“Becau—” I start to explain when someone bumps into me from behind in their rush to get over to the center of the food court where five, big, flat screen TVs are hung in a circle from the ceiling.
“What the hell is going on?” Destiny asks when we’re both pushed as more people rush by.
I look around and finally realize there’s a flurry of excitement and people are all either jogging to get close enough to be able to hear the TVs, or stopped dead in their tracks looking at them. “No idea…zombie apocalypse?” I joke, “Might as well go see what the fuss is about,” I say and begin walking over to where everyone else seems to be gathering.
“Okay, but just FYI, I’m totally tripping you if the hungry horde has finally descended upon humankind,” she laughs and skips ahead, disappearing into the growing crowd as I try to follow her and keep up.
I’m pushed and shoved some more, but I finally manage to find Destiny in the melee under the TVs. She’s standing with Cole and I find myself shaking my head and rolling my eyes at her yet again when she looks up into his face and clutches one of his arms with both hands. She looks aghast and I determine right here and now that I need to sit her down and either teach her how to flirt and not look stupid doing it, or just beg her to give the whole thing up altogether. I don’t even notice that the arm she’s clinging to is bent so that Cole’s hand is covering his mouth. Not until they both turn and see me standing here do I realize that Cole has tears in his eyes and that Destiny is sobbing. Confused, I hesitantly raise my eyes to see the breaking news banner float across the bottom of one of the television screens, and just as I begin to feel my knees buckle and my vision start to swim, I see Holden’s face pictured and I hear part of the news report.
The last thing I clearly remember before the earth fell out from under me was looking at Cole and seeing his eyes widen as he jumped towards me. Then, there was nothing.
3
“If I Die Young”
—Cole—
“It’s been eight days since a shadow was cast over the streets and storefronts of Sun City, a small suburb of Menifee located in Riverside County. A local boy attending the University of Oregon on a full athletic scholarship collapsed and died on a football field there early Saturday afternoon during a routine team training last week. Larry Michaels from our News 8 sister station is on location now…Larry? This is such a tragedy, can you tell those of us here anything about what happened?”
“Yeah, Howard, it’s still unclear what exactly happened last Saturday at the Oregon Ducks’ 68 million dollar, state of the art football training center here in Eugene, and what caused the sudden collapse and death of twenty-year-old Holden St. James that took place on one of the three practice fields is still a mystery. Although drug use hadn’t been officially ruled out at the time, team physicians and coaches went on record later that evening to say that neither legal nor illegal drugs will be found to have contributed to their player’s collapse or death. Teammates and other students are baffled as well.
“A likable and seemingly well known face on campus, St. James had just finished his freshman year and coming off a Ducks’ win in the Fiesta Bowl, he was in training with the rest of the program and looking forward to another winning season in his second year of playing football for the University of Oregon. He was thought to be in perfect health. Authorities released Holden’s body to his family after an autopsy was completed and although the results haven’t been released to the public at this time, it’s been rumored that highly caffeinated energy drinks may have played a part in the untimely and tragic death of St. James. A candlelight vigil and memorial for the public is scheduled here at Ducks Stadium tonight at eight o’clock with funeral services in Sun City to remain private,
“What the hell is going on?” Destiny asks when we’re both pushed as more people rush by.
I look around and finally realize there’s a flurry of excitement and people are all either jogging to get close enough to be able to hear the TVs, or stopped dead in their tracks looking at them. “No idea…zombie apocalypse?” I joke, “Might as well go see what the fuss is about,” I say and begin walking over to where everyone else seems to be gathering.
“Okay, but just FYI, I’m totally tripping you if the hungry horde has finally descended upon humankind,” she laughs and skips ahead, disappearing into the growing crowd as I try to follow her and keep up.
I’m pushed and shoved some more, but I finally manage to find Destiny in the melee under the TVs. She’s standing with Cole and I find myself shaking my head and rolling my eyes at her yet again when she looks up into his face and clutches one of his arms with both hands. She looks aghast and I determine right here and now that I need to sit her down and either teach her how to flirt and not look stupid doing it, or just beg her to give the whole thing up altogether. I don’t even notice that the arm she’s clinging to is bent so that Cole’s hand is covering his mouth. Not until they both turn and see me standing here do I realize that Cole has tears in his eyes and that Destiny is sobbing. Confused, I hesitantly raise my eyes to see the breaking news banner float across the bottom of one of the television screens, and just as I begin to feel my knees buckle and my vision start to swim, I see Holden’s face pictured and I hear part of the news report.
The last thing I clearly remember before the earth fell out from under me was looking at Cole and seeing his eyes widen as he jumped towards me. Then, there was nothing.
3
“If I Die Young”
—Cole—
“It’s been eight days since a shadow was cast over the streets and storefronts of Sun City, a small suburb of Menifee located in Riverside County. A local boy attending the University of Oregon on a full athletic scholarship collapsed and died on a football field there early Saturday afternoon during a routine team training last week. Larry Michaels from our News 8 sister station is on location now…Larry? This is such a tragedy, can you tell those of us here anything about what happened?”
“Yeah, Howard, it’s still unclear what exactly happened last Saturday at the Oregon Ducks’ 68 million dollar, state of the art football training center here in Eugene, and what caused the sudden collapse and death of twenty-year-old Holden St. James that took place on one of the three practice fields is still a mystery. Although drug use hadn’t been officially ruled out at the time, team physicians and coaches went on record later that evening to say that neither legal nor illegal drugs will be found to have contributed to their player’s collapse or death. Teammates and other students are baffled as well.
“A likable and seemingly well known face on campus, St. James had just finished his freshman year and coming off a Ducks’ win in the Fiesta Bowl, he was in training with the rest of the program and looking forward to another winning season in his second year of playing football for the University of Oregon. He was thought to be in perfect health. Authorities released Holden’s body to his family after an autopsy was completed and although the results haven’t been released to the public at this time, it’s been rumored that highly caffeinated energy drinks may have played a part in the untimely and tragic death of St. James. A candlelight vigil and memorial for the public is scheduled here at Ducks Stadium tonight at eight o’clock with funeral services in Sun City to remain private,
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