American Football: King of the Bay Area

The young Little Flea jumped up and down on the spot, gesticulating wildly, his face alight with excitement. His whole body radiated exhilaration and joy, his voice nearly uncontrollable. ”Lu Ke, oh my God, why are you at our school? Oh my god, oh my god, oh my god!”

Without waiting for Lu Ke to respond, he started roaring, ”WHOA! WHOA!” His clenched fists and tense muscles clearly displayed his exhilaration. Words failed him; all he could do was cheer and shout nonstop, venting his overwhelming excitement.

As the center of attention, Lu Ke was actually a bit taken aback. ’I’ve never encountered a situation like this before.’

Sure, the school had been abuzz for a while after the victory against the University of Southern California, but that happened to be during final exams. The excitement only lasted a few days before dying down. Strictly speaking, Lu Ke’s professional career had just begun. He had very little fame or recognition; even his face wasn’t widely recognized yet.

All of a sudden, a rabid fan seemed to have appeared out of nowhere. Caught off guard, Lu Ke was momentarily stunned. Then, looking at the excitedly babbling Little Flea, he found the situation more comical than touching. He couldn’t help but smile.

”Sam? What are you talking about? I don’t understand a word you’re saying.” Someone nearby finally couldn’t take it anymore. He reached out and held Little Flea firmly by the shoulders, asking with a bewildered expression, ”What’s wrong with you? Calm down, calm down, take a deep breath. What on earth is going on?”

”QB! QB!” Little Flea shouted, pointing repeatedly at Lu Ke.

”Quarterback!” It wasn’t just one person who answered; four or five of them spoke in unison. Little Flea’s over-the-top reaction had quietly drawn everyone’s attention, and even Mark glanced over in confusion.

Little Flea nodded vigorously and repeated, ”*The* quarterback.” All he did was add an article, and a meaningless one at that—there were far too many quarterbacks in the Alliance, college, high school, and their own lives.

Suddenly, it dawned on one of them. ”Ah! Sam, are you talking about the 49ers’ quarterback?” Little Flea leaped into the air, nodding furiously. The others were still confused, so the guy who figured it out explained for him, ”The quarterback we’ve been talking about for the last two days!”

”Oh. The quarterback who beat the Sea Eagle Team and the Cowboys?” Realization dawned on the group. It seemed the recently concluded second week of the regular season was still one of the hottest topics in San Francisco. One of them shouted, ”But isn’t that quarterback of Chinese Descent? And he looks incredibly skinny…”

His words were cut short as everyone turned their heads and saw Lu Ke standing right in front of them.

”Hey, he really is of Chinese Descent, and he does look like that quarterback from the ESPN broadcast… Jesus Christ!” The exclamation died in his throat. One by one, their faces began to contort in utter shock, jaws dropping so wide they seemed about to dislocate, and their bulging eyes looked ready to pop out.

Mark, who was standing at the very front, instantly panicked.

Over two-thirds of his friends were frozen in a state of shock, and the other third were distractedly whispering to each other, trying to figure out what was happening. ’We came here to pick a fight,’ Mark thought, ’but now the situation looks really bad.’

”Hey, hey! Guys! What’s wrong?” Mark turned around frantically, trying to snap his friends out of their daze. But before he could, a figure hurried over, took him by the arm, and cooed in a sickly sweet voice, ”Mark, let’s go dance. I’ve been looking forward to it all night!”

It was Jenny.

Mark was too flustered to even hug her or explain the situation. He then saw two people following close behind her and his expression immediately turned serious. He straightened his back, puffing out his chest like a gallant protector, trying to look intimidating as he faced the newcomers.

”Julia?” Lu Ke leaned down, getting close to her ear, and whispered, ”I don’t think this is going to be over anytime soon. How about we get out of here?”

Julia noticed the helpless look in Lu Ke’s eyes and couldn’t help but smile. She deliberately leaned close to his ear and whispered back, ”What, you don’t want to watch the drama? That’s our school’s quarterback, Francis, Jenny’s boyfriend. The two of them fought before homecoming. Apparently, one of Jenny’s cheerleader friends was getting a little too friendly with him, so Jenny chose Mark as her date…”

As she was speaking, Julia noticed Lu Ke roll his eyes. She couldn’t finish her sentence and started to giggle instead.

Lu Ke shrugged. He didn’t need to ask or dig any deeper to figure out the gist of the story. ’Just some cheesy high school drama,’ he thought. He had absolutely no interest. ”Since when are you such a gossip?”

Julia didn’t reply, just smiled with pressed lips, a mischievous glint in her eyes.

Lu Ke understood at once. Julia wasn’t interested in the drama; she was deliberately staying to make him squirm. ”Ha! Ha!” Lu Ke let out a dry laugh. ”My dear lady, don’t forget I’m just here doing you a favor tonight. Are you really going to mess with me? In that case, I’m leaving now.”

”Sorry, sorry.” Julia grabbed Lu Ke’s arm. ”Let’s go now. I guess their little soap opera needs a bit more time to play out.”

Just then, Jenny puffed out her chest, her voice rising. ”Francis, why are you still pestering me? Don’t you have a new date? I’m about to go dance with Mark, so please stop bothering me, okay?”

Looking at her ”ex”-boyfriend, Jenny struck a defiant, showy pose, determined to make him regret it. Mark was her source of confidence. ’He’s handsome, well-built, and I heard his grades are pretty good too—otherwise, why would a good student like Julia have picked him as her date?’

She glanced provocatively at Francis-Bailey, a look of contempt in her eyes, ready to savor his humiliation. But Jenny was disappointed. Francis just looked confused. ”This is the only way to the dance floor. I’m not bothering you. Why do I get the feeling you’re deliberately putting on a show for my benefit?”

Francis was tall and muscular, the very picture of an athlete, but he was also sharp-witted. He easily saw through Jenny’s ploy—not that there was much of a strategy to it in the first place.

Francis shook his head, speechless. He was about to walk around the crowd when Jenny’s sharp voice cried out from behind him, ”Francis! You stop right there!”

Francis stopped reflexively, but not because of Jenny. It was because of the two ”bystanders” to the side. His surprise was impossible to hide. His eyes widened, and he strode forward. ”Lu Ke! You’re Lu Ke, right? Oh my God! You really are Lu Ke!”

During games, players have to wear protective helmets at all times, so TV audiences rarely get a good look at their faces, especially rookies. But as the season progresses and fans start to connect names with faces and on-field performances, a player’s fame naturally grows.

At first, it was just a casual glance, and Francis had only called out by reflex, not entirely sure. But after taking a step forward, the handsome face and bright eyes overlapped with the image in his mind, completing the picture of the ”undrafted rookie quarterback.” A wave of emotion instantly washed over him.

Jenny blinked. The situation was changing so fast she could barely keep up. ”Who is he?” ’Isn’t he just a nobody? He even looks like a bookworm, the kind who hides in the library and studies all day.’

”Lu Ke! The quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers! He’s an undrafted rookie who’s already won two games and thrown for eight touchdowns! And he’s the first Chinese-American quarterback in Alliance history!” Francis rattled off the stats as if he knew them by heart. Ignoring Jenny, he looked at Lu Ke. ”God, you’re incredible! That last game, ’The Pass’ at the very end… damn! It was absolutely brilliant.”

Jenny blinked, frozen to the spot. She was completely dumbfounded, unable to believe her ears. ’That bookworm is actually the 49ers’ starting quarterback?’

This made Jenny panic a little. She hurriedly tugged on Mark’s sleeve. ”Mark, tell me Francis is lying! He’s doing this on purpose, right? He’s just trying to humiliate me, isn’t he?”

But Jenny got no reply. She looked up and saw Mark’s mind had completely short-circuited. His mouth hung slightly open, as if his jaw had become unhinged and he couldn’t snap it shut.

Then, Jenny and Mark got their definitive answer—

”Lu Ke, your last game was incredible!” Little Flea was the first to shout. He’d finally snapped out of his stupor and rushed forward, gripping Lu Ke’s hands tightly. ”Can I please get your autograph? And, and a picture! I really, really love your playing style! It’s so tough, and so smart! God, you’re amazing!”

Francis nodded in vigorous agreement with Little Flea. ”Exactly! In both games, there were several drives where the play-calling was just brilliant!”

Then, the rest of the guys who had been standing behind Mark all swarmed forward, crowding around Lu Ke and Julia. They surrounded them so completely, three layers deep, that it became a small, impromptu meet-and-greet.

Students just entering the gym immediately noticed the large, beehive-like cluster of people, as well as the dumbfounded and bewildered Jenny and Mark standing off to the side. ”Hey, man, what’s going on? Why’s everyone gathered over there? Is there some kind of event?”

Jenny was trembling with rage. She shot Mark a furious glare, but he still hadn’t snapped out of it. This pushed her anger to its peak. She snapped at the innocent bystander, ”How should I know!” With that, she ignored Mark completely, turned on her heel, and strode away, refusing to suffer any more humiliation.

In what felt like only a moment, an explosive, sensational rumor started spreading through the homecoming dance: Lu Ke, the starting quarterback for the San Francisco 49ers, was here!