“That sounds lame,” Christian said as he scrunched up his nose.
“Who cares how it sounds? Only Veronica and I know what we went through last night,” David said dramatically. “No one else is entitled to judge the lameness of what we did.”
“Tell me you didn’t sleep with this guy,” Peter all but begged her.
’Personally, I’d rather be locked in a cage with a rabid dog than spend the night with Veronica,’ David thought.
“Like you two losers didn’t go home alone,” Veronica fired back.
“I sure as hell wouldn’t be sleeping in bed alone on a Saturday night,” Christian shot back, and David noted he sounded upset.
David wondered if there was something between Veronica and Christian.
“Dude, if you wanted a hug, you could have just asked,” Peter teased.
Christian shot everyone a pissed-off look. David bit the inside of his lip; otherwise, a very ill-timed chuckle might have slipped out due to his suspicions about Christian and Veronica.
“Settle down,” David said to Christian. “Veronica did me a favor and helped me get into the event. I wanted to meet the boosters and the bigwigs in the athletic department.”
“You never told me why,” Veronica probed.
“To effect change, you have to know all the key players and get their buy-in,” David explained.
“What are you going to change?” Veronica asked.
“I came to USC to win national championships in football,” David announced.
Saying that out loud somehow made his quest real. He’d just publicly declared his goal. In the past, he’d only told friends and family. Saying it to these three suddenly crystallized his commitment in a way he hadn’t realized was missing.
David suddenly remembered something his uncle had told him about accountability. The example he gave was a diet. Trying to lose weight on your own, no matter how much you wanted to do it, was destined to fail. Standing up and announcing it to the world changed things. Your odds of reaching your goal went up exponentially.
David realized that he had to start shouting his goal from the rooftops. He would need the buy-in from a lot of people, and just wishing it wasn’t enough. He felt like an important step had been taken and now knew that USC would win a national championship before he left the school.
Coach Farrow called David and told him that Coach Clayton had asked him to come in early so he could sit down with Matt to clear the air before the team meeting. The sit-down was probably needed, but that didn’t mean David was looking forward to it.
As he was about to walk out of his dorm room, David stopped. This might be one of those meetings where he would need backup down the road, so he grabbed his video glasses. He tested them out to make sure they were working and put them on. David figured it was better to be safe than sorry.
When David got to Coach Clayton’s office, he could hear Coach and Matt talking. As soon as he stuck his head in, the conversation stopped. David had a funny feeling they’d been talking about him.
“Come in and take a seat,” Coach Clayton said and then waited for David to join them. “I wanted to put an end to this foolishness between the two of you.”
“No hard feelings,” Matt said as he held his hand out.
“That’s it? I’m supposed to shake his hand, and all is forgiven?” David asked.
When neither of the others said anything, David continued.
“What are you sorry for?” David asked Matt.
“There’s no need for that...” Coach Clayton began but stopped when he saw the look on David’s face. He paused a moment, and David saw his recognition this couldn’t be glossed over. “Tell him.”
Matt didn’t look happy.
“I’m sorry John got out of hand.”
“You’re really going with John got out of hand?” David asked Matt and then turned to Coach Clayton. “If that’s the case, why isn’t John in here giving me an apology?”
“Okay, I might have said some things, and John just took it too far,” Matt said.
“So, this is John’s fault, and you really were an innocent bystander,” David said and stopped himself.
He could feel his anger rising at this entire situation and realized that being right wasn’t what was needed right now. Even though it would feel good, he would end up alienating Coach Clayton if he ripped into Matt as he deserved. But that didn’t mean David didn’t intend to make a point.
“This isn’t going to get us anywhere. What I want you to do is look at the bigger picture. What do you estimate your football career will be worth to you and your family over your lifetime?” David asked Matt.
“I’m not really sure,” Matt said.
“Can we agree that it could be quite a lot?” David asked.
“Yes.”
“So, let me give you a ‘for instance.’ What if, next year, Coach Clayton recruits a top-tier quarterback to be your replacement down the road, and the replacement decides he doesn’t want to wait for you to graduate? Let’s say he asks a buddy to ambush you and take a bat to your knees so he could play. If you could prove he’d ordered it, would you be within your rights to sue him and everybody else involved?” David asked.
“Of course,” Matt agreed.
“Now, take me. Besides football, I also just got done filming three action movies. If my knee had been shot, I might never be able to film another action movie or play a down of football. Do you see where I’m going with this?”
Matt wouldn’t answer, so David continued.
“You’re in the real world now. This isn’t middle school, where you ask your buddy to beat up a kid because you don’t like them. Your actions have consequences beyond your little bubble. Not everything is about you anymore. When you fuck with people’s lives, they won’t just lie down and take it,” David said. “More to the point, I won’t just lie down and take it.”
Matt looked David in the eyes and nodded.
“I really am sorry. I was only thinking about myself,” Matt admitted.
“Look, Matt, we both know that Coach Clayton intends for you to start at quarterback when the season begins. I came here knowing I wasn’t going to be that guy, and I’m okay with that because my goal is for us to win games, not just a few, but all of them. If Coach Clayton thinks I can best serve by playing on defense, then, first, he’s crazy because I could beat you out if given a fair shot. But second, I’ll suck it up and do as asked for the greater good,” David said with a smile.
“Well, okay then,” Coach Clayton said to finally get involved. “I’d like the two of you to let the team know that you’re both going to work toward the team’s success before the locker room starts to break down even more than it has. The two of you need to show them that you can coexist.”
“Two questions. Will you let me work with the offense in case Matt gets hurt?” David asked.
“Yes,” Coach Clayton said.
Matt, to his credit, didn’t let on that he was bothered.
“Will you honor our agreement about a scholarship?”
“You’re not on scholarship?” Matt asked, clearly shocked.
Coach Clayton flushed.
“I’ll get it worked out,” Coach Clayton replied.
David looked at him intently. “Do you promise that it will be worked out?”
Coach Clayton turned even redder and glared at David.
“I said I would, and I will!”
David resisted the almost overwhelming urge to remind the coach that he’d promised that before and had not yet delivered on that promise. After all, he had his glasses on. David smiled instead.
“Then I’m on board,” he agreed.
“Me, too,” Matt added.
At the appointed time, the whole team met in the auditorium. Coach Clayton came out and addressed them. He quickly got to what had happened yesterday and confirmed the rumors that Matt had put John up to trying to hurt David. He announced one-game suspensions for Matt, John, and Percy; Percy got his because of his retaliatory move when he thought his friend and teammate had been hurt.