“I might have been partially responsible,” I admitted, and Cassidy took another step. “Okay, okay. I was a bully and tried to make it look like Dare did it.”
Cassidy took my lunch and set it on the table. I’m such a ‘stupid boy’; I should have known what was coming next.
“Cassidy, I swear, if you crack my ribs again …” I hissed as I dropped to my knees, “there isn’t much I can do about it.”
She looked at Brook, who nodded. Cassidy turned back and helped me up.
“You need to set a better example,” Brook announced.
I grumbled something under my breath.
“What did you say?” Cassidy asked.
“Yes, ma’am?” I asked.
“Good answer,” Cassidy said and kissed my cheek.
Her boyfriend, Don, rolled his eyes. I mentally chastised him for not controlling his woman.
“You owe Dare an apology. He’s been a wreck all morning because you blamed him for your own misdeed,” Gina announced.
I saw a little smile touch Brook’s face. Someone had apparently taken lessons from my mom. I would bet next month’s allowance that she put Gina up to that because there was no way Dare had said anything to Gina about his state of mind. I gave Dare the stink eye and was surprised when he didn’t look away. What good was a socially awkward teen if he had started coming out of his shell when he was around my girlfriend?
I figured my role in this drama needed to come to an end.
“Dare, I really am sorry for this morning. I just knew that if Ms. Lowden caught you, she’d give you a pass, and I didn’t want to have to go to detention. I’ll never do something like that again,” I said sincerely.
Then I turned to my girlfriend.
“Just remember that I’m wise to your role in all this.”
“I’ll make it up to you later,” she promised.
I really did love that woman.
◊◊◊
Before practice, Dad showed up with Duke so he could personally thank everyone for gathering signatures. Duke was more than happy to let everyone pet him and scratch his ears. Brook, Tim, and Wolf helped me collect and count the signatures. For football, the varsity had a disappointing 28, JV 57, and freshmen were in the lead with 68. Their total of 153 put us at 286 signatures. I’d hoped we would be much closer to the 550 we needed.
Next, we counted the results of the cheerleaders’ efforts. They’d gathered 189 signatures. We only had to collect 75 more over the next two days.
“If each of us gets one more signature, we’ll reach our goal,” Dad announced.
He then read off the football numbers.
“It looks like the freshmen have this in the bag. I didn’t want to say anything, but I plan to close Our House and throw a party for the winners,” I announced.
The varsity and JV glared at the younger guys. I bet they would get busy trying to catch them.
“The cheerleaders collected more signatures than all the guys combined,” Dad announced.
“It’s easier for girls,” Yuri complained.
The dummy was standing next to his girlfriend when he said it. He would never learn.
“We have three who did outstandingly. I want to recognize Destiny Crown, Zoe Pearson, and Jill Lacier. Only a couple of signatures separate the three of you. I’m told that David plans to take the winner out on a date as a thank-you for your efforts,” Dad said.
I glanced over at Brook and watched as the whole unintended consequences thing sank in. Rather than remind her that I’d warned her this was a bad idea, I decided to take the high road. This trio had to be her worst nightmare. She and Destiny were committed frenemies. Destiny wanted Brook’s job as head cheerleader and had as much as said that she planned to steal me away from Brook. I wasn’t worried about that happening because Brook and I were doing just fine.
Zoe and I had a past. She didn’t make it a secret that she wanted to be my girlfriend. I wondered how Johan would take it, now that they were going out. I hoped he realized I hadn’t done anything to encourage it. If she did win, I would make sure that he came on the date. I needed him to block for me during games.
Of the three of them, Jill was the biggest issue for three reasons. One, she was my brother’s girlfriend. Jill and Phil seemed to be a good couple, even though she was hit on constantly. Two, in the past, Jill had let me know that when she was older, she would come after me. That had driven her sister April crazy when April and I were dating. Finally, I’d admitted to Brook that I thought Jill was someone I wouldn’t mind spending time with. I would bet that if she tried to get into any bar, they wouldn’t bat an eye. Jill didn’t look like a freshman. Besides being tall and having model looks, she might have the biggest, firmest breasts in school. She and Kate Upton were about the same size up top, and Jill was slimmer.
