GEM TALENT

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William was so incredibly shocked to hear that exactly from the highly respected coach, and his tired eyes immediately widened in pure disbelief because he deeply wondered, how did he actually know? He had tried his absolute best to keep his brand new university journey a total secret from the noisy sports media and his former football club, so hearing this highly accurate question felt exactly like a huge bucket of freezing cold water splashing right onto his confused face.

William just sat there on the soft edge of his bed, totally frozen like a solid block of ice, wildly wondering who could have possibly leaked his private science plans to the football world.

Despite his massive surprise and the heavy, uncomfortable knot twisting violently in his stomach, William took a very deep, nervous breath and forced his dry mouth to form a polite response to the older man.

William gently replied that he is totally fine, and he carefully added that he is currently adapting nicely to the campus life and his thick science textbooks.

However, even though he tried his absolute hardest to sound very strong and completely confident about his brand new choices, his young voice was actually a bit shaky and highly unstable when he said that.

The simple words did not come out smoothly at all, and he sounded exactly like a deeply scared little boy who was trying desperately to hide a massive, terrible secret from his strict parents. He wanted to proudly say that he was already a master of chemistry, but the dark memory of his terrible morning classes totally drained his strong confidence, leaving him sounding very weak.

The highly experienced and intelligent Coach Lincoln could easily hear the obvious fear and the total uncertainty hidden perfectly inside William's shaky voice, so he let out a short, gentle sigh before he continued speaking. Lincoln calmly said,

"I know perfectly well that you have made your decision, William, because I safely received daily updates from your good colleagues and teammates right here at the club." The older man carefully explained that the professional football world is actually a very small and tightly connected family, and important news travels extremely fast from one caring person to another.

Because the other friendly players had clearly noticed his sudden, shocking disappearance from the green pitch, they had quickly asked around the city to find out exactly where their star teammate had gone, eventually discovering his secret university application.

Coach Lincoln made it very clear that he was not actively spying on William, but rather, the people who truly loved him and heavily respected his magical football talent were simply keeping a very close and caring eye on his overall well-being.

After completely clearing up the big mystery of exactly how he found out the secret, Coach Lincoln quickly changed his warm tone to sound very serious, highly focused, and deeply concerned for the boy's future. He told William very clearly and directly,

"I am absolutely not calling to judge your personal choices, but I just really want to carefully open your eyes to something very important before you make a terrible mistake." When William heard the deep, heavy seriousness echoing loudly in his former coach's voice, he immediately realized that this was absolutely not just a normal, casual chat to check on his health.

William quickly adjusted his posture, and he sat down very well and completely upright on the soft mattress, firmly planting his two feet on the wooden floor to hear exactly what Coach Lincoln was saying perfectly clearly.

He pressed the glowing phone very tightly against his ear, making sure he was completely ready to absorb every single word from the wise manager, because he knew that Coach Lincoln always spoke the absolute truth no matter how much it hurt.

After making absolutely sure that he had William's complete and undivided attention in the silent bedroom, Coach Lincoln continued speaking with a very firm and strong voice that demanded total respect.

"But you didn't follow your mind, William, instead you follow another person's dream," the coach stated boldly and fearlessly, hitting exactly at the core of the boy's internal struggle.

This heavy, incredibly direct word looks exactly like he is calling William a completely unserious and foolish boy who does not even know what he truly wants for his own life, which felt like a very sharp insult to his pride.

However, even though his young ego was slightly bruised, William knew deep down inside his soul that it is a very bitter truth that he simply could not deny anymore.

William's handsome face changed a little bit, instantly turning into a deep, dark frown as he felt a quick flash of defensive anger, but he quickly swallowed his pride and still kept listening quietly and respectfully to the wise coach without interrupting him.

He clearly realized that he only chose chemistry to prove a silly point to his arrogant family and Chelsea, completely ignoring his own natural passion.

Coach Lincoln did not stop there, and he quickly pushed even deeper into William's hidden feelings, because he completely knew he had to break the hard, protective shell around the boy's grieving heart. Lincoln continued firmly,

"You also allowed the sudden, tragic death of your father to also kill your beautiful dream, and you just gave up when things got totally rough for you."

The older coach took a very deep breath and actively challenged William's faulty logic by asking a very powerful, highly eye-opening question that completely exposed the major flaw in the young boy's grand escape plan.

"You think you simply can't handle the heavy pressure and the unfair politics in professional football, but let me ask you something very simple, are you not seeing opposition right there in the university campus, or is absolutely everything going completely smoothly for you over there?" he asked sharply.

This brilliant question hit William extremely hard, because it instantly reminded him of the giant, crowded lecture hall and the terrible feeling of being totally lost in his boring chemistry class just a few hours ago.

The heavy truth of the coach's powerful question completely shattered William's fake confidence, and he clearly realized that simply running away from the grassy football pitch did not actually remove hard challenges from his life at all.

He quickly remembered how he had completely failed to understand a single formula, and how the massive pressure to succeed was actually much worse than playing a tough football match.

William felt a massive, painful lump form quickly in his throat as a hot, salty tear slowly threatened to fall from his tired eye, knowing completely that his secret failure had been totally exposed by the smart coach. William finally replied very reluctantly and quietly,

"No, sir," and his highly shaky voice was already looking exactly as if he really wants to cry right there in the middle of his lonely bedroom. He could absolutely no longer hide the painful fact that he was heavily struggling in his brand new science career, and the heavy weight of his bad morning finally crushed his remaining walls of defense.

Hearing the deep sadness and the obvious, painful regret in William's breaking voice, Coach Lincoln quickly softened his tone just a little bit, but he strongly maintained his very powerful, motivating energy to help the young boy. Lincoln continued gently but extremely firmly,

"Listen to me very carefully, William, I am not trying to dictate for you, or force you to do anything against your own will. I'm just trying my absolute best to deeply tell you that you must boldly chase your dream, and definitely not another person's own."

The coach's voice began to rise with intense, burning passion as he actively reminded William of a very important, life-changing lesson they had happily shared together in the past. "I clearly remembered I told you before that the absolute only way to truly conquer any unfair opposition in this life is by bravely proving yourself," he declared proudly. "Then, if you suddenly back out and run away from the hard challenge right now, that clearly shows everyone that you are nothing but a weak coward, and I know for a fact you are not a coward."

Coach Lincoln paused for a very brief, dramatic second to let those heavy words sink in properly, before finally delivering his last, heart-pounding message to the confused young boy.

"William, you need to quickly come out of your shell right now, because thousands of loyal fans are eagerly waiting for you," the coach pleaded passionately and loudly.

"They desperately want to see their amazing William happily playing football in front of them once again, and they want to clearly see that brave, talented boy that beautifully help Blackpool promote to the massive Premier league running boldly on the pitch again."

The powerful image of the cheering stadium and the bright green grass instantly flooded back into William's mind, making his heart race with a familiar, burning excitement that chemistry had completely failed to provide.

The phone call suddenly felt exactly like a strong, rescuing hand reaching down into the deep, dark hole of his confusing university life, heavily urging him to finally wake up and truly embrace the beautiful, legendary football destiny he was naturally born to fulfill.