The three of them are walking side by side, every inch of them gold with their chests spelling EHS. There are so many hoots and hollers that’s all you hear. It’s a sea of high-fives and fist pumps, a sparkling golden sea of perfection. Then the entire hallway erupts into an E-H-S chant. It’s as if the three of them are conductors, guiding and inspiring the swarm of students that have gathered with the commotion.
I can no longer see them; there are so many people surrounding them. I look down the senior hallway and catch a glance from Blythe and Gretch, and we all exchange quick smiles.
The crowd looks like a giant wave as it follows them down the hall. I wish I could see their faces. I’m sure they love every second of this.
“Do I even want to know?” Sid asks.
“Probably not.” I smile at the memory of painting Todd’s chest.
The cheers stop abruptly along with the ebb and flow of the crowd and then loud, screeching electronic reverb breaks through the murmurs.
“Mr. Taylor, Mr. Hamilton, and Mr. Johnson, please report to my office, right now,” Principal Mark’s voice shouts through a bullhorn.
“Uh-oh,” I say, glancing at Sid and Shane.
“You better wash your hands.” Shane gestures toward the evidence.
TODD
The feeling of walking down the hall and seeing the excitement of the crowd is incredible, almost as great as having Ash paint my chest. I need to save that paint. I also need to make sure we meet up in the locker room. I can’t believe the guys have never mentioned that before.
Now, sitting here in Principal Mark’s office, full of gold glitter, wearing only football pants, suddenly makes a brilliant idea seem pretty stupid. Ryan, Brian, and I haven’t said a word out loud to one another. Instead, we have been communicating through looks and glances.
“What the fuck?” Brian mouths to me and Ryan.
“Language, Mr. Johnson,” Mrs. Batmore, the principal’s secretary who must be at least one hundred, says in her high-pitched voice that wavers just because she’s so old.
Brian shrugs innocently. “I didn’t say anything.”
“Mouthing it counts, too,” she says with a stern look over her half-moon glasses as another student turns the corner to join our group.
“MC!” we all shout, startling Mrs. B. She quickly adjusts her sweater with a disgusted eye roll.
Mark Conner just walked in dressed as a condom in support of our school mascot, since we are the Trojans—the warriors, not the condoms, but there’s always at least one on spirit day, and this year it is MC.
“Nice,” Brian says with admiration at the balls it took to wear that.
“Right back at ya, boys.” Mark nods as he sits next to me. “I had to carry on the Barry Richards tradition.” He gestures to the large latex suit covering his body. There is a hole for his face, but the rest looks like he’s wearing a latex dress with a nude bodysuit underneath.
We are interrupted by someone clearing their throat, and we all look in the direction of that sound. Shit.
Standing there is Principal Marks and Coach W.
We are screwed.
We all immediately stand up, showing respect for Coach.
“Coach—” Brian starts.
“Stop.” He eyes all of us, the disappointment clear. “Did you think this was a good idea?”
We glance at one another. Even Brian knows not to answer that question.
“None of you are starting tonight. You will sit out for the first quarter.”
“But, Coach—” Mark and Brian start.
“You’re lucky it’s just the first quarter.” Coach glances at Principal Marks, and it’s clear he wanted more.
“Scouts are coming to the game to watch us play,” Mark continues to argue.
“Then you should have thought about that before. Think about the example you’re setting for the younger players as Captains of this team.”
“But it’s Spirit Day; we’re just showing school spirit,” Brian says in rebuttal.
“Next time, do it with clothes on.” Coach W. glares at all of us with the kind of glare you don’t respond to. “First quarter. You better make the other three count,” Coach continues, and then he looks at Brian. “Johnny will start.”
Brian doesn’t react, but I can tell he’s fuming.
“I hope you all have clothes you can change into. I’m guessing you didn’t come to school dressed like this. It’s game day; you are supposed to wear your jerseys. I suggest you put those on. And next time you want to parade around half naked, leave your football pants out of it.” Coach is not having any of it. He doesn’t even crack a smile.
He nods to Principal Marks. I can see how red his neck is, which tells me just how angry he is.
Then he leans into us and whispers, “And I know about the locker room this morning. You’re lucky I’m the only one.” He glances back to Principal Marks with a smile. It’s obvious that last comment went over his head, thankfully.
My stomach is currently in my throat. I couldn’t speak if I wanted to, so I just nod to Coach, making it clear I understand.
It’s one thing for me to get in trouble, but I don’t want Ash or the other girls to go down for this.
ASHLEY
I’m in homeroom when my phone buzzes. We’re technically not supposed to check phones in any class, but homeroom is the most lenient, so I nonchalantly check it.
When I see Todd’s name, my stomach drops.
Huge trouble. None of us are starting in the game tonight. Changing clothes now. You are fine, but Coach saw.
“Shit,” I say out loud without realizing. I know scouts for Penn State and a few other schools are going to be there, and I know this is not good. They will definitely ask why the starters aren’t starting. My parents are going to freak.
I see Shane reach for his phone then watch him check his text. He looks back at me quickly, and I know he knows something. Then I feel my phone buzz again; this time from Shane.
Johnny is starting? WTF?
When Shane turns back to me with a questioning look, I shrug and mouth, “After Class.”
We don’t need anyone else to get in trouble.
Chapter 7: The Aftershock
ASHLEY
The rest of the day is uneventful compared to this morning. The boys don’t have time to shower, so they have to put their jerseys over all the glitter and paint, leaving all three of their jerseys a mess. Even when they finally do shower at the end of the day, the glitter doesn’t really come out of their hair. Luckily, they wear helmets, because glitter and football don’t really go together. Unfortunately, they have a meet and greet after the game with all the scouts who have expressed interest, so the glitter should be interesting to explain.
It’s tradition for the players’ girlfriends to wear their away jerseys at the homecoming game, so I am wearing Todd’s jersey and loving every second of it. Of course, it’s more like a dress than a shirt, but I wouldn’t trade wearing it for anything. Even though I’m sure it’s been washed many times, it still smells like him, so wearing it makes me feel closer to him, closer to the game.
Blythe makes her way over to me on the bleachers wearing Brian’s jersey, and she actually is wearing it as a dress with black, ripped tights and a belt. All of the cheerleaders with boyfriends on the team put their jerseys on over their uniforms, so Gretch has Ryan’s tied in a knot to show her skirt and mid-drift clearly. It seems like the players make sure they have girlfriends before the game, because almost every girl is wearing someone’s football jersey.
“Nice.” I gesture to what Blythe has done with the jersey look.