#jack young

• introductions

• their studies

AW I’m so excited that you like my freshman!!! They’re the loves of my life!

Charlie studies Sports & Adventure Media. Sophomore year he adds a minor in photography. After graduating he stays and gets his masters in Palmetto, which means that he stays close by Wymack. During this time he interns or starts out working with PSU’s media team for PSU sports, so he gets to hang by the stadium a lot as well. After that he gets a job in DC working for ESPN or whatever big sports team is out there.

Eva studies Physical Therapy. After graduation they move in with Charlie hehe and spend 3 years after graduation getting their Doctorate in Physical Therapy. They pass their exam and earn their 2,000 hours of work experience working with Abby and the Exy team. Once they pass whatever other exam they score an internship for the NY Canines professional Exy team and work their way up there. They and Charlie break up for a short period since he’s in DC for the past two years but they find their way back to one another.

Ricky studies Secondary Education yay!! Even though he plans on going pro… which he successfully does. He’s no Kevin Day (none of them are) but he gets drafted to the NY Canines. He and Eva are only there together for two months before he gets traded to the NYC Blackhawks. They hang out a lot tho since they’re close.

Gwen is in Civil Engineering. She moves back to Texas after graduation and does her masters there. She has the hardest time of them all because she doesn’t stay close right after and her Exy career just… stops. She gets a job and sticks with it for a few years then has a crisis and says fuck it and gets a teaching degree. She’s gets certified in ASL and uses it a lot with her younger students that aren’t as verbal. She loves it. (She also becomes the school’s Exy coach bc she can’t help it).

Kenna studies Addiction Studies and gets drafted to the Boston Bulldogs out of college. After 2 years she gets traded to the Houston Racers for 4 years which yay because Jack is in Dallas. She plays on US Court once with Kevin and Neil (they’re on it like every year duh). She gets pregnant (whoops) after those 4 years in Houston and Jack surprises her by showing her an engagement ring that he’d been saving for the past year. She goes back to Exy for a year after that and plays with Jack but then retires. Idk how this works but I’d like to think she becomes one of the first female Exy coaches in the National Exy League.

Jack my beloved boy studies Social Work but goes pro to the Texas Armadillos (Dallas). He’s with them for six years but transfers to the Houston Racers because Kenna gets pregnant. They get married a few months later and Kenna is one of those people who’s baby belly barely shows so she wears this nice ass dress and announces her pregnancy at the wedding. Everyone is shocked. Ricky and Charlie instantly fight over godfather status.

YES OMG. there are 6. i love my bby freshmen they have my hearts i legit have their whole lives figured out.

first up is kenna pierce, striker from delaware. she’s 5’9, white, and has long wavy orange strawberry blonde hair. she’s studying addiction studies and attends AA meetings religiously after struggling with alcohol abuse throughout high school.

she was kicked out by her parents senior year, which was mainly her mother’s doing. her oldest brother of 2 takes her in to live with him after 3 months of rehab.

wymack visited her just after christmas and made a deal that if she could straighten out by may that he’d sign her. her father aides her in finding a good rehabilitation center. after seeing her play again in state championships he signs her.

NEXT, is jack young, kevin’s striker recruit from north carolina. 5’11 and white with dark brown hair. lowkey built like kevin… he’s studying social work and psychology. wymack recruited him over spring break.

when jack’s father left him and his 3 toddler siblings in high school, jack’s mother went into a depression after a few months. she lost her job as a result of stopping taking her medicine and not going to work anymore.

jack worked in between school and exy to help make ends meet when money got low, and after almost a year of taking care of his siblings nearly on his own he broke and talked to his school counselor. he had a panic attack trying to express that he was worried for his siblings and his mother.

child protective services interfered and even though jack wanted to stay with his mom to help her, he was placed in an emergency foster with his siblings. they lived with a foster family (a couple with a daughter in college) for a year before going back to their mother. jack’s relationship with his mother is never quite the same, but they try. his father kept in touch sporadically for a year after he left, then just barely. he keeps in touch with the foster family often as extended family, almost.

RICKY ROJAS! he’s my love ugh he’s so sweet. ricky is a 6’0 latino defensive dealer from south carolina. he studies secondary education and applied to PSU specifically for exy so that a sports scholarship could pay for college. not typical but he figured maybe he’d, unfortunately, fit wymack’s type. despite playing for the foxes for the free tuition, neil’s passion for the sport ultimately makes ricky fall in love with exy in a different way than he had before. he’d seen what it could do for people, what it meant to his teammates.

he’s got jet black hair and tattoos spread sporadically across his arms and his right leg below the knee. they started as a way to cover up self harm scars from early high school. he’s been clean as of his junior year.

ricky’s parents divorced sophomore year after a lot of emotional abuse and manipulation from his father to both him and his mother. he also took dangerous control of their finances- lots of gambling, very toxic. ricky and his mother both have restraining orders against him.

ricky started therapy the same year and his therapist suggested sports as an alternate way of feeling something, something else to put energy into and let off steam. his mom proposed exy for its fast and hard nature.

the tattoos came about when he caught himself slip and wanted to cover a particularly bad scar. his mom is a tattoo artist and thought maybe redirecting whatever pain he was feeling into something that wasn’t harmful- tattoos. once he got clean he continued because he wanted all his scars covered and just loved tattoos. his mom’s rule is that she won’t ask about the design (within reason) so long as he is honest about ever feeling the urge to harm.

EVA WHITMORE <3 physical therapy student and 5’6 goalie from michigan. they’re white with shoulder length brown hair. eva goes by they/them pronouns.

eva grew up playing ice hockey, but an accident during an unsupervised midnight sneak to the outside ice rink when they were 14 resulted in a lost finger. parents were not happy when they got that 1am call.

eva switched to exy after their parents refused to let them play hockey again. they still went to the rinks when they could drive and learned some spins and jumps.

eva developed an eating disorder sophomore year. it put them in the hospital junior year and they got the help they needed. they figured out their pronouns senior year, but still haven’t told their parents. they ultimately said yes to wymack’s offer because it was far from their family, the campus was pretty and they had a good pt program, and bc they learned to love exy enough. none of the foxes know they’re a damn good ice skater </3

CHARLIE MILASKY! my teddy bear. my boy is a 6’5 shaggy blonde florida man. he’s a backliner studying sports and adventure media, and strategic social media.

junior year he came home from school to find his drug addicted mother loading his belongings into his car and kicking him out to go live with her boyfriend. she’d always been absent so he didn’t even try with her. he stayed in the house until the landlord kicked him out, then slept in his car.

he mastered pick-pocketing & stealing as best he could, lived homeless in his car and squatting for a few months before his coach got suspicious and tried talking to him, but nothing came from it. eventually he got caught breaking into an abandoned house and was arrested. thankfully the cop had a kid on charlie’s team and recognized him.

charlie got put into foster care with a young 33 year old widow. his mother tried getting him back (poorly) but flopped. charlie got adopted a week before his 18th birthday about a year and a half later by his current foster mother. ugh my heart.

LAST but not least, miss gwen garber, picked by neil josten. gwen is studying civil engineering. she is black, and is the 5’7 20 year old freshman offensive dealer from texas.

spring of her junior year of high school, she and her parents got into a car accident resulting in her parents deaths. it left gwen hearing impaired, she has hearing aides but doesn’t wear them often. she learned sign language instead, in case she ever fully lost her hearing.

gwen went to live with her relatively young godfather and had to repeat junior year from falling behind. it put her 2 years older than her class since she already had to repeat 1st grade.

the accident left her with a lot of anger and guilt that she doesn’t know how to deal with, its why she throws it into exy.

wymack noticed her confusion on the court every once in a while due to her hearing and tells her to wear her hearing aides during practices and games for her own safety and success. he and neil recruited her after the foxes championship.

FUN FACTS: kenna was the first to break through to jack and they started dating after a few months. she stays out of drama and gets along with all the foxes, even the monsters to a point.

she “keeps” jack in a similar way renee keeps the upperclassmen. she doesn’t always feel comfy around the foxes when they’re getting hammered and often finds solidarity sitting next to a sober kevin. andrew respects her, mainly when she helps kevin when he relapses.

andrew calls ricky richard on purpose, it’s not even his full name. allison colors in his tattoos on the bus or planes to games. they get close but just friends. ricky getting along with neil was surprisingly a challenge at first bc to him exy was a way to go to college, neil got him to realize how much he wants exy to be part of his future.

eva is probably the funniest of them all. they and charlie get along the best.

charlie is a HIMBO to the max.

gwen is bisexual (the foxes don’t know but she’s not secretive about it, if asked she would tell). she and renee are suspiciously close and have many bets going on them.

gets easily annoyed when kevin or jack jabs at her with exy stuff. she taunts jack and aaron by turning her hearing aides down and pretending she can’t hear them at all. neil gets through bc she respects him the most and bc he gives her notes short and to the point, no smart mouth. she is intimidated by him at first bc he chose her.

thank you anon for jack's backstory!! here's one of the top 5 worst days of jack's life, i'm sorry.

-

Jack Young was fine.  He was fine.

Until April 27th.  Freshman year.

He normally stuck to his room after school, after practice.  He shared his bedroom with the washer and dryer, tucked away in his closet.  He didn’t mind, really.  His parents agreed not to run it at night, so he’s gotten used to the sound during the day.  His mom was normally quiet enough unloading it on weekends if he was still asleep, and his dad never came down to the basement as it was.

It was better than sharing his old room with the little ones.  Drew was always quiet for a baby, but the twins were in their terrible twos.  They went more days with Mandy crying than not.

But on April 27th, both of his parent’s cars were in the driveway when he got off the bus.  He hiked his exy bag further up his shoulder and wedged himself through the door, then stopped.  Boxes lined the wall to his left, and three suitcases stood on the right.  He set his duffle and his backpack down.  He could hear his parents’ voices before he stepped inside, but they didn’t stop when he came into the kitchen, into view.

His or his siblings’ presence was usually enough for any arguing to stop until a later time.  Normally, his father had enough control to table the discussion until he didn’t have an audience.  He wasn’t subtle about it, and Jack knew there had been problems for years now, but he still had the mind to try and keep it concealed.

“-can’t just blame it on the fact that you’re sick up top!”

“What’s going on?”  He stopped short at the end of the hallway.  His dad stuttered to a stop.  He was leant back against the kitchen counter with his hands bracing the edge.  He wasn’t in his work clothes.  “Did you take off early to see my game?  It’s in an hour, Josh is already driving me, but if you’re going we can ride together,” he said.  He wasn’t the reason.  He made Varsity as a freshman and he was finally playing his first game in playoffs, but he wasn’t the reason his father took off work.  He knew he wasn’t the reason, but there were boxes by the front door and his parents had been bickering behind his back for years.  He was a realist, he thought, but he still didn’t want to think the worst.

Jack’s father stood straight, ran a hand down his face and scratched at his beard.  “I- no, I forgot about the game, I’m sorry, but- no, no, I-I’m leaving.”

Jack’s face fell.  “Where?”  His voice was small.  “Why?  Are you going on a work trip?”

“No, Jack-”

“Well, where are you going?”  His fingers were numb and twitching at his side.

Jack’s father slung a backpack around his shoulder, “Just- out of here, bud.”  He slid past Jack, who grabbed his arm.  “Jack.”

“Where are you going, Dad”  He pursed his lips.  “You can’t just say you’re leaving and not even say where to- is it cause Mom’s disorder?”  His father paused.  “Bipolar disorder.  Bipolar one, I know about it.”  He looked to his mother.  “I’ve seen the pills in the medicine cabinet, I looked it up.  You guys aren’t subtle- you’ve never been subtle.  I know you fight when we’re not around, but-but you can still fix whatever’s wrong.”

His father sighed and pulled his arm out of Jack’s grip.  “It’s not cause of that.  Things have just changed, I can’t stay here anymore.  Can’t fix everything.”  He started down the hall.  Jack didn’t know where the lying stopped and started with him.

Jack looked back to his mother.  When she didn’t move, he followed his father out the door.  Back and forth as he loaded boxes into his car.  “You gonna help or what?”

The humidity caught on Jack as they walked from the door to the car.  “No, I’m not gonna help you leave us.  Are you crazy?  Mom works all week and Saturdays, who’s supposed to watch the babies while I’m at practice on the weekend?”  He grabbed his arm when he didn't answer.  “Hey!”

His father spun around out of his hold.  “I don’t know, Jack!  Figure it out, you’ll be fine!  Jesus, it’s one day, I need to get my shit sorted.”  He turned to shut the trunk and made his way to the driver's side.  “This is sudden for you, I know, but this is happening!”  He slid into the car before Jack could get another word in and started it up.

“What about us!”  Jack shouted.  “What about me!”  His father ignored him, put the car in reverse and turned his body to look out the back window.  Jack pounded his fist against the window, and staggered after the car as it backed out.  “Hey!  Answer me, you coward!”

Jack’s mother wrapped her arms around her son to stop him from following the car but he thrashed against her.  “No- No!”  He blinked angry tears from his eyes and grunted as he broke out of his mother’s arms.  “Why would you let him leave!”

She looked helpless.  She was, it just wasn’t something Jack was able to notice in the moment.  He was already fueled up on his own anger and helplessness.  Confusion and devastation.

His mother shrugged with her arms out at her sides.  “He would’ve left anyway, Jack.”  She shook her head.  “He would’ve left when you went to your game.  He’s been planning on it for weeks, I tried to get him to stay, baby.  I tried.”  She turned as he shouldered past her.  He came right back out of the house with his exy bag around his shoulders and snagged his bike from the side of the house.

“Oh, at least let me drive you-”

“No.”

He swung his leg over and started pedaling.  His school was four and a half miles from home, but he couldn’t be in his house without his mother coming to bother him, and he couldn’t be in the car with her either.

The tears that fell onto his cheeks were cold, and the wind that whipped them from his face.  The back peddle of the bike needed air.  He wasn’t stopping to satisfy it.

“Fucking broken just like-”  he gasped and swerved to the side to avoid being hit by a car screeching to a stop.  There was a stop sign for both the bike path and the road, but Jack had gone right through it.  “Jesus,” he panted.  Not even wearing a helmet.

He dropped the bike against the rack in front of the school, just outside the gym doors.  They were unlocked for the athletes coming and going, and in preparation for exy fans to come claim their spots in the stands ahead of time.  The game wasn’t for another hour, but the student section usually filled up a half hour before serve.  That meant he had maybe twenty minutes to himself.

Jack slipped into the locker room and into his gear, and gripped his stick tight as he walked onto the court.  It was dimly lit.  No one was supposed to be there yet.  Good enough.

Jack only had a few balls, but he only had one drill in mind and a few were enough.  It was a Raven solo rebound drill, nailing the ball in just the right spot that it would come right back to your net without having to move.  Jack saw Kevin Day do it for all of maybe six seconds during warm ups when his friend brought him to a playoff game the year before.  Ravens versus UNC, it was only an hour from them.  It was spectacular.

He threw the ball until the lights flickered on, but didn’t stop until his coach called his name.  “Nervous?”  He didn’t answer, but collected his balls and headed for the door.  His coach stopped him once he reached her side.  “Hey.  Don’t be nervous.  You’re ready.”

All Jack could do was nod silently.  This was the Varsity coach, she didn’t need his personal problems on her court.  Not nearing the end of the playoffs.

So he stayed quiet until warm up, and he played so hard that he fell to his knees once the final buzzer sounded.

Lindsey Davidson, a senior and the team’s captain, curled her arm underneath his armpit and pulled him up against her.  She was smiling, but her words were sharp in his ear.  “You did good today, but I never want to see you blow out your whole body on the court again.  That’s why we have subs.”  He tried to lift himself from her side but she pulled him back close and walked him over to the others.  “Can you walk?”

He nodded.  He thought so, at least.  “Um, I rode my bike here.  It’s got a flat tire.”

“You can catch a ride with me and Bryce,” she said and passed him off to her cluster of cheering teammates.

Jack stood on his front porch for a good minute before he could step inside.  When he did, his mother was waiting for him with dinner leftovers to heat up and his siblings all knocked out on the couches.  “Spaghetti and meatballs, if you’re hungry,” she offered.

He nodded and collapsed at the table.  His knees felt like they were creaking like an old door hinge.  When his mother joined him at the table again he stared at his food.  “What happened,” he mumbled.  He looked up.  “Why now?  What happened that this was the last straw?”

She shrugged.  Jack wanted to call her out, tell her to give him a real answer.  Instead he looked away.

“You should have warned me this was coming.”  She started to say something but barely got past the first syllable.  “No.  You said he was planning on leaving us for weeks.  You knew the whole time.”