Jake had managed to get on the team by the skin of his teeth. The other top player had to take a year out due to a serious injury which meant he had to be in and out of hospital for over a year. A condition that sadly snatched his dream of being part of the team away from him, and landed it in Jake’s position.
For Jake it was a dream come true. Yeah sure of course he wanted to be part of the rugby team, but he would have to really put in a lot more effort than he had been. He didn’t want to make it out as though he may have been a bad backup choice for the team and to bring down the team. Especially as the last season the team had finished the highest up in the local league with all of the other local high school teams in over 10 years. Sure it wasn’t finishing first, but it was a massive achievement. And part of that responsibility was resting on his shoulders now.
That and to keep up with his academic subjects. He wasn’t great at them at all, but he still had to do as much as possible just to pass them and stay in the school so he could be part of the school. Luckily he was in the lowest set for each of the academic subjects where things were manageable for him. Even if he was only just managing to scrape pass levels on practice exam papers.
Friday afternoon was one of the biggest games of the season so far. Jake had been training harder than ever before in order to try and gain some much needed strength. Training following the coach’s game plan. He had seen how the other team played. They played incredibly well, following multiple different tactics, changing them up in-game to keep everyone on their toes. It was going to be hard.
In the last few seconds they managed to almost level out the score, narrowly escaping with a loss. If only there were 10 more minutes in the game they could have possibly had changed the outcome of the game towards their favour. Defeated, the team traipsed their way towards the locker rooms.
Jake found himself finding food at his favourite fast food burger place on the way home. A small local place, but good enough that helped lift his spirits a little. Large enough for some seats so he didn’t have to try and take the whole item home. He stared out of the window while he waited for his order to be cooked. He could see a bunch of lads hanging around the outside of the shop, a few steps away as to not be complained at too much by the staff working in the joint.
The lads were exhaling large clouds after inhaling from their small boxes. Something that seemed to intrigue Jake. Even more so lately. The lads always seemed to be so calm, so stress free. Something that as the pressure mounted on Jake, he felt like he wanted a taste of. It couldn’t be that bad could it, surely, even though he was doing everything right to be on track and do the best that he could.
By the time he ate and was ready to leave, it was dark outside. Almost pitch black. Leaving the place the smell of the vapour in the air hit Jake. The smells of various things, things he craved sometimes like sugary sweets but couldn’t due to his strict training regieme. It was as though this day just wanted to continue pushing the boundaries on what he would and wouldn’t do.
On the Saturday was practice again. The whole team was obliged to put in even more effort after suffering defeat, even though everyone was tired and their spirits had not quite recovered after expecting to do better than they had. It was the quietest practice in a long time as everyone just wanted it over and done with.
Jake still had thoughts rolling around in his head of the lads from last night. Something stuck in his head. Finally able to leave, he was glad to be on a quiet bus taking the hour journey back to his home. At one of the stops, a shop stook out to him. A not too prominent and not so dodgy looking vape shop. He decided to get off the stop and at least have a look. What’s the harm? The next bus wouldn’t be too far behind to just have a peaceful look into the shop.
Nervously he entered the small shop. He was quite happy to find it was completely empty and nobody who would recognise him. He felt almost dirty being in such a shop. The shop assistant had lit up from the book that he was reading and wondered over the nervous jock and began to ask what he was interested in,
“Err, I’m completely new to this” Jake admitted.
The shop assistant immediately started walking through things, picking up a box from behind the till and screwing on some kind of a top after being asked what flavours he’d like the most. Being passed the box, or “mod” as the assistant called it, he squeezed the button and inhaled his first bunch of vapour with a small amount of nicotine and felt it hit before blowing out a large cloud. His mind relaxed slightly at the feeling. It felt good. Relaxing even. He even felt a slight dizzyness which he wasn’t quite expecting, although this quickly fizzled out into nothing.
Trying to pull himself together to feel more professional, he took a few more drags until he was happy. But if he liked it this much he would have to buy some of his own equipment surely? Following the assistant’s directions, he managed to find a mod which was reasonably small but powerful enough to keep him going. Leaving the shop with a small amount of confidence and looking around to hope that nobody would recognise him, he quickly walked away back towards the bus stop to take him home.
Once leaving the bus, there was a short walk back to his house. He decided to take out his mod, take a deep drag and he blew out a vapour cloud that didn’t seem to end. He couldn’t even see clearly for a second. A feeling of relaxation flowed through his body as he put it away in his pocket. He realised he now had a device he really shouldn’t have and was using nicotine. Fair enough he took the sensible option of going for the smallest amount available. If anything it was probably his first independent idea for a long time that he actually acted upon.
He carefully hid it away to enter his house and continue with his usual routine of trying to stuff as much protein into his body as possible. After all, that’s what the coach wants out of him. Today thinking of that just made his head hurt. Everything in his life was about a small single goal, everything for coach, everything for the team.
By the time Monday’s training came around, Jake nervously disappeared off his normal route to the changing rooms to get changed, yet again for practice. He felt a need to vape, it would put him in the mood at the very least. After taking a drag, he was happy with the response being correct.
That practice felt good. The determination was back at least, he wanted to win, wanted to do better than last time. Next game they would win. And someday with a rematch, they were for sure going to win. At least that’s how everything felt in the moment.
A week later and Jake had to visit the shop again. This time it was on the way home, and luckily he was able to be one of the last customers of the day dropping in 20 minutes before the end of the working day for the store. Already, he had managed to run out of the small bottle of juice he had bought the week before. Already he had become more comfortable taking the odd break to calm down, and relax, and gain his focus.
This time a lot more relaxed and comfortable in the shop, almost as though he had been vaping for many years he tried out a few more flavours. Some of them with packaging which reminded you of that big brand donut shop, or some frappa-whatever coffee trendy drink you see in the fancy coffee shops. Trying a couple of the fancy ones were a little too sweet, and maybe pushing their luck with trying to taste familiar. Instead, Jake settled on a simple apple flavoured liquid. This time a larger bottle, as he didn’t particularly want to come back here every week and get that addicted to the stuff.
After leaving the shop, he filled up his tank with the new liquid and took a drag. He guessed the nicotine content and went with a 6. 6mg sounded about right though, not too much. He was wrong. It made him feel a little dizzy, a little knocked back by the strength of it. But it was comforting and nice. Without thinking too much, he managed to make it back home.
At his practice, some of his team mates were getting slightly worried about Jake. They wondered why he would disappear before turning up in the changing rooms. A rumor started floating around, started at first unusually by one of the lesser known kids who most people knew as just a nerd who played piano all of the time. Sure he was good at it, but did he also have to be so up tight and good at pretty much anything that needing thinking. He said he saw Jake at the back of the music department’s building smoking.
Nobody really believed him at first, but hearing the rumor back around started to worry Jake. Especially as he was needing a break during the day now as well. Timing it between the usual smokers and himself so nobody really saw him.
It wasn’t long before the usual “smokers” turned up while he clearly wasn’t finished. Trying not to make it so obvious, he tried to conceal his small tank. The leader of the pack didn’t seem overly bothered about seeing Jake here. He was a little bothered over having a football jock, until he smelt a vapor that clearly stood out.
“Apple, not bad Jake. Bit basic, but eh, it’s not the cheap 99p shit. Wouldn’t have thought you’d be one of us like”, Mason the leader spoke.
Mason spotted the tank and commented on saying it was a bit weak, but not bad. After Jake built the confidence to vape with them, Mason commented saying he could do with a bigger and stronger tank and that he could give him a hand with picking a decent one if he wanted. The group didn’t seem overly bothered with anything, so long as it allowed them a bit of peace and nobody would try getting them in trouble as they weren’t “off campus” or something like that.
The coach found out a few days later. Someone ratted him out, watching from afar as they’d had enough of one of the team seemingly on the brink of collapse. During the day’s practice, Jake had a small meltdown after being told what to do and being shouted at. Things hadn’t stacked well, he hadn’t had time for a break all day, and the tension and need built up.
Coach laid out it out for him. He knew it wasn’t the best of situations, and didn’t go too harsh on him. His dream of being on the rugby team happened and he was there. It just was too much for him to handle, and the training and the constant path of things he had to do in order to stay there may have just been too much for him.
Given a path of two options, he didn’t know which to take. Either drop the nicotine cold and stay on the team or he would have to drop the team.