Gary jogged back to the changing room, it was empty again since the majority of the group had chosen to shower in their dorm bathrooms to avoid getting locked in the changing room. Gary started to question whether he still wanted to do football. No one liked him being there and he was generally considered the worst at it. Maybe if he trained on his own before he joined the club, things would be better. But then again, Bradley was probably not willing to train him anymore due to Barry's earlier outburst. Gary sighed, pushing his gym kit into his locker before leaving the changing room.
"Ah! Sheffield!" The Coach greeted, he sounded a little annoyed and Gary instantly started to worry about why the Coach was talking to him. "Don't be late next Thursday, yeah? Barry runs a very tight ship on his team, so if you want a place you'd best be showing up on time." He explained, his words cutting deep into Gary, even though he hadn't said them with any malice. Gary nodded quietly.
"Sir, do you really think I should keep playing football?" Gary asked, the doubt in his voice was obvious. The Coach was locking the changing room doors with a small key that looked old and slightly rusted. The Coach turned to Gary with a small frown on his face.
"It depends if you enjoy it." He started, Gary's shoulders slumping in response. "Unless the problem here is Barry." He questioned, watching the young student's body language to try and guess how he could help. Gary sighed in agreement, feeling too tired to attempt putting his feelings into words. "Well… Barry's my star player, I can't take him off the team. I s'pose it comes down to whether you feel like becoming friends with him or not." He answered. Gary frowned. That was helpful. Become friends with Barry? There was no way that was happening.
"I guess I'll see you around then…" Gary muttered, walking off down the hallway towards the hall for dinner. As he paced down the hallway, his phone started to buzz. He picked it up and saw the contact ID saying "Father". He groaned but accepted the call, just in case it was actually important. After all, what could his father want now?
"Gary?" His father's voice came through the phone and Gary's whole body tensed. They'd both said some awful stuff to each other last time he'd seen him. He hummed a 'yes' in response. "How are you? Are you enjoying your… state school?" The disembodied voice asked, hesitating as if judging the choice Gary had made.
"It's really great actually! I have a lot of new friends! I think this experience I'm getting is really valuable!" Gary lied, hoping to convince his father that it was much better than the mayor's child school he'd previously been in. Maybe it was just pride, but he didn't want his father judging the school just because it was a state school.
"So… you wouldn't mind me coming to look around, meet your new friends and teachers?" The voice requested. There it was. That was the real reason his father was calling. He wanted to find out whether the school was up to par with his standards. Gary tensed. If his dad found out what it was actually like at the school, he would be forced to leave…
"No way! It'd just embarrass me in front of my new friends! You wouldn't want that… right?" Gary reasoned, trying to work out how to prevent his father from coming to school. He heard the voice thinking it through on the other end of the phone.
"I suppose so… but I do want to evaluate the standard of teaching. I don't want them filling your head with any nonsense!" He continued, clearly having no idea that Gary was so worried about the idea of him coming to school. "I'll see you in a couple of hours, tomorrow morning!" He stated, clearly having made up his mind on what he was going to do, without considering Gary's opinion.
Gary sighed, "Please don't…" he groaned before hanging up on his father, to avoid being scolded for groaning at his father. He had more important things to do. Like find people who were willing to pretend to be his friends until his father left…