Junior Year Box Set

When the bill finally came, I was relieved to see that I hadn’t been stuck with the entire tab. Most of the parents had taken care of themselves. It still totaled almost a grand, but I really did want to thank my teammates and the other people who’d helped me out over time. It was also good to know that the three plates of nachos hadn’t gone to waste. Phil had taken them and handed them out to our teammates.

When we got back, Coach Mason took me to his room, and we went over my reads. With him here, it was easier for him to explain what I was looking at. Anytime you had someone with his knowledge willing to teach you, you took advantage of it. When we approached midnight, we decided to call it a night.

When I returned to my room, Phil was still awake.

“I told Coach Hope where you were at curfew. Are you having sex with all the cheerleaders?” Phil asked.

“You do know that’s not something you should ask,” I warned.

He just shook his head.

“I can’t believe you’d rather spend time with Coach Mason than the girls that stopped by. I’d give just about anything to have sex.”

“Are you a virgin?” I asked.

I remembered when Cindy had asked me that very question. Phil blushed almost as much as I had. I wasn’t sure whether Lincoln High was ready for another boy from the Dawson clan to be set loose on the females. Between Greg and me, we had bedded more than our share. As I thought about it, I decided I wasn’t ready to take him under my wing, like Greg had me.

He still hadn’t answered me, so I just let it drop and got ready for bed. We had a big day tomorrow, and I needed to get my sleep.

◊◊◊

Chapter 3 – Was it Something I Said? Thursday November 5

I got up to do my morning run. I didn’t want to end up in a bad neighborhood, so I asked the girl at the front desk what direction I should go. She told me that if I ran towards where we’d gone to dinner last night, there was a state park called White River. Even though the Holiday Inn Express offered a complimentary breakfast, what they had available didn’t interest me, so she suggested a diner I could go to.

I began my run, and it took me by the football stadium. It was different from running at home. Everything was paved over, and a slight smell of exhaust fumes hung in the air. When she’d said ‘state park,’ I’d expected something more like a forest. What I found reminded me of our park at home, except this one had large metal art scattered throughout it. There was also a zoo and outdoor stage for concerts.

I wasn’t alone in the park; there were other people out running. They looked like they were all older, and most seemed to be professionals. I had to laugh when this one guy was running with his shirt off. This must be a place to pick up girls because when I circled around to head back, he was chatting up a woman as I ran by. I took a closer look, and he obviously spent a lot of time working out. I still didn’t consider it a good idea to run this time of year without a shirt on. It was a little too cold for that.

As I ran, I started to notice that many of the women would make eye contact and smile at me. I was feeling adventurous, so I waited until I came across a cute brunette who appeared younger than most, and when she smiled, I stopped. She stepped in front of me and gave me a brazen inspection from head to groin to toe.

“I was going to go get breakfast. Care to join me?” I asked.

“You seem a little young,” she said.

“I’ll ask someone else,” I said and started to step around her. She moved to the side to block my way.

“I like a confident man. I guess I’ll let you buy me breakfast,” she said. She grabbed my hand, and we began to jog.

My ‘date’ cracked me up when she checked out my butt as we ran to the diner. I’d been under the impression that only guys were that aggressive. Maybe I might like older women. I also realized that this was a better way to meet the type of woman who interested me than going to a bar. A woman who ran would be athletic and have a nice butt. I could get behind a firm bottom.

When we arrived at the diner, we sat down at a booth that overlooked the park. The server handed us menus and left us to get to know each other. I was interested in how this worked. After all, a little research might be useful in case I ever needed some company in a strange town.

“So, what do you do?” I asked.

“I just moved here from Dayton and started at Eli Lilly as a programmer. How about yourself?”

“I do some modeling.”

“Sorry, I need to change my answer. I’m a brain surgeon. Next, you’ll tell me you’re only in town for a few days, and we owe it to ourselves to spend some quality time together.”

“Does that usually work? Because I am only in town today and will leave tomorrow. We could skip breakfast if you’re in a hurry,” I shot back.

“So you’re cheap as well. You won’t even spring for breakfast.”

“Hypothetically, if I were to pick you up jogging and treat you to breakfast, what would it take to spend some quality time with you?” I asked.