"The Graduation Evasion"
The operation was as covert as could be. Brooklyn Beck arrived at a hotel near Cavsar University’s campus in the wee hours of the morning. She was pretty familiar with that particular hotel, as it was the same one Sadeg State’s football team would use for NSCF away games against Cavsar. The next day, Brooklyn walked the short distance to campus and met Scott Linhart at the athletic department offices.
“Welcome back to Cavsar,” Linhart smiled warmly when Brooklyn stepped into the lobby. It was the weekend right after finals week, so campus was mostly deserted. This played into their favor. They didn’t want word about this getting out too quickly.
“Thanks.” Brooklyn returned the smile, a little awkwardly. “I’m glad to be here, I think.”
“I understand this was a hard decision to make.” Linhart dipped his head in concession. “I’m incredibly proud of you for doing it, though. I think this will be mutually beneficial for us. Football greatness is in our grasp!”
“Of course.” Brooklyn grinned. She started to feel her stomach churn. Was she really making the right decision? It wasn’t technically too late to pull out … but it was pretty close. She reminded herself that her football career was essentially about to be over anyway. Why bother worrying about her reputation there?
“Alright, come along, I’ll give you a quick tour of the football facility so you’re not disoriented on Monday. I know you saw some of it during your recruiting campus tour, but that was years ago. Freshening the memory can’t hurt.” Linhart motioned for Brooklyn to follow him. As they walked the path to the football training facility, he spoke back up. “So I checked our registration system and it looked like you’re in there. I trust everything went smoothly in that process?”
“Yup.” Brooklyn nodded, absentmindedly looking at the buildings of Cavsar’s campus. The striking red brick and white stone aesthetic could be seen throughout, quite a difference from Sadeg State’s where most buildings were classic old stone or hypermodern construction. “I applied for the MBA program and registered for the only two classes they were offering in the summer for incoming students. I think I got my account login information this week, I just haven’t tried it out yet.”
“Good, good.” Linhart chuckled. “I trust you’ll be keeping up with your studies?”
“Yes sir. These online classes won’t know what hit them!” Brooklyn gave a slight dry chuckle of her own. She wasn’t really sure if she could joke around with Coach Linhart yet. She also had no intention of paying attention to those courses, because she had no intention of remaining a Cavsar student once this summer was over. She didn’t ever expect to try for an MBA anyway, so having a dark spot on her transcript wouldn’t really make a difference for her.
Linhart quickly showed the practice fields, athlete cafeteria, and other facilities to Brooklyn before looping back to the athletic offices adjacent to Roy Memorial Stadium. He led Brooklyn to his office on the third floor, a corner office with a large waiting area.
“Wow, this is a big office,” Brooklyn commented offhand as the pair walked through the door.
“I just moved in last year!” Linhart explained excitedly. “The football coaching department used to be on the second floor, but after winning the NSCF title the AD was overjoyed and decided to upgrade the entire football staff’s offices, including my own.”
“I guess they treat you like royalty around here, huh?” Brooklyn sat down across from Linhart’s desk.
“I suppose so,” Linhart laughed. “Not that I’m growing complacent or anything. There’s still much work to do. Can’t let the naysayers think that Cavsar is just a one-cycle wonder like they have the last few times we put together deep runs. That’s why I wanted to make this happen, Brooklyn. I love Jaxtyn Mynatt, he’s a fiery competitor, but he doesn’t have the physical skills to lead Cavsar to another deep NSCF run. Maybe next year, but not right now.”
“Right.” Brooklyn nodded, lightly scanning the room. “So, do I need to sign anything?”
“Well, I tried to pull some strings, but I wasn’t able to swing a scholarship for you since this is just a summer semester.” Linhart peered earnestly through his glasses at Brooklyn. “I hope that cost won’t be an issue for you. If not, I can figure-”
“Oh that’s fine,” Brooklyn interrupted. “The tuition for a couple of online courses isn’t that bad. I have enough saved up from my NIL deals.”
“Wonderful. Yes, for all intents and purposes, you’re considered a walk-on athlete for this semester, so there’s no binding agreement to be signed.” Linhart paused, then snapped as his train of thought reconfigured. “Speaking of NIL, I think we might be able to work something out. Obviously the clandestine nature of all this means we couldn’t get something ready in advance, but when we start winning games, the local companies will start lining up to get you into their ads.”
“That’ll give me something to do outside of practice, at least.” Brooklyn chuckled. “I’m not sure how much fun there is to be had in town.”
“Cavsar is full of surprises.” Linhart winked. “Don’t count us out yet!”
The rest of the weekend basically flew by. Brooklyn only spent one night in the hotel, because once her meeting with Linhart was done, she met a couple Cavsar baseball players to figure out her living arrangements for the summer. Julian Gallagher had made good on his word – he called a bunch of different Cavsar student-athletes to see if any of them had open beds in the summer. Luckily he called Paul Porter, a baseball player who’d actually met Brooklyn briefly during the Eight Nations Shield with the Base Corps. Porter was willing to help out, and found some female baseball teammates with an open bedroom thanks to a roommate who finished their senior finals and immediately left town due to a job offer in Hellenmack.
Brooklyn spent the rest of the weekend acquainting herself with her new short-term roommates and studying through the playbooks which Linhart gave to her at the end of their visit together. Soon enough, day one of training camp arrived, and Brooklyn arrived at the football team facility without much fanfare. This was by design. Any time a media member was present for part of camp, Brooklyn was elsewhere. Watching film, studying the playbook, or working out privately, it didn’t matter, she was kept out of sight.
Naturally, people at Sadeg State noticed when she didn’t arrive for their first day of camp. The first day went without a hitch, they expected she’d return on the second day and be reprimanded for a late arrival. It wasn’t the first or last time a student would take a quick trip off campus in the days between finals week and NSCF training camp and experience travel delays. Once day two came by with no sign or word from Brooklyn in Sadeg, the alarm bells went up.
Brooklyn was tucked away in the film study room poring over an offensive package when her phone buzzed. She looked at the screen and saw it was coming from Trace Hayes. She felt an immediate pang of adrenaline. For a moment she considered letting the call go to voicemail, but she figured it would only be a matter of time until they’d call her emergency contact, which was her home phone. That presented a risk of her dad answering the phone and the entire charade blowing up. She wasn’t much of an actress, but she’d have to pull out a great performance here.
“Hello?” Brooklyn finally answered the call, trying to sound a little distant or dazed.
“Hello, Ms. Beck.” Trace Hayes spoke out tersely on the other end. The now second-year head coach at Sadeg had been nice and amicable throughout his early tenure. This was a darker tone that Brooklyn had never heard before. “I’m calling to see where you are right now. Training camp started yesterday and you’ve yet to show up.”
“Um, training camp?” Brooklyn put a little valley girl pitch into her voice. “I thought I couldn’t be there. DOCA suspended me and everything.”
“Wh- DOCA-” Hayes sputtered. “Brooklyn, this is for the NSCF. We had an entire discussion about how that suspension couldn’t possibly apply and - now that I think of it, didn’t you serve your suspension in baseball season anyway?”
“Oh … shit!” Brooklyn said with mock panic. “Oh my God coach, I’m so sorry! That totally slipped my mind! I thought I wouldn’t be allowed at training camp because of the suspension … so I booked this cruise to celebrate finishing my finals … my flight back doesn’t come in until Friday night so I can be there for commencement.”
“This is a very serious issue, Brooklyn! We’ve got to hit the ground running in this season, new format, lots of planning and work to do!” Hayes groaned. “Surely you can move your flight up? Leave a little sooner?”
“I’m on a cruise, Coach.” Brooklyn put as much worry into her voice as she could. “I’m in the middle of the freaking ocean! The day we get back to shore is the same day as my flight back to Sadeg. There’s no way I’ll make it back in time for camp this week!”
“I see.” Hayes replied coldly. “I hate to do this, but you will be reprimanded for this, Ms. Beck. Just because you’re a graduated senior and the starting quarterback doesn’t mean you have free reign to pull a stunt like this.”
“It was an accident, Coach, honestly!” Brooklyn pleaded. She did feel bad about the whole thing, but it was a little late for that.”
“I’ve half a mind to start giving Harper reps as QB1 in practice. I’m deeply disappointed in you.”
“Go ahead,” Brooklyn replied sullenly, though she was glad Hayes was willing to do that soon. She didn’t want Sadeg State to completely turn into a dumpster fire, so if Reed Harper got more reps in practice that would only be a good thing. “I’m really sorry, Coach. I feel like such a moron.”
“Well, you can make up for it by working extra hard next week.” Hayes said, though his voice was still flatly upset. “We’ll talk about this once you return.”
Obviously Brooklyn had no intention of getting chewed out by Coach Hayes in person. She was going to return to Sadeg for her commencement ceremony as if nothing was amiss. Thankfully, Coach Hayes seemed keen to keep the news of Brooklyn not showing up at Sadeg State’s NSCF camp secret as well. Things were already pretty dicey for the Skyhawks in NSCF. News about the presumed QB1 being AWOL would only stoke that media fire.
The first week of training camp for Cavsar went by pretty well. Brooklyn managed to get a solid amount of reps in with her new Cavsar offense, even with having to dodge media members along the way. She made a couple throws to Julian, and though things still felt a little weird between them (they hadn’t interacted beyond some bland small talk at meals), Brooklyn could feel herself reanimating the quarterback-to-receiver connection they had in high school.
She left Cavsar immediately after the conclusion of Friday’s practice, flying into Sadeg and arriving well after dark. She retrieved her car from the parking lot and drove back to her apartment. In her good fortune, Grace Robbins seemed to already be asleep. Grace would certainly be overloading Brooklyn with questions as soon as she saw her, but at least that would be delayed until morning.
“Okay, I know I should’ve told you earlier, but I’m doing something slightly insane.” Brooklyn said when she ran into Grace in the kitchen the next morning.
“More or less insane than anything else you’ve done over the last five years?” Grace asked, only half-joking.
“More. Definitely more.” Brooklyn went on to explain the entire deal with her last-minute switch to Cavsar.
“CAVSAR?!” Grace exclaimed, prompting a round of shushing from Brooklyn. “I can’t even begin to explain how crazy you’re being right now. And why couldn’t you have just told me last week?”
“I need this to be a secret. We’re graduating today, I don’t want rotten fruit being thrown at me on stage.” Brooklyn grimaced. “Everybody’s gonna know by the beginning of next week, but that’s okay because by then I’ll be ‘safe’ at Cavsar.”
“Or you could’ve just stayed here and not have to worry about any of this insane bullshit!”
“I’ve made my decision. You can argue with me about it for the next twenty years, that’s fine. Just keep it quiet for one afternoon? Please?”
“Hmph.” Grace folded her arms, staring pointedly at Brooklyn for a solid ten seconds before relenting. “Fine. But I’m not going to let this go!”
A few hours later, Grace and Brooklyn were separated by a few dozen rows of chairs set up on the field of Skyhawks Gridiron Park. The very same stadium Brooklyn had called home for five seasons (really nine if you include NSCF) was the place where she’d be completing her Skyhawk tenure. While the commencement went through its yawn-inducing introductions, Brooklyn realized that there was only one Cavsar vs Sadeg State matchup this season, and it was going to be at Roy Memorial. She’d already played her last game in this stadium. That fact alone made Brooklyn regret her decision more than anything. But it was too late now.
Lots of Brooklyn’s family members were in attendance up in the bowl of the stadium. Naturally, much of the crowd were Skyhawk football fans. Even though many of them were surely among her detractors, she still received a rather loud cheer from the audience at large when her name was called to walk across the stage and receive her stand-in diploma.
As Brooklyn reached the end of the stage, she took an extra moment to look across the stadium one more time. It was almost more fitting that it would end with a graduation. Her era as a true student-athlete was over. She’d accomplished at least one goal she had coming in as a Skyhawk, though it wasn’t wearing pads or coming through this field.
For better or worse, it was done. Brooklyn Beck had finished her final hour at Sadeg State. She was more than misty-eyed as she strode down the steps and back to her seat.
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