“Do you think Alan could help me out with her?”
“David!”
I held up my hands and made shushing noises.
“I don’t think I can handle her alone. I think I need Alan to help me double-team her,” I explained to Gina as we walked back into the lunchroom.
We got to the table, and Gina announced, “Alan, David needs your help.”
His head snapped around and Jeff began to chuckle. I mouthed ‘Lisa Felton,’ because I didn’t need the whole lunchroom hearing. Poor Alan, I think he had a stroke. Of course, that got everyone’s interest. Speak of the devil; Lisa came walking up. I winked at her, so she came over to our table.
“Lisa, would you do both Alan and me?” I asked.
She looked at Alan and if you can believe this, he got even redder. The tables were all quiet. I glanced up at April and she was glaring at me. Oh, shit, I was truly a douchebag. Before I could stop her, Lisa answered.
“If it means doing you, of course Alan can come along.”
Before she finished, I had raised my hands.
“Stop!”
April had tears in her eyes.
“I’m so sorry. This was a joke that went too far,” I said, and then I turned to my best friend. “Alan, I apologize for making you feel uncomfortable.”
Alan wasn’t happy, but Gina grabbed his hand and led him out of the lunchroom. I trusted she could fix this with him. I went to April and Tracy helped me out.
“David was just trying to be funny, April. He would never do that to Gina and Alan,” Tracy said as she held April’s hand. April was listening. “Joke about it, yes. He’d also never be intentionally mean to Lisa.”
Suddenly Lisa was standing next to April.
“David and I tease each other to see who’ll blink first. We push the sexual innuendos pretty far,” she said, and gave April a wink. “Someday I’m gonna rock his world.”
April gathered herself and looked me square in the eye.
“When are you going to rock my world?”
Suddenly, the tension broke. April had a big smile on her face and I felt a tremendous relief. Another lesson learned. This one would serve me well. I needed to be more careful about what I said if I didn’t want to be truly hurtful to my friends.
I MET CASSIDY IN THE gym after school. They have open gym for kids who can’t go home right away. Some parents work, so this was a solution instead of letting the little deviants go home alone. I was surprised to see Coach Hope waiting for me with his daughter.
“David, Cassidy told me what she intends to teach you. I wanted to make sure you understand that this is self-defense. You can’t use this to hurt others.”
“Yes, sir. Cassidy explained that to me. I’m hoping it’ll help me with my coordination and stamina as well.”
He nodded to me. Then he turned to his daughter.
“Before you start teaching him anything, you need to get him in shape. Run him through sixty minutes of hell. When you’re done, I’ll be back to assess his fitness.”
He walked away, and Cassidy gave me an evil grin. In the months to come, I’d wish I had never heard of sixty minutes of hell.
“Line up, soldier.”
I came to attention and gave her a salute. I was joking. Cassidy was not. Over the next hour, she really did try to kill me. She ran me through parts of the Marine Corps Physical Training program. The sad part, at least for me, was she was doing them right along with me. This is where the competitive side of me was not good. I couldn’t stop and let it be known that a hundred-pound girl was in better shape than I was.
When we were done, I gathered as much dignity as I could muster and staggered to the double-door exit that led to outside. Coach Hope found me on my knees in a snow bank, dry-heaving. I could see the steam pouring off my overheated body in the frigid air. Coach helped me stand up and raised an eyebrow.
“If you tell Cassidy, I’ll have to kill you.”
That finally got him to laugh.
“Son, I’m impressed that you didn’t collapse sooner. She only has one speed, and that’s full-out. I used to embarrass smartass recruits by letting her lead drill exercises. She would bury them.”
I knew I’d be paying for this in the morning. He helped me back into the gym and then led me to his office. Cassidy was waiting for us. I gave her a weak smile and collapsed in a chair. Coach sat down behind his desk.
“Son, I got a call from Coach Harrington. He wasn’t happy to hear my plans.”
“I straightened him out. I told him I was a team player.”
From his reaction, I could tell he hadn’t expected that. Cassidy just grinned at me. I must have passed some kind of test. Coach Hope visibly came to a decision.
“You confuse me. Next year’s seniors told me that you were all about you. I’m getting the impression that I’ve been listening to the wrong people. The graduating class is firmly in your camp. Now I don’t know what to do with you.”
“May I make a suggestion?” I asked.
“Why not?"
“My goal is to be a college quarterback. If everything works out, I want to go as far as my talent will take me. This spring, I plan to play both baseball and seven-on-seven football. Then, over the summer, I’ll go to quarterback camps so that I can measure myself against my competition.
“I’m telling you this so that you know that I plan on playing quarterback in the future. I feel that I’m a better quarterback, right now than Brad. I say that not to boast but as a fact. If you think the best way for me to contribute this season is to play fullback, I’ll play fullback. All I ask is that you work with me to become the best I can be.
“I’ll work harder than anyone on this team. I’ll dedicate myself to helping others become the best they can be. I ask that you make the same commitment to me. Help me to become better.”
If I confused him before, I think he was now not sure what to do with me.
“It sounds like you’ve thought about this. What’s your take on next year’s team?”
If I was going to throw in with Coach Hope, I had to be all in. I decided to take the chance see what happened.
“The junior class is a bunch of ass-hats,” I said, realizing that this was probably not the best approach. “They think that everything will just be handed to them next season. They weren’t happy that three freshmen played last year. Without a serious attitude adjustment, we’re in trouble.
“I’ll win state my junior and senior years. I want to take the freshmen and sophomores and work with them to get them ready. After letting Cassidy almost kill me today, I want her to work with us on conditioning. She’ll weed out the ones that don’t want it. She can help get us into the best shape of our lives. If you give us a fair shot in the fall, I think the underclassmen can be a good nucleus for a team.”
“Why not win state this year? I plan on making it my number one priority.”
“Coach, I’m on board with that. I’d like to walk out of here with a legacy of excellence. Not just for me, but for this school.”
Cassidy was grinning, and when she looked at her dad, he couldn’t help but join her.
“Are you willing to commit to helping David?”
“Yes, sir,” she said as she sat a little straighter in her seat.
He then turned to me.
“I don’t take leadership lightly. I can see that I have my work cut out for me this coming year. I feel a lot better finding that you’re a team player. To that end, I’ll have Cassidy join you. She can be a tremendous asset to you. Few have realized her true value. I think you might be one of the few, but you’ll need to give her direction. Don’t hesitate to come see me when you need help.”
With that, we were dismissed. When we got out of the Coach’s office, we spent a few minutes planning. We decided to start next Tuesday—Monday was a holiday—to give everyone a chance to prepare for the after-school conditioning.