Chapter 14

Kelly and I got to the dining hall on Sunday morning for brunch before most of our friends. It gave us a little privacy to talk.

"I'm sorry about putting you off last night, Kyle," Kelly said apologetically. "I hope you weren't too frustrated when you went back to your room."

"I took care of myself when I got back," I answered.

"I know how you felt. I had to play with myself after you left," Kelly explained.

"I wanted to help you with that," I responded.

"I know you did and that was what worried me," Kelly explained. "If I had let you, I'm sure it would have felt wonderful. I'd have lost control of myself and let you go too far."

"I would have stopped any time you were uncomfortable."

Kelly smiled, "I know you would have. Thank you for being so patient with me." She winked. "That's why the day we go further is getting closer. Much closer."

"We could skip the ski weekend next weekend," I offered. "We can ski anytime." I had invited Kelly to go with me to my Venturer Crew's annual ski trip to the Poconos with me.

"No, I want to meet some of your friends. I'm looking forward to the trip," Kelly said. She grinned and added, "I guess there's no chance of the chaperones looking the other way and giving us some privacy."

"I want the first time we make love to be special. I don't think a cabin with 20-30 kids in it is the right place." I said.

"No I guess not," Kelly confirmed. I spotted Damian and Billy heading our way, so we changed the conversation to less personal things before they arrived. Soon our usual crowd of friends filled our table.

Kelly and I spent part of the afternoon together in her room reading the newspaper and relaxing together. We headed downtown later for step two of Operation Nicholson – obtaining the supplies.

My girlfriend could be devious when she wanted to be. She left word with her younger brother in the afternoon. He was to text her after dessert was served at the family's Sunday dinner. Mrs. O'Keefe always made a fancy Sunday dinner. Kelly expected her dad to be fat and happy by the time dessert was served.

Kelly and I were hanging out in her room when the message came after our dinner. She called home immediately and asked to talk to her dad. She needed ten minutes of sweet talking, cajoling and reasoning before she had permission to go to Florida with me for spring break. It was enlightening to watch 'Daddy's little girl' work on her dad. I sent Ed Fritz an e-mail letting him know Kelly and I would be going to spring break with him in a month.

I offered to work out with Jay later that evening. I needed to make sure I knew when he finished his evening workout. It wouldn't do for him to catch me in the act later that night. I tried not to smile when Jay spread his Tiger Balm heat ointment on his muscles when we were finished with our workout. He swore the stuff worked miracles for him after workouts. Jay and I played a couple games of pool after our workout and then headed back to the dorm for bed.

I went back out around 10:00 pm, bringing my tube of toothpaste along. I stopped off at my car to grab the large irrigation syringe in the first aid kit in my car trunk. I headed straight for the locker room when I reached the Lasch Building. The locker room was dark and deserted as I expected. I turned the lights and headed over to Jay's locker. His Tiger Balm was sitting on his shelf as always.

I grabbed the ointment and went over to the trash can. I was emptying the contents of the tube into the trash when someone called out, "Mr. Martin, what do you think you're doing?"

I turned. It was Joe, the night watchman. "Do you remember a few weeks ago when I 'switched' to linebacker?"

"Yeah," Joe answered, chuckling. "You'da made a mighty funny looking linebacker."

"It's payback time," I explained.

"Just what do you have in mind for Mr. Nicholson?" Joe asked.

I held up the tube of toothpaste and the syringe. He grinned and said, "I guess I don't see nothing. It might'a been different if you'da planned to put that ointment in his toothpaste tube."

"I don't want to hurt him, just make him think twice before he pulls another prank on me."

"Good night, Mr. Martin. I have to finish my rounds and go back to my office so I can make a note in my log. 'Finished rounds at 10:18 pm – All's quiet.' That should do it, right?"

"Perfect, Joe" I replied. "Thanks for keeping quiet."

Joe walked off, muttering "I don't see nothing." He turned when he reached the door. "Make sure you turn out the lights when you're done NOT being here, Mr. Martin."

"You got it, Joe." I replied. I went back to emptying the Tiger Balm in the trash. I pulled the syringe apart and filled it to the top with white toothpaste. The color and consistency was perfect. I quickly filled the Tiger Balm tube to the proper level, capped it, and returned it to Jay's locker. My buddy was in for a surprise when he finished Monday's workout.

--oooOooo--

I hoped to go over to the Lasch Building with Jay on Monday when he worked out. It didn't go the way I planned. Kelly and I were eating lunch when Jay plopped his tray down beside us and asked, "I don't suppose you know anything about my sticky surprise when I finished working out this morning?"

I feigned innocence. "I don't know what you mean."

"Toothpaste in my Tiger Balm tube," Jay replied. He turned towards Kelly. "I suppose you were his accomplice."

She giggled and tried to give him an innocent smile. "I have no idea what you're talking about, Jay."

Jay shook his head. "All I want to know is how did you get the toothpaste in the tube?"

"Trade secret," I answered, giving him a wink and a grin. "A Boy Scout is always prepared."

Fortunately Jay wasn't too mad about needing a second shower after he smeared toothpaste all over his calves, thighs and back. All of us shared a good laugh about the latest prank. Jay tried to get information from Kelly and me about who our next victim would be. We kept our secrets.

--oooOooo--

The week flew by for both Kelly and me. We spent time at the library helping each other research papers for History 2. We hung out together while we worked on home work every evening. We even found time to make out a little on Wednesday night when Damian was gone most of the evening. Kelly kept me well under control, nothing below the waist again. She promised we would progress further soon.

Kelly helped me brainstorm ideas for the practical jokes I wanted to pull on all the guys who were responsible for my football position 'change'. By the end of the week I had gotten Evan Foster, Trevor Conwell, Karol Zizka and Shawn O'Conner. Nothing vicious, just 'misplaced' shower slippers, unusual shampoo, the bath towel that turned into a dish towel in the middle of a shower, you know ... that sort of thing.

My attempts on Zack Hayes, Aaron Morano and Anders Voight fell short. Veteran players seemed more cautious than their younger teammates. I probably should have started with those three veterans as they seemed better prepared; thanks mostly to their experience and the examples of the other victims of my revenge.

Kelly and I got to work on raising funds for the Thon to help Omega Chi. Kelly had raised about $160 in pledges and cash by the end of the week. I was slightly ahead of her with $175, mostly from my teammates. That all changed on Thursday afternoon when I hit up Aaron Morano when he finished his daily workout.

"Sure thing, Kyle," Aaron said, smiling. "The Thon is an excellent cause. I always give." He pulled a ten dollar bill out of his wallet, started to hand it to me and then stopped.

I looked at him questioningly. "I'm thinking like a college student," Aaron explained. "You have a pledge book, don't you?" I nodded yes. "All three guys I am interviewing for my sports agent agree I will be a millionaire by summer. It's time for me to start paying back." He put the ten dollar bill back in his wallet.

"Thank you, Aaron," I said automatically. I handed the pledge book to him. I expected he might give $50 or $100. Aaron filled out the sheet with his name, contact information and pledge amount.

"This should help," Aaron said when he handed it back to me.

I looked at it. My eyes nearly popped out of their sockets. Aaron had put down a pledge of $2000, payable next August. "Oh my God! Are you sure about this?"

"Football has been very good to me," Aaron replied. "It's the least I can do. My first paycheck will cover this a thousand times over."

"It's very generous, Aaron," I replied. "Thank you." I got up to leave but Aaron waved for me to stop.

"Give me the pledge book for ten minutes," Aaron asked. "I know a couple more teammates I can hit up for you."

"Thanks, Aaron," I replied. I waited ten minutes while Aaron twisted a couple arms. Aaron convinced Pete Klein to match his $2000 pledge. Antwaan topped them both. He promised the Thon $5000 next summer.

Kelly and I took our collections and pledge book over to Omega Chi after dinner on Thursday. Jacob Miller was astonished at our results for only one week of soliciting. He thanked us for the help. Space on the Thon dance floor in the Bryce Jordan center was limited. This additional money should clinch space for a second dance couple for the fraternity.

--oooOooo--

Kelly and I were psyched up for our ski weekend. I checked in with my family Thursday evening to see about the final arrangements. I knew my sister Liz would be there with her boyfriend Nick but Andy wasn't going as he had to work. Joe Baer, the crew advisor, e-mailed me directions to the scout camp were we would be staying. Kelly and I would meet the crew there later on Friday night.

Both of us were anxious to leave on Friday but had to wait impatiently. Joe Baer said the crew was leaving at 6:30 from my church. Joe expected they would arrive at the scout camp around 9:30 pm. I did my daily work-out after class while Kelly did some of her homework. We had dinner with our friends in the dining hall.

We met outside Beaver Hall after dinner. I had packed my weekend things in my backpack. Kelly met me carrying a large sports duffel bag. We headed across Pollock Road and up Bigler Road to my car.

Kelly looked over at me while we were walking and asked, "Why did you bring your backpack to school? It must take up a lot of room and you won't have much use for it here this semester."

"Sure I will," I countered. "I'm taking a course in backpacking this semester."

"You are?" Kelly asked, perplexed. "You haven't said anything about that class since we started going together."

"Backpacking doesn't start until the middle of March." I explained.

"Really?" Kelly asked. Her eyes lit up. "I wonder if it is too late to sign-up for it."

"Check with me on Sunday. I can give you the name of the professor. Maybe we could take the course together."

"I'd like that, Kyle," Kelly replied.

"I figure it will be a good way to squeeze in some camping this spring and an easy way to get 1 ½ credits," I added.

"I hope there is space," Kelly said wistfully. "I miss camping so much."

I hoped it would work out for Kelly. The thought of spending a few weekends in the spring with my girlfriend was attractive. We loaded our things in the back of my car and headed off for the Poconos.

Kelly and I found yet another thing we had in common on the two and half hour drive to the camp – music. I was the luckiest guy the world. How could anyone else ever have so much in common with another person?

I headed up Route 26 to Bellefonte, hopped on I-80 and drove east across the state. Kelly helped me with the directions when we got close to the camp. We found the camp easily working together. I checked in at the headquarters. The campmaster sent us down the hill to the cabin assigned to our crew. I parked my car in the parking lot. Kelly and I gathered our things and walked to our cabin.

I spotted a familiar face out on the porch as we approached the cabin. When we got close, I called out, "Hey, Dad. It's good to see you. What are you doing here?"

"Hi, Kyle," Dad said as he smiled and turned to face us. "Mr. Sauder was supposed to drive this weekend but had a conflict. I was drafted last night to come this weekend."

"It's good to see you," I said. Dad and I hugged when I reached the top of the stairs.

Dad gave me a wink. "This gives me an opportunity to meet this wonderful girlfriend you have been raving about." Dad gave Kelly a quick check. "Are you going to introduce us?"

"Sure," I said, pulling free of Dad's hug. "Dad, I'd like to present Kelly O'Keefe, prettiest girl at Penn State." Dad and Kelly shook hands. "Kelly, this is my Dad, Dan Martin."

"It's very nice to meet you Mr. Martin," Kelly gushed. "Kyle has told me so much about you." Kelly gushed.

"You can call me Dan, Kelly," Dad replied. "We're not formal in our family. It's very nice to finally meet you. Kyle has been quite effusive in his praise of you."

"I see where your son gets his way with words," Kelly said. "You're too kind."

"Come inside," Dad said. "We'll find you a bunk and introduce you to the gang. I hope you're not shy. This bunch can be a handful."

Kelly replied, "They can't be any worse than my Venturer Crew from back home."

We went inside. The cabin was as chaotic as you would expect with a group of 14-17 year olds. Dad said they arrived about ten minutes ahead of us. The girls were bunking in the back room. The guys were jostling for spaces in the bunks in the front room.

Matt Sauder yelled, "Hey! Kyle's here," when he spotted me. Matt's greeting was echoed across the room with more greetings of "Hi Kyle," "Good to see you," and "Glad you're here, man."

Eric Connell walked over to me, gave me a slap on the shoulder. "It's damn good to see you, Kyle," he said, grinning. "It's been too long." We shook hands. Eric and I hadn't seen each other since we worked together for the summer at scout camp. Samantha Hoover, Eric's longtime girlfriend joined us.

I introduced Eric, Sammy and Kelly to each other. Eric waved to Heather Miller to join us. I knew from my sister Liz's e-mails that Eric had been elected president of the Venturer Crew last September. Sammy served as his vice president and Heather was the crew treasurer.

Kelly and I paid Heather the money we owed for the weekend and Sammy showed Kelly an available bunk in the other room. Eric pointed out a bunk in the back of our room farthest from the wood stove that heated the cabin. That's what I get for being a few minutes late arriving.

I stowed my gear and laid out my sleeping bag so the fibers could fluff up and keep me warm for the night. I turned and checked out the guys who made the trip. Matt Sauder, Cody Stevens, Dave Mitchell, Ryan Kauffman, Josh Strickler, Dylan Mentzer and Jared Crisp all made it. These kids started Boy Scouts three years when Ed Fritz and I were their troop guides.

I always thought of these guys as 'just little kids'. It was time for me to update my attitude. Most of the guys were in their growth spurt – none more than Matt Sauder. He looked almost as tall as me, maybe an inch shorter. Dave Mitchell was close behind him. Dave used to be a little pudgy. All the baby fat was gone and he was tall and lean. He looked good. The other freshmen I knew were growing too, but not as much as Matt and Dave.

Jake Kring, Mark Good and Paul Abbott had the best bunks in our room of the cabin, right by the woodstove. That fitted their rank and seniority in the Venturers. All of them were seniors in high school.

I spotted Eric and Andy's friend Troy Smith. He was hanging with Nick Hoover, my little sister's boyfriend and another guy I didn't know. I assumed he was Nick or Eric's age too.

The Baers weren't in sight at the moment. They probably were dealing with check-in with the campmaster. Mr. Stevens was hanging out with my Dad, trying to stay out of the way.

Kelly returned to the main room accompanied by my sister Liz. "I met your sister," Kelly explained. "Elizabeth is a real sweetheart." Liz smiled with pride.

"She's nice in small doses," I countered, giving Liz a wink. "Sometimes little sisters can be a pain in the neck."

"So can big brothers," Liz replied.

"Speaking as one little sister to another," Kelly agreed. "Big brothers can be a big pain in the ass." Kelly gave me a hug and a quick kiss. "I do like him anyway."

Liz asked Nick to come over. She introduced her boyfriend and my girlfriend. Liz's best friend Annie came over and joined us. She dragged Matt Sauder along with her. She introduced Matt as her boyfriend. Matt gave us a sheepish grin.

Eric and Sammy organized the evening cracker barrel (bedtime snack). Joe, Justin and Sherry returned from checking us in and the Friday night leader's meeting. I introduced them to Kelly while we waited for the horde of kids crowding around the trays of snacks to eat their fill. Kelly and I talked with the Baers until bedtime. Kelly seemed to hit it off with Joe, Justin and Sherry.

Joe Baer sent everyone to bed at 10:30 pm with a reminder that we'd be up early on Saturday morning. Kelly and I joined the other adults out to the porch to relax and talk for a little while until the cabin got quiet.

I thought Barb Baer stayed home to watch Betsy and Justin's boys, Billy and Wesley, but they all were at Joe and Justin's parents this weekend. Barb had the weekend to rest and relax. She was seven months along with child. Joe said their first son was due on May 12th so Kelly and I congratulated him.

We talked for half an hour. Joe had to go back inside to quiet the kids a couple times before they finally went to sleep. I remembered how keyed up kids were on the first night of a camping trip. Our bull session on the porch broke up around 11:30. We headed to bed after that. I made sure to beat Dad to sleep. That's important when you sleep near him, so you don't have to listen to his snoring.

Justin woke everyone up at 6:30 am on Saturday morning. Eric Connell got the kids responsible for breakfast working immediately. By 7:00 am we were eating our cold cereal and Danish and drinking our milk and orange juice.

Dad had room in the family van for Kelly and me, so we piled our ski stuff in and joined Dad, Liz, Nick, Annie and Matt. We arrived at the ski area around 7:45 am. Dad and Mr. Stevens found a table in the lodge where all the skiers left their extra clothes and lunches. Justin and I took the kids with their own equipment downstairs again to get dressed. Joe, Sherry and Kelly took the rest of the group to get outfitted with their rental equipment.

Justin and I hung out by the door from the rental area while the other skiers hit the slopes. A steady stream of Venturer Crew members trickled out and joined the others on the slopes. Sherry, Joe and Kelly came out last. Kelly and I decided to ski with Justin, Joe and Sherry. Joe and Justin flew down the hill like maniacs on the first run. Sherry, Kelly and I followed at a slightly saner speed.

Joe and Justin were waiting at the bottom of the run for us. Justin teased, "Where'd the dare devil I remember that used fly down the hill with his friends go?"

"The dare devil retired two and half years ago," I countered. "You should know. You helped carry me off the field after I ruptured my ACL that night."

"You hurt your knee, Kyle?" Kelly asked. "Is that why you have those small scars?"

"Hurt my knee?" I answered. "No honey, I destroyed my knee." While we rode the lift up the hill again I explained about that ugly night two and a half years ago when I was covering Christian Hunsecker and we got tangled up with each other.

"I had no idea, Kyle," Kelly said. "I guess you're lucky you are still able to play football."

"No, I wasn't lucky," I explained. "I had an excellent surgeon to repair my knee and a great physical therapist."

As the quad chair delivered us to the top of the hill, Justin added, "Kyle worked his ass off rehabbing. I've never seen anyone more determined to get back on the football field than your boyfriend."

As we skied away from the lifts Kelly said, "I like that about him." Joe and Justin led the way down the hill, followed by me, Kelly and Sherry. We continued our skiing runs, talking as we waited in the line at the bottom of the hill, riding up together, and then skiing down.

We finally took a break around 12:30 for lunch. Joe, Justin and Sherry found the lunches they brought from home. Kelly and I went through the hot lunch line in the lodge for our meal. We took open seats by Dad and Mr. Stevens.

I caught up on the Stevens family news over lunch. I hadn't seen or heard of Rob Stevens, Cody's older brother and my brother Will's best man since Will's wedding last spring. He and Cindy Jacobs finally set their wedding date for September 18th. Rob liked his job as a production assistant at Channel 27 in Harrisburg. Cindy was working for the state Department of Conservation of Natural Resources.

Joe, Justin, Sherry, Kelly and I hit the slopes again after we finished lunch. Joe wore out mid-afternoon. Justin and I both teased him about being an old fart now that he was over thirty. He joined Dad and Mr. Stevens inside until dinner time.

Our tables were full of kids when we came in for dinner. Kelly and I managed to squeeze in at the end of the table with Jake Kring and Morgan Wentz. Jake was signed, sealed and delivered to Syracuse University for next season. He signed his letter of intent to play football for them on National Signing Day. Morgan had been accepted by early admission to the University of Virginia. They planned to continue dating for the rest of the school year and hopefully stay friends when they split up when college started in the fall. I encouraged them to do that. It beat the hell Penny and put ourselves through last fall.

Kelly and I went back out to ski some more with Joe, Justin and Sherry when we finished dinner. We skied for a couple hours, until the slopes started to ice up. I helped Kelly return her rentals and then headed back to our table in the lodge. We hung out with Justin, Joe, and Sherry, talking while we killed the hour we had until the kids were due back for the evening. You know how kids ski, it doesn't matter if it's is icy, slushy, or powder. They'll ski as long as there aren't too many rocks exposed on the trails.

One of the stories I told to pass the time was about my "conversion" to linebacker last month. Justin particularly enjoyed hearing about it.

"Hayes did that?" Justin exclaimed. He paused and chuckled, undoubtedly envisioning me trying to shed the block of some 300 pound center or pulling guard so I could make a tackle. "Wait'll I see Hayes at Sam's wedding. Linebacker!?!" Justin shook his head and chuckled again before he asked, "What are you doing for pay-back? You can't let this go unanswered."

"Believe me, I'm not," I explained. Kelly and I went on to describe all the pranks we'd pulled on the other guys involved in my "conversion". My friends enjoyed hearing about the inventive ways we paid each guy back. I concluded with, "It's getting harder to get the guys. I have three left and they've all been with the team three or four years. They've seen too many pranks already."

Justin asked, "Who's left?"

"Zack, Aaron Morano and Anders Voight," I replied.

"I don't know Voight," Justin said. "I know Morano, maybe I can help there. Hayes should be easy. We know so much about him. We should be able to come up with a really wicked plan to get that dude." Justin straightened up. "Tell me more about Morano. Let's work out a plan for him first."

I proceeded to fill Justin in about what I knew about Aaron. I had forgotten that Justin had met Aaron already, at a few of the Wolverines' playoff games over the past three years. I told him about Aaron's experiences as a football player, his girlfriend, his apartment, his car, his NFL prospects – everything I knew about Aaron James Morano.

Justin and Joe helped come up with a plan – far more fiendish than anything Kelly and I would have come up with. The idea gave me pause. I asked, "Should we really be fooling around with the man's career?"

"Why not?" Justin asked confidently. "Didn't he fool around with yours?" I nodded agreement. "It seems like a fair pay-back to me."

I had to agree with Justin. Switching me to linebacker did affect my education and future career plans. Justin gave me a list of things he wanted to know about Aaron before we sprang our plan on him. The actual execution would wait until after Aaron got back from the NFL Scouting Combine in Indianapolis in a few weeks.

Justin promised to think some more about the best way to pay back Zack Hayes for his role in my "conversion." Kids were starting to come in from skiing by then. Joe and Justin switched back to their roles of crew advisors, directing kids to return rentals, pack their gear and get ready to return to our cabin at the scout camp. Thirty minutes later the chaos was tamed. Everyone had their rentals returned, personal things packed, and all Venturers accounted for. We loaded up in the four vans and returned to camp.

Eric Connell had three Venturers get our cracker barrel ready as soon as we returned to camp. The kids enjoyed their snack while they played poker, Magic, or simple gabbed with their buddies. Joe and Justin didn't have as much trouble getting the kids to bed at eleven o'clock, unlike the previous night. Exhausted as we were by the long day of skiing we all went straight to sleep.

Sunday morning Kelly volunteered to help Sherry supervise the Venturers assigned to make breakfast for the crew. I was pleased how well Kelly fit in with my friends.

Dad asked me out to the porch of the cabin to talk privately while we waited for breakfast to be finished. "I'm glad I got to meet Kelly this weekend. She seems really fantastic, Kyle."

"Thanks, Dad," I replied. "I think so."

Dad continued, "You have talked constantly in your e-mails and calls home about Kelly. How serious is this relationship?"

"Pretty serious, Dad. I think I'm in love with her."

"I suspected that," Dad asked. "Does Kelly feel the same way?"

"I think so, but I'm not positive. We haven't talked about it yet."

"You probably need to have that talk with her soon," Dad said. "I know how intense you get when you are really into something – football, Penny, Julie, Scouts. You don't want to scare her off."

"No, I don't want that," I replied.

"Take time to talk with her soon," Dad explained. "Make sure both of you are looking for the same things. The talk could save both of you considerable heartache."

"Thanks for the suggestion, Dad. I'll talk to her on the way back to school," I promised.

"Good thinking, son. That will be good for both of you."

Dad and I went back inside to finish packing our stuff. The cooks served us breakfast. It was up to our crew's usual delicious standards. Kelly and I packed our things and loaded up my VW while the rest of the crew packed and loaded the vans for their trip home.

Justin and I bumped into each other on one of the trips to the parking lot. "Dude, I've got tell you something," Justin said. "That Kelly is a fantastic girl. I thought you were crazy when you broke up with Penny. I thought there was no way could you ever find a girl Penny's equal." I nodded in acknowledgement. "You did. You take good care of Kelly. She's something special."

"I know, Justin," I replied. "I'm going to do everything I can to make my relationship with Kelly last."

"You do that," Justin said. "You and Kelly are welcome anytime our crew has a trip. It has been a pleasure having both of you with us this weekend."

"Thanks, Justin," I said. "I enjoyed it too."

Eric Connell directed the crew in the final cleanup and sweeping of our cabin. The whole group waited outside while the campmaster inspected the cabin with Eric and Joe. We passed inspection and the crew headed up the hill to the parking lot.

Dad had to give me and Kelly a hug before he left. I was surprised when Liz gave Kelly a kiss on the cheek and a hug before she left. She whispered something in Kelly's ear that brought a smile to both of them. Liz hurried back to Dad's van as the crew finished loading up in the four vans. She slid in the back seat with her boyfriend Nick. Kelly and I waved good bye as my friends and family pulled out of the parking lot and headed south for Lancaster and home.

Kelly and I climbed in my car and headed out. When we were on the road, I asked, "What did Liz say to you that was so funny?"

"It was girl talk, Kyle. None of your business."

"Oh ... kay... ," I answered. "Did you have fun this weekend?"

"It was fantastic," Kelly answered, beaming. "I'm so glad we came. I enjoyed meeting your dad and sister. Your friends were nice too. Your crew and my crew are so similar. They made me feel right at home."

"That's good," I said. "Justin told me that we're welcome to come to any of the crew outings we want."

Kelly helped me navigate back out to Route 80 from the camp. I planned to start our serious relationship talk when we were safely headed west on I-80 for State College. I spent about fifteen minutes getting my thoughts organized as we drove. I wanted to handle this conversation carefully.