"I stand to announce today that George Wenton has been stripped of this team's captaincy due on the grounds of inconsistency in quality performances. We would now have Logan Michael as the new captain of the Sporting Stars Academy FC." The cheers and claps from the crowd of colleagues and spectators makes Wenton want to drop to the floor. He has sacrificed his best to the club for many years now just for him to be thrown out like this and it didn't only end there, it had to be a public ceremony, that's the main part he can't really endure.
He had started his budding football career as an Academy player, after some years of training, he graduated and became one of the star players of the pioneer youth club of the Academy who feature in youth's football games in England. He was made the captain and he did quite well, always scoring goals and showcasing his talent to the world with the hope that one day he would be noticed by a big-time club. He also hoped to remain as the captain of the team till he is done with his final exams which will be a football test match where foreign scouts from Europe would come to pick those that performed well in the match, one of those countries that will be represented by the scouts is Spain, the country he dreams to play at for his career as an international footballer.
As this stripping comes his way, he just loses hope of everything, it's just like he had lost everything because he might not even be allowed to feature in the match, he has gotten a bad reputation now. Only players with a good reputation would be recommended by the coach to feature in the match.
Everything seems to be lost at this moment. Players like him who end up getting bad reputations because of one issue or the other only get to graduate from the Academy and left to fight their way through life, a good percent always fail to achieve the goals they planned out for their lives while the rest always win by chance. Those who perform well and have the backup of the coach and other members of the club always soar high. Recommendation is everything, added to the physical performance of a player.
Even before the ceremony ends, he leaves the stadium with five of his teammates who are close friends of his and hate to see him humiliated, they believe he doesn't deserve what just happened. They leave their local stadium with him, get into his car which was a birthday gift from his dad at the age of seventeen and leave. He has no place to go in his mind, but as long as he is out of the stadium, he would be well. That's what he promises himself, he can't cope with the humiliation that is going on there. He had barely driven when an idea came to mind, he should visit his girlfriend, that's the only asset he has now, everything has been taken away from him and he doesn't think that depression would go away quickly.
"I'll go to my girlfriend and tell her what has happened, I hope she is going to console me and give me some comfort. That's the only thing I need right now, I want someone to tell me that everything will be alright, my family don't really support me in this, they aren't really the football loving family. I'll go to her. " He says to himself.
He gathers speed and drives on, then he diverts into the lane that leads to Brienne’s house. Since she just completed her high school at the Preston High School, she had left home and decided to rent an apartment where she lives and goes off for her job everyday. Her house is not so far away from his, just some meters away, three roads to reach it. Unlike her, he lives with family.
He arrives and it's that time of the day she is at home. He stops the car right in front of her apartment and gets off. He knocks at the door and Brienne readily opens. Seeing that it's him, she jumps and hangs on his neck, so delighted to see him visit. Each time he came, Brienne has always did this, she feels so happy around him and has really encouraged him, hoping to see him become a star player one day, all these made him believe that she really loves him and would make a good partner.
"So how are you doing, are you just back from training?" She knows well that Saturdays is their main training day, she looks and sees five of his teammates whom he always love to come visiting with after training from where he would then progress to drop them one after the other in their respective houses.
Upon hearing this, Wenton's countenance changes. He didn't really want to put this expression up but he can't cheat nature, a frown lights up on his face, he releases his girlfriend, trails his fingers through his hair in frustration.
"What's wrong?" Brienne asks, the smile on her face quickly disappears into a worried look, she places her hand over his shoulders from the stairs she is standing with tender concern reflected in her eyes, from the way she is looking at him. Tears start to stream from his eyes, he takes his hand, wipes them off, sniffs and then looks up to her.
"I didn't mean to bring you any bad news but I've just been stripped of my captaincy, I don't hope to play in the final matches where the scouts are coming to select players again. I don't know what to do, I think I've just lost everything I've worked so hard for, left with only you to console me. " Before he even finished, Brienne had started withdrawing her hand from him and stepping back, with a wide gasp on her face, hate in her eyes.
He didn't notice this, but his friends first did. Although they were shocked, they couldn't say anything. Wenton opens his eyes from the tears he had been shedding to see that his girlfriend had created a space between them. He wants to ask why she did this, but she didn't even let him open his mouth to say a word.
"Go away, you loser. What do you expect me to do with you now, what would I gain from you." Like a spell broke, his mind opens to the deep secret that has been hidden from him for years.
