Junior Year Box Set

She gave me a look, and I just shrugged. Usually, Angie would do whatever Angie wanted. If that meant answering my phone to be meddlesome, she would. I scrolled the list of missed calls and saw everyone I expected. I would deal with them later. I even saw a couple from Bryan and Brock. I would kick their asses when I got back from Notre Dame. Then there was one I didn’t expect from Cassidy Hope. I decided to call her back, so I selected her name.

“Where are you?” she asked.

Her tone of voice said she was worried, not demanding. I told her how I’d found Peggy outside the gym, and that she’d had a little boy.

“They’re all worried sick. You need to call them,” Cassidy said.

I knew who ‘they’ were, and I wasn’t ready to talk to them. I needed to get out of town for the weekend to decide what I was going to do. It was apparent I didn’t have any claim over them, and they certainly didn’t have one over me. There would always be other girls.

“I’ll see them at school on Monday. If you want to call them, feel free.”

“Are you sure? They seemed pretty upset that you left.”

“Cassidy, don’t worry about it. Tell your dad I might be asking you out,” I teased her.

She made a rude noise.

“Hey, who won King and Queen?” I asked.

“Jim and Kim. Mona wasn’t happy,” she shared.

“Shit happens,” I said. “Thanks for being my friend.”

“I feel the same. Have fun this weekend.”

◊◊◊

Chapter 24 – A Party You Don’t Want to Miss Saturday October 17

Alan had slowly worked his way back into my good graces, enough to go on this trip. He had everyone meet us at Granny’s for breakfast. Alan had heard Zoe, Halle, Pam, and Brook make plans to find me in the school parking lot this morning. Tim was getting around better, so he rode with Alan, Brandon, and me. Jim, Wolf, Ty, and Jake were in the other car. Granny treated me like the conquering hero and took me around to meet everyone. Our town certainly had caught football fever with our win. It didn’t help that the morning newspaper picked us to win state after our performance last night.

After hot, handmade cinnamon rolls, country fried steak, and eggs for breakfast, I had a full tummy and was a happy boy. When Granny found out we were making a road trip to Notre Dame, she boxed up extra cinnamon rolls for the trip.

On the ride, Tim filled me in on what he’d seen after I left.

“When Zoe came back to the table and found you gone, she realized she’d made a mistake. Bill and Ridge were embarrassed that they had been a part of it, but Tracy told them they were fine. She was pissed at the four girls. Tracy sat them down and told them about what happened to you freshman year,” he said, and then smiled. “Dude, I didn’t realize you took both Cindy and Suzanne to Homecoming.”

Brandon didn’t have any idea what they were talking about, so Alan clued him in. He had Brandon log in to Facebook and showed him Suzanne and Cindy’s pictures.

“I talked to Bryan and Brock. They had agreed to go just to dance. They knew the score, and now they’re worried you’re going to kill them,” Tim said.

“They might find a certain kitty in their laps,” I said.

Again, Alan had to explain about the ‘cat from hell’—Precious. That reminded me I hadn’t seen Duke’s buddy for a few days. I would need to check in with Brit to see why her cat hadn’t been waiting for us in the morning.

We arrived at South Bend, Indiana before noon. The game wasn’t until seven tonight, so we’d have plenty of time to see the campus and athletic facilities. The plan was to meet the coaching staff at the Guglielmino Athletics Complex, locally known as ‘the Gug.’ We drove around the campus, and it was almost like you’d been thrown back in time. The campus had an old-world feel, and the Gug was much the same. Even though it looked newer, its design fit into the rest of the campus’s architecture.

We walked up to the front desk, and a young man in a Notre Dame polo shirt greeted us. Coach Brian, the head coach, soon met us. It tells you a lot when the head coach makes an effort to walk down and greet you. The only other place that had happened was Northwestern.

“Welcome to Notre Dame. I’m Coach Brian. I was just looking at the highlights of your game last night, and have to say I’m impressed.”

He then went up to each one of us, called us by name, and said something about our play last night. He recognized Tim and asked him about his rehab. I smiled when he called Alan ‘Coach Douglas.’ Coach Brian even knew Brandon and talked to him about his college experience. What had me the most impressed was he saved me for last. Someone had done their homework. My teammates appeared to be as impressed as I was.

“David, it’s nice to finally meet you. I’ve followed your progress for the last three years. You played your best game last night. I agree with your assessment of the Springfield defensive coordinator. He’s a sneaky one, and is someone we have on our radar.”