“Let me guess. I get a half day off to go get my neck checked out?”
“Let me go get Becky and ask,” Paige said, and she scampered off.
Wolf was getting out of the whirlpool as he eased into the room.
“Did she just break your neck?” he asked with a smirk.
“I hope not. I actually feel much better. Don’t tell her, but I think she fixed it.”
Paige came back out and got Wolf on the table to give him a massage. I saw the blue goop and shuddered. Becky came out.
“So, your neck made a loud popping noise. Did you feel anything when it happened?”
“Maybe, but I feel great now.”
She just shook her head.
I GOT LUCKY: MOM HAD buyers who’d bailed on her. She took me to the hospital to see an orthopedist, Dr. Wang. He checked my neck out and ordered an x-ray. While I was waiting, my plastic surgeon saw me in the hall and pulled me into a room to check my chin. She thought it looked great.
When the x-rays were done, Dr. Wang asked us into his office.
“It looks like there’s some trauma to your C1 and C2 vertebrae,” he said, pointing to the x-ray. “I recommend you keep the neck brace on to stabilize the area. I’d also recommend you use a heating pad, on low, or a heat pack to help circulation. If you feel tense, I want you to get a massage every 4 to 6 hours.”
“Can he play football on Saturday?” Mom asked. “I don’t want to see him hurt, but he’ll want to play. If you think it would be better for him to sit out, tell me now, so I can tie him up in his room.”
“No, he should be fine. Just don’t let them pull your helmet off,” Dr. Wang said with a smile.
He gave me a couple of chemical heat packs and showed me how to get them to work. There was a little metal disc you clicked, and it caused a chemical reaction. The pack went from clear to white. The neat thing was they were reusable. All I had to do was boil them for ten or fifteen minutes, and they went back to clear and ready to use again. He had me put one on my neck, and then put the brace on. It did feel good.
I talked Mom into going across the street to the diner to have a fried-chicken lunch. I then got her to split a piece of pie with me. We had a pecan with an oatmeal crust and homemade vanilla ice cream with real vanilla bean chunks in it. Pecan isn’t my Mom’s favorite, but she let me pick. The pie came out hot, and the melted ice cream made our day. I had them pack me up a banana cream pie to take with me.
Mom took me back and explained what the doctor said to Paige and Becky. They took me to the office and got me hall passes for the next three days so I could come get a massage if I needed it.
I was in time for the second half of lunch. I sat down at the cheerleaders’ table and unveiled the pie. They didn’t even bother to cut it. I got a scoop and took it over to Yuri. I swear his mom must not feed him, because I think he inhaled it!
AT FOOTBALL PRACTICE, Coach introduced us to the Mansfield Titans. They had somehow gotten into the championship game. They were one of those teams who seemed to just hang around, and hang around, and then a miracle would happen and they’d suddenly find themselves winners. They had been underdogs in every game they played.
“Mansfield is a dangerous team! They find ways to win. I expect us to be in for a real dogfight. Don’t let them fool you; they’ve had teams underestimate them all year. On paper, we should dominate them, but I’m telling you, there’s something about them that lulls you into a false sense of security.”
We watched the games they’d played in the playoffs. What became apparent was they played error-free ball, and they hustled and got every break. If a ball was on the ground, they fell on it. If you overthrew your receiver, they picked it off. On offense, they fought for every inch. Their running backs weren’t especially big, strong or fast. They just never gave up, and always fought for extra yardage. You had to ‘play to the whistle’ on every down.
Where they really excelled was the kicking game. They had a kid who would consistently punt 40+ yards; then we watched as he kicked a forty-five yard field goal. Alan told us he had only three returns all year on kickoffs because he normally booted it through the end zone.
It was the hidden yardage of the special teams that could really make a difference in evenly matched teams. We were going to be at a serious disadvantage if we weren’t careful. The one bright spot was their kicker seemed to outkick his coverage, sometimes, on punts. Coach Stevens was tasked to find a way to help offset their advantage.
FOR DINNER, I HAD MADE a Crock-Pot of potato soup. I left some for Mom and Dad and took the rest to acting class. Everyone was there except Deb, who was upset the last time we had class. She didn’t seem to want to do what it took to be successful. It wasn’t like you graduated with a degree in acting and they were lined up to give you a job. You had to work to make things happen or get one hell of an agent, which wasn’t happening for a rookie.
“Where’s Deb?” I asked.
“She’s dropped this class,” Kate told us.
“I got my first modeling job,” Cheryl announced.
I was surprised that dropping a class was no big deal. I tried to keep up with the conversation.
“That’s great, what are you doing?” Terrance asked.
“They thought I’d be perfect playing a homeless person. It’s an ad campaign for some nonprofit.”
We all laughed at that. It was soon time for class. I was nervous about today because we were doing a love scene. At one point it said, ‘Stryker kissed her passionately.’
“David, I’m going to have Terrance and Cheryl run the scene first to give you some ideas,” Kate advised.
Terrance acting like a leading man was funny. He tried to look all manly and gaze deeply into Cheryl’s eyes. He grabbed her and kissed her. I will say Cheryl seemed to be getting into it. She ran her fingers through his kinky black hair.
When Kate called ‘cut,’ they were both breathing hard. Terrance gave me a smirk that dared me to top his effort. I took off my neck brace and prepared to do the scene. The character of Stryker was supposed to be a fighter. He was brash and full of confidence.
Instead of facing Cheryl, I turned to the side and just glanced at her. I slowly smiled and turned as if I was noticing her for the first time. I did a little head motion to indicate I wanted her to come to me. Cheryl blushed and tentatively started towards me. I turned and put my hand so my fingers held the back of her neck and my thumb could caress her cheek. I looked her in the eyes and then pulled her to me. I tilted her head back and kissed her neck.
“Oh, shit,” Cheryl moaned.
I smirked at her, and then kissed her. Cheryl melted into my embrace.
“Cut,” Kate called.
I bounced back, smiling. Cheryl was giving me smoldering looks. Uh, oh!
“What worked or didn’t work with that scene?” Kate asked us.
“It wasn’t long enough,” Cheryl suggested.
“You’re such a hussy,” Terrance admonished her.
She just stuck her tongue out at him.
“The average love scene in a movie is short. They make it up in cuts to speed up the action. From Cheryl’s reaction, David gave a credible real-life performance. The question is, how would it play to an audience on film?”
“Would his hand be a distraction, or a plus, depending on camera angle?” Terrance ventured.
“Good. David, where was the camera for the scene?” Kate asked.
“I don’t know. I guess I should have thought about that,” I answered.
“Normally you’d have one behind you to capture Cheryl’s expressions; one behind her; and one just a little off center facing the two of you,” Kate said.
“If that was the case, then he was facing the wrong way to start the scene unless you wanted to see his back,” Cheryl said.