“You met her?” Ann, the strawberry blond with braces, asked.
“Bree something ... Yeah, I have some pictures of her with me,” I told them.
I had Carmela get my tablet out and I told her where to find the pictures. Carmela suddenly put her hand over her mouth and her eyes got big. I thought she was impressed I had a picture of Bree and myself. I forgot I had the picture of Adrienne and me nude in Miami in that folder.
Carmela slipped my tablet back to Kylie.
“Holy crap, can I have a copy of this?” Kylie shouted.
The van suddenly went quiet. I looked at Carmela and she looked nervous. Then it dawned on me what they were looking at.
“Carmela, get it back, RIGHT NOW!” I ordered.
She unbuckled her seat belt and snatched it out of Emma’s hands. She sat back down in her seat and turned my tablet off. I looked back in the rearview mirror. I suddenly knew how my mom felt when she drove and Greg and I did something that didn’t make her happy.
“Did any of you download the pictures?” I asked, and they all just shook their heads ‘no.’ “That picture was private. If it ever gets out, or if there’s even a hint of it, I could be in a lot of trouble. Adrienne makes her living with her image. She doesn’t need nude pictures finding their way onto the Internet. I also have a ‘no nudity’ clause in my modeling contract. I could lose a lot of money!”
Conversation in the van simply died. When I glanced back in the rearview mirror, they all looked pensive. I was sure it wouldn’t last. I would need to take Tracy’s advice. They all seemed too young to me. I wasn’t looking at them as anything other than friends. Kylie had already tried to make a move on me over the summer. Right now, I missed Tami’s advice; she’d always been my sounding board concerning girls. I was feeling a little unsure of myself for some reason. It might have been because of how badly I’d handled the whole Tami thing.
WE DECIDED TO SIT ON the visitor side. University High was playing Mt. Vernon, one of our conference rivals. Several Mt. Vernon fans knew who I was, and wanted to chat about the steroid scandal. I told them we had rescheduled the game with Washington for Wednesday.
“So why did you guys come to our game?” one of the players’ dads asked.
“Mt. Vernon is in our conference, and we also play U-High next Friday. We wanted to support you guys, and get to see our competition for the next game,” I said. “Plus, I wanted to watch some football tonight.”
The game ended up being a good one. You could tell both teams had first-game jitters, and neither side seemed to want to take control. It was a nail-biter right up to the end of the fourth quarter. We were all on our feet cheering for Mt. Vernon as they mounted a late drive with the score tied. They ended up winning with a last-minute field goal. I took a lot of scouting notes about both teams. By the fourth quarter, I was able to recognize the defenses before the snap and knew what should be done against them. I was confident we could beat both teams.
At the game, I found a good use for seven freshman cheerleaders: they got me stuff. Okay, I’m a terrible guy, but they seemed to want to wait on me hand and foot. It could also have to do with the fact I handed Emma cash and told her to go get whatever the girls wanted. They were half watching the game, and half socializing with everyone. I noticed they were also keeping an eye on me.
I found out the downside to seven freshman cheerleaders, too. They tended to discourage cute girls from talking to me. They also caused my guy friends to make fun of me. I found I went a little ‘big brother’ when Ed flirted with Faith. I was starting to look at them as my little sisters, which actually was a good thing because I think they were looking at me as more than just a friend.
AFTER DROPPING THE frosh off, I came home to find my lights were on in my apartment. I went into the house to let Mom and Dad know I was home.
“Do you know who’s in my apartment?” I asked.
“Tracy,” Mom said.
“Do you know what she wants?” I asked.
“Gee, David, you want me to go and ask her?” Dad asked.
Mom raised her eyebrows at him and then the both of us caught the double meaning of what was said.
“Sure, Dad, go for it.”
“On second thought, you’re on your own,” Dad said, and then grabbed my mom’s hand and led her to bed.
I could hear them giggling as they went upstairs. There were some things a teenage boy shouldn’t be exposed to!
I went to my apartment and braced myself for what was to come. Knowing Tracy, it could be anything. I walked in to find her eating my stash of cookies and drinking my milk. I kept cookies for when I had cravings. No one could stay on a diet forever, so this was my guilty pleasure. My mom knew where my treats were. I think it was she who ate most of them. She was considerate, though. She would replace my cookies if she ate them all. To be honest, I didn’t mind, because she liked a variety of different kinds. Tracy was eating gingersnaps.
“I hope you don’t mind,” Tracy said.
“Mi casa es tu casa,” I said, waving my hands to indicate my house was her house.
“I didn’t know you knew Spanish.”
“Counting to four and ordering a beer is the extent of my knowledge.”
I went and got myself a glass of milk. I noticed Tracy had changed clothes and there was a hint of perfume. She now had on a pair of tight shorts and a t-shirt. When she leaned forward to grab another cookie, I could tell she wasn’t wearing a bra. I would have to be careful here.
I sat down next to her on the couch and got a cookie. Tracy just smiled at me. She was going to make me start the conversation.
“Not that I’m not happy to see you, but why are you here?” I asked.
She gave me a cryptic smile. I was actually surprised when she didn’t make a move on me.
“I wanted to talk to you about who you were planning on dating.”
I knew Tracy too well. She had an agenda, so I decided to play along and see what she had in mind because quite frankly, I didn’t have a clue.
“For right now, I don’t plan on dating anyone. I’m too busy playing football.”
“Would you consider going out with Mona?” she asked.
“I don’t have to even think about it: no.”
“Why not? You like each other.”
“Do we? I’m not even sure we’re friends, after the way she treated me.”
“But that was just a misunderstanding. Kim was sure she saw you on a date with Lisa.”
“So what? If she was my friend, it shouldn’t matter who I date,” I said, starting to get irritated.
“You’re right, we treated you terribly. All I can say is I’m sorry.”
I kept my mouth shut. I didn’t want to say anything I would regret.
“Would you consider going out with me?”
I actually snorted. It was one of those involuntary reactions you have which completely blows your cool.
“Sorry. I can see you’re serious. Don’t get me wrong, I love you as a friend, but we’ll never get together as more than that.”
“How come?” she asked, obviously wanting me to say the words.
“Do you remember the last time we broke up?” I asked, and she nodded. “I can forgive a lot. I can even understand why you weren’t brave enough to tell me you were breaking up with me. I can even get past your dad doing what he did because he loves you. What I can’t get past is the fact that you had me call you, only to be told by your mother that you were on a date with Luke. Not just some random guy, but the one guy I could not stand at the time. And you knew that. I honestly can’t get past the betrayal I felt.
“You need to remember where I was right after that. I had a lot of time to think about it while I was trapped under that house. The good news is I was able to forgive you. I guess the bad news is I’ll never forget.”