Junior Year Box Set

Alan was a jerk sometimes, but I was okay with that. We hadn’t been as close friends since the whole Tami incident, but thinking of Jeff had reminded me that we once were best friends. I put on my suit. I was wearing Dakora tonight. I actually liked this outfit. Some of their clothes were a little too metrosexual for my taste.

When I walked into our new press room, Springfield was still fielding questions. They typically let the visitors go first because they had to ride their buses home. My entrance got the place buzzing, so I walked up front.

“Which one of you is the defensive coordinator?” I asked.

A man who appeared to be fresh out of college raised his hand. I walked up and shook his hand, then turned to their head coach.

“I hate to say this, but once people figure out just how good this man is, you’ll lose him,” I said, then turned back to the defensive coordinator. “You have the best defensive scheme I’ve ever played against. I’ve been told that what I needed to do to improve was play against better competition. I want to thank you for making me a better player. I learned a lot this week while I prepared for your defense. I just wanted to make sure everyone knew how truly talented you are.”

“Sit down, David,” Jeff ordered me.

I sat down beside the Springfield coaching staff.

“You’re complimenting their defense after you just ripped them 56–31?” someone asked.

“Springfield played us at the wrong time. I predicted before the game that we would win by three scores. It wasn’t said to be arrogant or to denigrate Springfield. It was from watching practice. Everything we’ve been trying to do just seemed to come together this week. I also think we caught a break when I had to sit out from practice because of my concussion. It allowed me to put in the needed time on the Springfield game film. That was when I discovered their evil defensive coordinator.

“This man knows the game and has devised traps that had me scratching my head. If I hadn’t worked with my coaches to prepare, I’d have thrown more than one interception tonight. The preparations and coaching I received allowed me to see his tricks. Luckily, we were able to sidestep most of them. He did get me to bite on a too-wide-open receiver. As soon as I threw it, I knew he’d hoodwinked me into throwing into his trap. With his help, Springfield has a great chance of winning the 6A State Championship this year,” I concluded.

The Springfield coaches were gracious and said kind words about our team and me. I shook their hands, and they had to leave. Then Tracy and Coaches Hope, Diamond, and Zoon joined me on the platform.

Tracy eyed the reporters.

“Does anyone need to hear the rules, or are you all frequent flyers?” she asked.

“ESPN isn’t here, so I don’t think you need to kick anyone out,” Jeff told her.

Tracy gave them the stats for the game and told them they were up on our website if they didn’t get them all. She made a point to say I had zero tackles, which for some reason was funny.

I was becoming irritated with all the questions but didn’t let it show until someone asked me what I was wearing. I then perked up and went into full model mode. They all moaned when I walked in front of our table and did some poses as I acquainted them all with Dakora’s winter line. I was let go at that point so I could go have fun at the dance, or so I told myself.

◊◊◊

I walked into the gym, and the first thing I saw was that Halle and Brook were there with dates. Brook was with someone I suspected was in college, and Halle was with Bryan Callahan. I then saw Pam walk in with Brock Callahan. My stomach began to knot up. Tracy had followed me in, and she grabbed my arm when she saw me begin to move towards them.

“Hang on there, Cowboy,” Tracy ordered.

The look I gave her made her flinch. Then she turned me, and I saw Zoe. She was a vision in a sparkly silver dress. This was not the farm girl I was used to seeing. There was also plenty of cleavage. My desire to kick some serious butt was set aside for now. When Zoe saw me, her whole face lit up. I opened my arms, she fell into them, and our lips met. That was all it took for me to decide to deal with Brook, Pam, and Halle later.

They had a photographer, and Zoe wanted to get our picture taken. We hadn’t been able to do the ‘have our pictures taken’ bit at her house because we both had to be at the game. I had to stop myself from offering to reposition the lighting because the photographer was apparently not a professional. Tonight was about fun and Zoe.