Junior Year Box Set

Something else they did was win the turnover battle. It looked like they coached their players to knock the ball loose. We would have to make sure we secured the ball to the whistle. Mt. Vernon was a physical team, and I suspected we would be in for a good game.

I was happy to see Tim at practice. He was on crutches but wanted to be involved. Coach Zoon had him work with Yuri and Mike to make them better linebackers. Tim told us after practice that he had started his rehab. His doctors had told him that he should be back for football next year.

◊◊◊

After the practice at the dojo, where Cassidy was learning to use the Bo staff much faster than I was, I stopped at the diner across from the hospital. I picked up fried chicken and all the fixings. Duke greeted me at the back door, and I let him out and took the food upstairs. Pam was studying, so I put the chicken on the counter and ran back down to get my dog. His nose was in the air sniffing when we came upstairs. I thought the chicken smelled good, too.

“I’m going to grab a quick shower,” I said.

Pam was rearranging the coffee table into a dining table when I made my way to the bathroom. When I came back out, I was surprised to see Halle and Pam waiting for me. Luckily for me, I’d ordered a lot of chicken. I’d planned to have the leftovers as a snack.

“I brought you the script,” Halle said, pointing to it on the end table.

“Thanks. What do you think of it?” I asked.

“It’s much better than what we got this summer. Mom’s happy with it now. She said to tell you she was sorry they hadn’t gotten it to you sooner.”

We sat down, and Halle joined us for dinner. I had to tell Duke to “park it” in his crate. He thought he could flirt with the girls and they would feed him. Duke was usually good, but when my niece and nephews were around, it was a losing battle. I would have to watch the trash because he was way too interested in the chicken. I couldn’t blame him, because it tasted as good as it smelled.

After dinner, Halle left, and I cleaned up. Pam put the table down and turned on the TV. She wanted to watch The Voice. I picked up the script and began to read it. I went to my bedroom and found a highlighter so I could mark my lines as I read it through the first time.

The movie was taking creative license with the book it came from and would be different from the TV series. In the book and TV series, the story was based in a small New England town. The movie had it located in LA. The plot revolves around a young girl who moves to live with her grandmother. When she goes to high school, a girl bullies her. Another girl eventually steps in and defends her, and the two of them become like sisters. The lead character gets kidnapped and forced to join a club, which she soon learns is, in reality, a coven of witches and warlocks. She discovers that all their parents had created a coven when they were their age.

My part was that of the school’s star baseball player, another change; the book had called for my character to play football. I flirt with the lead character and do typical movie jock things. All was fine in my world until my body was found hanged by the neck in the school’s boiler room. The lead character doesn’t believe I committed suicide.

It was a relief to see I didn’t have many lines. My part consisted mostly of me doing physical stuff that’s more of the background of high school life. After my first read-through, I was much more comfortable with what was expected of me. Halle, on the other hand, was the lead, and she was on screen most of the time. I stopped reading after I got past my death scene.

Based on the script, I realized that I would have a lot of time on my hands in LA. Once I got the shoot schedule, I might find what else there was to do when not on set.

When I put my book down, Pam gave me a funny look.

“What’s up?” I asked.

Pam looked like she wanted to say something. I wondered if she was bothered that Halle had shown up and interfered with our time together. She shook her head and leaned against me.

“You like me, right?” Pam asked.

“Of course I do. You’re one of my best friends. Why do you ask?”

“I don’t know,” she said, unwilling to tell me what was on her mind.

I figured Pam would tell me when she was ready. I just put my arm around her and held her. When The Voice was over, she gathered her books and left. I wondered if I’d done something wrong, but couldn’t think of anything. I guess I would have to just wait and see.

◊◊◊ Wednesday October 7

I went outside to run, and it was chilly out. Duke went to the backyard and found Precious. I had to laugh at them play-fighting and rolling around in the leaves that had started to fall. Since it was about fifty degrees out, I made it a point to stretch more. While stretching, I saw Buster and Rachel walking towards me.

“Morning,” she called as she undid the leash for Buster so he could join his friends.