Pursuit of Happiness | The Sean Joseph Woy Story

[Fox1994]

He's gonna tear the shit up like he usually does, then a tragedy or mistake will tear them back apart. Just a hunch. :ionno:

And when I saw "flawless body of hers" I thought "FLAWLESS" in my best Mortal Kombat announcer voice. lol

[Woy]

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Chapter 30: Summer Love/Set the Mood
April 28-August 2, 2026

---

"I could always take you to Anaheim with me," Mike stated with a smile, holding his second place trophy in hand which guaranteed him a trip to the aforementioned city for FBLA States later this summer. "I'm sure pops wouldn't mind."

"We'll have to see," I laughed, before turning my head to see Haley in the far background. "Speaking of summer plans..."

"You haven't sealed the deal with Haley yet?" he asked in which I answered with a shake of the head. "Well damn Sean J, what are you waiting for?"

"For the right moment," I replied, before walking off to find the blonde bombshell.

I started passing groups of people, dropping the necessary "excuse me" and whatnot, but after making my way through the crowd, I lost my intended target and stood there in confusion.

"You looking for someone?" a voice behind me asked while tapping me on the shoulder. I turned around to see Haley and gave her a hug, before diving right into what I wanted to ask her.

"I know this week has been a lot of fun, well at least it has been for me," I started off, as she nodded her head to let me know that she enjoyed our time together. "Is it going to continue over the summer?"

She looked up for a minute, thinking about something before bringing it back down with a huge grin on. "I guess I can fit time in my schedule for you." I gave her another hug, but she pushed me aside after a second. "This doesn't mean we're technically together though."

My confidence was completely shot after that, because of the way she said it. With everything that went on between us throughout the week, I preferred not to be stuck in the friend zone with her.

However, she completely turned around my mood again when she gave me a kiss. "But that's because you haven't taken me on an official date yet."

I smiled and picked her up with another hug. "Don't worry, I'll take you out the first weekend we're home." And sure enough the following Saturday, we went to Olive Garden and sealed the deal with her becoming the cheerleader to our cliche high school relationship.

After school ended, I spent most of my time with Haley, trying to build upon our relationship. We didn't necessary become inseparable, because we still hung out with our friends whenever we wanted, but usually we were with one another doing something. Things were looking up for us and it seemed like nothing could bring us off cloud nine, until she got a call the week before I started football camp and she started cheerleading.

...

"I'm going to get a drink," I told Haley as I got off the couch. We were at her house watching a movie with her sister, waiting for her to fall asleep. It was just the three of us, as her dad was at work at the local bank, while her mom was running some errands. As soon as I got up and started walking away, her phone started to ring and she picked it up as soon as I got to the fridge.

"Please tell me you're joking!" she cried out as I shut the fridge door. I put my cup on the table and ran over after to her, trying to find out what was wrong as the tears fell from her cheeks faster and faster every second.

I put my arm around her and started rubbing her back, trying to comfort her as much as I can. Still unaware of what was going on, I looked at her and tried to figure something out from her facial expressions. She wasn't speaking anymore; she just nodded her head as the tears streamed down her face, while the faint voice continued to relay bad news into her ear.

She finally put down the phone and wiped her last tears away. I looked in her now reddened eyes and just waited to hear what she was devastated about. Clearing her throat, another tear fell from her eye as she muttered something I never imagined hearing my life this early.

"Dad was...shot...and..."

I didn't want to hear anymore from her because I wasn't sure if I could take it. Bringing her head to my shoulder, I sat there in disbelief as the tears quickly gave my shirt a soaking wet feeling.

---

Author's note: Short, random update that isn't very good IMO, but it'll build into the original storyline.

[beamerball811]

wow devastating ending to the beginning lol

[Woy]

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Chapter 31: Confessions
August 3-21, 2026

---

I've never seen such a power shift in someone's attitude when Haley's father was shot. Yes, the pain she was feeling was obvious, but it was hard to watch her suffer through something so horrifying and I never could put together the right words to say to help her through it.

Instead, I kept quiet and was by her side, letting her know usually non-verbally, that I'd be there for her. My own father found out about the tragedy and said I could miss some parts of camp in order to be with Haley, while the Tussey Mountain cheerleadering coach allowed her to miss their camp until she could stomach going back to it.

We'd go visit her father in the hospital every day, hoping that he somehow would wake up from the coma he was put in. Hour after hour would pass, as I rubbed Haley's hand in support, saying a silent prayer in my head. The more I saw him just lay there without response, the more I was growing closer to him; it's hard to explain. It wouldn't ever hit me as hard as it's hitting Haley, but it was still devastating for me.

One day, after leaving the hospital, I took her back home and was about to leave when she spoke up for maybe the third time that entire day.

"Don't leave Sean Joseph," she insisted, her voice cracking as the pain was still clearly showing from her facial expression. "Stay with me tonight."

I shrugged my shoulder and gave in, walking into the house and sitting on the couch. Haley ran into her room and slammed the door, leaving me to believe she was still very upset about things. I walked to the door and knocked, seeing if I could make her feel better at all, but I was shocked to see her laying in bed with the finest Victoria's Secret lingerie I've ever seen.

She pointed her finger at me, then patted her hand on the bed to get me to come over. I obliged and walked over, sitting on the bed, looking into her confused eyes. She pulled me by the shirt and put me on top of her, leaning up to meet my lips. A few minutes of making out commenced, before I pulled myself off and sat back up.

"Something wrong?" she asked me, concerned as of why I stopped.

"I should be asking you the same thing," I shot back, not violently, but also in a concerned tone. "You go from mourning and barely talking all day, to almost ripping my shirt off tonight? That shit just doesn't happen, Haley."

She looked at me like I didn't know what I was talking about, so I just rolled my eyes and got up like I was about to leave. "Wait!" she instantly shouted, which got me to sit right back down. "Please, don't leave."

"Then tell me what's wrong Haley," I demanded. "Someone's mood just doesn't change that quick, especially with the circumstances we're dealing with."

She looked around, then back into my concerned eyes and took a deep breath. "I'm afraid of being alone Sean Joseph. I feel like if I throw myself onto you, then you won't leave me."

"You don't have to do that," I said, taking her hand. "I know how tough this is for you right now, but I'm not going to leave you. You don't have to worry one second about that."

"Good," she sighed. "Sorry, it's not you at all, it's me. I just can't get over how Ryan just left me."

"What happened between you two?" I asked, hoping to dig deeper into her past so I wouldn't make the same mistakes.

"Everything was great...Dad loved him and we got along great. But, after a while, things seemed so stale...not from my perspective though, but from his it seemed. Not to mentioned he was being courted by numerous colleges about football; it seemed like I had to play second fiddle. Now to mention he cheated on me..."

"I promise I won't do that," I insisted, pushing aside my mistake with Brandi when I was a freshman. "And I don't want you to ever feel like you're second fiddle with me. If I do make you feel that way though, don't hesitate to tell me. I want to make this work out."

She smiled and gave me a kiss, then laid down and threw the bed covers over her. "I still want you to stay the night though...I don't think my mom will be home."

"Yeah sure," I said, sliding under the covers with her. "She won't mind?"

"I don't really care if she minds or not, she hasn't really been there for me," she stated, as the confessions continued to slip out from her mouth. I gave her a weird look as she sighed once again. "Mom and I don't have the best relationship...I've always been a daddy's girl."

"What's gone on between you two?"

"Where to begin...well there's the pressure she put on me when I was doing pageants as a kid..."

"You mean you were one of those girls?" I interrupted.

"Yeah, but I didn't want to be," she said, continuing her mother's faults. "Once I was pulled out of those contests, my mom developed...not necessarily a hatred, but a vengeance against me. She hated how I joined cheerleading, hated how I was the the class vice-president; it almost seemed like she was jealous of me."

"And you two are still bitter towards one another to this day?"

"Well she is towards me. She never had a good relationship with her parents and when they died almost a year within one another, it didn't really seem to phase her. She's fine with my sister Jess, but just doesn't treat me the same. I've almost come to expect it from her."

"Damn, well at least you know your mom," I hesitantly said, the words fumbling out of my mouth like a bad snap from under center. I didn't really want to mention anything about my parents, but it was too late now.

"What do you mean?" she asked with interest and relief; probably because the pressure wasn't on her anymore.

"Alright, are you ready for a long story?" I asked, as she nodded her head yes. She laid her head on my chest and looked up at me, as I started to begin. "You do know who my father is, right?"

"Of course."

"Okay, just making sure. Anyways, my dad was engaged with this one girl from high school and she had me during the winter of Dad's freshman year. Well they eventually got married, but then she was murdered. I don't really remember much about her, and I really hate that."

"That's horrible," she whispered, still shocked about everything. "Did they find out who it was?"

"No...at least that's what my dad tells me. My dad then married another girl, Rebecca, who I thought was my actual mom...until my dad revealed she wasn't after she left us during my freshman year of high school. He wouldn't explain why though."

"Wow, I would have never guessed," she said, gripping me tighter. "You handle it so much better than I do though."

"Yeah, well it still gets to me at times," I told her. "I just either take all my emotion out on the football field with me, or I just hide it really well."

She nodded her head once again, yawned and started to close her eyes, finally feeling the exhaustion after another long day. I smiled and gave her a kiss on the forehead, then closed my eyes and fell asleep, feeling relieved that I opened up to Haley about my still fuzzy past.

[Woy]

---

Chapter 32: Waking Up
August 22-28, 2026

---

"...he's probably going to be paralyzed from the waist down for the rest of his life," the nurse told Haley and I as we sat outside her father's room. Despite that bad news, we were both smiling because he had awoken from coma and was responsive.

"Can we go in and see him now?" Haley asked quickly, excited she'd be finally able to speak to her father again. The nurse nodded her head and slowly opened the door while the patient turned his head and smiled to see his daughter walking towards him.

"He's still very exhausted guys," she reminded us before shutting the door. The room was unlit, but the two o'clock positioning of the sun brought a light in through the crack of the window blind. He laid on his bed without much motion, but his eyes were wide open.

"Hey Dad," Haley said, pulling up two chairs to side of the bed. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm okay," he replied, with obvious pain in his voice still. He then turned his head just slightly and focused his eyes on me, showing a confused expression. "Who's that beside you?"

I looked back at him and cleared my throat. "I'm Sean Joseph, Mr. Shaffer. I'm one of Haley's friends." I didn't feel like saying that I'm dating her, because I could tell he didn't remember me. He did like me before the accident though, but I don't know if he'd think too highly of me on this "first" impression, so I was just going to avoid it altogether for now.

"Oh okay," he replied, pain still noticeable in every word. He looked up at the TV and saw highlights of the Steelers/Eagles pre-season game on TV, then looked back at me. "You play football, son?"

I wanted to laugh at him, but thought better of it because of his state. "Yes sir, I'm a quarterback at Everett." I stopped myself suddenly after the last word though, forgetting about the Everett/Tussey Mountain rivalry for a second. Again, I didn't want this "first" impression to be a bad one.

He chuckled and patted my knee. "How's it like losing to Tussey every year?"

"It sucks," I answered, sarcastically chuckling along with him. "I think we'll get them though this year."

"Yeah maybe, since Ryan's not there anymore." He then shifted his attention towards his daughter. "Speaking of Ryan, how's he doing? You speak to him lately?"

I looked at Haley and she gave a "I don't know what to say" facial expression to me. I shrugged my shoulder in response as she shook her head and looked back at her father. "I think he left for Arizona a few weeks ago. Haven't talked to him in a while though."

"Oh that's too bad, I liked him," he said, sighing slightly. He was about to say something else, but was interrupted by the opening of the door.

"Sorry you two, but visiting hours are over," she announced, holding the door open for us to walk out.

...

"Sean Joseph, wake up!" Dad shouted, throwing a pillow in my face. I shook my head and threw it back, before pulling off the covers and standing up. "You've got mail."

"Probably some shit scholly offers from Temple or Ohio," I scoffed, as I followed him into the living room. However, I was shocked to see the envelopes reading more notable schools on them.

Dad grabbed the paper from the kitchen counter and sat down at the table. "Nah, these are offers from legit schools. They'll only get better as the season progresses too."

I sat down opposite of him and start looking through the unopened envelopes. At first I thought he was lying because I saw a letter from East Carolina, but as I went through, the offers started to get better. Robert Morris, Rutgers, Michigan State, and...

"Syracuse!?" I exclaimed, pushing all the other letters aside and ripping into the one with the big orange and blue S in the top left corner. I started to skim through the introductory text - the shit you'd see in every recruiting letter - before getting to the good stuff. "And with a good word from your father, we're offering you a full-ride scholarship to play quarterback for the Orange. I hope to speak to you soon...Coach Marrone."

"So?" Dad spoke up, putting down his paper to find out my thoughts on the scholarship offers.

"It's cool," I replied, hiding back my true feelings. As much as I wanted to go to Syracuse, I didn't want to do it under my father's good word. I wanted them to recruit me because I was good enough to play there, not because they wanted to add another to the family legacy.

As much as I love being the son of Ethan Woy, this right here woke me up, and showed the flaws of it.

[Woy]

---

Chapter 33: Lunch Break
September 3-4, 2026

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"You sure you want to do this? I can't imagine the looks you'll get at school."

"Yeah, I'm positive. I've gotta support my boy somehow."

I smiled, shook my head and pulled the away #7 jersey out of my bag to give to Haley. She quickly snatched it, gave me a kiss, and walked to her car to put it away before coming back inside.

The week was going by quickly, as Haley and I continued to spend time together; whether it was a simple interaction like that at my house, or visiting her father for a few hours at the hospital. School started back up again and our practices was going very smoothly, as we were approaching the home opener against a very good Bellwood-Antis team.

...

"I'm getting some funny looks," Haley said over the phone as I was outside for lunch. "But I just laugh and shrug it off."

"I knew you would," I laughed as I took a bite out of the disgusting school's pizza. "What are you doing after the Tussey game?"

"Nothing that I know of," she replied. "Think I'd be able to come over?"

"You're reading my mind," I stated, before the bell rang, signaling the end of our conversation.

...

*KNOCK KNOCK KNOCK*

"Come on in!" my dad announced to the person standing outside the door as he was watching last-minute game film on the Blue Devils.

The door opened and in came the familiar blonde, carrying two brown bags and a smile on her face. "I thought I'd be nice and bring the coach lunch on gameday."

"Are both of those for me?" he asked, returning the smile and pulling up a chair for her to sit down.

"Tough game tonight?" she asked, pulling a sandwich out of her bag.

"Yeah just a little bit," he replied, taking a bite out of his own sandwich. "I've gotta coach a great game and hope my players can execute probably."

"I'm sure it'll be fine," she insisted, before looking around the room.

The school finally opened up an area for him to have an office and he quickly filled it up with various symbols of achievement from college and the NFL, as well as team pictures and pictures of his sons. In the corner, there was a photo of the past; something that he couldn't let go.

She saw the photo and it immediately brought her back to the past. She waited a year to see how see how things would go, but now after leaving it along, she felt it would be a decent time to try something. It sounds kind of pathetic, but she still had a soft spot for him, and she was searching for someone; not necessary long term, but just someone to spend time with. This would be the best, maybe only chance she had to fix her wrongs and make things right.

"Say, what are you doing tonight after the game?" She was optimistic that she'd get the answer she was looking for, but that wouldn't be the case.

"I'll probably watch film till late," he said, crushing the woman's hopes...or so it seemed. "But I could always watch it at your place...you know, if you'd be okay with that."

"I guess I can live through watching some more football after tonight," she scoffed sarcastically, smiling that she got the answer she wanted.

...

"...the Bellwood-Antis Blue Devils and the Everett Warriors...here's the kickoff and we're under way!"

[trojan49er]

the plot thickens further...shit the plot has gotten so thick, thicker doesnt adequately describe it.

[Woy]

---

Chapter 34: Pain Heals, But Chicks Don't Always Dig Scars
September 4, 2026

---

"Jones has blockers out in front of him...side-steps the safety and will waltz his way into the end zone! Touchdown Blue Devils! Senior back Tyler Jones rumbles for a 34-yard score on the first drive of the game!"

I buckled up my chin strap and walked over to Coach Swindell to determine our first few play calls. Once the extra point went through the uprights and the kickoff went through the end zone, I jogged out onto the field for our first drive of the season.

"Ace Seattle Z on two," I barked out in the huddle before breaking it with a clap.

The defense a group led mostly by seniors and all looked big and strong. There wasn't a weak spot it seemed on that side of the ball and judging by their pre-snap movement, it looked like they were going to blitz me early and often.

I stepped up under center and calmly scanned the defense. The weakside linebacker was stepping up to the line, which would play into my hands perfectly if he actually did blitz. The other side of the defense didn't look like they were doing anything different besides playing their assignments, but I was still going to anticipate the delayed blitz.

"Green 19, green 19...hut, hut!"

Sure enough as soon as I got the ball, the weakside linebacker came in past the left tackle and was picked up by the runningback John Watson. I waited for Mike to dart right into the area that the blitzing linebacker was occupying and as soon as I let the ball go, I took a shot by the other linebacker, coming on the delayed blitz like I predicted.

Mike caught the bullet and immediately turned up field, shedding the cornerback covering him before being brought down by the safety after 18 yards. I jumped back up, dusted myself off and looked over to Coach Swindell for the next play.

The drive continued to be successful in regards to moving the ball. However, my body wasn't liking the punishment it was getting. Every play it seemed like I had a Bellwood defender hitting me, even if it was a running play. I was worried that if it continued like this, I wouldn't make it the rest of the game.

"Woy fires...gets hit...but it's caught by Kennedy for the Warrior touchdown! Everett strikes right back with a touchdown pass by junior quarterback Sean Joseph Woy!"

It would go back and forth for the entire first half. They would score a touchdown, then we'd answer with one of our own. We would go three-and-out just moments after they punted the ball because of their ineffective drive. It was a struggle to take control for both sides, as the halftime score showed 17-17.

"Damn bro, you're taking a pounding out there," Mike said, noticing the bruises covering my body. "You gonna be alright for the second half?"

I reached into my bag and popped a few Excedrin into my mouth, flushing them down with the cup of water I had beside me. "Of course I will be," I answered with a smile, hiding the pain I was actually feeling.

Dad stepped to the front of the room and started going over the highs and lows of the first half, as I sat there still in pain. I again went to my bag to put down another Excedrin, then continued to watch as Dad went over his adjustments for the second half. Once he finished, a manager came in to say how much time we had left and we all got up at once and made our way out of the locker-room.

"Woy takes the snap from the gun...it's going to be an option with Watson...fakes the pitch and there's running room! He's to the 50, the 40, the 30, 20, 10...touchdown Warriors! A big play to start off the third quarter as Everett takes back the lead after a 67-yard touchdown run by Sean Joseph Woy!"

It was much easier to do my thing when the pain was out of my thoughts. After getting congratulated on the sidelines, I watched as our defense stood their ground on a fourth-down play, giving us the ball back with the lead still intact and momentum on our side. A few running plays with John moved it to mid-field, then I hit Thomas Jackson on a deep dig route for 25 yards, getting the best protection I've gotten all night. One more pass play moved it inside the 10, then I gave it to John again and he punched it in, giving us a two-score lead.

Quickly moving to the fourth quarter, Bellwood scored with about four minutes left, cutting it back to a one-score game. Opting to kick it deep and trust their defense, I made them pay with some precise passes to Mike and Thomas, as well as some QB keepers in the option game. With just a minute and 46 seconds left and the Blue Devils out of timeouts, we faced a fourth and four from the 33 yard line and decided to go for the kill.

"Woy drops back to pass...the rush is coming, but he somehow avoids it and has green grass ahead of him! He's going to walk in untouched and lead Everett to their first win this season!"

I tossed the ball back to the referee and immediately had a teammate jump on top of me in celebration. A shot of discomfort raced through my body, but I shook it off and slowly trotted back to the sideline where I watched the clock run out just a minute later.

...

"One more and it'll be gone," I told myself, throwing another pill into my mouth and washing it down with water. A knocking at the door shifted my attention from the battle scars of tonight's game to the visitor I was getting tonight.

I opened the door and standing before me was my beautiful girlfriend, dressed in my sweats while greeting me with a smile. My father once told me that a rapper back in his day said something on the lines of "sweat pants, hair tied, chillin' with no make-up on, that's when you're the prettiest, I hope you don't take it wrong" and whoever that may be, they were exactly right. And she didn't take it wrong when I told her.

"How was the game?" she asked me, positioning herself so she could rest her head on my chest.

"We won by two TDs and I accounted for all of them," I bragged slightly, hoping the pain wasn't noticeable in my voice. The medicine didn't kick in yet so I was still trying to hide how I was feeling, so she wouldn't get worried at all about it.

"Sounds like my boy was amazing like always," she said, curling up even closer to me. I looked into her eyes and gave her a kiss, then flicked through channels on TV. I finally got to the local news and they were talking about tonight's games, which sparked my attention.

As they talked about Tussey Mountain's win over Glendale, I finally felt the pain leaving my body. But once it left, I blacked out and didn't feel anything for a good 15 seconds before waking up to see a worried Haley in front of me.

"Wha...what happened?" I asked her, with the pain leaving my system but dizziness replacing it.

"You fainted," she answered, before handing me a glass of water. "Here, drink this."

I took her orders and finished the glass quickly as I tried to figure out if the Excedrin was the reason for fainting.

"Do you want me to call your dad or something?"

I shrugged her suggestion off. "Nah, I'll be fine. I'm just going to head to bed."

"Alright, I'll join you."

I gave her a confused look, but she knew exactly what I was thinking and shook it off.

"You're not getting any. I'm just staying so nothing bad happens again."

"Fair enough," I sighed, before turning off the TV and slowly walking back to the bedroom.

[trojan49er]

lil-e pulled a brett favre...threw a td pass even tho he didnt even know what was goin on...either that or this will lad him down a path of drug and alcohol abuse to numb the pain. Especially once E breaks the news that "mom" killed SJs actual mother...the truth will come out eventually

[Woy]

---

Chapter 35: Addiction
September 7-21, 2026

---

"Why everything that's supposed to be bad make me feel so good?"

The words from another older artist, Kanye West, rang through my headphones as I walked downstairs to the locker room for practice. I was feeling slightly better since the beating I took on Friday, but what was helping was the Excedrin I started to take consistently.

I never would take enough to faint again, but I did become dizzy at times and when that happened I'd take myself out of practice. Coaches were worried but I kept assuring them that nothing was wrong. I knew the after-effects of taking one too many now, but I was building up an addiction towards them so it was tough to just quit.

...

"Woy looks to pass...finds his receiver Kennedy in the back of the end zone! Touchdown Everett and they'll expand their lead to five scores over the hapless Forbes Road Cardinals!"

...

"Woy drops back, but it's a designed QB draw. He makes one tackler miss, gets a great block from his tight end and has a lot of room in front of him! He's to the 40, the 50, the 40, the 30, no one's going to catch the junior star quarterback! Touchdown Warriors!"

...

However, we were still winning, which helped things out a lot. The addiction wasn't affecting my play on the field; mainly because I wasn't shoving pills down my throat every other drive. Not to mention, I wasn't taking any beatings like what Bellwood did to me, which made the pills useless for the most part. Still, when Haley was over at my house one day, I decided to not take any and that ended badly.

...

"Are you feeling any better?" Haley worryingly asked, holding my hand as I looked up at the ceiling. I looked at her and nodded my head, then put my hand over my mouth and looked down at the garbage can below me. Today's lunch came back out and landed into the waste basket, which brought a sigh from Haley. "I guess not."

"You don't have to do this Haley," I insisted, cursing at myself silently for not taking any Excedrin today. "I can take care of myself and you can go hang out with your friends or something."

"I want to stay here with you, whether you're sick or not," she said, giving me a kiss on the cheek before finding an open spot on the couch to sit. I weakly smiled and sighed to myself, kinda hoping she would leave so I could take a pill or two and satisfy my cravings.

With school in the morning, she left around around ten that night. I decided to push the limits and ignore my cravings again, falling asleep on the couch just minutes after Dad came home from a "friend's" house.

...

"Lunch again?" Miss Wilt asked the focused coach, as she left herself into his office. Ethan looked up and smiled, then pulled out a chair and put his computer on sleep mode.

"Why thank you," he replied, taking a bite of the spaghetti she brought him. "How's your kids treating ya today?"

"Pretty good," she answered. "I didn't see your son in class though...does he think he can skip?"

"Nah, he was sick last night and I let him stay home. He's supposed to come in a little later though so he can practice today."

"Oh I see. Was he specific with it? Like did he say it was a headache?"

"Not really...I did see he puked a few times though."

"Concussion?" she asked out loud, then shook her head as a sign of apologizing. "Sorry for asking so many questions...I'm just worried. My one student in a night class I teach at ACM did a really good report on concussions in football and it really opened my eyes."

"Maybe so, although he wasn't complaining about headaches to me."

"You should try and get him to the doctor's as a precaution," she suggested. "If it's nothing, then that's alright. But you don't want to take a chance on him playing through something serious."

"Good point," he agreed. "Think you can take a sick day tomorrow?"

"Why's that?"

"Because you suggested it, I'd want you to come with us."

She smiled and nodded her head, before walking out of the room as the bell rang. Ethan returned the smile, then looked at the picture of Melyssa and him on the front of his desk and sighed.

"We'll see if it works out," he thought to himself, finally taking his eyes off the picture and onto the computer, where he'd go right back to work in preparation for this Friday's game against Central.

[trojan49er]

Baby Woys definitely a little concussed, still whoopin ass on the field tho

[Woy]

---

Chapter 36: Consequences
September 22-23, 2026

---

"Geez, cutting it close on time, aren't we?" my dad asked as I walked into his office. The clock read 1:29 and if I would have came in two minutes later, I wouldn't be eligible to practice today.

"Sorry Dad, I was still throwing up just ten minutes ago," I replied, still feeling my stomach tossing and turning with every step I took. Pill-free again today so far, I made sure to put the bottle in my bag in case things got bad between now and the end of practice because I didn't want to see what I ate for lunch.

"Does your head hurt at all?" he asked, in which I answered with a horizontal shake of the head. He shifted his eyes from me to his computer and after a few clicks from the mouse, he spoke up. "I'm taking you to the doctor tomorrow."

"Why?" I was worried he found out about my dependency on Excedrin, but was relieved when that wasn't the case.

"Just making sure you don't have a concussion," he replied. "Some of the symptoms are there and I know the beatings you've been taking. If you don't have anything, then that's good...I just want to be sure, you know?"

"Yeah I agree. Plus it gets me out of more school, which is always a good thing." I chuckled at the end of my last comment as Dad shook his head, pointing to the door to let me know that I needed to get to class.

...

"You ready?" I asked Dad while sitting in the living room flipping through channels. A knock at the door startled me, as I wasn't expecting a visitor during the middle of a school day. I got up from the couch and slowly walked over towards the door, looking out the peep-hole to an unexpected surprise. Usually the unexpected surprise I'd want to see is someone like Kelly Kardashian in front of me, not one of my...

"I'll get it!" Dad yelled, running towards the door. I shook my head and turned the knob, revealing before us my English teacher, Miss Wilt.

"Aren't you supposed to be at school?" I quickly asked before I was pushed away by Dad. Again shaking my head, I walked back to the couch and caught the rest of Sportscenter.

"You didn't tell him?" she asked, which she got a shake of the head by the elder Woy in response. She sighed and then whispered to him, "well you're going to have to tell him soon."

"I will, I will," he vowed, before giving her a quick kiss. She smiled and they both turned around to see me looking right at them. Dad started to blush a little and stammered to say, "well son..."

"I'm not stupid," I interrupted. "Though I do carry my lowest grade in Miss Wilt's class, I know what's going on and it's fine by me."

"You best be bringing that grade up, boy," my Dad sarcastically scolded before all three of us walked out to the car to go to the doctor's office.

...

"Surprised to see you in here, Mr. Woy," the doctor greeted me with those words and a shake of the hand. My dad and Miss Wilt walked in shortly after, which seemed to shock him just a tad, but he greeted them also with just a wave. "Not getting enough blocking up front on Friday nights?"

Dad and I chuckled, before I got straight to the point. "Dad wants you to run a concussion test on me. I'm not really getting headaches at all, but I am throwing up a lot." However, I knew the real reason for this, but there was no way in hell I was bringing that up at this time.

"Well we'll run a CT scan and see what exactly is going on."

After going through the concussion tests and scan, he determined that I didn't have a concussion. The only explanations he had for the throwing up was possibly a stomach virus, but once again, only I knew the truth behind that.

"Alright you're free to go, Sean Joseph. How about a few more touchdown passes this Friday against Central?"

"Will do sir," I promised, shaking his hand once last time before leaving.

Before going outside, I stopped in the restroom to piss. While washing my hands, I suddenly got really dizzy and blacked out, falling to the tiled floor below. Seconds later though, I opened my eyes and slowly picked myself up, feeling dizzy as my 6'1" frame finally stood vertically again. I leaned over to the sink and threw some water in my face, wiping it off with a paper towel before slowly walking out to the car.

Was my Excedrin abuse going to produce more of these blackouts or would they stop eventually? If I stopped taking them, would I continue to puke my guts out every other hour or would I feel fine again? I didn't know what to do about the whole situation, but I was hating the possible consequences of both choice A and choice B.

[Woy]

---

Chapter 37: Dealing With Stress
September 25, 2026

---

With all the stress in my life, from football to my drug problem, I felt like I needed to rid myself of one of those worries. So the day after my concussion test, I told Haley that I wanted to come over and do something I should have done a long time ago.

...

"Are you sure you want to this?" Haley asked one last time, her smile stretched from ear to ear. I was going to tell her father that we were dating - which he technically did know about before - even though I was scared as hell about the reaction I'd get. I believed I was on his good side, don't get me wrong, but he would mention Haley's ex-boyfriend Ryan every now and then, which worried me a lot.

"Yes," I assured her, giving her a kiss on the lips before opening the door to her house. The living room was dimly lit, as Haley's father sat in his wheelchair watching TV. We passed through the kitchen, flashing a quick smile and wave when I made eye-contact with Haley's mother. Once we got to the living room, I looked at the TV and saw some football highlights playing. "Whatcha watching Mr. Shaffer?" I looked down and asked him.

"Just some highlights from the Pitt win last weekend," he said, smiling as he pointed at the 35-7 score. "You a Pitt fan, Sean?"

I shot Haley a "you didn't tell me this" look and she returned that with a confused expression on her face. I sighed and looked back at Haley's father. "Not really, since my dad graduated from Syracuse."

"Oh yeah, Ethan, right?" he asked in which he got a nod of the head as an answer. "I remember him when I was at Pitt...he'd always go off for a big game and rub it in our faces. Great, great player, but very cocky."

"Yeah, he had himself a mighty fine NFL career as well," I slightly bragged and he agreed with a head nod of his own.

"Oh definitely. Believe me, he was a perennial Colts killer for many years," he scoffed, before changing the channel.

"He's a Colts fan too?" I disgustingly said in my head, before bringing myself back to what I wanted to tell him. "Anyways I wanted to tell you something," I started to say before he interrupted me.

"I saw that Ryan's red-shirting this year at Arizona, Haley." As he said that, I sat there in shock as the negative signs started to line up; the team choices, another comment about Haley's ex...it was seeming more and more that I wasn't going to be good enough for him. I snapped myself out of it though when he got back on-topic. "What were you saying, Sean?"

"I...I'm..." I was stuttering, trying to find the words to say before I was interrupted once again.

"We're dating, dad," Haley plainly revealed. A smile crept upon her face when the last word left her mouth, as we both turned to her father to see his expression.

He looked down for a few seconds, like he was thinking about something, then brought his head back up with a blank expression. A few more seconds passed and I started to get worried, but a simple smirk was all I needed to relieve my stress. "I guess I'll have to root for someone on Everett now," he chuckled, as Haley and I joined in on the laughter.

...

"Woy is in the gun and takes the snap...looks to his left, pumpfakes and gets the corner to bite! His receiver is wide open down the sidelines! The pass is thrown perfectly and it's going to be caught for an Everett touchdown!"

I jogged off to the sidelines to the sound of cheers, getting pats on the back from my teammates when I finally reached the water cooler. I looked into the crowd and saw Haley and her father and gave a slight wave and smile, happy they could make it since Tussey Mountain didn't play till the day after.

After chatting with Mike on the sidelines, we were summoned back on the field following an interception by our defense. I picked apart the Scarlet Dragons defense, with quick precision passes and ended the drive with another touchdown pass, expanding our lead to three touchdowns.

With just one minute left in the first half, I faced a third and 10 from our own 45-yard line. Instead of running it to kill the clock, I called a pass play in the huddle and tried to get another touchdown to pad our lead. Dropping back and seeing no one open, I found a crease to run through and did just that, picking up some fine blocks from my receivers en route to another touchdown.

As I jogged off to the roar of the crowd once again, I had to stop mid-way because of a pain in my stomach. I tried to hold in it until I got to the sidelines, but that was a failure when I leaned over and threw up on the 24-yard line. The trainers quickly ran onto the field to see what was wrong, but I pushed them away, saying it wasn't anything bad.

"What's wrong?" Dad asked as I finally got to the sidelines.

"Stomach ache," I lied, once again knowing the real reason because I didn't take any pills before the game today.

"Well go ahead and take a seat on the bench," he replied, patting me on the back. "You don't need to be in anymore with a lead like this...I think we'll be fine."

I shrugged my shoulders and did what he told me, pulling a garbage can in front of me as I sat down on the bench. Puking once more before halftime, I walked with the trainers behind the rest of the team back to the locker-room, where I would change into an Everett football hooded sweatshirt and jeans for the rest of the game.

Popping a pill into my mouth after the team walked out for the second half, I made the decision right there to stop fighting my cravings and cave in; praying nothing bad would happen.

[trojan49er]

something something dark side something something complete

[Woy]

Glad to see someone's still keeping up with this on VSN.

Update shortly.