Alex sat in his biology class on Friday morning.
The room was warm and smelled of formaldehyde. There was a diagram of a frog on the board.
"The heart," Mr. Peters, the biology teacher, said, tapping the diagram. "It pumps blood. It keeps the system alive. If the heart stops... the system fails."
Alex nodded. He understood systems. Football was a system. Arsenal was a system.
And he... he was the heart. Or maybe the brain. Or the shield. He had a lot of nicknames now.
His phone buzzed in his pocket.
He ignored it. He was a good student.
It buzzed again. And again.
Bzzzt. Bzzzt. Bzzzt.
Mr. Peters stopped talking. He looked at Alex.
"Is your pocket alive, Mr. Finch?"
"Sorry, sir," Alex said, pulling out the phone to turn it off.
He glanced at the screen.
Five missed calls from Milo. Ten texts from Mark. And one message from Steve, the manager.
"Training ground. Now. Emergency."
Alex felt his stomach drop. Emergency? Was someone hurt? Was Antoine injured again?
