Junior Year Box Set

I think she dropped the phone. There was a lot of laughter. So much for my brilliant plan. I heard her catch her breath and pick up the phone.

“Are they near?” she asked.

“Yes.”

“Go to them and hand one of them the phone. I’ll solve this for you,” Beth said.

I felt a lot better. Beth had always been on my side. Something in the back of my mind told me I should just walk over there and act like nothing was going on, but I trusted Beth.

“This is for one of you,” I said and tried to hand the phone to Pam.

Brook snatched it from my hand.

“Hi,” Brook said.

“Oh, uh-huh … hmmm, yes … okay, yes … no, he’s a dork … right, ‘stupid boy’ is a better term … okay, bye,” Brook said, and then turned to the other three. “We need to talk.”

Brook handed me back my phone, and the four of them walked into the school, leaving me on the front steps wondering what had just happened.

◊◊◊

During PE, Coach Hope found me lifting with Wolf.

“Dawson, in my office,” he barked.

I turned to Wolf, and neither of us knew of anything we’d done wrong, so I simply followed him to his office. Waiting for us was Vice Principal Palm and Mr. Hicks, our athletic director, along with the rest of the coaching staff. I sat down and waited for what was to come next.

“We were informed yesterday that the game film from Friday night’s game had been reviewed,” Mr. Hicks said. “We have confirmation that you set a national single-game record with 848 yards. You also set state records for attempts and completions.”

“That’s great, but why’s everyone here?” I asked.

“Because this has caught the nation’s attention and we’ve been flooded with media requests,” Vice Principal Palm said.

“I don’t want this to disrupt the team,” Coach Hope said, which I agreed with. “We’ve decided to have a press conference on Wednesday. Alan suggested that we let Tracy Dole help with that.”

“Tracy helped a lot during my freshman year. She has a knack for keeping reporters in line,” I said.

“That’s what I was told, and I’ve seen her in action a couple of times. I’ll get it taken care of,” Coach Hope said. “On Friday we’re having a pep rally, and Governor Higgins has volunteered to give you your national award.”

“ESPN has called, and they want to arrange a featured game to replace our last game of the year. The game would be nationally televised and played at a neutral location,” Mr. Hicks said.

“Hang on. That’s right before the state playoffs. When they set up those games, it’s usually between national powerhouses. Some of those schools could give some college teams a good game. I’d be afraid of injuries,” Coach Hope said.

Everyone agreed, and Mr. Hicks told Coach Hope that before he scheduled the game, he would get Coach’s approval. He would also pass on Coach’s concerns to ESPN. I wasn’t sure I trusted Mr. Hicks, but I did trust Coach Hope to make sure it didn’t get out of hand.

Coach Hope held me back when the meeting broke up.

“I’ve never had a player as highly rated as you are. We’re getting swamped with requests for your grades and game film. I thought it might be easier to just post your grades and film on a website, but to do that requires your parent’s permission. Do you have a problem with that?”

“I don’t. I’ll have my dad stop by and sign whatever you need. Talk to Brandon about video. He and Alan have put some different videos together. We might also feature other players like Jim, Ty, Wolf and anyone else who’ll try to play at the next level. You might also call Bo Harrington. He helped me a lot, and I’m sure he’d give you some ideas. Coach Styles, from Kentucky, also offered to help me with recruiting,” I said.

I gave Coach Hope phone numbers and returned to class. The circus had begun, and we had only played two games. We played our archrival Eastside this week. I was sure they would be gunning for us. Last year there had been a brawl in the parking lot, and Coach Hope’s kids were right in the middle of it. I’d bet there would be extra security this year.

◊◊◊

During lunch, Kendal called me.

“I have movie news!”

Someone sounded a little too happy.

“It must be good. Lay it on me,” I said.

“First is, the ‘Official Trailer’ will be introduced at Comic-Con in Tampa, Florida this weekend.”

“As opposed to the current trailer that’s all over the Internet?” I asked.

“Exactly! I thought it was pretty funny, but they know how to market the movie. Starting next week, you’ll see the ad-buys begin, and you’ll be on TV. They’ve also changed the release date. The evil empire decided to release a week early, so Star Academy will be released the Wednesday before Christmas.”