Han slowly closed the entrance door behind him, enjoying the smell of his mother's cooking drifting throughout the house. He could tell that she had made him a plate and was keeping it warm just from the smell.

"Han, is that you?" His mother called out to him from the kitchen.

"Yes, mom. I just got back from hanging out with Alex and the girls at the mall." He said.

Removing his shoes and arranging them neatly next to the door, he walked into the kitchen. The first thing he noticed was his mother reading one of her books on a stool next to the presentation counter, between the kitchen and the dining room. Since he was a baby, he would often see her read or draw in the same spot.

Han smiled and then chuckled at the memories.

"What is it, honey?" His mother looked up at him, her eyebrows raised.

"I was just thinking how many times I've walked into the kitchen and seen you in that exact spot, either reading or drawing," Han explained.

Placing a bookmark on the page and closing the book, she set it down and smiled. "Reading and drawing help me to relax my mind once everything is all finished," she said. Raising both of her arms at Han, she patiently waited for him to walk over and give her a hug. "Was hanging out at the mall with your friends fun?" She asked as she wrapped her arms around Han and hugged him.

"We went to the new food joint in the food court. The burgers and fries were pretty good, I think you'd enjoy it." He said as he enjoyed feeling his mother embrace him.

"Better than your mom's cooking?" She teased him.

Han shook his head, feeling the fabric of her shirt rub against his face and feeling the warmth of her. "The girls working there look beautiful," he added.

"Maybe I should try getting a job there? What do you think?" She joked, giggling at the idea.

"The other girls would be jealous of mom," he said.

His mom squeezed even harder at hearing his words. "What did mommy do to deserve such a wonderful son?" Letting him go, she gently placed both hands on his head and pulled his head close, giving him a kiss on the forehead.

"Mom, you and Jennifer need to stop doing that," He complained, feeling his face heat up.

She let go of his head, and then quickly hugged him, again. "You're so adorable, honey."

Feeling embarrassed, he managed to wiggle his way out of his mom's hug. His face felt like it was on fire, still not being used to how his mom and sister showered him with affection but deep down inside he knew that it made him happy.

"How are your classes going?" She asked

"They are going okay. I had a pop quiz in Chemistry and a test in Math. Both of them I did okay in." He tried to act normally, but he knew that his face was still red. Looking down, Han said quietly, "I tried out for the Football Team, after school."

"What?! How did you do?" She exclaimed.

Casually kicking the floor, Han answered, "I'll probably be starting as a second-string quarterback."

His mom got up and rushed towards him squealing. "Congratulations, honey! I'm so proud of you!" She hugged him and twirled the two around. Stopping suddenly, she quickly went over to the stairs and called up, "Jennifer, come down here!"

"What is it, mom? I was about to head to sleep." Han could hear his sister's voice calling from her room.

"Your brother has great news!" His mom called up.

He heard footsteps as Jennifer walked out of her room and came down the stairs. Looking to the other side of the living room, he could see his sister walk into the living room, wearing her usual pink shorts and a white short tank top that she wore when she slept. Her hair cascaded over her left shoulder with the ends loosely bunched with a scrunchy. She rubbed her eye from the lights being on, as she tried to wake up.

"Is this about Han joining the Football Team?" Jennifer yawned, covering her mouth with her hand.

His mom looked over at him with an accusatory look, "Your sister knew before I did?"

"Come on, mom. One of his friends told me when I met him in front of his school." Jennifer explained as she walked over to him. She walked behind him and placed both arms on his shoulders and embraced him. "Anyways, mom, even if his friend didn't tell me it would only be reasonable for him to tell his older sister." She teased his mom.

His mom pouted at Jennifer's words, but then both of them laughed. "Even if you didn't tell me first, I'm happy that you were able to join the football team." His mom said after the two of them stopped laughing.

"Thanks, mom," Han answered as he scratched the tip of his nose.

Jennifer pressed her head against his and giggled. "Han, you need to be able to handle us wanting to shower you with our affection." In a serious voice, she whispered into his ear, "You're my precious baby brother, so let your sister enjoy these moments, huh?"

He looked up and saw his mother smiling at seeing her two children getting along so well. They moved to the couch in the living room and had Han tell them how he did during the practice. Listening to how he threw the ball and dodged the defending team's attempts to tackle him, they would cheer when he succeeded and cursed the other players for trying to stop him.

Later that night, he lay in bed getting ready to sleep. He couldn't wait until his mom and sister watched him play and hoped it would be soon.

--------

The smell of the sweat soaked into the cushions invaded his sense in addition to the smell of fresh cut grass on the turf. Han could hear his breathing echo as he looked around, his vision feeling a little restrained.

"Blue 52! Creation 38! Minotaur Right! Hut! Hut! Hike!" Han yelled out.

He watched as the ball was hiked to him, flying through the air in a slow arch. Reaching out with both of his hands, he caught the ball and brought it closer to him. Rotating the ball, Han felt the slight bumps in the leather till he touched the stitching. As he backed up to get a better view of the other side, he made sure to keep his senses open to the defensive linemen who were trying to get past the guards.

He watched as the receivers were getting into their positions, getting marked by the defensive backs. Behind him, the running back was heading towards him to receive the handoff. Just as the running back reached him, the two linemen broke through and charged at him.

Lifting up the ball and cocking his arm back, he looked at each of the receivers and saw that they were still being marked. Quickly, Han lowered the ball and turned to his left, just as the running back reached him. He broke away from the running back, who rushed towards the left side, while he completed the turn and dashed down the right side.

Looking to his left, he saw that one of the linemen broke off to tackle the running back. Enough people on the defensive line saw the running back heading to the left side, so they weren't able to react fast enough to Han running past them on the right side while carrying the ball.

Han grinned as he watched the players trying to catch him, though he knew that it was impossible at this point. Ahead of him the defensive backs were breaking away from their marks and made a mad dash towards him. As he ran along the edge, Han kept running as one of the backs came close to him. The back dived at him in an attempt to tackle Han, but he jumped and rotated his shoulders to flip over the player. Han felt like he was weightless, using his legs to keep himself oriented. Landing on his left foot, the other foot acted to keep his momentum going forward.

Feeling the spikes on his shoes tear into the grass, Han launched himself forward. He increased his speed and ran down the field until he reached the end zone. Turning around, he raised both hands into the air in victory. Holding the ball in his left hand, he used his right to tear the helmet off of his head. A cool breeze brought about a refreshing feeling. Without the helmet, Han could hear the cheering of his teammates as they ran towards him.

"Dude! That was amazing! How the hell were you able to do what you did back there?!" Sam asked. He was the first to reach Han considering he was one of the receivers.

"How the hell would I know? It just felt like the thing to do at the moment." He laughed as Sam kept smacking his shoulder pads in excitement.

"I'll get you next time, Han," he heard a voice say next to him.

Turning his head, he saw it was the defensive back that tried to stop him. "In your dreams maybe, Lily," He gave her a wink and laughed.

"Pig," she said punching his chest pad with her helmet. A grimace plastered across her face that seemed to keep twitching from her efforts.

Han enjoyed seeing her trying to hide the smile on her face, as she attempted to stay angry with him for dodging her.

The rest of the team caught up and were yelling about how intense his play was. As they all made their way back towards where the coach and assistant couches were standing, they continued ragging on each other. This was his fifth practice since joining the team, nearly two weeks since he first received news about him being given the position as the second-string quarterback. It was a fun experience practicing with the team, though it was mainly with those who would be benched like him.

"Okay ladies, that's enough goofing off! Hurry up back here!" The coach yelled at them. When they were all grouped in front of him, he began breaking down what he thought they needed to improve on. "Wide receivers. What the crap do you call what you did?! Your job is to be free so that the quarterback can pass you the ball! Do you think you can do that when you are completely marked? Are you trying to cause the other team to intercept a pass?" He yelled at them.

"No, sir," the two of them said in a quiet voice.

"I'm sorry. I didn't realize that I walked into the library." He looked around as if amazed.

"No, sir!" They shouted to him.

The coach nodded approvingly at their response and went through each of the positions, both on the offensive and defensive side. Looking to Han, the coach said, "What the hell was that?! I don't think I ever saw someone evading a tackle as you did."

"It just felt like the correct thing to do coach," Han said, shrugging his shoulders.

The coach was quiet for a time, before grinning. "I hope that you can keep pulling those types of things when you're on the field during a game." He moved on and reminded them that they needed to practice. "Just because many of you will not be playing this Friday, all of you need to be practicing like you will. You never know what can happen, so I need all of you to be ready. As usual, I'll be posting the people playing by the end of the day on Friday so make sure you guys all show up. On this team, all players will be at the game regardless of whatever excuses you guys can make up."

Each of them broke off into small groups to cool down, before heading towards the locker room and grabbing a shower. The entrance into the locker room was close to the football field, which was on the opposite side of the school's entrance. It was nice how the school created a multi-floor building just for the sports teams. It was comparable to a university's athletics building.

Entering the locker room, Sam said to Han, "After showering, you want to head over to the mall? I think a bunch of us are going to be chilling out there."

Nodding at Sam's inquiry, he reached his locker. Han did the combination and opened up his locker. As he removed his uniform and began unstrapping his various protective pads, he replied, "That doesn't sound like a bad idea." Tossing the pads into the bin with everyone else's equipment, he closed his locker and relocked it.

Entering the shower area, he grabbed himself one of the clean washcloths and chose one of the empty metal shower columns. Slamming his palm on the knob and feeling the sharp cold water hitting him, he slightly flinched before it finished warming up. Placing the cloth under one of the nozzles labeled "soap," he lathered the liquid soap into the cloth until it overflowed with bubbles.

"Hey, man, did you see the cheerleaders practicing?" One of the guys said to another as they were showering.

The guy turned around as he scrubbed himself. "Yeah. Did you see Allison in her outfit? Dude, I wish I could see what she looks like under that uniform."

"You wish! As if an Eighth grader is going to even look at you," Another guy chimed in laughing.

"With my skills on the field, I know she won't be able to keep her eyes off of me," the second guy said.

"I noticed your skills when I had you marked the entire time," the first guy said to the second.

All of them laughed at the last part, as they enjoyed poking fun at one another. The third guy said, "Instead of them checking you out, I think they'd be more likely to check out our QB."

"No kidding. How the hell did you do that move, Han?" The first guy asked.

Han turned towards the sound of their voice, as the shampoo bubbles were flowing over his eyes. "I just saw Lily heading towards me, and I realized the only way I could avoid her was to go up," He answered before moving his head into the water. He quickly moved his hands to remove the shampoo out of his hair.

"Lily seems to have it out for you," one of the guys said while Han was washing his hair.

"I wouldn't mind if she had it out for me, especially with how she's starting to fill out," another said.

Han ignored what they were saying, as they began comparing the girls on the team with the cheerleaders. Walking away from the water, he grabbed one of the towels on the towel cart near the shower area. Snapping the towel, Han then placed it over his head and began drying his hair as his wet feet slapped against the tiled floor.

Opening his locker, he finished drying himself and tossing the towel into the cart designated for the used towers. Out of the locker, he pulled out his clothes and began putting them on.

"Hey, Han, I'll wait for you outside," Sam called out to him as he passed by Han's locker row.

"I'll be out soon," Han replied as he put on his underwear and pants. Removing his shirt from the hanger, he put his arms and head through the openings in the shirt.

After closing his locker and locking it, Han made his way out of the locker room. Outside in the hallway, Han noticed that Lily was waiting next to Sam in addition to several other guys and girls on the team.

"Took you long enough. If only you were as fast getting ready as you are on the field, we wouldn't have needed to wait so long," Lily stated.

"I just wanted to make myself look pretty for you," Han winked at Lily, causing several of the girls to giggle.

Not expecting Han's comeback, she just stayed quiet and turned her head away from him. "Let's hurry up, I want to be at the mall instead of standing around a smelly sports building," she complained. The girls made comments agreeing with the idea.

Their small group left the athletic building and proceeded towards the entrance of the school. The area around the school was nearly devoid of all people, the only people who tended to stay so late were those on sports teams, clubs, and faculty. Han looked over and noticed a group of girls walking out from the same building but from a different entrance.

Sam also noticed the girls, and after looking closer, he said, "Check it out, those are the girls from the cheerleading team!"

The guys in the group quickly looked towards where the girls were walking. Due to the commotion, the cheerleaders noticed the guy looking at them. Most of them seemed annoyed by the attention, and only a few of them waved back.

"I would die to have one of them as my girlfriend," one of the guys said.

"Instead of thinking about getting a girlfriend, you should think about not getting your butt handed to you on the field," one of the girls responded, causing all the girls to laugh while the boy blushed.

Listening to the guys talking, Han also enjoyed watching the cheerleaders walking closer to them. Considering they were likely leaving the school, the cheerleaders had to follow the same path they were going. He saw a couple of them whispering to one another and giggling.

Slightly breaking away from the group, Han turned around and shouted at the cheerleaders as he was walking backward, "Hey, ladies, you want to join us over at the mall? We could always enjoy the extra company, and I think you'd have fun hanging out."

"Good thinking, Han," a guy whispered at him.

"Look at Han trying to act cool," several of the girls on the team teased him. Not minding the fact that Han was trying to invite more people.

Listening to his teammates tease him, Han enjoyed the way they didn't get jealous of other girls joining them, unlike how it was when he was going to secondary school the first time.

Han enjoyed seeing a couple of the cheerleaders grinning at Han's invitation. Being cheerleaders, they were used to getting a lot of attention from guys, but from the looks of it, they didn't deal with guys who were as forward as him. A couple of the girls' faces heated up, while many of them were either interested or ignoring him.

"C'mon, what do you ladies think?" He pressed them. With what he had gone through, having the amount of life experience he had, Han felt like he had more confidence than when he was previously a teenager. Dealing with his girls, Han was used to dealing with beautiful women and it made it easier for him to talk with them casually.

A cute brunette yelled out, "Sure! As long as you promise we won't get too bored." She gave him a wink to try and get a reaction from him.

Spreading his arms out, Han said, "You ladies don't have to worry about getting bored around me." He knew he sounded cocky, but it gave him the reaction he wanted. Several of the girls smirked or giggled at his response.

Behind him, he could hear Lily mutter, "He's getting too confident just because he has a little skill." Which made him smile, hearing her reaction.

"Today's going to be a fun day," He turned around and said to his teammates.