Fifteen minutes later, I walked out of the hospital so Mom and Dad could take me home. Dad had some bad news for me.
“Jennie went home. After the kid threw you down, she couldn’t watch anymore. She said she’d call you later.”
“Okay, so I guess the family dinner’s off. Let me call the training staff and see if I can get some treatment.”
While everyone celebrated at Monical’s, I was in the training room being iced down. Becky Grimes pulled the short straw and had to stay with me. Even after the treatment, I hurt all over. Becky still had my pain pills and gave me one. She took me home and warned my parents. They made sure I was in bed and that everyone left before I became chatty.
Chapter 10 – Pizza Thief
Sunday November 17
SUNDAY MORNING I WOKE up stiff. I crawled out of bed and got into a hot shower to help loosen my muscles. I went out into my living room and did the stretching exercises that Jill Kim had taught me. The way I felt, I’d be surprised if I could practice on Monday.
While I stretched, I got a text from Tami to get onto video chat. I pulled on a t-shirt and got my chat app started. No surprise, it was Jennie. I thought about just turning my connection off. What surprised me was I didn’t feel hurt about her leaving yesterday. What was it that my uncle said? The opposite of love isn’t hate, it’s indifference. Until just now, I really didn’t know what he meant.
“I take it you’re hijacking Tami’s stuff again. Is she around?”
“No, she went to breakfast. I just wanted to say I’m sorry I bailed out on you yesterday.”
“Jennie, don’t worry about it. I didn’t get out of the hospital until late and went straight home and to bed. I couldn’t go out with you anyways. So I guess everything worked out for the best.”
Jennie was used to boys who fawned over her. She was rich, good-looking, and had a nice personality. For me, she was too much work.
“When can I see you next?”
I was a little surprised when she asked. I thought about it for a minute, and then I remembered when I would see her.
“I’ll see you at the Christmas Dance. I promise to save you a dance.”
I could see the wheels turning. I told her I had to go to church and logged off. I got a text two minutes later from Tami saying she missed me. I logged back on, and it was Jennie again.
“If Tami has a date, will you go as my date to the Christmas Dance?”
I didn’t like the sound of that. With my luck, Jennie would fix Tami up with Mark. She was starting to piss me off.
“Why are you pushing so hard?” I asked.
“What are you talking about? I’m just trying to spend some time with you. If you don’t want to see me, just say so,” she whined.
“I thought we agreed to be friends. You obviously had somewhere better to be last night.”
“So that’s it? I can’t stand to watch you get pummeled, and suddenly I’m the bad guy?”
Did she really just try to turn this around on me?
“Okay, you asked me a couple of questions. I think if I answer them, it’ll help clarify where we stand. Do I think you’re the bad guy? The answer to that one is, I don’t know. That would depend on what you did last night. Did you go on a date with someone? Did you go to a party?
“The question that irritates me is asking if you find a date for Tami, will I go with you. The answer to that one is, if Tami finds someone she’d rather go with, I won’t be going.”
Tami walked into her room.
“Hey, David, I hear you and Jennie had a good time last night.”
The guilt showed clearly on Jennie’s face.
“Yeah, we had a great time. I’ll let Jennie fill you in on all the details. I’m just a ‘stupid boy,’ and I might miss some of the great things we did. I have to go to church. I’ll talk to you later.”
“I’m sorry,” Jennie said.
I turned off my link. I went down to the house and grabbed a bowl of cereal. Mom came out in her housecoat, and she looked worse than I felt.
“I vote we go back to bed and skip church this week,” she said.
“I agree. Are Angie’s parents coming for lunch?”
“No. I think they’ve washed their hands of their daughter,” Mom said.
I finished my cereal, went back to my apartment, and crawled back into bed. I got another text from Tami, so I logged into the chat, and this time it was Tami, and she was alone.
“David, why’s Jennie crying? I thought she came to see you yesterday.”
“She just got caught cheating on me.”
“Cheating on you? What did she do?”
“Tami, she came to the game, according to my parents. Before the first quarter was over, she took off, claiming she couldn’t watch me get hurt. Apparently it was to meet someone else. You just confirmed my suspicions.”
Tami figured it out.
“She went out with Mark!”
I chuckled.
“If she did, I will never ever see her again. I hate that douchebag. She actually asked me if she found you a date for the Christmas Dance, would I go with her.”
“That’s an easy one. You wouldn’t go because you couldn’t stand to see me with another guy.”
“You know me too well. I’d be happy for you, but I just couldn’t watch it.”
“Speaking of dating, are you still on hold, or d’you want me to set you up?”
“I actually got my own date. I’m going out with Peggy on Friday.”
It was out before she caught herself.
“Nope, bad idea.”
She could see the hurt look on my face.
“I can’t really say I didn’t mean it, but I can say I shouldn’t have said it.”
“Are you saying I should cancel my date with my dream girl?” I sighed.
“The short answer is ‘yes.’ The problem is I know you. You’re going out with her no matter how bad an idea it is. David, answer me one question: do I love you enough to tell you stuff that you don’t want to hear?”
“Yes.”
I didn’t even have to think about that one.
“I know you don’t want to hear this, but don’t go out with Peggy right now.”
She had tears in her eyes, and I knew this must have cost her to tell me this. The two women that know me the best had both told me not to date her right now.
What a shitty morning. I’d had this crush forever, and I was about to turn down a date with her. If Tami hadn’t shed some tears, I would’ve ignored them both. I could tell when Tami was faking, and she wasn’t beyond crying to get her way, but these tears were real. She knew how much this meant to me and it was killing her to tell me. I only had one option.
“Okay, how do I break our date without her deciding to never go out with me again?” I asked. “If that happens, I’ll not be a happy boy.”
She took a deep breath.
“I’ll take care of it. You just did the hard part. She’ll wait. She has as big a crush on you as you have on her, and she’s had it for a very long time.”
My eyebrows went up.
“And you’re just now telling me that.”
“We both know you weren’t ready for Peggy. That’s why you got Greg to help you in the first place. For Peggy, it was different. She knew you didn’t have enough social status for her to be able to go out with you until now, and don’t give me any crap lines about it not mattering. This is high school. A junior girl can’t go out with just any freshman. Well, unless you’re at the top of the heap like Cindy and Suzanne. Peggy’s popular, but she could never pull it off.”
“Someday your looking out for me is going to backfire,” I said, while I shook my head.
“I’m sure it will, but you’ll love me anyways.”
“Maybe,” I admitted. “Let’s get back to you setting up dates. Your track record sucks. I think I’m out for now.”
“I had no idea Jennie would turn into a cheater. I just thought she had some insecurity and lack-of-maturity issues. You have the confidence to hold it together, and I figured your maturity levels matched.”