Junior Year Box Set

After I took my shower, I walked in the back door to see my house filled with girls. The first person I saw was Pam, who met me at the back door.

“What’s going on?” I asked her.

“Beth is getting everyone organized,” Pam said.

“What do you mean?”

“They told me Tracy had a calendar that they scheduled dates on. This way you won’t have to worry about anything,” she said.

That was not happening. I walked into the kitchen and saw Mrs. A and my mom talking. I gave Mom a hug.

“There’s a chef’s salad in the refrigerator for you,” Mom said.

I pulled it out and found some ranch dressing. Cassidy smiled at me, and I made plates for her and Brook. Mom had made homemade chicken noodle soup, so I threw that into the microwave. I sat down with the two girls at the kitchen table and began to eat. Beth walked in, and I got up and kissed her. She sat down while we ate and talked about her classes at Purdue. The guy Beth had dated last semester had gone back with his ex-girlfriend from home over the summer, so she was single again. When we were done eating, she took us into the living room. Besides the four girls from this morning, there were Tracy and Mona. Beth got up to talk.

“During David’s freshman year, there were three of us that dated him regularly. We found that the best way to handle everything was to schedule it,” Beth started.

“No,” I said.

That simple declaration caught all the women and girls off guard. Mrs. A and my mom had big smiles on their faces. Beth and the other girls seemed confused. I think they were all used to dictating my every move, and that I would go with the flow.

“What do you mean by ‘no’?” Beth asked.

“Beth, I love you to death, but you misread what I wanted you to do. It’s not your fault, because I was used to being led around like a love-sick puppy,” I said and looked around the room at the confused faces. “I guess I better tell you all that I care about each and every one of you. It wouldn’t be a leap to say that I love each of you.”

Then I remembered that my mom and Mrs. A were in the room. It might be best not to go into specifics. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

“I’m sorry, I’m just trying to organize my thoughts,” I said. Beth smiled at me, and I felt her love and support. She gave me the courage to go on. “Over the past few weeks, I’ve had a chance to really examine myself. What I found didn’t make me happy, and it showed me that I have a long way to go before I become the man I want to be. My uncle helped me create a set of goals to live my life by. Before football started, I’d hit a low point. I’d just lost my best friend to an accident, and I’d put myself out there once again, only to find that the other person wasn’t ready to commit.

“I think Tami knew I wasn’t really ready. The curious thing was I looked at my goals, and nowhere was there finding a life partner on the list. Uncle John told me that my goals would change as I grew up. All I have to do is look at my brother and see how true that is. I’m a junior in high school, and I’m supposed to be learning about love and heartbreak. I’m also supposed to have fun.

“I have so much going on in my life right now it’s ridiculous. Heck, last Friday night I shot myself in the foot by setting some stupid record. Because of that, Governor Higgins is giving me some award at our pep rally on Friday,” I said.

“Did you just say you’re receiving an award from the governor on Friday?” my mom asked.

I rubbed my forehead to stave off the headache that was sure to develop. This was the first the cheerleaders had heard of this, too. They had to get ready for a pep rally, which got them all talking at once. I finally whistled very loudly to get them all settled down.

“I’m not sure if I was supposed to tell anyone about that yet, but I’m sure you can all keep a secret,” I said, which made everyone laugh because there was no way to keep this quiet. “There’s more. Wednesday there’ll be a big press conference to talk about the record. Because we did so well, ESPN has hijacked our last game of the year, and we’ll be playing some nationally ranked team at a neutral site.

“If you think that’s bad, wait till the movie comes out. The new trailer for the movie will be introduced at Comic-Con in Tampa, Florida this weekend. That’ll kick off the advertising for the film. My life will only get more complicated over the next few months.”

“Poor baby,” Pam teased.

“Now let’s get back to my original point. I was talking about my goals and how a relationship wasn’t part of them. I mistakenly thought I needed someone in my life to make me complete in some way. Not that at some point, way into the future, I won’t need that. What I figured out was that I have to be happy with myself before I can seriously commit to someone. Right now I plan to date several different girls. What I hoped Beth would do was explain that, even though I might not pick anyone to be ‘the one,’ I am capable of having a good time with several girls,” I said.