“Stop! I give,” Jeff said, laughing at me. “Now give me something that isn’t full of BS.”
“All right, and you’re only getting this because I like you. Mike ‘Magic’ Wade is our coach and has a scholarship to State next year. Magic is the one who showed us how to win this game. He said they’d be nervous, and we had a chance if we got up early.”
“That true, Magic?” Jeff asked him.
“Yes, sir.”
“Oh, jeez! You have them all trained,” Jeff said, shaking his head. “So why would they be nervous?”
Magic told him what he told us before the game.
“This was a one-shot deal. If they’d had a game under their belts when we played them, they would have killed us. We just got lucky and played them first, when they were nervous. You saw what they did to us in the second half. If they’d played the whole game that way, we were done,” Magic finished up the interview.
I pointed to Magic.
“What he said,” I said, to everyone’s amusement.
“Thanks, David. You always make it interesting. Good luck today,” Jeff said, and then went to harass—I mean interview—someone else.
We made it into the championship game where we faced Trotter Academy. They were a football factory from a neighboring state. All their players were division-one prospects. We made a comeback in the fourth quarter but fell short. We were beaten by the superior team. I was glad we wouldn’t have to play them next season.
MISSY SHOWED UP AROUND four o’clock. At least this time Greg didn’t try to hit on my date. Angie must have had a word with him. Missy had checked into a local hotel. It was my turn to make dinner, so she helped me. Mary had taught me how to make Chicken Vesuvio, and I wanted to try it tonight.
I got out Mom’s roasting pan and put it on the stove with a little olive oil. I salted and peppered the chicken pieces, then fried them until they were golden brown. I pulled the chicken out and then I put in potato wedges that Missy had cut up for me. I cooked them until they were brown. I removed them from the pan and sautéed garlic. I added white wine to deglaze the pan. I then added chicken broth, oregano and thyme, and brought it to a boil. I returned the chicken and potatoes to the roasting pan and added a bag of frozen peas. I covered the pan with aluminum foil and put everything in the oven for twenty minutes.
Missy cut up French bread and made a salad. I knew dinner was a hit when there was almost no conversation. I was doubly pleased to see Mom eat.
Mom decided to ‘put Missy to the question,’ as Greg and I put it.
“David tells me that you go to Wesleyan. How do you like it?” Mom asked, starting her interrogation.
Greg smirked at me. It was my turn to squirm.
“I love it. I miss my sister, though. She goes to public school back home.”
“I didn’t know you had a sister,” I said.
“Twin, actually,” she said, and saw my sudden interest.
“You poor thing. He’ll be bugging you to meet her now,” Mom said as she patted Missy’s hand.
Missy had a mischievous smile on her face.
“She’s seen his picture. She keeps trying to get me to switch with her.”
I wasn’t paying attention; I was having a fantasy, so I have no idea why Greg got smacked in the back of the head by both Angie and Mom. The good news was that Mom liked her after that little revelation. Now that Mom had something else to tease me about, her work was done.
MISSY AND I WENT UP to my apartment to ‘relax’ until it was time for Jim to come pick us up for the party. She made me use mouthwash before she would kiss me. She did the same since we smelled of garlic. We had a nice make-out session and were ready when Jim came to pick us up.
He pulled up to Cassidy’s house and ran to the door. He came back to the car.
“She’s not ready. Coach said to come in for a while.”
Missy and I followed Jim in. Brad took one look at my date and walked out of the room. There were a lot of cute girls at Lincoln, but Missy was something special. I introduced Coach to Missy and we sat down in the living room to wait for Cassidy.
“Jim, how did you and David become friends?” Missy asked.
“When I first met David, he was seeing my sister. At the time, I wanted to kick his butt. My sister’s a senior and had just gone through a bad breakup. Here was this upstart freshman taking her out. My instinct was to end his miserable life. Then I noticed that she seemed a lot happier. Then all she could talk about was David this and David that. I wanted to kick his butt all over again.”
Missy seemed very entertained by Jim’s story.
“Suzanne’s a good friend. She’s also my tutor,” I said.
“Hot for teacher,” Missy teased.
“I guess,” I said, blushing. “The three of us go out now and then as friends. You know, we should get Cassidy to go with us sometime,” I joked with Jim.
“I don’t think so,” Jim said.
Cassidy came into the living room. I kept a straight face when I saw she’d put on makeup. The problem was that she looked awful. She turned to Jim.
“So, how do I look?”
The poor boy was stuck. How did you tell your girlfriend she looked like a circus clown? Before he lost his girlfriend, I saved him.
“Did you leave any in the bottle?”
“David!” both Missy and Cassidy yelled at me.
Coach Hope broke out laughing, which earned him a glare. Missy took Cassidy back to her room to fix her makeup.
“Man, I owe you big time. She may kick your butt later. I promise to try and slow her down.”
“Missy’ll get her squared away.”
Coach had wisely stayed out of the conversation. The girls came back and Cassidy looked very nice. She glared at her Dad and me. She got a sweet smile on her face.
“Better?” she asked Jim.
He just nodded. With that, we were off to the party.
SAMMIE GOUDY LIVED just outside of town in a renovated farmhouse. They only owned five acres, but her parents had made it feel like a park. They had a small fish pond and a big gazebo out back. It was too cold to enjoy any of that. We walked into a typical teen party of about forty people. There was almost a three-to-one girl-to-guy ratio, and a majority of the girls were cheerleaders.
Beth was the first to spot us. She must have been in charge of making punch because her lips were cherry red and she was tipsy. She sauntered over and Missy’s eyes got big when she laid a heated kiss on me. She then noticed Missy.
“She’s a pretty one. Hi, I’m Beth, a friend of David’s,” Beth said by way of introduction.
“Missy. I’m also a friend of David’s. Does he have a lot of friends?” Missy asked.
Suzanne caught me by surprise and gave me a kiss. Everyone laughed when Cindy did the same. Cassidy grabbed Missy’s hand.
“Come on. Let’s get you a drink and I’ll explain some things to you,” Cassidy said as she led Missy to the bar.
I looked at Jim.
“Hey, you owe me, go slow that down,” I ordered him.
“Like that’s gonna happen,” he said, and went to be with his girlfriend.
Mona came up and gave me a kiss.
“Okay, it’s kiss David time, bring it on,” I said, joking.
Mona put two fingers in her mouth and did an earsplitting whistle to get everyone’s attention.
“David’s giving out kisses if anyone wants one!” Mona offered.
“Crud, this is only my second date with Missy,” I complained.
Sammie and Kim both gave me a kiss on the cheek. I think Beth slowed everyone else down. I found Missy talking to Tracy. I was going to kill Cassidy. I came up and put my arm around Missy’s waist. Tracy winked at me.
“Don’t worry, David, I’ve been good. I was telling Missy about what an upstanding young man you are,” Tracy filled me in.
“Your check’s in the mail,” I told Tracy. I turned to Missy. “Sorry about that. They like to tease me.”