My core was probably the most important. It was what gave me the power to throw and hit a baseball. It also helped me in football with taking hits and with my throwing. I also had some improvement in my speed and agility, even with the added weight. He was happy with the progress.
◊◊◊
At lunch, I found Don Crown, Destiny’s brother, waiting for me, and he didn’t look happy. Out of nowhere, Cassidy appeared at my side.
Don took a menacing step towards me, which released Cassidy. The poor dumbass was gasping for breath and twitching on the floor before he knew what happened. Cassidy bounced up and disappeared into the lunchroom.
“I think you fell down,” I offered.
“That girl …” was all he got out before I corrected him.
“… was never here. You fell. Do you want it getting around that some little girl kicked your butt?” I asked.
“My sister …”
“… sent you to kick my butt after her boyfriends refused to do it. Did you ever consider you might have been sent on a fool’s errand?” I asked.
I helped him up.
“Yes, she and Brook got into a fight,” I continued. “That has nothing to do with you and me. I’m having a party tonight. Why don’t you come?”
“What about my sister?” he asked.
“You want your sister to come with you to a party?” I asked, raising one eyebrow.
He blushed.
“Destiny can come, but if she tries to start anything, she’ll be escorted out by security. Until the girls work things out, I would rather she didn’t,” I said.
“Okay, and sorry,” he said.
“Come on. Eat lunch with me, and I’ll introduce you to Cassidy. Ask around, you’re in good company. She has taken down more than just you. There’s no shame in having her make you squeal like a little girl.”
“I never!”
“Maybe that was me,” I said with a big grin.
I introduced Don to everyone. Halle was telling the crew about her movie.
“Who’s your costar?” Gina asked.
“Oh, dear God! Tell me it isn’t Ryan Gosling,” I said with an expression of abject horror.
“It would serve you right,” Halle chided me. “It’s a relative newcomer, Zander Lewis.”
Gina had her phone out and Googled him.
“He’s cute.”
I wasn’t impressed. I was just a touch jealous at the moment. Of course, if you were into the whole long blond hair, blue-eyed Scandinavian look, he might appeal to you. I was sure Halle would be immune to his charms.
“I think Trip might like him,” I offered.
Halle punched me in the arm.
“Trip likes you for some reason, and you’re not his type,” Halle shot back.
I wrapped her up in a bear hug and kissed her forehead.
“You’re going to be great, and I’ll miss you,” I said, suddenly getting a little emotional.
She hugged me back and then told the others about the party. It sounded like everyone planned to be there.
◊◊◊
At football practice, Coach Mason worked with me one-on-one. He pulled Wolf, Ed, Roc, Ty, and Don to catch my balls. Coach Mason wanted to see me throw all my passes to different areas of the field. He was pleased I did as well as I did. We both knew that I wasn’t all the way there yet.
“Would you all be willing to come in before school to work on your own?” he asked.
We all looked at each other and nodded.
“Is it okay if we invite some others?” I asked.
“I can’t make anyone come in on their own time. In fact, I can’t even be there, according to Coach Hope.”
“I could video it,” I offered.
“Actually, the audio-visual boys said they needed some practice. I think we’ve got that covered,” Coach Mason said with a smile.
“Great.”
“I also want to start you looking at film. I know you’ve begun to learn the intricacies of how to evaluate your opponents, but I’ve been doing that for longer than you’ve been alive. This’ll give you a leg up when you’re in college and the pros,” Coach Mason offered.
“I would appreciate that.”
“Good. I’ve loaded Lincoln’s defense from last year into the coaching software. I imagine this is what Washington will be running against us. Watch it this weekend, and we’ll go over it on Monday,” he said, and then stretched.
We thought they would run our defense because Washington’s new coach was one of our former coaches, Coach Diamond.
“I hear we shook them up,” Coach Mason said.
“Who, the defensive coaches?”
“Yep. On the positive side, if they can figure out how to contain you, they’ll be able to handle anyone else on our schedule.”
I just nodded.
“Okay. Get out of here. I’ll review the tapes of your voluntary morning session and see you at practice,” he told us all.
We had to go back and do conditioning with Cassidy. When we were done, I felt we were moving in the right direction. I planned to learn as much as I could from Coach Mason.
◊◊◊
Chuck was our security tonight. Brook seemed to take forever to get ready, and we didn’t arrive at Our House until nine-thirty. It’s a Midwest thing; we like to be on time.
The parking lot was full, so Chuck dropped us off at Granny’s West. I took Brook up the back elevator used by the staff; all the food was cooked in the downstairs restaurant. I found Mary Dole overseeing the buffet.
“What were you thinking?” she asked.
“What do you mean?”
She pointed out at the crowd. I stuck my head out, and it looked like a dance club in LA; the place was wall-to-wall people. I knew we were way over capacity. All we needed was for the Fire Marshal to show up and shut us down.
At least the band was playing, and everyone seemed to be having fun. I was just glad we didn’t have alcohol, or this could get out of hand. Then a thought struck me. I would bet the little dumbasses would sneak out to drink.
“I think we need more security in the parking lot and to watch to make sure no one’s bringing in booze,” I said.
“Taken care of. I’ve also stopped them from letting anyone new in.”
I was about to head out into the throng when Mary grabbed my arm.
“Tracy and the girls saved you two seats,” she said, pointing to two tables on the upper level closest to the band.
I sent Brook to the table while I got in line for drinks. The bartenders spotted me and motioned for me to come help them. I was put in charge of filling up pitchers for the waitresses who had gotten smart and would just take them around to the tables to fill up soft drinks.
At the band’s first break, I stepped up on stage and grabbed a microphone.
“Halle James, you’re needed on stage,” I said as I pointed to her and then turned back to the crowd. “I want to personally thank you all for coming out tonight. I hope you’re all having a good time. One thing I want to remind you is to tip your bartenders and waitresses. I think we can all agree they’ve been working hard to make sure your drinks are full.
“I also want to thank Mary Dole and the kitchen staff for putting on a heck of a buffet. If they run out of food, be patient. There will be more soon.
“I have to say this might be the best high school party I’ve been at. The food, the drinks … and the band is much better than listening to someone’s idea of a dance track,” I finished as Halle joined me on stage.
I handed her the mic. Like me, she wasn’t shy.
“Thank you, David, for putting this on for me. As most of you know, I landed a role in the upcoming movie Love Letters, and I’ll be leaving next week to start filming. I’ve only been here for a year, but it has become home. I love how everyone treated me like they do everyone else. When you live in LA, you have no idea that a place like this exists.
“I hope everyone has a good time tonight. If you get a chance, stop by. I would love to talk to all of you,” Halle said.