Page 11 of The Callahan Effect

Several veterans chuckled knowingly.

Coach glanced toward the buses.

"Load your gear. We leave in ten minutes."

The group broke apart with the efficiency of people who'd completed the routine many times before. Equipment bags disappeared into the luggage bays beneath the buses while sticks were slid into the long storage compartments beside them, conversations continuing without anyone needing direction. I hoisted my equipment aboard before climbing the steps into the bus, pausing briefly to glance back toward the arena.

The doors remained closed, the arena silent in the early morning light. I held my gaze there for a second longer than I needed to before climbing aboard.

Then the bus engine rumbled to life, Evergreen slowly disappeared behind us, and whatever waited over the coming days became the only thing any of us could think about.

The first hour of the journey passed quickly as the city gradually gave way to rolling farmland before the landscape transformed into towering forests that seemed to stretch endlessly toward distant mountain peaks. I settled into the window seat beside Luca, content to watch the scenery unfold while conversations ebbed and flowed throughout the bus. Now and then someone wandered down the aisle to borrow headphones, steal a packet of chips, or become the target of some practical joke that had apparently begun years earlier and showed no signs of ending.

The atmosphere fascinated me. At Gulf Coast University, players had certainly gotten along, but friendships had tended to form in small groups. There had been the Canadians, the local Florida guys and those who lived off campus with girlfriends. Here, the lines seemed blurred. Ryan O'Connell, the team captain, was just as likely to be laughing with a freshman as he was with another senior, while Oscar appeared determined to make every player on the bus smile before we reached our destination. Whatever Coach Callahan had built over the past several years extended far beyond systems and tactics. It was impossible to spend an hour in this environment without realizing the players genuinely enjoyed being together.

Luca must have noticed me studying everyone because he smiled without taking his eyes from the road ahead.

"Takes a little getting used to, doesn't it?"

"What does?"

"The fact nobody sits in the same seat for more than twenty minutes."

As if determined to prove his point, Oscar abandoned his place near the front of the bus and squeezed into the empty seat across the aisle.

"I bring important news."

Luca sighed dramatically.

"Already?"

"I've completed extensive research."

"You've been asleep."

"I dreamt about the research."

Luca shrugged at me.

"This is what we deal with."

Oscar ignored him completely.

"I've concluded Coach is getting soft."

Several players within earshot burst into laughter.

Ryan lowered the book he'd been reading from two rows ahead.

"You've reached that conclusion because...?"

"We haven't done anything painful yet."

"We've been on a bus for ninety minutes."

"Exactly."

Ryan smiled.