Junior Year Box Set

I pulled out my phone and dialed Halle’s number. I was shocked when my mom snatched it out of my hand. I think she just wanted an excuse to meet Rita. I could only shake my head when Mom invited herself and Dad over for lunch.

Mom handed me my phone back when it rang again. This time it was Beth Anderson. I was completely confused as to why she’d be calling me this early on a Saturday morning.

“What’s up, Buttercup?” I asked.

“Did you forget something?” Beth asked.

“I don’t think so.”

“You have the band fundraiser this afternoon. They called me and told me you never signed up,” Beth complained.

Beth had roped me into the Bachelor Auction they did each year. The only reason I did it last year was that Beth had set it up, and she still cared about the band. This year they’d never asked me to help out, so I’d forgotten about it.

“They never asked, and before you browbeat me, when and where?” I asked.

“High school auditorium at one. You’re the best, David,” she said, and then hung up on me.

Five minutes later, my phone buzzed; Lily had broadcast a message that I would be auctioned off to the highest bidder. I had to give Beth credit for managing the auction from Purdue.

◊◊◊

I showed up right before the Bachelor Auction was to begin. I found who was in charge: a freshman named Chet. I think he was scared to talk to me. Of course, I took full advantage.

“Look, Chet, I have a lot to do today. Let me go first so I can get it over with.”

Each year since Beth left, the auction had gone downhill. When she did it, we did a little stage show, there was a real auctioneer, and we all dressed up. This year when I was announced, I came on stage wearing jeans, a Lincoln High sweatshirt, and a baseball cap.

“I, aahhh, well, aahhh, would, mmm,” Chet stumbled.

I think the poor guy was going to die of stage fright.

“Fifty dollars,” someone shouted out.

“Fifty-five.”

“Eighty!”

They had a spotlight on me, so it was impossible for me to see who was bidding. Chet stood frozen, so I took the mic away from him.

“Come on, ladies. This is for charity. I’ll match whatever’s bid for me,” I said.

“Two hundred fifty!”

That was an unheard-of number for a high school event. I looked but still couldn’t see who was bidding. Then one of the bidders walked up the aisle.

“One thousand dollars,” Brook Davis announced in her unmistakable voice.

I simply stared at her, and Brook got a big smile on her face. Chet grabbed the mic back.

“Sold!”

I jumped off the stage and followed Brook out of the auditorium. Waiting outside was a limo.

“We have to get going, or we’ll be late for the game,” Brook told me.

“What game?” I asked.

“Cubs–Cardinals.”

Brook had just become my best friend. I might even love her a little bit. We were going to St. Louis to watch the second game of the National League Division Series, and my beloved Cubs. Tami was going to be so jealous. I’d missed the first game because of our football game against Mt. Vernon. Brook almost ruined it when she handed me a Cardinals baseball cap. She saw my look of dismay and then opened up a bag to show me she had picked up my Cubs jersey and hat.

“You about killed me,” I admitted.

“Sorry, the expression on your face was worth it. We have to swing by my house and pick up my mom and dad.”

I was in heaven right now. Baseball had always been my first love, and the Cubs were my team. They were down in this series, 1 game to none. If there was ever a need for a ‘someday,’ it was for the Cubs. Someday they might actually win it all.

◊◊◊

I admit it, I was as happy as a little girl who got a pony for her tenth birthday as I took in Busch Stadium. When we were in Little League, we had made the trip for a night game. We sat in the right-field bleachers, and it looked like it was raining. Busch Stadium is close to the Mississippi River, and what looked like rain was actually bugs attracted to the stadium lights. The combination of the heat and the water made it the perfect breeding ground for mosquitoes.

Our seats were in section 150, right behind the Cardinals Club seating, behind home plate. Brook and I appeared to be the only Cubs fans in the section, while her parents were die-hard Cardinals fans. We received some good-natured taunting.

In the first inning, the Cubs second batter hit a double, but they left him stranded on second base. In the bottom of the inning, the Cardinals leadoff hitter hit a homer to give the Cardinals a 1–0 lead. It was going to be a long night, having to listen to the Cardinals fans explain in detail how the hapless Cubs didn’t stand a chance.

In the top of the second, the Cubs leadoff hitter singled to center field. The next man up hit a ball to the shortstop, who flipped the ball to the second baseman to start the double play. The second baseman tagged the bag for the first out but threw the ball past the first baseman and into the dugout; that let the Cubs base runner take second. I think the Cubs surprised everyone when they sent the man on second to steal third base. The good guys now had a runner on third.