She had me pull it up. The pictures of the four lead characters were prominently displayed. I was shocked that I was one of them. Craig Wild was playing the main character. He was a goofy-looking kid with big ears. The two women were Bree Steno, from the vampire show, and Elizabeth Jenks, who’d had a breakout movie this summer. I felt my stomach tighten up like it did before a game. Doing the movie just became very real to me.
I had to get up and be alone for a little bit. The girls all looked confused as I made my exit to go to my thinking tree. Now would have been the perfect time to talk to Tami, because she always knew how to calm me down. I wasn’t ready for all this, so I called my uncle.
“Hey, I’m freaking out. They just posted my picture on the Star Academy movie website,” I told him. “I think I may have made a mistake. I’m not in the same league as those other actors.”
“Don’t ever say that again! You’re a Dawson! Dawsons suck it up and do what needs to be done. You’ll do this, and you’ll be fine.”
“But you said it: I shouldn’t make this film,” I protested.
“Well, it’s too late now,” he told me. “David, I love you like my own son. I just wanted to protect you from what’s to come. If your dad or I really thought you couldn’t handle this, we’d have stopped you. Young man, you can be special, if you’ll just get out of your own way.
“Besides, what are you scared of? Failure? Failure is just an opportunity to get better. I know that sounds like a cliché, but you know it’s true. Think of all the times you’ve failed on the football field. Each time you learned from it. I guarantee you’ll fail at some point while making this movie. I also guarantee you’ll learn from it, and get better. It’s also why they do more than one take.”
“Thanks, I needed to hear that. Sometimes I just need to know someone believes in me. I can always count on you,” I said.
“You never have to worry about how we feel about you. There are a lot of people who believe in you, not just your family. I think we just don’t tell you enough that we love you,” he said, which touched me. “Buck up, Buddy, and call me if you need to talk.”
If I was going to deserve to be on the same screen as the other three actors, I’d need to work hard. Work was something I wasn’t afraid of. No one would outwork me!
TONIGHT’S SHOOTING lesson was with live ammo. Dylan had me draw and shoot in one motion. It brought the hidden gunslinger out in me. I think every boy plays cowboys at some point and thinks he’s the quickest draw alive.
“As soon as you draw, I want you to point the gun downrange. This way if you needed to quickly fire, you could do it from the hip. Remember only to point the gun at something you’re willing to destroy. Guns are not toys, and when you have one in your hand, you’re responsible for it, even if you know it isn’t loaded.”
I’d been sweeping the gun up. He showed me to pull, point, and then bring it to bear. Done correctly, it was all one motion.
“I also want you to keep your off hand tight to the center of your chest. This way you don’t accidentally blow your hand off.”
He demonstrated. On the draw, his left hand came to his chest as he pulled the gun from his holster. The gun was pointed downrange and brought to his chest, where the left hand stabilized the grip. He then extended his arms while rolling his shoulders forward. The gun was eye-level as he fired downrange.
By the end of the night, I was consistently hitting the target in a tight grouping.
I CAME HOME EXPECTING to see Tracy, but her car wasn’t there, so I went up to my room and found Peggy. This was a pleasant surprise. She came to me, gave me a kiss, and then wrinkled her nose.
“What’s that smell?”
“Gunpowder; I was shooting,” I explained.
“Go take a shower. Are you planning on wearing that sweatshirt tomorrow?”
“Yes.”
“I’m going to throw it in the wash.”
I pulled out a few other things, and she took them down to the house. I took my time in the shower. When I got out, Peggy was naked on my bed, waiting for me. We took our time and just kissed each other. I worked her into a frenzy, and then went down on her. We took turns pleasuring each other.
Would I have preferred to have full-on sex with her? Yes; but for her, I was willing to wait. Peggy was a special girl, and I knew I was lucky to have her.
Wednesday November 12
JEFF DELAHEY HAD WRITTEN an article about us that landed on the front page of the sports section. It recounted our year, and how a group of sophomores and three seniors had built a team that had won our conference. He then blasted the conference for not including any underclassmen on the All-Conference Team. He explained how that slight had been turned around and used to make us a stronger ‘TEAM.’
Jeff warned the conference we’d be back the next two years. He said if he was our coach, he’d remind us, each and every game, how they’d snubbed us. He predicted we’d win State this year. I silently cursed him for putting so much pressure on us. Of course, our rabid fans ate it up.
When I got to school, it was a zoo. There were posters wishing us luck everywhere. It looked like the student body had bought out the local sporting goods store of all the Lincoln High sweatshirts with ‘TEAM’ on the back. Devin must be teaching Sandy something about marketing. Her idea to upgrade from t-shirts to sweatshirts would be adding to the bottom line. I bet they were looking at the ‘TEAM’ concept, and thinking about ways to market it nationwide. It sure had a huge impact on local sales.
I looked for Peggy in the frenzied crowd when Pam put her arm around my waist.
“I just wanted to give you a little incentive. If you win state ...” she said, and she gave me a big grin.
“Color me inspired.”
I soon found Peggy. She’d seen Pam talking to me, and she didn’t look pleased.
“What did she want?” she asked.
“She was wishing me luck.”
“I bet she was.”
I bent down and kissed her. Mitch came walking up, and Peggy wrapped her arms around me in response.
“Tracy!” she called.
I soon had the varsity cheerleaders holding onto me.
“Afraid you might get kicked out during the playoffs?” Mitch taunted me.
There was a blur, then a loud smacking sound, and then Mitch crumpled. I looked to see who had just hit him: it was Yuri Antakov, the kid I’d gotten a three-day suspension with. I just laughed as he disappeared into the crowd. I let the girls drag me into the school where Peggy got in my face.
“No more! Mitch isn’t worth it, and I love you,” she said, causing me suddenly to forget all about Mitch.
Peggy suddenly realized what she’d said, and I pulled her to me and gave her a searing kiss.
“Peggy Pratt, will you be my girlfriend?” I asked.
“Yes,” she almost whispered.
I picked her up and swung her around while I kissed her. I felt like I’d just won State. I finally had to let her go when the bell rang. Peggy was my girlfriend!
COULD THIS DAY GET any better? Peggy had said she loved me. She told me she was my girlfriend. I got to play in a State Playoff game today, and at lunch, they had double cheeseburgers. This was like the mythical holy grail of lunches. They even had tater tots. I kept looking around for karma to bite me in the butt. No day could be this good.
At lunch, I found Emma, and the guys were back. Wayne had talked to Coach Hope and was now back on the team. We didn’t even talk once about vampires. The pressure was building; something bad had to happen, and soon.
THE TEAM WENT TO BEVERLY in style. The Booster Club had ordered us a charter bus and provided subs and bottled water for the trip. On the ride to the game Coach Diamond had me watch highlights of all of Beverly’s games. Some of my cockiness from Monday went away because they were undefeated for a reason. Beverly simply played at a different level than their opponents.