She was smooth. She had me off on another topic.
“What were you thinking?”
“I was thinking that many of them might want to play college ball, either D1 or really, anywhere.”
“And Tracy would be perfect at working on that. Plus, it would give her something to focus on.”
The unsaid part was that it would keep her away from me. Then it hit me. Not everyone could play college ball or would even want to.
“What about the ones that can’t play past high school?” I asked.
“Several benefits come to mind. They get to play on a winning team. How about being part of something special? I could also see us working with the school counselors to identify other scholarships. I got one from my state representative for three years because no one else ever applied. There are lots of ways we could help them find money to go to school.”
The bell rang.
“Hey, I got to go. Brainstorm some and we’ll talk about this later.”
“You got it, boss.”
TODAY IN ART CLASS, we had our first model. We had to draw the hands of one of the girls. Stacy saw me studying the girl intently. She could see I was struggling.
“Go measure her hands for a reference.”
“I can do that?” I asked hopefully.
“Of course you can. Go ask her nicely; I’m sure she’d like you to hold her hand,” she said with a twinkle in her eye.
I could tell she was teasing me. I just shrugged and got up from behind my easel and approached her.
“Hi, mind if I take some measurements?” I asked.
She blushed and nodded. I took my time trying to notice everything about her hands. They were very delicate and small compared to mine. She jumped when I took my finger and caressed her skin so I could get an idea of how smooth it was. I could see light blue veins that I hadn’t noticed from my seat. I did a couple of quick sketches to remind me of different parts of her hand.
I went back to my easel and quickly started putting in my points of reference. Ms. Saunders came over and watched me for a while. Then she put her hand on my arm to get my attention. I stopped and looked at her.
“Class, I want you to take a moment and come see what David’s doing.”
When she had everyone gathered around, she pointed to my reference points.
“This was something I was going to teach you after this assignment. I wanted you to see how hard it is to get the right size and dimensions of the parts of the hand. Hands are hard to draw. What he’s doing is in effect putting in the skeletal system and then drawing over it.”
“Stacy deserves the credit; she’s the one who taught me how to do this. She saw I was having a hard time yesterday and gave me this tip.”
Stacy blushed when she suddenly became the center of attention. I felt bad because she was shy and I had just put the spotlight on her. Luckily, Ms. Saunders could see she was uncomfortable. She just smiled at her and continued her lesson. She took everyone up to the model and showed them how to measure her hands.
When Stacy and I got back to our easels, I apologized to her.
“Hey, I didn’t mean to make you feel uncomfortable.”
“It’s okay. I need to come out of my shell some. At least, that’s what my mother tells me.”
“I know about mothers. Would it be all right if I got your number? We have to be done with this by Monday and I’m going to be in New York this weekend. I might need some help.”
She blushed as I opened my phone contact list and handed it to her so she could put in her info. When she was done, I took her picture.
“What do you think you’re doing?”
I held up my finger as I did a couple of quick keystrokes to attach her picture to her contact info. I turned the phone around so she could see.
“Oh, I didn’t know you could do that.”
Suddenly my phone chimed, and then again. It was my turn to blush. I had forgotten that when I added a contact, it went to Kendal, Tom, Tracy and Lily. Two texts were displayed so Stacy could see them. She chuckled, so I knew it couldn’t be too bad.
One was from Kendal asking who the hot chick was. The other was from Lily wanting to know if I was adding to my harem. I just rolled my eyes.
“So?” she asked.
“Huh?”
“Am I getting added to your harem?”
I didn’t even think about it.
“Well, of course you are. I should probably meet your mom so she knows what your duties will be. How about I come over for dinner tonight and you can help me get this done?” I said, pointing at my drawing.
“Well, aaahhh, I would have to ask my mom,” Stacy stammered.
I gave her a big smile and handed her my phone. She took it and stepped out into the hall to make the call. She came back in, dazed.
“I think I made a big mistake,” she said, and then came out of her daze. “My mom assumes we’re going out. She’s a little excited.”
“Don’t worry about it. I’ve played the faux boyfriend a number of times. Do you think we should make out some to make her happy?”
“Give me the phone back. I need to cancel.”
“What, I’m so bad-looking that you don’t want to be my faux girlfriend?”
She just sputtered and turned about three shades of red. I got her address and promised to be at her home at six that night.
BEFORE AFTERNOON WORKOUTS started, I took Cassidy aside. I wanted to find out more about why Coach Hope was splitting leadership responsibilities.
“I had a good talk with your dad today. He commented on what a good job you’re doing with the workouts.”
She brightened at that. Her dad’s approval was important to Cassidy.
“That’s good to hear.”
“He did mention something that I have a question about. He said that Brad and next year’s seniors are all working out off campus. Do you know why we’re not all working out together?”
Her eyebrows went together and her lips got tight. She took a deep breath and let it out.
“I told Daddy that Brad’s being a big jerk. We talked about it. Brad said he wasn’t working out with a girl leading the workouts.”
I could tell that hurt her feelings.
“Hey, don’t let him get to you. We’re happy that you’re helping us,” I assured her.
“That’s what Daddy said. Brad said that when the fall workouts started, he’d make sure everyone was part of the team. He said he was working with the guys who’d be seniors now so they’d make a good core for the team. Daddy wasn’t happy. He and Brad fought about it,” she told me, and then looked nervous. “You can’t say anything. Daddy said we have to show a united front. He doesn’t want anyone to know we have disagreements.”
“I understand. I appreciate you telling me.”
I felt a little better knowing that Coach Hope was working on the problem. I made a mental note to work hard and to get others involved in leadership. I didn’t want to be the sole target for Brad’s group.
I TOLD APRIL WHAT I was doing after school during workouts. She had talked the freshman basketball team into joining her since they didn’t have practice that afternoon. The varsity had an away game and all the coaches were going to that. She wasn’t amused that I was picking up another faux girlfriend, especially one that I would see on an almost daily basis. I explained that she was helping me with art. However, that didn’t seem to help.
I asked Jim if I was being a jerk. He just rolled his eyes.
“Dawson, I’m the last guy you should ask about that. Hell, I can’t even get a date.”
“I didn’t know you wanted one. Do you want me to get you set up?”
“Last time I got my butt kicked and put in the hospital. I’m a little gun-shy.”
“You’re such a baby. Hang on,” I told him. I motioned to Cassidy. “Jim needs a girlfriend.”
It was good that I was paying attention or he might have clocked me. Cassidy gave him a look.