Zoe came back to the table after dancing with Ridge. I hid a grin because he was a terrible dancer. I’d gotten Zoe a glass of punch and turned to ask her to dance when Bryan Callahan showed up out of nowhere.
“May I have this dance?” he asked Zoe.
I stood up and glared at him. Zoe touched my arm.
“David, it’s okay. I’d be happy to dance with him,” she said, and he guided her out to the dance floor.
I sat down and decided that it wasn’t worth getting mad about. Ridge and Bill wanted to talk about the game. They were as bad as I was when it came to being a football junkie. I enjoyed our conversation because they understood what was really going on. I was in the middle of explaining my read progression on a play when Zoe came back and was immediately asked to dance by Yuri. I guess I wasn’t going to get to dance with my date tonight. Then Ridge said something that brought me back to our discussion.
“Coach was impressed with you tonight. He told me that I could tell you that USC has decided you’re worthy of an offer.”
“He’s just trying to pay you back for kicking his ass at football camp,” Bill said. “Coach couldn’t stop talking about how you played. You’re more than worthy of the offer. I admit that I was worried I’d made a mistake when everything was going down with our previous coach. We don’t know who’ll be in charge next year, but I love USC.
“I think you’d like it. For sure I like the weather better. The only thing I had to get used to was that USC is in the heart of LA, and it seems there are people everywhere. I miss the quiet at times. I’d love to have you around and play ball together again.”
“I’d love to go to school with you, too. USC is one of the schools I’ll definitely consider, but I won’t make any decisions until spring of my senior year,” I said.
“That’s a good plan. I committed to Alabama before I was ready, and it turned into a mess when I switched to USC. Don’t make a decision until you’re 100 percent sure,” Ridge said.
I looked up and saw Wolf lead Zoe onto the dance floor. I needed some air, so I got up and walked out of the gym. This reminded me too much of my freshman year when Cindy and Suzanne had their ex-boyfriends show up. I was glad Zoe was having a good time, but she was my date, and I like to dance. I didn’t come to be ignored.
I found Peggy Pratt leaning against the wall.
“Oh, David, thank God,” she said.
It was plain to see something was wrong. When I got close, Peggy reached for me. I took her hand, and then she leaned into me and groaned. I looked down, and the ground was wet.
“I don’t think you’re going to give your crown away tonight,” I said. “Do I need to take you to the hospital?”
“Yes, please,” she said, and I took her to the parking lot.
I’d borrowed my mom’s Cadillac because it was Homecoming. I’d learned my lesson when I took Angie to the hospital. I found a blanket in the trunk and put it in the passenger seat. I then called my mom.
“Hey, Mom. Can you call the Pratts and tell them that Peggy’s gone into labor? I’m taking her to the hospital and will meet them there,” I said.
“I thought you were at the dance.”
“I was. Peggy was last year’s Homecoming Queen. Her water broke outside the gym,” I explained.
“Okay. I’ll call Angie, and we’ll meet you there,” Mom said.
I hung up, and Peggy gave me a weak smile.
“What’s your date going to think?” she asked.
“I doubt she’ll even miss me. She was busy dancing with everyone but me tonight,” I said.
Peggy dropped it when she saw the look on my face. The more I thought about it, the more I realized finding Peggy was probably the best possible outcome for me. If I saw any of the girls or their dates, I’d probably regret what I would do. It was good that I had only been dating them. It would make it easier to walk away.
◊◊◊
David William Pratt was born at 11:59 and weighed seven pounds even. I’d held Peggy’s hand as she had him. Her mom and dad were out of town, so I stepped up and was there for her. He had a little head of red hair like his mother’s.
When I came out of the delivery room, I was exhausted. Watching Peggy have a baby was almost as much work as playing a football game. I needed to get home because we were going to Notre Dame tomorrow. I came out to the waiting room, and Angie handed me my suit coat and cell phone.
“This thing has been going off all night.”
“Why didn’t you answer it?” I asked.
She gave me a look, and I just shrugged. Usually, Angie would do whatever Angie wanted. If that meant answering my phone to be meddlesome, she would. I scrolled the list of missed calls and saw everyone I expected. I would deal with them later. I even saw a couple from Bryan and Brock. I would kick their asses when I got back from Notre Dame. Then there was one I didn’t expect from Cassidy Hope. I decided to call her back, so I selected her name.
“Where are you?” she asked.
Her tone of voice said she was worried, not demanding. I told her how I’d found Peggy outside the gym, and that she’d had a little boy.
“They’re all worried sick. You need to call them,” Cassidy said.
I knew who ‘they’ were, and I wasn’t ready to talk to them. I needed to get out of town for the weekend to decide what I was going to do. It was apparent I didn’t have any claim over them, and they certainly didn’t have one over me. There would always be other girls.
“I’ll see them at school on Monday. If you want to call them, feel free.”
“Are you sure? They seemed pretty upset that you left.”
“Cassidy, don’t worry about it. Tell your dad I might be asking you out,” I teased her.
She made a rude noise.
“Hey, who won King and Queen?” I asked.
“Jim and Kim. Mona wasn’t happy,” she shared.
“Shit happens,” I said. “Thanks for being my friend.”
“I feel the same. Have fun this weekend.”
◊◊◊
Chapter 24 – A Party You Don’t Want to Miss Saturday October 17
Alan had slowly worked his way back into my good graces, enough to go on this trip. He had everyone meet us at Granny’s for breakfast. Alan had heard Zoe, Halle, Pam, and Brook make plans to find me in the school parking lot this morning. Tim was getting around better, so he rode with Alan, Brandon, and me. Jim, Wolf, Ty, and Jake were in the other car. Granny treated me like the conquering hero and took me around to meet everyone. Our town certainly had caught football fever with our win. It didn’t help that the morning newspaper picked us to win state after our performance last night.
After hot, handmade cinnamon rolls, country fried steak, and eggs for breakfast, I had a full tummy and was a happy boy. When Granny found out we were making a road trip to Notre Dame, she boxed up extra cinnamon rolls for the trip.
On the ride, Tim filled me in on what he’d seen after I left.
“When Zoe came back to the table and found you gone, she realized she’d made a mistake. Bill and Ridge were embarrassed that they had been a part of it, but Tracy told them they were fine. She was pissed at the four girls. Tracy sat them down and told them about what happened to you freshman year,” he said, and then smiled. “Dude, I didn’t realize you took both Cindy and Suzanne to Homecoming.”
Brandon didn’t have any idea what they were talking about, so Alan clued him in. He had Brandon log in to Facebook and showed him Suzanne and Cindy’s pictures.