“Two rules, One. I am the high, exulted queen bitch of this team and you are nothing more than a subservient, scum sucking, drone worker bee. Two. You just used up the one and only time you can ever call me a bitch again… until I give birth to a litter!”
“I can live with that,” William said as he turned and walked out.
“I think that went well,” Janice said as she sat down and started reading through the pile of books.
“Janice! Janice!” The call cut across the campus as Hillary Dennison ran with her book clasped to her bosom. Janice turned and waited for her to flurry across the green.
“Are you coming to the pep rally tonight?”
“It’s so retro, and I think I have some socks to de-lint tonight.”
“Come on, it’s the biggest game of the year Saturday, and the boys need our support.” She actually stood taller when she said that making her chest stick out like an obscene version of Shirley Temple saluting in a sailor suit. It made Janice laugh.
“Who’s pitching?”
“Pitching? I’m not sure. Isn’t that baseball? All I know is Brad’s playing and that’s all I care about.”
“Oh, now I understand your sudden team spirit. Hillary, he’s a jock and you are on your way to being a brain surgeon. Don’t you see the irony in that?”
“Don’t you see his buns in those tight little pants when they’re running around the field?”
“Good point! Is that ‘wild’ guy going to be there?”
“You mean Wild Bill Hiccock. Yeah! He’s such a hunk a dory.”
“Hunk a what? When did you turn into ‘Gidget’ goes to college?’”
“When did you turn into my mom?”
“Okay what time?”
“It’s at 8, in the big gym. I’ll pass by at quarter to and we’ll walk over together.”
“Fine!” Janice replied reluctantly. As Hillary bounced off, Janice started to call after her. She managed to get her mouth open, but couldn’t utter the words, “On second thought.” Relaxing her stance, she attempted to persuade herself that she wasn’t going for any other reason than to show a modicum of school spirit. Oh God, what will I wear?
At 8:45 Janice sneaked into the back of the gym. The pageantry and theatrics of the band, the drill squad, and the cheerleaders having long since finished their routines, the rally turned into an unofficial social event. She took in the ambiance of the crepe-paper-and-cardboard-decorated gymnasium, enhanced by scratchy music coming from a tinny P.A. system. Soft drinks were being served. Pretzels and potato chips crushed under her feet into the hardwood floor as she searched for Hillary and finally spotted her. The young Ms. Tyler checked her sweater and shifted her skirt one last time before making the walk across the “gauntlet,” diagonally across the gym where she would be seen and noticed by everyone. As she crossed the circle in the middle of the floor that they used for hockey or basketball, or whatever, she once again agonized over whether she had made the right choice in shoes. Should she have stayed with the longer dress being a sure fire match to her sling back pumps? She decided on shorter over matching but only after an hour of “in front of the mirror” indecision. She smiled as she approached Hillary standing there with dopey Brad.
“What happened to you? I waited till five of,” Hillary said
“I was caught up with something and I got here as soon as I could. Hello, Brad.”
“Hi ya” was the double syllabic response which she was sure was a big step for him over the grunts that must pass for communications between Hillary and he. Then she looked at him again and realized this shortstop, linebacker, or whatever he was, was quite a male specimen. Maybe Hillary was on to something, she thought.
In the awkward silence that followed, Janice realized that Brad had noticed her looking at him and turned to scan the crowd. Small clutches and groups had partitioned off talking about this and that. Janice didn’t recognize anyone she particularly wanted to converse with. Then she saw “him,” his protuberant head and shoulders appearing above the four or five obviously “star struck” girls, their mouths open wide as he pontificated on the process of throwing a perfect slider to the catcher-guy. She burnt that image into her retinas for one second longer before forcing her eyes off the spectacle, and continued scanning the room. Her eyes focused back on Hillary who was in the midst of having a heaping helping of Brad’s tongue. God, how can she get her mouth open that wide? Once again, she pried herself away from an image she was riveted to. She found herself looking at Bill again, with his little cheerleaders hanging on every word he spoke. Wonder which one he’ll try to choke with his tongue, she thought as she fixed her gaze at the clock at the end of the gym. What am I doing here? I’ve got to get out of here! She pivoted towards Hillary and the Tongue Monster to say goodbye. It was evident at this point; they wouldn’t have stopped if she had set herself on fire.
Janice left vowing she would never, ever delude herself into going anywhere or doing anything that included Mr. William Hiccock again.
It wasn’t easy and she didn’t know what even possessed her to do it, but she sweet-talked the guy in the ticket booth something awful. The final negotiation to get a 50-yard line seat, right behind where the home team stood during the game, was complete when Janice agreed to relinquish her number. Another thing, out of character for Janice, was that she wore her politically correct school sweatshirt over her big sweater, cinched at the waist by her flared skirt making her appear more… ample. The stadium went crazy when Wild Bill Hiccock was announced over the loud speaker. As he trotted out of the tunnel and over to the sidelines in front of her, the roar of the crowd gave her goose bumps. The goose bumps led to a warm feeling that enveloped her body from head to toe, even on this very cold November day. She suddenly realized that out of the 80,000 people in the stands who were yelling their heads off, it was she who possessed a special, direct relationship with this man they adored.
He was, after all, her subservient worker bee. She was almost dizzy when she realized her mouth was open.
For the first two “innings,” she knew Bill had not seen her, even though she was only some 30 feet away. During the halftime break, as the marching band was finishing a tortured rendition of a song she used to like, Bill returned to the sideline. He glanced over her way and caught her eye. She was pleased when he smiled. She returned his smile and nodded back. Luckily, she started waving a split second after he turned toward the field. She pulled in her hand, reprimanding it for being silly and thankful that he hadn’t noticed. For the rest of the game, they exchanged glances, he to her after a play and she finding him when he came back to the side as Brad’s guys were sent out to stop the other team’s quarterback.
Janice figured it must have been an exciting game because the score was tied and the teams just stopped to rest with only two minutes left to play. People started shouting “Wild Bill.” The guy next to her, his face painted in school colors, said to his buddy, “It’s time for Wild Bill’s shoot out.”
“What do you mean by that?” she asked.
“Lady, if we’re lucky, we are going to see a master of the two-minute drill. This guy calls the plays with no huddles. He’s won four games in the last two minutes like that.”
“Sounds impressive,” was all she could think of to say.
At one point, Bill got the ball and the other team started coming aggressively toward him. The players were being thrown and pushed. Helmets were clacking as the skulls inside of them must surely have been cracked. That would explain Brad’s cognitive skills challenge, she thought. Then one of the biggest, meanest guys from the other team got a hold of Bill and spun him around; Bill almost danced around him and caused the big guy to fall right on his face. Bill then scampered around to the other side of the field and threw the ball from mid-air while he was jumping over a player who had been wrestled to the ground. Bill then turned to the stands where Janice stood. He looked right at her and smiled a big, goofy grin like a little boy who just caught a big fish. Janice was touched. He was showing off to her.