Junior Year Box Set

In my personal life, I’d pretty much gotten over Tami. The main reason was the three new women. Brook was adventurous and up to anything physical; Halle was artistic and understood the movie business; and Zoe seemed to center me and understood my spiritual side. The one person I’d neglected was Pam. I vowed to make time for her this week.

Duke told me he was done when he tugged on his leash to start for home. There were times I wished he weren’t with me and I could just run all day, but I’d been warned about overdoing the distance running from the trainers at STIC in Chicago. For my sports, speed was more important. I had plenty of stamina, and the extra running wouldn’t make that much difference.

When we got home, I filled Duke’s big water bowl so he could get a drink and left him in the house. Duke would go and wake up my parents and get his morning loving. Dad complained that he wished they never had let him start doing that. When Duke was a puppy, it was cute. Now he was a horse, and it hurt if he stepped on you. Mom allowed it, so Dad’s complaints were unheeded.

◊◊◊

When I walked up to the front of the school, I saw Alan cornered by Stacy Clute, his current girlfriend.

“Explain to me again how you got those marks on your neck,” Stacy said.

“He did it,” Alan said, pointing at me.

I made a kissy face at Alan and flounced by. I wasn’t going to lie for him but would goof around. Stacy was smart enough to know I didn’t swing that way. It was more than a little irritating that Alan would blame his hickeys on me.

I soon forgot about Alan and the house of cards he’d created and found the object of my desire. She was with all the other cheerleaders, sitting back as Tracy told them some story. I walked up, stepped inside the circle—getting all their attention—and then turned to Pam.

“Hey, Baby, how you doin’,” I said in my best New York accent.

“Good, good. What you been up to, Hot Stuff?” Pam said with a terrible New York accent.

“Yous two should get a room,” Halle said, nailing her’s.

The theater kids were doing West Side Story

, and they’d been promoting the show by doing scenes at lunch and before school. I acted as if I was combing my hair back and giving Pam some old-school hip-thrusts, which made her laugh.

“Let’s go, Doll Face,” I said, putting my arm out for her to take.

“Oooo, he’s so dreamy,” Brook said and faked as though she was going to faint.

One of the theater guys gave us two thumbs up as we strutted into the high school. The football players gave us fake golf claps, which I gracefully ignored. Pam gave them a little head bob, which would just encourage them. I would have to talk to her about feeding the peanut gallery. I walked her to her locker.

“Why don’t we go out this week sometime?” I asked.

“You still like me! Are we talking about a real date?” Pam asked.

“Whatever you want,” I said.

“Are you here this weekend?”

“No, and we actually have to fly out right after the game. We’re going to the University of Georgia,” I said.

Pam wanted my schedule for this week. When she heard that Brook had me Tuesday, and Halle Thursday, she decided she’d come over to my house and watch Monday Night Football with me.

“We could always watch it at your house,” I suggested.

Cal did have a nice setup for watching football.

“You may recall he punched you once,” Pam said to let me know what she meant by ‘watch the game.’

I didn’t realize she was such a fan of the game. I’d have to remember that.

◊◊◊

At lunch, Kendal called me and gave me an update on the movie. Most of the cast had been in Tampa over the weekend for Comic-Con, and the response there was very positive. The production company had made the ad buys to start the launch of Star Academy, and Kendal sent me a link to the commercial they would run. There had been some discussion, and it had been decided to move the release to the first weekend after the New Year. The latest industry projections for the new Star Wars release showed it dominating ticket sales for three straight weeks. Some of the numbers were staggering. One projection said they would make over a billion dollars in the first three weeks. We’d be ecstatic with a tenth of that.

Then Kendal made my day.

“Devin has a new toy he wants you to test for him. It’s called a wingboard. It’s like a wakeboard, but instead of being pulled by a boat in the water, you’re pulled by a plane in the air. The only catch is you have to skydive off the board when you’re done. Devin said that it’ll be much more fun than a wingsuit,” Kendal told me.

She sent me a text with a link to the specifications and design.