I had to look past what he could do for the team, though. It made my stomach turn because I felt that was the wrong reason to let him back on the team. I kept going back to what he said about one mistake changing his life. God knows I didn’t want to forgive him. I certainly wasn’t going to forget. Something they teach us about God’s grace is that he will forgive us if we ask. Mike had shown contrition for his actions. If God could forgive him, how could I not? The simple answer was because I was human.
I needed to be the bigger man.
“All right,” I said softly as I decided to give Mike a second chance.
“David, just because Mike’s on the team doesn’t mean we won’t be watching him. I plan on talking to his parents, too. He’ll have to earn his way back from this. I don’t plan to make it easy for him, but if Mike keeps his nose clean and is a team player, he can work his way back.”
“I agree, Coach. No one said you had to like the people you worked with,” I said. “Lord knows, there are some guys who’ll never be my friends.”
I knew that as I went up in levels, not everyone would be happy with me. I already suspected college would be much more businesslike, and likely much more dangerous in a social and emotional sense.
◊◊◊
Chapter 5 – What Comes After the Blues Thursday September 3
For me, this was the first day of school. I pulled up just as Mike did. I thought about sitting in my car until he’d gone in, but decided I might as well tackle this now. He didn’t see me until I stepped right next to him.
“Oh, shit!” Mike said as he jumped when he saw me.
“Relax.”
We walked in without saying a word to each other. Mike kept glancing at me, as did half the people who hung around the front of the school. I think we disappointed them when we didn’t throw down right there. Pam saw us and rolled her eyes at me, but wasn’t willing to walk in with us. When we got inside Mike touched my arm, which caused me to stop and look at him.
“Thanks,” was all he said, and we went to find our lockers.
I got out my information packet and found my locker and combination. I located it and my day got better when Brook Davis had the locker next to mine. Then I remembered lockers were assigned alphabetically—Davis, Dawson. I checked her out. Brook had on jeans so tight she had to have had help putting them on, which highlighted the fact she was either going commando or had a thong on. She wore a man’s dress shirt she had tied so her butt wasn’t covered. I liked what I saw. I walked up behind her and put my arms on both sides of her head and my palms against the locker in front of her. I put my mouth near her ear.
“Did you wear that for me?” I whispered.
Brook squeaked and spun around and saw it was me looking down at her. I was amused when she blushed. I let my forehead drop down and touch hers. I wanted to kiss her, but not yet. If I fell for her this easily, I was a goner.
“What if I said yes?” she asked in her sexy, raspy voice.
“I would say I’m jealous because you’re not wearing my shirt.”
“Oh, my,” she said as she bit her lower lip.
Brook was saved when I was hip-checked. I looked to see who the culprit was and saw a smiling Tracy.
“Pam sent me to tell you good job with Mike this morning. You might want to go and talk to Mona,” Tracy said, reminding me I had a girlfriend.
I set Brook free, but she wasn’t going anywhere. There was definitely an attraction between us. The first bell rang, and I pulled my class list out of the folder the school had sent out in the mail. It had the usual stuff in it like the school rules, your locker assignment and combination, and of course your class schedule:
PE – Mr. (Coach) Diamond
AP Trigonometry – Ms. Lowden
AP English – Short Stories – Mrs. Hedge
Art – Life Drawings II – Ms. Saunders
Lunch
AP American History – Mr. (Coach) Zoon
AP Physics I – Mr. Hicks
World Geography – Mrs. Keller
I did a double take because this wasn’t the class list I’d signed up for last spring. I’d specifically decided not to take any AP classes. As it was, I would miss a couple of weeks at the end of the semester for the new movie I would be making with Halle. I didn’t need college-level classes to complicate my already busy schedule. The first person who came to mind who would do something like this behind my back was Tami. I suspected her collaborator was Alan. I would need to have a talk with the two of them.
My first class was PE where I saw Mike talking to Jim, Wolf, and Ty. I found Coach Diamond, and he assigned me a locker so I could store my street clothes. I hadn’t talked to Wolf or Jim since I punched them, so it worried me a little that they might be pissed at me. My locker turned out to be right in the middle of where the guys were talking.
“You’re a dumbass,” Jim told me.
“Really, what makes you say that?” I asked.
“If you had let Wolf and me stop you from killing Mike, a girl might not have embarrassed you,” he said to the amusement of everyone else.
“Funny guy. I think that girl could have kicked all our butts combined. There’s no shame in having Cassidy Hope take you down.”
Jim and Wolf had dated Cassidy and were well aware of what she was capable of.
“I still need to thank her for that. It looked like you were getting ready to give me a serious beatdown,” Mike said.
“David, just so we’re clear. I’m a lover, not a fighter,” Ty said.
We found Tim already in the weight room. Wolf and I paired up like we had last year. Tim and Jim decided to lift together, leaving Ty and Mike as a team. We had lifted all summer, so we knew our routines. It felt good to lift again after a three-day layoff.
◊◊◊
By the end of the day, I wondered if the three new cheerleaders were stalking me. Zoe was in all my AP classes. Her mom had done well in preparing her for public school. Art and Physics I had with Halle. In History and Geography, I was joined by Brook.
Lunch was interesting. Alan and I found a table first. Mona sat next to me, and Halle, Zoe, and Pam sat across from us. Brook came up and saw Alan sitting next to me.
“Move it,” she ordered.
Alan looked at me, just shook his head and moved over. When Gina got to the table, she saw me surrounded.
“Dead man walking,” Gina announced.
I had to agree.
Phil entered the lunchroom and looked like he was surveying the room, trying to find somewhere to eat. I stood up and motioned him over. He was with Yuri, and I waved him over too. Tracy, Sammie, and Kim joined us as we filled up our two tables. I introduced everyone to Alan, Phil and Yuri.
Phil had gotten his hair cut like mine. If he was going to be a mini-me, I needed to start calling him and telling him what I planned to wear the next day. I wasn’t sure if it amused or irritated me to have my half brother try and copy me. I would never have done that with Greg. Then again, Greg wasn’t as cool as I was.
I thought I would give Gina a little payback for her earlier comment.
“Did Gina show you her pictures from her fashion shoot yesterday?” I asked.
“I, uh, didn’t bring them,” she answered.
“It’s a good thing I’m your friend,” I announced and brought up her pictures on my tablet. Everyone gathered around so they could see.
I had created a slide show and put it to James Blunt’s song You’re Beautiful. At first, Gina wasn’t sure if I was making fun of her, but then she saw me get up and come to her to give her a hug.
“Don’t let all this other stuff get you down. You’re a sexy woman,” I said as I held her.
I thought she was going to get choked up, but she got it together and then told everyone about our day yesterday. Gina then told them about how I’d gotten her and Cassidy clothes. I was happy to give my friend a little boost since I knew she was hurting because Mike had cheated on her. I honestly hadn’t come to grips with it either. Mike and I were no longer friends. As far as Mona was concerned, I needed to talk to her. I was almost positive that I was done with the faux-girlfriend bit, but I’d made a commitment to help her achieve her dream to be Homecoming Queen.