Junior Year Box Set

“I don’t remember ever seeing one run from you before,” Brandon said.

I just shrugged. I was sure she wouldn’t be the last.

“What do you think?” I asked him.

“I like it, but I’m not the one who’d have to go to school here. From what everyone has said, your teammates also like Notre Dame. If you all want to go to the same school, I think this fits the criteria: possible national championship; good academics; a national stage to raise awareness for after-college money; and close enough so your friends and family could come to your games.”

“I’m surprised they didn’t offer Jim.”

“Want me to talk to them about that?” Brandon asked.

“No. I think I’m done forcing schools to consider us all. Jim needs to do what’s best for him, and not what’s best for all of us. I admit, if he were to come here, it would influence my thinking, but that won’t be the only deciding factor.”

The coaching staff still had to run workouts for most of the recruits, so they cut us loose.

◊◊◊

I walked in the back door and was greeted by a happy boy. Mom kicked Duke and me out of the house to run off his nervous energy. I decided I needed to find out what was going on with his buddy and walked over to the Callahan house. I knocked on the back door, and Bryan answered. He took one look at me and slammed the door in my face.

“Dude, it was just a date to the dance. Nothing happened,” he said through the closed door.

“Get your sister.”

I heard the sound of retreating footsteps, and soon Brit came to the back door. When she opened the door, Duke nudged his way past her and into their house. At least he was too big to pull a Houdini.

“We came over to see what was going on with Precious,” I said.

“She hurt her paw, and the vet said she wasn’t to be allowed to run loose until it healed.”

Brit stepped back to let me in the house. We found Precious looking irritated as Duke gave her kisses. I pulled him back. The poor kitty looked pitiful with her paw bandaged. I reached down and picked her up, and she began to purr as I rubbed her chest.

“I still can’t believe she likes you,” Brit said.

“What happened?” I asked.

“I don’t know. Precious came home the other day and she was limping. Knowing her, she might have been in a fight.”

I handed her Precious and took Duke home. It was no surprise when Halle pulled into our driveway. I’d had time to think on the ride back from Notre Dame, and really didn’t see the benefit in causing a big stink about her having a date to Homecoming. If I wanted to be exclusive, I knew how to do that. I wasn’t ready for that kind of relationship.

“How was your trip?” she asked.

I led her up to my apartment and filled her in on the weekend. I told Halle that I liked it and it was one of my top choices. I also told her about receiving an offer from USC. She was more excited about that one than about Notre Dame. USC had the Roski School of Art and Design and also a School of Dramatic Arts that Halle was interested in.

We fell back into a comfortable conversational rhythm. She reminded me why I felt that there might be something more between us eventually. It didn’t take much convincing on Halle’s part to get me naked. As we made love, I looked forward to when we would be in California together to make our movie. I wanted to learn to surf. Halle told me that because of my role as a baseball player, I could get specialized training paid for by the studio. I would have to check into that.

Halle kept me in bed all afternoon. We never talked about the dance. I think it was apparent to both of us that we were okay, and by extension, the other girls were too. If Tami had sent Halle to me to do her dirty work, I would never have been mad at her. Next time Harper or Missy showed up, I would have to show them how to talk to me.

◊◊◊

Chapter 25 – Don’t You Want to Share the Guilt? Monday October 19

This morning Rachel had big news. How did I know it was big news? My first clue was that she was actually waiting for us when we came down to stretch. The second clue was when she began to fidget and bounce up and down. It was all I could do to ignore her as I prepared to run. Rachel’s excitement had Duke and Buster frisky, and they were tearing up the backyard as they played.

I finally stood up and picked up my Bo staff.

“What are you so happy about?”

“I came in fourth at regionals—that qualifies me for sectionals—if I do well there I get to go to state—my coach thinks I didn’t run my best race so she says I’ll be a shoo-in for state—I was disappointed none of my other teammates placed high enough to go but I can hardly wait to see how well I do! Isn’t that great?”