I figured my role in this drama needed to come to an end.
“Dare, I really am sorry for this morning. I just knew that if Ms. Lowden caught you, she’d give you a pass, and I didn’t want to have to go to detention. I’ll never do something like that again,” I said sincerely.
Then I turned to my girlfriend.
“Just remember that I’m wise to your role in all this.”
“I’ll make it up to you later,” she promised.
I really did love that woman.
◊◊◊
Before practice, Dad showed up with Duke so he could personally thank everyone for gathering signatures. Duke was more than happy to let everyone pet him and scratch his ears. Brook, Tim, and Wolf helped me collect and count the signatures. For football, the varsity had a disappointing 28, JV 57, and freshmen were in the lead with 68. Their total of 153 put us at 286 signatures. I’d hoped we would be much closer to the 550 we needed.
Next, we counted the results of the cheerleaders’ efforts. They’d gathered 189 signatures. We only had to collect 75 more over the next two days.
“If each of us gets one more signature, we’ll reach our goal,” Dad announced.
He then read off the football numbers.
“It looks like the freshmen have this in the bag. I didn’t want to say anything, but I plan to close Our House and throw a party for the winners,” I announced.
The varsity and JV glared at the younger guys. I bet they would get busy trying to catch them.
“The cheerleaders collected more signatures than all the guys combined,” Dad announced.
“It’s easier for girls,” Yuri complained.
The dummy was standing next to his girlfriend when he said it. He would never learn.
“We have three who did outstandingly. I want to recognize Destiny Crown, Zoe Pearson, and Jill Lacier. Only a couple of signatures separate the three of you. I’m told that David plans to take the winner out on a date as a thank-you for your efforts,” Dad said.
I glanced over at Brook and watched as the whole unintended consequences thing sank in. Rather than remind her that I’d warned her this was a bad idea, I decided to take the high road. This trio had to be her worst nightmare. She and Destiny were committed frenemies. Destiny wanted Brook’s job as head cheerleader and had as much as said that she planned to steal me away from Brook. I wasn’t worried about that happening because Brook and I were doing just fine.
Zoe and I had a past. She didn’t make it a secret that she wanted to be my girlfriend. I wondered how Johan would take it, now that they were going out. I hoped he realized I hadn’t done anything to encourage it. If she did win, I would make sure that he came on the date. I needed him to block for me during games.
Of the three of them, Jill was the biggest issue for three reasons. One, she was my brother’s girlfriend. Jill and Phil seemed to be a good couple, even though she was hit on constantly. Two, in the past, Jill had let me know that when she was older, she would come after me. That had driven her sister April crazy when April and I were dating. Finally, I’d admitted to Brook that I thought Jill was someone I wouldn’t mind spending time with. I would bet that if she tried to get into any bar, they wouldn’t bat an eye. Jill didn’t look like a freshman. Besides being tall and having model looks, she might have the biggest, firmest breasts in school. She and Kate Upton were about the same size up top, and Jill was slimmer.
I was afraid that if Jill and I went out, I might not be a good boy. That would just invite a shit-storm of trouble. I wouldn’t blame Phil if he never talked to me again, and Brook … I didn’t even want to go there. Besides Hannah Minacci coming and telling me she’d made a huge mistake with that baseball dork, Jill was the only girl I might be tempted to cheat on Brook with. From the look Brook gave me, she knew it too.
“Well, this just sucks,” Brook said when we were finally alone.
“Yeah,” I admitted. “I was hoping we were done with this part of it.”
“Don’t play dumb. What are we going to do about Destiny, Zoe, and Jill?”
I noticed she threw in the ‘we.’
“We could help you get enough signatures to win,” I suggested.
“I’ll never catch them. Besides, they’re out there right now working to get more,” Brook complained.
“Well, you’ll never win with that attitude.”
I sometimes forget that girls need to vent, and your only job was to listen, not poke holes in their logic.
◊◊◊
I met Doc Grog before practice so that he could examine me.
“Did you take it easy this weekend?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Today, I want you to take two laps around the track. Take it easy. I want you to walk,” Doc Grog said.
“Just walk. Got it.”
“Then come back in, and the trainers will stretch you, put you into an ice bath, and give you a massage.”
◊◊◊
Dare was sent to watch me walk around the track. I made him walk with me.
“I want you to know that I realize I was a jerk today.”
“It’s okay. Brook explained it to me,” Dare said.
“She did?” I asked.
“She said that I should take it as a compliment. It meant you thought of me as one of the guys because you were willing to bust my chops. I guess I’m so used to people being mean that I took it wrong.”
“You know I would never really be mean to you. I might goof around, but I like you,” I said.
He stopped, and I turned around to see what was wrong.
“Do you mean that? You’re not just being nice to me because I’m different?”
“Let’s not go too far,” I teased, and then got serious. “Dare, if you’d just talk to people, your life would be so much better. They would get to know the real you.”
“That’s what my mom and Brook say.”
“Do you realize this is the longest conversation we’ve ever had?” I asked.
He just nodded and became quiet. I counted this as a win and didn’t push it.
After the first lap, I was about ready to drop. I kept going because I wanted to speed up the healing process, and this was the first activity I’d been allowed to do since the accident. When I finished the second lap, I’d sweat through my shirt and was breathing as hard as if I’d just completed my usual run. I had Dare run inside and get my crutches.
Becky was totally evil. She refused to give me a pill before she stretched me out. Becky reasoned that she needed to gauge what caused pain and at what level. I told her everything caused pain and at level 11 on her ten-point scale. Becky offered to show me what would hurt more. I took her word for it.
◊◊◊
After practice and my torture were done, Coach Mason wanted to meet with me.
“You look like shit.”
“Becky must hate men and decided to take it out on me today.”
“If I were you, I would sit out the rest of the season and get ready for college,” Coach Mason said, stunning me.
“But …”
“Just hear me out,” he said, holding up a hand. “A hip pointer or cracked ribs by themselves can put you out of action. The combination is not something to joke about.”
“Tell me about it,” I complained.
“You’re destined for bigger things. I worry that you’ll come back too soon and end up doing some permanent damage. You could mess up everything you’ve worked for, for what will frankly be a footnote to your career. No one is going to care whether you won two or three state championships when you’re drafted in the NFL.”
He had a point. The schools on my recruiting list already knew what I could do. If I stepped back from what was right in front of me, my high school teammates and the commitments I’d made, it made sense to take the long-range view. I would have to think about what Coach Mason had just said.
Even some college players had started to skip meaningless bowl games to protect themselves from injuries. Notre Dame’s Jaylon Smith, a top-5 draft prospect, had tumbled to the second round after injuring his knee in the Fiesta Bowl. Instead of a contract in the $23-million range expected for a top-5 draftee, Smith received $4.4 million from the Dallas Cowboys. The worst part was that it took him more than a year to recover and make it onto the playing field.