He seemed a little nervous, but he smiled anyway.
“We’re huge fans,” he said. “When football’s over, look me up. We’re starting a club swim team so we can compete from Thanksgiving to mid-January. We need an extra guy for some of the relays.”
Kendal had given me a handful of business cards with my social media fan page and the public email address that I used for media and recruiters. Only friends and family were given my private email address. I handed him one of the cards.
“Email me the particulars. I need to talk to Cindy about our schedule,” I said as I smiled at her.
She leaned into me when she realized what I was doing. He seemed confident. He should be confident because he was a good-looking guy with a swimmer’s body.
“She has some plans for us over break, and I want to make sure I can be there for you if I do it.”
As he watched Cindy and me, he realized that he didn’t have a shot with her.
“Sounds great, I’ll get you the info tomorrow.”
“Hey, thanks for asking me, and for coming out to support us. Let me know this spring when you guys have a big meet, and I’ll get the football team to come out and support you guys.”
He seemed a little shocked.
“That’d be great. We’ll all be at your game on Saturday. Good luck.”
CINDY WAS VERY APPRECIATIVE. She took me back to my place, and we made a quick appearance in the house to talk to the parental units and Greg and Angie. I was glad to see that my brother and Angie treated Cindy as if nothing had happened. Cindy seemed to have the biggest problem, but we quickly left to go up to my apartment over the garage.
I hadn’t taken the time to have the training staff work on me. They gave me a supply of the analgesic cream that they used when massaging me. Cindy volunteered to give me a massage. The trainers needed to take some notes because Cindy actually put me to sleep, I was so relaxed.
Saturday November 16
FOR OUR SECOND GAME, we were playing Trinity Catholic. They’d won State in our class three of the last five years. Their first game was on the road and they soundly beat this year’s favorite, Springfield High, 24–7. Trinity always seemed to peak at playoff time.
Trinity was in the tough Catholic League that always produced numerous Division One players. On their current roster, they had two four-star players on their defensive line. I watched the game film in horror as they took out two Springfield quarterbacks on back-to-back plays. Both linemen had offers from Notre Dame, and it looked like that was where they would end up. Kendal told me that there would be upwards of fifty colleges sending scouts to see this game. Besides these two, they had a linebacker and a safety that were also D1 prospects. I knew several schools were going to be there to see Bill and myself.
We worked on pass protection and focused on me moving in the pocket and with rollouts, until Coach Engels thought I might survive the game. The strength of the Trinity defense was up the middle. Our game plan was to stretch them so we could use our speed.
Since Trinity started on the road, and we had a home game, the High School Athletic Association said we would be at home for this game. I had no idea how they decided these things. My guess was that someone didn’t like Trinity.
WHEN I GOT UP, I WENT for a quick run. It was one of those fantastic fall days. I jogged to the park and had my earbuds in as I made my way around the lake. I glanced up, saw red hair, and stopped to say hi to Peggy Pratt. Man, did she look good in her spandex exercise pants.
“Hey, Stalker,” Peggy said, referring to my near-arrest with the cross-country team. “When are you going to call me?”
I guess the look on my face made her laugh. I’d had a crush on Peggy for almost three years. I remembered the first time I met her. Greg brought her home so he could change clothes. While he went upstairs, he told me to go keep her company. He’d do this so he could see how she interacted with me. The girlfriends who acted stuck-up or bitchy to me didn’t seem to last more than a couple dates. The ones that I was comfortable with became friends with him.
Peggy and I hit it off. I still remember being embarrassed because I had monopolized Peggy’s time. We were so deep in conversation that Greg had leaned against the doorway watching us for thirty minutes. He mentioned that his girlfriends told me stuff they would never tell him. He liked to listen to our conversations.
“If I knew I was supposed to call you, I would’ve. What am I supposed to call you about?”
“You’re going to ask me out.”
“I don’t need to call you for that. Peggy, would you go out with me?”
“No.”
“Gggrrrr, you tease,” I growled.
“I’m not a tease. I’m not going out with you unless you have some kind of plan. For all I know, you might want to go to Chucky Cheese. I know you young kids like that kind of thing.”
She squealed as I made a grab for her. Peggy was quick. She took off running through the park with me in pursuit. We both knew that I could end the game at any time, but she kept distracting me with her cute butt. It caused a swelling problem in my shorts that made it hard to run. I chased her to the bridge and, when we got to the path to the private area Greg told me about, I scooped her up. She wiggled against me and giggled until I kissed her. She pulled back so she could talk.
“Yes.”
I was confused. No news bulletin there!
“Yes, what?”
“Yes, I’ll go out with you.”
“I thought I had to have a plan.”
“You don’t have to have a plan if you can kiss like that.”
“Are you free next Friday?”
She looked at me confused.
“What’s wrong with tonight?”
“I already have a date,” I laughed. “Jennie Wesleyan is coming to watch me play and meet my family.”
Peggy bit her lip.
“Are you guys serious?”
I shook my head.
“No, we’re just friends. We have two things working against us being more: she lives too far away, and our lifestyles are too different.”
“So you’re telling me that she isn’t competition.”
“Peggy, let’s cut to the chase. I’m not seeing anyone right now,” I said. I knew that she had to know about Suzanne and Cindy. “I do have a couple of close friends, but I’m not dating anyone.”
She smiled.
“Do you want to date me?”
I kissed her to give her the answer she was looking for. She pushed me away.
“I’ll see you next Friday then.”
She lived in the opposite direction of me, so we parted ways. I was floating, I was so happy. When I got home, I went in the back door into the kitchen. Angie stood by the coffee maker, staring off into space while Greg held Kyle. I walked up to Angie and gave her a kiss that made her toes curl. Greg started to laugh at my antics.
“Oh my, what got into you, Stud?” Greg asked.
“I have a date with Peggy Pratt.”
“Way to go,” Greg said. “He’s had a crush on her since day one. Our boy David here has a thing for redheads.”
I nodded.
“I do, and Peggy’s fun to boot.”
“Who’s fun?” Dad asked as he walked into the kitchen with Mom.
“I have a date with Peggy Pratt.”
Mom looked at me and shook her head.
“That one is going to be trouble.”
I gave Mom a confused look.
“Why?” Angie asked.
“David will fall hard for her. He needs to date girls like Kara and Jennie right now,” she said, and then turned to me. “Have fun and allow yourself a chance to grow up. Peggy’s different. If you go out with her, you’ll be a couple for the next year and a half until she goes to college. Then she’ll break your heart when she leaves.”
“Isn’t that part of growing up, having a high school sweetheart, and getting your heart broken?” Angie asked.
Mom looked at me and then shook her head.
“I know you’ll do whatever you want. I just wish you’d wait on this one. Enjoy your freshman year. Start dating her next year. She’ll still be there then.”