I shuffled into the bathroom, and five minutes later came out with a towel wrapped around my waist. I took a moment to check myself out in the full-length mirror. Ever since the summer before high school, when my uncle had used me as free child labor and my growth spurt hit, I’d been pleased with my appearance. My work using a posthole digger had filled out my upper body and thighs. Over the last few years, I’d put on muscle and become more defined. The school’s trainer, Joey, had taken my development to a whole new level.
What I saw looking back at me showed that I’d matured. I had almost no body fat, and the muscles under my skin looked like corded steel. Joey’s efforts had caused me to lose weight, which would explain why my pants were getting loose in the waist. Despite being lighter, I hadn’t given up any of my strength. As a matter of fact, I was much stronger than I had been this time last year. Joey had helped me continue to improve, rather than level off in my development as we’d worried I might. All my measurables showed progress.
There wasn’t time to run today, so I wandered downstairs to get something to eat. Precious had waited for Duke. I let the two of them explore the backyard while I strolled into the house to the kitchen. Someone had made coffee, so I poured myself a cup. I inhaled the aroma, and it smelled like vanilla. That meant my mom had made the pot. I gulped a mouthful of steaming hot coffee, thinking about how much I needed it this morning. It was like liquid heaven and helped wake me up.
As I looked through the kitchen window at Precious stalking my hound, I heard someone come downstairs. I turned to find Peggy putting the boys into high chairs.
“You ready to face your first day back?”
“What do you mean?” I asked.
“I imagine it’ll be nuts now that you won your award. All my friends have been after me to introduce you to them. I expect it’ll be the same at school,” Peggy said.
She knew how much I hated that kind of attention, but I’d grown somewhat inured to it by now. I wasn’t worried about my friends or classmates so much as about what the crowds would be like for our first game tonight. We always started off the year playing Lang Academy.
I looked forward to seeing Ray, Harper’s best friend, who went there and played on their team. It would be good to catch up.
The troubling part was that Lang Academy was where you got sent when your parents threatened you with military school. I was concerned because the last couple of years during the Lang Academy games, there had been behavioral problems with sexual harassment and fights. With a large crowd, the odds of a repeat performance on their part were high.
“It should be fine,” I said dismissively.
Peggy’s expression said that I was a ‘stupid boy.’ I just hoped those weren’t my famous last words on the matter.
◊◊◊
Manaia was quicker on the uptake than my previous security guys. Then again, he’d basically lived with me while I’d been in LA over Christmas break. He showed up at the house and ate breakfast. He even survived Cassidy cooking it.
As we got close to the school, it became clear we might have a problem. Out front, our local police force had set up barricades to keep the people and reporters back. Every car that entered the lot had to be stopped so the officers could verify they were supposed to be on school grounds. It was a frickin’ zoo.
“The safest way would be to drive around back. I’ll go in the front and open the door for him,” Cassidy suggested.
After we dropped Cassidy off, I directed him to where he could pull up and I could get inside quickly. After we received the “all clear” text, Manaia walked me to the door, and Cassidy let us in. Vice Principal Palm waited for us inside.
“Are you part of David’s security team?” he asked Manaia.
“Yes.”
“Go park your car and then come to the office, please. I’d like to talk to you.”
“You might want to invite Fritz, too,” Cassidy suggested.
That was probably the right call. Vice Principal Palm told me that as soon as everyone was in the school, no one would be allowed to leave. That was especially true for me. Not that I ever really left, but telling a teenager they couldn’t leave wasn’t the best way to get them to go along with your plans.
As I headed to my locker, I got stopped several times to receive congratulations and shit in equal proportions. It seemed my yelling, “Go Bulldogs!” was a big hit. After the initial flurry of attention, everything seemed to settle down.
As I dropped off my books at my locker, I overheard the rehashing of the previous weekend’s conquests. My classmates swapped stories as if comparing video game scores, each seemingly trying to one-up the other with adventures of college parties, hooking up, and the usual adolescent boasts. It made me happy that everyone just accepted me and went back to their same old routines.
◊◊◊
Joey let me know that I wasn’t anything special in her eyes, if the workout she put me through was any indication.
