Brook had had another run-in with Destiny after she dropped me off at Coach Hope’s house. They’d stopped to pick up food, and Destiny had been there. You would think by now Destiny would have given up on her plans to take over the cheerleading squad. She’d started a rumor that Brook was cheating on me with someone from Washington. I just ignored it because Brook and I knew where the other was almost 24/7. She would have had to have some kind of magical ability to sneak off and rendezvous with one of our rivals. If Destiny had been slyer, she would have made it someone from State. I didn’t think my girlfriend would fall for another high school boy.
Brook retaliated by telling everyone what a ‘round-heeled whore’ Destiny was. While I didn’t think it was very nice, I left it to my girlfriend to fight her own battles as she saw fit. At least this time, they hadn’t come to blows. I think Destiny had learned her lesson.
On the tattletale front, Ava and I had come to an uneasy truce. Paul pulled up to Brook’s house, and I got out to knock on the door. It seemed that ‘you’re welcome anytime’ meant something different to Ava than it did to me. Growing up, we’d come and gone from everyone’s houses like we lived there. Ava thought you should actually have to be invited in each time you came over. It seemed like a lot of extra work to me.
I dutifully knocked on the back door and waited. Ava peeked out the window. I wondered who she thought it would be since I picked up her daughter at the same time every day. Brook came out with her suitcase. We hadn’t said anything, but I assumed this meant she was going to USC with me this weekend for my official visit.
I had a lot planned for this weekend. Besides my official visit, I had the group from Ohio State spending the weekend doing all the preliminary work for my new house in Malibu. I also planned to see Halle and return Bandit to her. While I liked the little guy, I was a dog person.
Caryn and Megan were also going with us and planned to stay for a full week. Caryn wanted to see her family and spend time with Frank and Kent to work on the businesses there.
On the ride to school, I half-listened to my girlfriend as she ranted about Destiny. I made all the necessary noises while I mentally prepared for the game tonight. The more I watched game tape of Mt. Vernon, the more I was concerned. I think they were the embodiment of what Coach Hope dreamed his team was: defense-oriented. They played aggressive defense, and then their offense tried to grind out long drives that ate up a lot of clock. It explained why their scores were so close. They wanted to get a lead and then just hang onto it. So far, it had worked.
When we got to school, we walked to our lockers. We found Dare with his back to his locker and three guys surrounding him. Something definitely wasn’t kosher, so I motioned for Wolf, Tim, Yuri, Phil, and Roc to join me.
“This is our school. David won’t be around to protect you next year, so you better start toeing the line and give us your lunch money,” Pete Yoder, the ringleader, said.
Could they be more cliché? I was glad that Yuri didn’t just smack one of them. He was learning.
“Dare, are these boys bothering you?” I asked.
“Yes,” Dare said hesitantly.
“I am so going to kick your ass,” Pete hissed.
“Let me put it to you this way. If anyone … and I mean
“The same goes for next year,” Yuri added.
“Any questions?” I asked.
I was impressed that they didn’t have any. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed Mr. Palm down the hall, watching. I stepped back so the young bullies could run off to class. Mr. Palm just nodded and went about his business, now that the crisis had been averted.
◊◊◊
At lunch, Wolf and Gina were trading barbs.
“Guys are just gross. You’re always talking about jacking off and other stupid stuff.”
For a smart girl, I wondered where she’d left her brain.
“Don’t dis jerking off. At least it’s sex with someone I like,” Wolf shot back.
Gina’s face turned bright red, and everyone else chuckled. Then the unexpected happened.
“Sex is like air. It’s not important unless you aren’t getting any,” Dare said.
It took us a moment to realize that Dare had actually said something at the lunch table. Then it took us another to figure out that he had just cut Gina to the quick since she wasn’t dating anyone.
“Burn,” Phil chirped.
“Dude, the whole glass house thing,” Johan quipped.
“We’re waiting until we’re ready,” Jill, Phil’s girlfriend, said.
I suspected that they’d had sex; Jill just had a wicked sense of humor. Now, both Phil and Gina were about to combust from embarrassment.
“Sex is like snow, you never know how many inches you’re going to get or how long it will last,” Cassidy added.
