colleges all over the U.S. to watch all of you. Hopefully this will encourage you to be giving 110% at practice. The real test will be our scrimmage against St. Mount next Saturday”. He then pulled Jake and Brad out and told them both “the real competition lies around you two, whoever takes that quarterback position is getting a full ride scholarship”. Jake's draw dropped, he had never been so excited and shocked in his life. Brad wasn’t as grateful because his family could afford whatever college he went to but he was more resentful than ever towards Jake. 

Jake began to work harder than ever practicing after work for an extra 2 hours. Running drills until 12pm at night, and studying plays whenever he has time. Brad on the other hand knew in the back of his head that Jake was better than him. Instead of practicing or studying the plays Brad spent his time brainstorming how to ruin Jakes chances in winning. Finally it came to him, Brad knew exactly what to do. Throughout the week Brad wasn’t worried at all about Jake taking his position, Brad had been giving his all in practice but Jake was still the starting quarterback, but Brad wasn’t worried. 

Finally, after a full week of constant hits, sprints, and practices everyone just wants to take some time off and relax. Brad is actually throwing a party Friday night just before the scrimmage for everyone to get together and relax. He invited the whole team as well as half the school. Everyone loved the idea except for Jake, Jake wanted to stay home. He took the night off from work and just wanted to stay home but Brad insisted. He wouldn’t stop bothering him about it but Jake wouldn’t budge. Brad says “wow how are you gonna be our quarterback and lead us if you can’t even get together with your team” finally Jake caved in and said he would go. Friday night finally rolls around and the party is crazy, there are people everywhere dancing, doing drugs, and drinking. Jake gets there and he right away feels very uncomfortable, this isn’t his typical environment. Brad sees Jake and leads him to the rest of the team. He then says “Great job this week you guys, we need to relieve some stress and have a good time, TEAM SHOT!!!”. The team was getting ready for a team shot but Jake didn’t want one. Brad says “your whole team is gonna take one are you really gonna sit out on this, come one Mr. quarterback”, the underclassman followed up supporting Brad and finally guilted Jake into taking a shot. As the night went on people were blacking out and dancing like crazy. Right away Jake didn’t feel good after taking a shot, he called an Uber and went home. 

The next morning rolled around and it’s game time. Jake woke up and he right away felt horrible, he knew something was up, his head was spinning and he felt incredibly nauseous. Jake knew he was hungover. He headed to the high school expecting to see many of the other players hungover. After entering the locker room Jake's expression went blank. Everyone looked fine and were getting ready for game time. Brad rolls around and says “you don’t look too hot Jake, good luck today bud”. Jake knew Brad had something to do with it. Finally the scrimmage came and it was game time. Jake started at quarterback and wasn’t doing very hot. He had gotten sacked two plays in a row. Jake was so exhausted and light headed that he couldn’t escape the pressure of the defensive linemen. The coaches were scolding Jake and finally took him out and put Brad in. Brad played okay but he did not know the plays. Out of the 3 drives Brad had scored twice. After being up by 14 points, the coach decided to put Jake back in. The coach called a Wildcat which is a quarterback run. “Readyyy blue eighth two red fourteen settt hut” Jake caught the ball was driving to the right side of the field, he took a hard sharp cut left. He juked two player but was then absolutely swallowed by a defensive linebacker. Jake’s head was now spinning uncontrollably fast and he puked all over the field. The coach sat him out for the rest of the game. Brad led the team to a win. Post game Jake sat in the locker room with frustration. His coach pulled him into his office and asked what happened. Jake explained to him the whole situation from the night before and the coach knew exactly what Brad had done. Following the scrimmage Brad had gotten many full ride scholarships to several schools.

Brad didn’t even care about these scholarships whereas Jake was heartbroken. He needed these scholarships so that he could use the money he’s saved up for his family. The coach interviewed several players of the team and found out that Brad had purposely sabotaged Jake by taking fake shots while giving Jake a real shot as well as drugging it. The coach told Brad’s parents and they were furious. They honestly couldn’t believe Brad had gone to that extent in sabotaging a good kid. Once Brad got home from school his parents brought him into a room. They said “Brad we can’t believe you, how could you be so cold hearted. Jake is a good kid. We’ve spoiled you too much over the years, we’re kicking you out of this house so that you can learn some responsibility”. Brad denied and denied but his parents wouldn’t listen to him, he had been physically kicked out of his house by his father. 

Brad had gone into one of the darkest places of his life. He was living on the streets he had was way too embarrassed to stay with a friend. Brad had been contemplating all of his actions but he couldn’t figure out why he did any of them. This frustrated him very badly, Brad became very depressed. He didn’t show up to football or school and no one reached out. He felt lonely and through no one cared for him. 

Until one rainy day, Jake saw Brad outside of the diner he worked at. He was sitting on the hard brick wall with his head down soaking in the rain. Jake has never seen someone look so helpless. Jake came out after his shift and said “Brad? What’re you doing man? Are you okay” Brad responded saying “leave me alone Jake”. “No what’s wrong man you haven’t been at football or school”, “my parents kicked me out of the house Jake, I don’t know what to do white myself”. Jake and Brad talked for a couple hours. Jake offered Brad a place to stay at his house and out of pity Brad accepted. Brad woke up the next morning in a sleeping bed in Jakes room. It was 8am and Jake was gone. Brad had stayed in his sleeping bag for the whole day continuing to be very sad. Jake hadn’t been home the entire day until finally around 10:15pm he came home. He brought dinner for his whole family including Brad. Brad became was so confused. What have you been doing today? Jake explained his schedule to Brad. Brad had gained so much respect and sympathy towards Jake. Brads face slowly changed into a smirk, he says “you know Jake you’re a good kid, I am so sorry for what I did to you”. Jake accepted his apology and they talked for the rest of the night like brothers. Confessing their darkest secrets. Jake had explained to Brad how his family is very poor and that is why he works so hard, so that he can help pay bills provide food and just take care of them. After spending a few days with Jake Brad saw how independent, responsible, and caring he was. Both Brad and Jake began to bond and went to the field together to practice some plays. 

They were both tossing the ball back in forth when Brad stopped, he looked at the ball and smiled. “You know Jake, you’ve taught me more in the last week than I have learned in my whole life, I’ve always had to cheat my way up and I didn’t know how to do anything”, “you have helped me in so many ways, and you deserve those scholarships. I’ve decided I’m gonna quit football and work on myself, I’ll tell coach to bring those scouts back to watch how good you really are”. Jake had tears in his eyes, a smile on his face, and a bondage that could never be broken. In that moment Brad understood that people are always going through something regardless of what it looks like on the outside. As well as that, Jake understood that anyone can change regardless of how snotty, rude, or rich someone is. That day on a brotherhood was created between two people who loved two different lives.