1

                                    

                                          
The crowds erupted, the applause making the field vibrate while shouts and cheers echoed around me. I charged towards the centre of the pitch, arms in the air, to where my teammates gathered in a huddle, bouncing up and down excitedly. "Matteo!" Jay, one of my friends from the team, called, a wide grin on his face as he stepped towards me, arms outstretched.
"Good game, man," I said, clapping him on the back. 
The roar of noise echoing around us started to dwindle before the crowds started to chant our school's anthem. The opposition had been a strong team and they'd played well but the winners of this game were named the best team in the state and would qualify for the championship and that was something I'd dreamed about since I was a kid, there was no way I was letting them take that away from me.
The rush I got from a win was probably one of my favourite things about football. I'd always been the type to get high off adrenaline, whether that was from a football win, racing my car against my friends or beating the shit out of my family's enemies. The last two options weren't exactly legal or mom-approved, but football was always the one thing that gave me drive and purpose and I never wanted to lose that. The championship games would be a big deal with college scouts in the crowds looking for kids with talent to offer scholarships to and I needed to be one of those kids. 
I'd never been particularly bright in school and college wasn't on my radar for the longest time, especially with my grades. But my parents have been pushing it recently, telling me it'll be my only opportunity to get out of the town that's basically owned by my family and escape the mafia lifestyle for a few years. While I've never minded the lifestyle, I can't help but think about a place where nobody knows me or my father and I can just play football and get drunk with my friends.
"Matt!" Another guy on the team yelled, causing them all to turn to face me. I knew exactly what was about to happen before they started to move and when they did, they charged, encircling me and lifting me up onto their shoulders. 
I was the team's leading quarterback, as well as the captain, and we rarely lost a game when I was playing. I'd scored more touchdowns than anyone else on the team and had scored the winning touchdown that had got us into the championships.
I revelled in the moment as my teammates paraded me around while the crowd started to flood onto the pitch. The atmosphere after a win was unmatched, everyone in the school supported the team and when we won, the whole student body and all the staff joined in at the celebrations. 
Streamers and confetti rained down on us as the cheerleaders performed their routine, a newfound energy that wasn't there when they performed before the match. Everyone had been excited at the possibility of winning but that excitement was nothing compared to the buzz we all felt now. I was lowered to the field when the routine finished and the girls joined the crowds, squealing and clapping alongside the rest of the school.
I lost my bearings when my feet hit the floor, completely engulfed in the crowds. Despite the fact this was an away game, most of the crowd had been our supporters – our school was big on team spirit and encouraged everyone to attend the games wherever possible. I knew somewhere amongst the celebration were my parents but it was so chaotic I couldn't even locate my dad in the thick of people, and he didn't exactly blend in with my classmates.
"Matt," another voice called and before I could run, a hand curled around my bicep. "Congratulations babe." Kelly -the head cheerleader – batted her false eyelashes at me and pressed her chest against me, a shy smile on her lips even though she was anything but. She was loud and obnoxious and obsessive and when we first started school, I'd done my best to be nice to the girl who had a crush on me but over the course of nearly four years she still hadn't got the hint and I was done being nice. "Celebrate at mine?"