Chapter 10: State Playoffs

Monday November 10

I'd gone out with Peggy Sunday night to celebrate her coming in third at State on Saturday. Mitch had come in second for the boys. She admitted he'd tried to hit on her again, and I was free to kick his ass. I saw him in the parking lot before school about the same time he saw me coming, and made it inside before I caught him.

Peggy gave me a reward for being her hero. The kiss was nice, but she was still confused. She asked why all the varsity cheerleaders flirted with me, while we talked before school. They were going to have to stop, or Peggy was going to hand me my ass. Tracy was absolutely no help. She just told me: 'It sucks to be you.'

The rumor mill was going crazy, because Jeff and Kelly, Bill and Reese, Tim and Carol, were reported as going out, and Jim, Wolf and Cassidy all seemed to be dating. Alan found me between classes.

"What happened?" he demanded.

"What are you talking about?" I shot back.

"Don't play games with me. Jeff is dating a varsity cheerleader. In what universe is that even possible?"

"Hey, Jeff is a great guy, and our friend. Don't you think Kelly could have figured that out?" I asked indignantly.

He looked at me hard.

"You're not telling me something. Don't worry, I'll find out," he said and started to leave.

"Stop!" I ordered.

He came back when he saw I wasn't playing around.

"You have a girlfriend, right? Let Jeff enjoy his new girlfriend. How he won her over is none of your business. Be a real friend, and let it go, Alan."

His lips got tight, but he nodded once, and then walked away.

During lunch, the football team was called to the gym. There were several reporters there, so Coach Hope had to know who our first opponent was. We all quickly took our seats to get the news.

"Two things. First, the All-Conference team has been announced. I would like to congratulate Bill Callaway on making first team."

We all clapped for him. Bill was by far the best receiver in the conference, if not the entire state.

"Second team All-Conference, is Lou Davis."

Lou played cornerback and was one of only three seniors (including Bill). No one expected Lou to make the All-Conference team so there were some cheers mixed in.

"Next is the brackets for state... ," Coach Hope started.

"Hang on, that was all the players who made All-Conference?" Moose asked.

"I think you're missing the point Moose. We are a TEAM! Teams don't need individual accolades. This team is going to show them what playing together can do. We have an opportunity to make a statement this Wednesday,"

Coach Hope said as he looked at me, Tim, Jim, Wolf, Kelly and Ed in turn.

"Our opponent Wednesday is Beverly. I think the football Gods have granted you a chance to show you deserve to be there."

Tim stood up and said,

"Coach is right. David, what would it cost to get t-shirts with TEAM on the back instead of our names?"

"I could probably get them for five bucks each."

"Everyone that wants one, give David some money."

I was happy to see that if a guy didn't have any money someone helped him out. The Coaches all gave me a five. I called Sandy Range. I told her what I needed. She asked me to email her everyone's size and she would get the store I did the ad for to make them up, and send them to the school so we would have them for practice tonight. I was shocked when she said the cost would be $5 for each of them. Have I mentioned how much I loved Range Sports?

I had Alan send her a spread sheet with all our sizes. The little shit blackmailed me into buying him one, too.

As we came in to watch game film, Moose and Coach Diamond handed out our new shirts. They were navy blue sweat shirts with the Lincoln High Bulldog chewing a football on the front in orange. The word 'STATE' went down each sleeve and 'TEAM' was across the back where your name would have gone. It took us no time to all have our sweatshirts on.

You could see the pride everyone had. I would bet big money these would be worn every day until we won state. Coach Hope told us that our jerseys would have a STATE patch added to the sleeves for the Beverly game.

We skipped looking at the Adamsville Prep film, and went straight to Beverly's game film. Coach Hope's assistant had taken over at Beverly as their head coach. He ran the same offense and defense as they did last year. My eyes got big.

"Say it ain't so," I said.

"Yep, do you think you might be ready for this?" Coach Hope asked me.

Over the summer I had broken the Beverly game down at the Kentucky camp. Knowing what to look for was going to be a big advantage. We had a great chance in this game.

For my acting class, I brought a Crockpot of chili. I really enjoyed talking to everyone before class as we ate. Tonight they wanted to talk to me about modeling.

"How did you get started modeling?" Terrance asked.

"It was just luck. My best friend went to a private school, and one of the girls there needed a date to her cousin's engagement party. It was a fancy deal, so my date bought me a really nice suit. We ended up on a gossip TV show that was covering the party. Someone saw me, and the rest is history," I told them.

"Do any of us have a shot at making it big?" Cheryl asked.

"I hate to break it to you, but female models start young, and most are retired by the time they're your age. Terrance might have a shot, as a guy. They tend to start older, and are marketable much longer. The problem is, most of them don't make what the women do."

"For someone like me, what could I expect to make?" Debbie asked.

"I would imagine, with the right management, you could make two to ten grand a month without a problem," I answered. "The only thing is I'm not sure if you're cut out for being a model."

That got everyone's attention. I could see I needed to give them a demonstration.

"Terrance, take your shirt off," I said.

"Well ... I... ," he stammered.

"Deb, Cheryl, take your shirts off."

Deb blushed, but Cheryl did it without even thinking about it.

"Kate, take your shirt off."

Our teacher looked at me for a moment, and she took it off.

"Okay, put them back on," I said. "I wanted to make a point. As a model you have to be able to take direction, and not be body shy. If the shoot required it, I would get naked without even thinking about it."

"But that wasn't a fair test. I didn't know what you were asking for. I just thought you were being a perv," Deb said.

"First, you know me better than that. But, fair enough. Everyone strip down to your underwear, and we'll do tonight's scene like that. If you can honestly say you're not uncomfortable, I'll have my agent call you tomorrow," I challenged.

"Are you going to strip," Cheryl challenged.

I just took my clothes off and got ready for class. Kate made me stop before I lost my boxers. I winked at her. Terrance and Deb couldn't do it. I was surprised Cheryl and Kate joined me. At break Terrence was complaining.

"If I had a body like yours, I could do it," he said.

"I call bullshit," I said.

"I'm all skin and bones. I would never be able to model," he grumbled.

"If I showed you how you could become an actor, a model, or anything you wanted; would you quit complaining, and do what it takes?"

He seemed doubtful.

"Terrance, I'm not messing around. I may only be sixteen; but I'll bet I have made more this month, without even working, than all of you combined. I'm not telling you that to boast. I'm telling you that, so you can see that even a kid can do it."

"Show me," he said.

I went to the white board.

"Terrance, tell me your goal?"

"To be a Broadway actor," he said.

"For this example, I'm going to assume you all have the same goal," I said.

"Broadway would be fine with me," Deb agreed.

The other two nodded their agreement. I wrote Broadway actor four times on the white board with their names underneath. I had Kate get four pads of Post-It Notes. I had them stand under their name and write down everything they would have to do to get a job on Broadway, as an actor, and put it on a sticky note and put it under their name. They stuck them onto the board. I left a spot for myself at the far end. After a half hour I had them stop.

"We have an empty spot at the side. I want the four of you to look at your individual lists and combine what is really needed and put it on the empty area."

They then compared their lists, and combined things like speaking so they could be heard at the back of the theater, getting in better shape, etc. Once they were done I asked them how long it would take them to learn or do each item. Once we knew how long, we put them in order if one had to be done before another. We created a timeline, with each task on it.

"My uncle taught me to do this. I would bet there is an actual class, here at State, where they teach you how to do what is probably called something like Project Management. It's simply deciding on a goal, and then breaking it into manageable tasks. You figure out how long each task takes, and then put the tasks in order.

"Now, I want to show you real life as I put up my sticky note," I said as I put my sticky note on the board.

'Go on a Casting Call'

They all read it, and got quiet. None of them had it on their list.

"The point I wanted to make, is all of you are so busy getting ready, that you are not actually doing. Once you learn the difference, it will make a profound improvement in your life," I said then paused for a moment. "Honestly, don't you all think you are a better actor than I am?"

That got me some sly smirks.

"I would also bet you are better actors than a lot of Broadway people. The difference is they are doing it, while you are preparing for it. I would hate to see you just prepare and never do."

"You suck," Cheryl said. "I want to quit school and go to Broadway today."

"How about we do a compromise? You finish the semester, and over Christmas break you go to Broadway. See if you can get a job. If it doesn't work out, come back and follow your plan. Come summer, go to Broadway and try again," I suggested.

"Here I was planning on going home, and being a slug over break," Terrence shared.

"I can't afford to go," Deb said.

"Okay," I said. "That's a legitimate roadblock. I want you to go get a part-time job, and start saving money. When you have enough, go."

"But I can't work, and go to school," Deb said.

"How bad do you want this?" I asked.

"Bad," she said getting mad.

"Then you'll figure it out."

"You're tough," Kate said.

"That may be true, but I know you'll never be successful until you stop making excuses. The only person you're hurting is yourself."

Deb got tears in her eyes and stormed out. I gave Cheryl and Kate a weak smile.

"Do you guys even realize you are still in your underwear?" I asked.

We all got dressed. I called Kendal and told her I had found her two more models, and gave her Kate and Cheryl's name and numbers. I was thinking Mr. Hill might be able to use them.

When I got home I was feeling bad for Deb. How could she have so little confidence in herself and her dreams? I just couldn't fathom not doing everything I could to get what I wanted. All she had to do was figure out how to make enough money to get to New York. If that was too much, then go Off-Broadway, or go to Chicago. No one was going to hand it to her.

I did know if you surrounded yourself with people like Deb, they would suck the life out of you. My uncle had told me a story about crabs. He said you didn't need to put a lid on a crab bucket. If one tried to climb out to freedom, the others would pull it back down into the bucket. Deb was a crab.

Tuesday November 11

I came home from running to find Peggy in my apartment. She had bailed on running, now that cross country was over. I decided to give her a hard time.

"I heard a rumor," I said as I started peeling off layers of shirts.

"Oh, really, what's that?" she asked.

"That you were starting to work on your freshman ten, early."

Some people have no sense of humor. I got tickled for my troubles of trying to help her with her health issues. Actually, an extra ten pounds wouldn't look bad on Peggy.

"So why are you here, this morning?" I asked.

"Your mom kicked me out. She said to tell you that you had to find somewhere else to eat this morning, so you're taking me out to breakfast."

This didn't sound good. Maybe I should go save Dad. Then I remembered this was the same Dad who had dropped me on my head when I was a baby, so he was on his own. I quickly took a shower and drove Peggy to Granny's. Somehow, Peggy hadn't been here, so I introduced her to the best cinnamon rolls in the county.

"Dear God, David. You weren't kidding about the freshman ten. If I ate here very often, I would be there in no time."

Granny overheard her.

"Honey, there's a trick. If you cut it in half, all the calories fall out."

I looked at them both like they were crazy, but Peggy bought into her story. Granny was skinny as a rail, so she must know what she was talking about.

The football team showed up to school wearing their new sweat shirts. I about laughed my ass off when I saw the cheerleaders had on a pink version of the bulldog in a cheerleading outfit. I would have to get Beth and Suzanne a couple for when they came home at Thanksgiving.

I went to first period PE to find Coach Diamond had plans for us.

"Since we don't have time in practice, because of the short week, you are running," he announced.

He took us out to the track and ran us the whole hour. If I'd known his plans, I would have skipped running this morning. Wolf was getting pissed at me because I was alternating running forwards and backwards, in forty yard dashes. The backward ones made the front of your thighs burn. Coach Diamond told us to run a few more laps, to warm down. Funny guy.

"We have a problem," Wolf told me.

"We do? What is 'our' problem?" I asked while doing the air quote thing.

"Cassidy."

I looked at him with a pained expression.

"Spell it out for me."

"She wants to date you, too. Jim and I think that's a bad idea."

"No shit. She kind of scares me," I confessed.

"I don't know why. She loves you to death."

I stopped running.

"Come again?"

"She loves you to death. Cassidy would do anything for you. Jim and I know we would be out on our asses if her dad would let her date you."

"I hope you guys know I would never do that. Cassidy and I are just friends."

I saw Wolf relax.

"Jim told me we didn't have anything to worry about. I just imagined you and her and... ," he trailed off.

"Dude, when did the three of you get serious? I would never... ," I said as Wolf slowed me down.

"We're not. We're just friends. I understand now why Jim didn't want to do anything with her in front of me. He said you taught him that. He warned me Friday night might cause some problems. I just got a little funny."

"Wolf, I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have included you guys in things."

"It actually caught me by surprise. I thought I was cool with what the three of us had going."

"Let me give you one piece of advice. The only way you can make something like what you and Jim are trying to do work, is by talking about things. Not just with Cassidy. The key conversations have to be between you and Jim. I care about all three of you. If this is not going to work ... and, let's face it, it won't work for long ... you guys need to pull the plug. Do it now, before any of you gets hurt."

I gave him a hug. He and I were becoming better friends.

At lunch, Piper talked me into sitting with the group. The teachers had backed off on assignments, because if we won tomorrow, we would play again Saturday. I was caught up, so I really didn't have an excuse not to eat with them.

"Did you see the update to your movie website?" Maggie asked.

"I didn't even know we had one," I confessed.

She had me pull it up. The pictures of the four lead characters were prominently displayed. I was shocked that I was one of them. The title character was being played by Craig Wild. He was a goofy looking kid with big ears. The two women were Bree Steno, from the vampire show, and Elizabeth Paul who had a break out movie this summer. I felt my stomach tighten up like it does before a game. Doing the movie just became very real to me.

I had to get up and be alone for a little bit. The girls all looked confused as I made my exit. I went and found my thinking tree. Now would have been the perfect time to talk to Tami. She always knew how to calm me down. I wasn't ready for all this, so I called my Uncle.

"Hey, I'm freaking out. They just posted my picture on the Star Academy movie website," I told him. "I think I may have made a mistake. I'm not in the same league as those other actors."

"Don't ever say that again! You're a Dawson! Dawson's suck it up, and do what needs to be done. You'll do this, and you'll be fine."

"But you said it. I shouldn't make this film," I protested.

"Well, it's too late, now," he told me. "David, I love you like my own son. I just wanted to protect you from what's to come. If your Dad or I really thought you couldn't handle this, we would have stopped you. Young man, you can be special, if you'll just get out of your own way.

"Besides, what are you scared of? Failure? Failure is just an opportunity to get better. I know that sounds like a cliché, but you know it's true. Think of all the times you have failed on the football field. Each time you learned from it. I guarantee you will fail at some point while making this movie. I also guarantee you will learn from it, and get better. It's also why they do more than one take."

"Thanks, I needed to hear that. Sometimes I just need to know someone believes in me. I can always count on you," I said.

"You never have to worry about how we feel about you. There are a lot of people who believe in you, not just your family. I think we just don't tell you enough that we love you," he said, which touched me. "Buck up, Buddy, and call me if you need to talk."

If I was going to deserve to be on the same screen as the other three actors, I would need to work hard. Work was something I wasn't afraid of. No one would outwork me!

Tonight's shooting lesson was with live ammo. Dylan was having me draw and shoot.

"As soon as you draw, I want you to point the gun down range. This way if you needed to quickly fire you could do it from the hip. Remember to only point the gun at something you are willing to destroy. Guns are not toys and when you have one in your hand, you are responsible for it. Even if you know it isn't loaded."

I had been sweeping the gun up. He showed me to pull, point, and then bring it up. Done correctly, it was all one motion.

"I also want you to keep your off hand tight to the center of your chest. This way you don't accidentally blow your hand off."

He demonstrated. On the draw, his left hand came to his chest as he pulled the gun from his holster. The gun was pointed down range and brought to his chest where the left hand stabilized the grip. He then extended his arms while rolling his shoulders. The gun was eye level as he fired down range.

By the end of the night, I was consistently hitting the target in a tight grouping.

I came home expecting to see Tracy, but her car was not there. I went up to my room to find Peggy. This was a pleasant surprise. She came to me, and gave me a kiss, and then wrinkled her nose.

"What's that smell?"

"Gunpowder, I was shooting," I explained.

"Go take a shower. Are you planning on wearing that sweatshirt tomorrow?"

"Yes."

"I'm going to throw it in the wash."

I pulled out a few other things, and she took them down to the house. I took my time in the shower. When I got out, Peggy was naked on the bed waiting for me. We took our time and just kissed each other. I was a lucky guy to be spending time with her. I worked her into a frenzy, and then went down on her. We took turns pleasuring each other.

Would I have preferred to have full on sex with her? Yes, but for her, I was willing to wait. Peggy was a special girl, and I knew I was lucky to have her.

Wednesday November 12

Jeff Delahey had written an article about us that landed on the front page of the sports section. It recounted our year, and how a group of sophomores and three seniors had built a team which had won our conference. He then blasted the conference for not including any underclassmen on the All-Conference Team. He explained how that slight had been turned around and we used it to make us a stronger TEAM.

Jeff warned the conference we would be back the next two years. He said if he was our coach, he would remind us, each and every game, how they snubbed us. He predicted we would win State this year. I silently cursed him for putting so much pressure on us. Of course our rabid fans ate it up.

When I got to school it was a zoo. There were posters wishing us luck, everywhere. It looked like the student body had bought out the local sporting goods store of all the Lincoln High sweat shirts with TEAM on the back. Devin must be teaching Sandy something about marketing. Her idea to upgrade from t-shirts to sweat shirts would be adding to the bottom line. I bet they were looking at the TEAM concept, and thinking about ways to market it nationwide. It sure had a huge impact on local sales.

I was looking for Peggy in the frenzied crowd when Pam put her arm around my waist.

"I just wanted to give you a little incentive. If you win state... ," she said as she gave me a big grin.

"Color me inspired."

I soon found Peggy. She'd seen Pam talking to me, and she didn't look pleased.

"What did she want?" she asked.

"She was wishing me luck."

"I bet she was."

I bent down and kissed her. I saw Mitch come walking up. Peggy wrapped her arms around me.

"Tracy!" she called.

I soon had the varsity cheerleaders holding onto me.

"Afraid you might get kicked out during the playoffs," Mitch taunted me.

I saw a blur, and heard a loud smacking sound, and then Mitch crumpled. I looked to see who had just hit him, and it was Yuri Antakov, the kid I had gotten a three day suspension with. I just laughed as he disappeared into the crowd. I let the girls drag me into the school. Peggy got into my face.

"No more! Mitch isn't worth it, and I love you," she said causing me to suddenly forget all about Mitch.

Peggy suddenly realized what she said. I pulled her to me and gave her a searing kiss.

"Peggy Pratt, will you be my girlfriend?" I asked.

"Yes," she almost whispered.

I picked her up and swung her around while I kissed her. I felt like I had just won State. I finally had to let her go when the bell rang. Peggy was my girlfriend!

Could this day get any better? Peggy had said she loved me. She told me she was my girlfriend. I got to play in a State Playoff game today, and at lunch they had double cheeseburgers. This was like the mythical holy grail of lunches. They even had tater tots. I kept looking around for karma to bite me in the butt. No day could be this good.

At lunch I found Emma, and the guys were back. Wayne had talked to Coach Hope and was back on the team. We didn't even talk once about vampires. The pressure was building; something bad had to happen, and soon.

The team went to Beverly in style. The booster club had ordered us a charter bus, and provided subs and bottled water for the trip. On the ride to the game Coach Diamond had me watch highlights of all of Beverly's games. Some of my cockiness from Monday went away. They were undefeated for a reason. Beverly simply played at a different level than their opponents.

I watched other teams try to get them to bite on trick plays. They pursued the ball hard, but they never seemed to be out of position. They also had excellent technique. They were in position and tackled with the correct form. They were the best coached team we had faced to this point, and they had a philosophy of bend but don't break. It was like they were a different team inside the red zone. Beverly became super aggressive, catching their opponents off guard. Coach Diamond felt we could exploit their aggression.

On offense, they were Coach Hope personified. They were happy playing ball control football. It was like watching the four corner offense in basketball. Beverly waited for teams to get impatient and make a mistake. They were happy winning a 3 – 0 blood bath.

I did notice one thing.

"Have they ever trailed in a game?" I asked Coach Diamond.

Alan was sitting behind us. He pulled up their stats.

"No. They have never been behind," Alan said.

"I know this is going to sound crazy, but I think we need to go deep on them early. I had a coach at my quarterback camp who was the former Offensive Coordinator for the Oakland Raiders, Bud Mason. He coached back in the day when they played long ball. On the last day they put us under pressure to make quick decisions. My #1 competitor was like watching a machine play football that never made a mistake, as he methodically moved the ball down the field, by taking what the defense gave him. I on the other hand was much more likely to go deep, or take a risk and, of course, I thought I was doing it all wrong.

"Coach Mason stopped practice, and explained to Ridge, who was the other guy, he needed to play more like me. Quick long scores are demoralizing. Dinking and dunking, and taking your time to score, let's a team think they can get back into it. We need to take their heart out of the game. The longer Beverly hangs with us, the more likely we lose," I said.

I hadn't realized Coach Hope was listening to me. He kicked Coach Diamond out of his seat and sat down next to me.

"That will never work early. They'll be lying in wait for the long ball. Beverly's game plan will be to pressure you into making decisions, and protecting long. They are counting on you making a bad decision," Coach Hope said as I gave him a skeptical look. "How do I know? That is what I taught them."

"So what do I need to do?" I asked.

"I've been thinking about this since I saw the brackets. This defense is very good at being disciplined. You, on the other hand, are very good at chaos. They have not played anyone who can break contain, and force them to make a defensive play. Bud Mason sent me the tapes of your practices. I saw you running all over the field making plays on the run. I just honestly couldn't wrap my mind around your style of play. That was one of the reasons I wanted Brad to play quarterback.

"For tonight, I want you to forget about dumping the ball off, or throwing it away. I want the old David. I want you to tuck the ball and run. If you give them a steady diet of chasing you, the long ball will be there by the second quarter."

"Are you messing with me?" I asked.

He laughed and shook his head.

"Last spring, I challenged you to win three State Championships. The one thing I learned in the military was the need to adapt, and pressure your enemy. Your running ability will force them to change. We have not allowed you to improvise on the fly. If you just do half of what you did in Texas, they will not know how to cope."

Coach Hope took a moment, and then added one more piece of advice.

"Last year, you almost beat us by throwing to the middle of the field. I guarantee you they will have a trap set for that play. I don't know what they will do, but if it looks wide open, don't believe it. Anyways, that is what I would do, and I taught them. So be ready.

When we arrived at Beverly, Coach sent us in to get taped. I walked into the trainer's room and Paige pointed at me.

"I've got him," she said.

I got up on her table, so she could tape my ankles. She gave me a look that I couldn't read.

"I wanted to thank you for last week," she started.

Mike was on the table next to me. He wasn't even trying to act like he wasn't listening. I motioned with my head that we had company.

"I had a good time. I even warmed up to Lydia before the night was over," I said.

"She did say you were okay. That is high praise coming from her."

"I'll bet it is."

She finished me up, and I got off the table, and kissed her cheek. She blushed, and Mike's eyes got big.

"I owed you a kiss goodnight," I explained.

I skipped out of the training room to get dressed. Once I had my pants on I needed my jersey. It was easier to put it on my pads and then put everything on at once. I went looking for the equipment manager. He sent me to Coach Stevens.