“Who are you going out with?” she asked.
“Mona. We’re going out after the game,” I said.
“Where are you going?” Faith asked.
I snorted. WTF was up with these girls and asking twenty questions?
“I have no idea. I guess we would go to Monical’s if we win. Heck, we might even go there if we lose,” I said.
“Could you give us all a ride?” Emma asked.
I laughed. I knew it sucked being a freshman, but there was no way I was taking them on my date.
“Uh ... noooo! I’ll be on a date,” I said.
I guess that didn’t really matter. They all gave me ‘the look.’
“Hey, stop right now. I’ll be on a date. Think about that for just a moment, and then ask yourselves, ‘Would I want David on my date?’” I asked.
“I would,” Kylie said, and then blushed when Nick gave her a dirty look. “Maybe not.”
“I trust that you gals can figure out how to get to Monical’s after the game. I was able to do it when I was a freshman, and I’m a guy,” I teased them.
“I call bullshit! You were seeing a sophomore with a car. We’re either not dating, or are dating freshmen,” Kylie said.
“Can we talk to you when you’re on your date?” Emma asked.
I decided to ignore Kylie.
“It’s okay to talk to me. I’m not that mean. I think you all might know Mona, and she’d even talk to you, too.”
“We should ask Mona for a ride,” Faith said, giving me an evil grin.
I jumped up and tickled her.
FOOTBALL PRACTICE FOUND Bert on the second team. I went to Coach Hope to find out what the deal was. I made sure to do it after practice when it was just the two of us.
“How come Bert was demoted?” I asked.
“He has to learn to better protect your backside before we can let him back on the field.”
“What would he have to do to be able to move to the first team for our next game?”
“Are you serious? He about got you killed, and, during the same play, he ignored the ball on the ground and cost us the game,” Coach Hope said.
“Coach, I’ve been blamed for losing a game. Yes, Bert messed up on that play. If we don’t get him back on the field, we’ll lose him for the season. You’ve seen what something like this does to a player. We need Bert.”
“I’ll give him a chance on Thursday, but if he messes up we’ll go with his backup. The kid can at least call out a warning.”
I chuckled.
“That is a step in the right direction.”
“How’s your back? The trainers say you’ll be ready come Friday. Don’t bullshit me,” he ordered.
“I’m about eighty-five percent right now. I’d say I can run the short and medium pass plays, but the long balls don’t have the zip on them that they need.”
“Would we be better served playing Mike?” he asked me.
Coach knew I would give him an honest answer.
“No. I read defenses better. Better enough to make up the difference in how I’m feeling. Mike deserves to play quarterback. I saw the game films. Take me out if you think I’m not playing well enough to win,” I told coach.
“I’ll trust you to be ready,” Coach Hope assured me. “We’re making a change at kicker. We’ll have the JV kicker handle short field goals and extra points. We’ll leave our regular kicker in for long field goals and kickoffs. We can’t have our kicking game lose us games.”
I shook my head.
“He’s missed two kicks all year. I think you’re messing with his confidence,” I said.
“No, you weren’t there. He folded under the pressure. I should have had anyone but him kicking. You could see it in his body language. We can’t have him kicking in pressure situations until he can do it.”
“Who’s the new kicker?” I asked.
“Wayne Turk. He’s a cocky freshman.”
“I’ll agree with that. I had to teach him some manners,” I said.
“Cassidy told me about that,” he said.
“Speaking of which, how are the after-school workouts going?”
“They had almost sixty people last night. The wrestling team is attacking it like animals. She’s working with a couple of them to be able to step in and lead the workouts. In the military, they taught us about cross-training your team. If anyone in our group was out of action, the rest of the team had to be able to perform. We need to start working to do that, especially any upperclassmen that we have who are in leadership roles. This can’t end when your group graduates.”
Coach Hope had a great point. I wanted to leave a legacy.
Thursday October 9
I WOKE TO MY PHONE ringing. I glanced at the clock, and the LCD said it was six-thirty. Who would be calling this early?
“Hello?” I croaked out.
“I thought you got up early to run? I wanted to catch you before you got your day started,” Nancy said.
I got up, grabbed a water bottle out of the refrigerator, and took a swallow as I picked up the phone, again.
“What’s up?” I asked, trying to pry the sleep out of my brain.
“I wanted to give you an update on John,” she told me.
“Is he okay?” I asked.
“Yes, but Karen dumped him as we’d predicted. I had a long talk with him about setting expectations. I told him that if he truly wanted to have multiple partners, he needed to tell his girlfriend. That way he wouldn’t hurt her.”
“No, he will hurt her, because she thinks they’re going to get married someday. I just don’t see them surviving him sleeping around. I think John has let being a college quarterback go to his head. John never struck me as the cheating type. I hate to see him throw away the perfect relationship for him, just so he can sow some wild oats,” I said.
“It’s that pledge class he’s in. They’re out of control, and I see them working on him. There are all kinds of wild rumors about them. I was actually a little happy when we were told not to go back to Theta Chi until further notice.”
“I hate to ask this, but will they target you for the rift between your houses?”
“They wouldn’t dare,” Nancy answered.
“Yeah, and they wouldn’t punch you, either. Tell me the truth, is there a chance they’d do something they shouldn’t?”
“Maybe,” she said, and let her words hang for a few moments. “You’re scaring me.”
“Look, I had something similar happen last spring. Let me get you a bodyguard until this blows over.”
“No, that’s stupid. They wouldn’t harm me, they wouldn’t dare.”
“Listen, tough girl, I like you too much to take that risk. I’ll get someone who can blend in with you. I’ll also call John and see if he’s heard anything,” I said.
“I can take care of myself, so stop worrying about me,” she started, and then got serious. “Look, I know you care about me, and I appreciate the sentiment. But I’ll not allow you to spend money on a bodyguard for me. That would just be a waste.”
“I’ll play it your way for now. But I want you to get pepper spray, and carry it with you. It can shoot up to ten feet, and it closes their eyes, they can’t see until they go to the emergency room and get it washed out,” I said.
“Really, that’s your solution?”
I chuckled because it was good to hear the old Nancy.
“Yep, that’s the deal. You get pepper spray, or you get a new buddy to follow you around. Your choice,” I said.
“I should get a few cases of the stuff, so all the sisters have one,” she teased me.
“How many sisters are there?” I asked.
“124 plus 26 pledges.”
“I’ll get enough for everybody. It’ll be sent over today.”
“You’re serious?” she asked, sounding like she didn’t believe me.
“Of course. It’s not just the Theta Chi men that could cause problems. I would feel better knowing you at least have something to protect yourself. Just don’t practice on each other in the house. The collateral damage sucks. I was in a parking lot when my ex-girlfriend, Tracy, sprayed it. I was downwind, and I’ll tell you, just that little bit made a believer out of me!” I said.