Team Player (Patreon)

A special July 4th story for all patrons! Happy Independence Day!

You didn't necessarily consider yourself un-American but you could certainly see the flaws in your supposedly great country and didn't quite hold it up to the same standard as your fellow college students or even your own family. Somehow simply by expressing your (admittedly somewhat liberal) opinions had made you the black sheep of the family but what was to be expected when your two cousins were a marine and a world-class baseball player? 

Even at nineteen you knew you were never going to achieve the same success as them. You wanted to be an author after all and your family had made it quite clear to you that it would never be a fruitful career.

The suggestions came for you to pick up a sport and try your hand at that but you only laughed off those suggestions. You had once been on your junior high baseball team before your cousin had outshone you and you'd failed to make the football team in both your freshman and sophomore years. After that you'd given up on any hopes of being a star athlete and in doing so strained your relationship with your sport-orientated father.

At high school you had easily fallen in with the 'hipster' crowd, more obsessed with your coffee orders than the performance of your school's sports teams and you knew that deep down your father resented that. Although he'd never admit it you knew that he had hoped you would turn out more like your cousin, a household name for every baseball family. Instead he acted like you were destined to be homeless by the time you were twenty-five and the money he was paying for college would be entirely wasted, even if you were on a partial-scholarship.

After receiving an online invite - e-vite? - from your famous cousin to his annual July 4th party you merely rolled your eyes. You'd been to the party the previous year and it had been horrific, full of drunk dudebros who had chanted "USA! USA!" long into the night, not caring for a moment just how ridiculous they looked and sounded. They were everything you hated about your country and the ridiculous stereotypes that it fostered. In fact in many ways you considered yourself to be better than them.

Despite having no intentions to attend the stupid party, you somewhat reluctantly found yourself on a train to your cousin's manor house mentally preparing yourself for an onslaught of dumb jocks who thought their country was the greatest nation in the world. It had been your mother than convinced you to attend, all but emotionally blackmailing you with several texts that read along the lines of "I was really hoping to see you there! You know your father and I miss you so much!"

You'd barely been at the party two minutes before one of your cousin's teammates thrust a beer into your hands and urged you to drink up. "You need to loosen up, bud! Down this and then come find me, yeah?" he encouraged, grinning at you before clapping you on the back with more force than you were expecting.

The beer tasted much nicer than you expected to. In fact once you'd tasted the first sip you couldn't help but want more and more until the whole thing was gone in all but thirty seconds. You felt suddenly refreshed and in desperate need to celebrate. It was a great day, after all!

In the minutes that followed you could tell something was happening to you but had absolutely no idea what, even as you scratched at the hair growing from your expanding chest or tugged at the sleeves of your shirt that were now sitting tightly around your meaty biceps. You didn't even notice as you brushed your fingers through your thick beard hair and licked your lips. All you could think about was getting another one of those drinks and it led you to seek out the bro who had gifted you with it in the first place.

"Hey dude, you got another one of those beers?" you asked, slapping him on the shoulder to get his attention. You felt so comfortable approaching him even though he was surrounded by guys you recognized from your cousin's baseball matches. In fact it only felt natural that you were hanging out with them.

"Yo, you're Mark's cousin, right?" the other male asked, grinning back at you. "The football player, for NC State?"

You couldn't help but chuckle. Apparently your reputation had preceded you! "Yeah bro, that's me," you confirmed, fist bumping him without second thought. 

There was no question in your mind about who you were. NC State Quarterback and proud, baby! "Now come on, I'm dying for another beer. That shit was tasty!"

"Ah, sorry dude, we're all out!" your cousin's friend admitted, "But hey, we're gonna be getting some more good stuff in soon so stick around!" Despite your disappointment at the news that they were all out of beer, you couldn't help but chuckle at the comment that had followed that revelation.

"As if I'd go anywhere," you scoffed, shaking your head, "It's July 4th, bro! We're gonna party all night long!"

A chorus of cheers broke out around you from your cousin's teammates that quickly developed into "USA!" chants. It felt only too natural to you as you joined in, pumping your fists into the air and not giving a damn if you were getting on people's nerves. They needed to get into the goddamn party spirit and be proud of their country for once!