Junior Year Box Set

“You weren’t there. Kim and Tracy didn’t play fair.”

“They flirted with you!”

I nodded.

“Men!” she shouted and stomped off.

The rest of the cheerleaders had seen what happened and had some choice comments. I was ready to tell them to back off when Zoe walked up and kissed me.

“What was that for?” I asked.

“For asking me to be your date for the Homecoming Dance.”

I hadn’t asked her to the dance. Then I realized I hadn’t asked anyone. My first reaction was to push back, but then I remembered Sunday and just smiled. Zoe grabbed my hand and made me walk her to her locker. Halle and Brook were waiting for me.

“How much trouble did you get into?” Halle asked.

“I don’t know,” I said.

They all three looked at each other and then back at me.

“I received the dreaded ‘we’ll think about what will happen to you’ punishment.”

“So, we’re still on for next weekend?” Brook asked.

“As far as I know.”

“What are you doing?” Zoe asked.

Brook and Halle explained about going turkey hunting and then the photo shoot.

“I want to go,” Zoe said.

I didn’t really believe that three girls would actually want to go hunting. I worried about what they really planned, but couldn’t think of a good reason to turn them down.

◊◊◊

Because I was leaving school three weeks before the end of the term to shoot my movie, I had to learn the material and/or complete any projects that were required for that period. In reality, it was really only two weeks because the last week was reserved for review and then finals. One of my projects was a painting for my Life Drawings II class.

I’d chosen Duke as my subject matter. I’d originally planned to use a charcoal drawing I’d done of Halle, but we’d learned some new techniques, and I wanted to try them with Duke’s painting.

Duke was very good at posing. I think most people would call it napping. He had ‘posed’ for several pencil drawings until I’d found a pose I liked. I first tried to do him in charcoal, but the starkness of the black and white medium didn’t produce the effect I wanted. I then had done a watercolor, but it wasn’t sharp enough and didn’t have the definition I was looking for. I then switched to acrylics. They allowed me more detail.

Halle had helped me master a few techniques and offered many suggestions. She had an eye that I frankly didn’t have. When I was finished, she added Precious to the background. It was the touch of whimsy the painting had been lacking. It showed the evil feline stalking her unsuspecting prey, which modeled real life. You could just imagine the chaos that was about to happen. Technically, I shouldn’t turn it in, but ninety percent of it was mine. The other reason I decided to submit it for my class project was that I didn’t have time to paint another one.

Ms. Saunders had me bring my painting to the front of the class. She wanted to see my pencil drawings, charcoal, and watercolor as well. She used everything to talk about the process and allowed my classmates to comment on my work. Even I was a little nervous about having my creations critiqued. This was something I hadn’t mastered yet, and it was personal. Ms. Saunders had been teaching for years and was good at guiding the conversation so that it was learning experience rather than something negative.

I was a happy boy when she gave me an ‘A’ for my project, which in effect gave me an ‘A’ for the class. Ms. Saunders then hung my painting on the wall. I know it seems stupid because it looked like when you were a child and your parents put your ‘art’ on the refrigerator, but I was proud of the painting and that she thought enough of it to put it on display.

◊◊◊

The temperature had dipped into the low 50s for tonight’s game. Perfect weather for football. On the way to school, I flipped through the radio stations and a song came on that made me stop and listen. It was by Joey and Rory called When I’m Gone. When her haunting voice filled my speakers, singing about how his life would go on without her, I had to pull over, because all I could think of was my friend Jeff.

When the song was over, the announcer told the story of the couple behind the music. Joey had been diagnosed with terminal cancer, and the song was her way of assuring her husband that he would be okay after she left him. There were days when the pain from Jeff’s passing was as fresh as if it were yesterday. Little things would remind me of my best friend. I hadn’t realized how much I would miss him until he was gone.

Wiping the tears from my eyes, I said a little prayer. I took a deep breath and got my emotions under control. I vowed that I would have the best game of my life in honor of my best friend. I pulled away from the curb and put some metal on to get me in the mood to crack some heads.