Chapter 6: Northwestern

Monday October 13

I had called Peggy last night and we arranged to run this morning. She explained that since I was now dating her, I should come pick her up. That was why I found myself jogging up to her house. Mr. Pratt was coming out the back door to go to work.

"Morning," I said in way of a greeting.

"I want to talk to you," he said in an unfriendly way.

I just stopped, and tried to figure out what his deal was.

"Who do you think you are taking my daughter out and getting her drunk?" he asked.

Only my mom gets away with this.

"I'm the guy that was sober and took care of your daughter. I'm the guy that she cried her eyes out to, because her parents are fighting. I'm not trying to get into your family's business, but you need to take care of that, or she is going to opt out."

"David, I don't think you are the right guy for my daughter to be dating. I was against it, before, and now I'm sure I was right."

"Daddy!"

Peggy startled us both as she came out the back door.

"Peggy, we'll talk about this when I get home, tonight," Mr. Pratt said as he got in his car to drive away.

We stretched in silence and then began to run. I was waiting to see what Peggy had to say.

"I suppose you don't want to date me now," she said.

"Why do you say that?"

"Well, because my dad doesn't want us to date."

"I would only not want to date you, if you didn't want to date me. Do you still want to date me?" I asked.

"Yes."

"Then I'm good," I said.

Peggy got serious.

"David, we need to talk. I want to make sure we're on the same page."

I hated these talks. I just waited her out.

"I want to be clear that we're just dating," she said.

"I think you might want to clarify that for me."

"I thought about us more, this weekend. I'm off to college next year. I'm not dumb enough to think that we can survive two years with me away at school. I just can't see us being serious. I want us to go out and have a good time, but we both need to know that it isn't more than it is."

"What does that mean, though? Are you my girlfriend? Are we exclusive?" I asked.

She got a pained look on her face.

"It means that we are just dating. I make no claim on you. If you go out with someone else, that is okay with me."

"Peggy I can't believe you mean that. You would be okay if I took other girls out on dates?" I asked.

"Actually, yes, but don't get me wrong. I want to date you. I want to have fun, and do things together. The thing I don't want to have happen is that when I leave, you feel bad. I plan on being friends with you long after we graduate."

"Okay, but you have to go to a party with me Wednesday night."

"It would take an act of congress to get out of the house to a party after what I did Saturday. There is no way I would be allowed to go. You saw my dad," Peggy reminded me.

"What if I got your mom's permission?"

"I wouldn't bother," she said.

We spent the rest of the run talking about her hangover, and me going to Chicago. When we got back to her house I went in with her to talk to her mom.

"Hey, Mrs. Pratt, can Peggy go to a party with me Wednesday night? I promise to bring her home full of cake and ice cream."

"Oh, really, and where will this party be?"

"It will be over at State. I have an in with the guest of honor, and scored a plus one invite."

"What time would Peggy be home?"

"I would say no later than nine o'clock. It is a school night, after all."

"It's fine by me," Mrs. Pratt said.

"Hang on! Why will I be full of cake and ice cream?" Peggy asked.

"Because that is what will be served at my nephew's birthday party," I told her.

They both kicked me out of the house. My nephew Kyle was going to be one on Wednesday.

When I got to school, I saw Wolf. He came up and gave me a hug. I was giving him a wary look as he released me.

"Thank you," he said.

"You're welcome?"

"For Northwestern ... Mom and Dad told me what you're doing. I just wanted to tell you I appreciate it."

"Oh, no problem ... which reminds me, I need to get the rooms for Saturday night."

I called Kendal. What are business managers for, if they can't find you last minute rooms, for a large group, for a homecoming game?

"Hey, David, are you into older women?" Kendal asked.

"Sure, why do you ask?"

"I showed my friends your casting video. A couple of them want to do naughty things to you."

"Tell your friends I'm dating someone," I said, and then told her why I called.

Kendal took it better than I thought she would.

At lunch, the girls all wanted to know how my reading had gone. I opened my Facebook page and I started the video.

"Nice butt," Kylie said.

"Oh-my-god! That's Katrina!" Faith yelled.

All the girls squealed catching the attention of the whole cafeteria. How they hadn't seen the video before now, was beyond me. Everyone else seemed to have seen it on my Facebook page. Their eyes got big as I stalked her. Then I heard a sharp intake of breath, as I grabbed Bree by the hair and pulled her up out of her seat. I think their panties were wet by the time the director called cut.

"Send me a copy of that," Emma ordered.

"No can do. This is not mine to share," I teased her.

"It's on his Facebook page," Kylie clued her in.

One of the girls I met Saturday night, who was in the theater group, came over and asked what we were watching. When I explained that I had read for a movie role. She got excited, and the next thing I knew everyone who was in theater and had our lunch period wanted to see the video.

I was quickly finding out that potentially being in a movie, was way cooler than playing football - at least in the theater groups' eyes. By the end of school, I was wishing I had never shown the girls the video.

The football team thought it was an opportunity to have some fun with me. We were watching the game film from Friday night.

"Hey, Hollywood, I was open on that one," Wolf teased me.

"Hollywood... ," Coach Hope started.

"Coach, you might want to rethink this whole Hollywood thing. I can turn into a diva and I'll get Cassidy to be my diva in training," I warned him.

He thought about it for a moment, and nodded. The guys dropped it, too. When we were done with our last game, we broke up into groups, and watched our upcoming opponent: Springfield.

They were in the largest Class, and one of the bigger schools in that Class. We were in the Class below theirs, as far as school size went. I was with the offense and watched as their defensive line dominated their opponents. Their down four averaged six-four and 260 lbs. That was unheard of in high school ball. The only good news, was that they weren't quick footed. It became obvious that the run game was not going to work on the inside.

Coach Diamond drew up a new option play. Jim at tackle, and Wolf at tight end, would be on the strong side. Bert would line up on that side also with me in shotgun. Ed or Kelly would be on the weak side playing tailback.

On the snap, the tackle and tight end would double team the defensive end. If Jim, playing tackle, had the defensive end blocked then Wolf would slide off and pick up a linebacker. Ed would lead the play. His job was to either slow down the linebacker, or block the strong side safety. Jeff, at wide out, was charged with blocking the cornerback.

My first read was the linebacker. If Ed or Wolf were not able to block him, then I would pitch to the tailback. If the linebacker was blocked, I would look for the strong side safety. If everyone could hold their blocks we had them out numbered. The only thing that should be able to stop us was either missed blocks or backside pursuit. If, as the game film indicated, they were not fleet of foot, we should have a good day running the ball.

Coach Diamond would work with me more on the offensive side later. He sent me to Moose and the defense. What I saw there, was that Springfield had all their speed on the offensive side of the ball. All they needed was a crease, and they were gone. Everyone was going to have to stay at home and take care of their assignments or this game would be a high scoring affair.

I sent a text to Nancy, to get an update on the whole Kentucky saga. She got onto video chat.

"I might be a movie star," I started off.

"Okay, I'll bite."

So I told her about Sunday. She didn't watch the vampire show so she wasn't impressed. She went up about three notches in my book.

"Did you get to use your pepper spray yet?" I asked.

"No, but one of the pledges did. Some creepy guy followed her home from a party. She told him to get lost, but he kept following her. The campus police told her she was justified in using it. They are coming to our chapter meeting this Sunday to show us how and when to use it."

"Wow. I'm glad she's okay. What is going on with Theta Chi?"

"They let three pledges go this weekend because of grades. John confessed to me that he is actually nervous about his grades, even though he has been telling me he is okay. He may have to drop out of the fraternity and just focus on school and football."

"Is Chuck still a pledge?" I asked.

"Yeah, he's a legacy, so he would have to almost kill someone to be kept out. His father was a Theta Chi at Kentucky, and is a big donor."

"That's too bad. I need to tell you something. I started dating a girl this weekend."

"You guys getting married?"

I had to laugh at that.

"No, we're just dating. She's a senior, so my guess is, it will only last through the school year. I just wanted to let you know."

"I appreciate that, David. We're friends, so I'm not going to freak out about you going out with someone. I do care for you, though. I wish you were here with me."

"I wish I was, too. Thanks for being my friend."

Wednesday October 15

Right before English my phone rang. It was Kendal.

"Guess what?"

"You got us rooms for this weekend?"

"Oh, I did, actually. You'll be staying in the same hotel as Nebraska. They had a block saved for alumni and some were unable to come to the game, so they released them. I got each family a room with two queen sized beds."

"Great, I was starting to worry if we were going to find rooms."

"That wasn't why I called. We were sent over a contract for the movie. I have good news and bad news," she told me.

"Give me the bad news."

"You weren't cast as Roman."

"So what is the good news?"

"You were cast as Stryker. They told me that it's a bigger role. The one thing we are going to have to do, is enroll you into the Screen Actors Guild. The initiation fee is $3,000. We need to do that before we can sign the contract."

"Go for it. I suppose they get a cut of my pay now also?" I asked.

"It's not too bad. It caps out at some point. I'll get you the details. The only thing that you need to think about is your stage name. David Dawson is taken and it has to be unique. We could do David A. Dawson like Michael J. Fox did to solve the problem."

"Call my parents. They named me after all."

"Okay, we just need to know to get the union stuff completed. I can do it all online. Once that is done we can sign the contract. Why don't we do it tonight at Kyle's party?"

"I keep forgetting to get him a gift."

"I figured as much. When I got mine, I got one for you," Kendal, my life saver, said.

"What did I give him?"

"Five babysitting coupons," she said.

That was perfect. It would give me an excuse to spend more time with Kyle. I missed the little guy now that Greg and Angie had gone to college.

Talking to Kendal made me late for English. I was hoping Moose would cut me some slack. All eyes were on me as I stepped in.

"I'm sorry, Moose, for being late and the interruption of the class."

I handed him my paper that was due today.

"You weren't the only one late, David. But since you're so sorry for being late, I'll let you read your paper to the class. Why don't you do it now, David, there is no reason for you to sit down and get up again."

"Thank you for this opportunity, sir."

We smiled at each other knowing my enthusiasm was nothing but bullshit. The class chuckled at our byplay. Moose and I had come a long way since I first met him at baseball practice. I got up and read my paper.

"Well done," Moose told me then turned to the class. "I believe that Mike was also late. Would you be so kind as to read your paper?"

Mike was not comfortable in front of a crowd. He gave me a dirty look when I smirked at him. He locked eyes with me as he stammered through it, and I tried to give him encouraging looks. I was betting that he wouldn't be late for Moose's class, again.

I picked Peggy up at six, and we headed to my brother's apartment at State. The parking lot was full so I dropped Peggy off, and went hunting for a spot. That's not as easy as it sounds in a campus housing area. I saw a college girl sitting on her porch two blocks away. I pulled into her drive.

"Hi, I was wondering if I could park here for a couple of hours. My nephew just turned one, and I'm going to his birthday party."

She looked me over.

"My roommate and I need to go grocery shopping. If you leave me the keys, and let me borrow your Jeep, you can park there."

I had already driven around the area a couple of times. If I was back home I wouldn't hesitate, but I had been warned that not everyone was trustworthy. Heck, even a 'stupid boy' was smart enough to know that.

I'd had, at Dad's insistence, a tracking system installed on the Jeep. I think it was for Mom's piece of mind. They could logon to the cloud and find where the Jeep was at any time. I also figured I'd better get some ID.

"I'll need to see your driver's license."

She just shrugged and handed it to me. I took my phone out, snapped a picture of it, then I took one of her, and one of the house, so I could see the street number. I handed her the keys.

"That was pretty smart. I'll have to remember that."

"Give me your cell number," I said.

I put her number into my phone and then dialed it. Her phone rang.

"Now you have my number in case you need me. I should be back no later than eight," I assured her.

She smiled at me, and went inside to get her roommate.

I headed to Kyle's party. I walked in to the sound of babies crying. Angie saw me and handed me Kyle. I hadn't seen him in a couple of weeks, and he quieted down and acted shy. A little girl about his age was crying in her mother's arms.

"Give her to David. He can get any baby to calm down," Angie told her.

I soon had both arms full. The little girl wasn't too sure about me. I turned her so she could still see her mom.

"Who are you, Princess?" I asked the baby.

"She is Mackenzie or Mac as we call her," her mom told me.

"Well, hello, Mac, how come you and Kyle were crying?"

"They both wanted the same toy."

Both babies had stopped crying, so I gave them back to their mothers. Peggy was talking to Greg. They had once dated, and had stayed friends.

I went and found Kendal who was talking to my parents in Greg's extra bedroom/office. She was going over the contract.

It had a tentative calendar. I saw that I had to be in LA in the beginning of January for an initial read through. Filming would start in British Columbia at the end of January for one week. I would fly into Vancouver. At the end of February, I was scheduled to be in the Northwest Territory of Canada for another week. Then it was back to Vancouver for studio work at the end of March. It looked like I was going to miss about three weeks of school.

"Your Uncle John wanted to talk to you before we sign this," Dad told me. "I also have some concerns. Talk to John and then we'll talk."

I just nodded. This was a big decision and I would appreciate his guidance. I called him.

"I asked your dad to have you call me. I want to suggest that you pass on this movie deal," he said, shocking me.

"Why?" I asked.

"You're only sixteen and you only get one childhood. Something like this will steal that from you. You'll always have opportunities down the road."

"Are you sure? I'm not in the business of acting. It was just luck that I know Ashley Judd and she likes me. I'm not sure that's true."

"You might be right, but I'm afraid of what it will do to you. This is a whole different thing than football and modeling," Uncle John told me.

"I would completely agree if I was living out on the left coast, but I'm living in the Midwest..."

"Look, David, ultimately, you have to decide. I just want to warn you that your life may not be your own after this."

I thanked my uncle and then got off the phone. I thought about it all for two seconds. I was doing this. I had a fleeting memory of Tami telling me to not go with my first reaction, but this was too good to pass up.

"Let's do this," I told everyone.

Dad gave me a skeptical look.

"My brother and I talked today. I didn't think you would be swayed by the loss of privacy argument. I on the other hand am your father. It is my job to look out for you, regardless of what you want. I have some concerns. The major one is that you will be missing too much school. We may have to pull you out of school in the spring if you were to do the movie. I don't think that would be a good idea.

"I was under the original impression that this would be shooting in the summer. This would be much more acceptable if I knew it was during your free time."

I thought about what he said, but I still wanted to do it.

"Dad, let me ask you something. When was the last time you just knew something was right?"

He smiled before answering.

"When I asked your mother to marry me."

"Did you need to think about it, or did you just know?" I asked.

"I knew."

"I know I can work through any obstacles. I know my grades will not be affected. I won't let them. I also know that Lincoln High will work with us on this."

Dad could see my passion and just nodded. He and Kendal signed the contract. Kendal put it into a folder and packed up.

"I need to go scan this and email it to the studio. By the way, your name is David A. Dawson."

"I was hoping for something like Fox Hunter."

Mom smacked me in the back of my head.

"You're not a porn star," Dad scolded me.

Kyle's birthday was a success. He got all sugared up and was a little monster, just before he suddenly ran down and collapsed on the floor, falling asleep. Mac used him as a pillow. I could already see that they were going to be friends for a long time.

Angie caught my eye and motioned me over.

"David, I want you to meet Crystal. She is this year's recipient of your scholarship."

Crystal was very pregnant, and all smiles. I knew that could change at any moment. I had survived Angie being pregnant.

Angie had made a choice this year to just help one girl. She had the money to either send three to school or one with all their expenses taken care of. She decided to help one girl that needed housing, daycare and schooling. I had read the bio on Crystal. She was 17 and her parents had disowned her. She was a senior in high school and had decided to take the GED. She was currently in classes to help her pass the test and also child care classes. Next semester she would be enrolled into a two year program at the junior college. Crystal wanted to be a hair dresser.

Angie's goal was to help one new girl a year. She had plans to do some on campus fund-raising to get enough for another girl next year. Kendal was also helping write grant proposals for both state and national funds. If that happened, she could dream bigger.

Mom was also starting small with her cancer foundation. She was working to help families with cancer victims. She would do things like give them gas money, so they could travel to see their loved ones. Nothing huge, but sometimes a little help went a long way. Kendal was also helping her write some grants proposals.

Peggy and I were ready to go when my phone rang. It was the girl that had borrowed my car.

"This is David."

"Hi. I have some bad news. Your car has been stolen."

"Are you okay?" I asked.

"Yes. The police want to talk to you," she said.

I told them about the tracker, and how to login to find the Jeep's location. This started a four hour ordeal that found three college guys joy riding in my Jeep. It turned out that one of the guys was the roommate's boyfriend. The roommate had given them the keys.

Greg took Peggy home for me while Mom and Dad took me to the police station. Since the Jeep was in my company's name, I had to have Dad fill out the complaint. He was President of my company. This thing about having to be eighteen, sometimes sucks.

I then had to give a statement as to why the girl had my keys. They were not very hopeful that anyone would be charged with anything. I had voluntarily given the girl my keys. The boyfriend was claiming he just borrowed the car from his girlfriend. He had no idea she didn't have permission to give them out. The girl I had given it to, had called the police before her roommate had confessed as to who had the car.

The only damning thing that might stick was that they tried to evade the police. It was enough for the police to arrest the three guys and the girlfriend and hold them overnight. They suspected the DA would decide to not charge them, since the case would fall apart as soon as a good defense attorney got hold of it.

It doubly sucked for me. Besides my mom giving me an earful about being too trusting, they were keeping my Jeep as evidence for now. We didn't get home 'till nearly one in the morning.

Thursday October 16

I met Peggy before school. She made fun of me for riding a bike.

"I know I was stupid for giving her keys to the Jeep. I get it back on Monday."

"Dad gave me a talk about you not being responsible. I don't think he's a fan of yours. Mom just said you were too trusting. I agree with Mom. You're too nice, sometimes," Peggy shared with me.

I guess things were the same: her dad wasn't happy; she was dating me; and her mom was fine with it. I was sure this was not the last of this.

Friday October 17

The bus ride to Springfield was subdued. Everyone was getting mentally ready for the game. I was sitting with Tim, and we both had our earbuds in listening to tunes. Tim nudged me and I looked up. Moose was motioning for us to come up front, and join him. When we got up front all the coaches were waiting for us. Tim looked at me and I just shrugged. I had no idea what they wanted.

"I just got off the phone with the head coach at St. Joe. They played Springfield last week, and after the game they filed a complaint about dirty play. They sent video to the HSAA and he wanted to warn us. So ... I want you to play through the whistle, but be aware. Also, protect each other out there. I want you two to keep the guys from doing anything stupid.

"I'll talk to the referee before the game to make sure they are aware of the charges that have been filed with the HSAA. Leave it to us to talk to the refs. I don't need any players getting kicked out of the game. We'll sacrifice Moose, if we need to," Coach Hope said in jest.

Tim and I headed back to our seats. We would tell the guys once we got there.

We pulled into Springfield, and it started to rain. It wasn't one of those gentle rains, either. It was coming down hard. When the bus pulled up to the high school, we could see the field was going to be a mess, because of the standing water. The only good news was there was no lightning. If it just rained we would play. I pulled out my iPad and checked the forecast. It looked like the worst of it would be gone by kickoff, but for now we were in the middle of it.

Before we got dressed, Tim and I told the team about the potential for cheap shots. We had survived Brad and the ass-hats. I was sure we would survive this.

I went and got taped, and then got dressed. I had just received Range Sports' newest football gear. They had a new product they called Base-layer. It was to be worn under your pads. It fit like a second skin, and was filled with a gel to help disperse impacts. It also had rib and back pads, so I didn't need to get extra padding taped on. The shorts also had thigh pads and a place for your cup. Also, I didn't need a jock-strap, because of the way the shorts fit. 'Base-layer' was also designed to pull sweat away from your body.

Sandy Range had said that I needed to take pictures of me in it, so they could see how it fit. I had Wolf snap shots of me from all angles. I sent her a text with the pictures. A few minutes later I got one back with a smiley face. I think I had been duped. She just wanted to see me in skin tight clothes.

When we went out for warmups, it was still raining. The field was a soggy mess. We were falling down when we cut hard. Coach Hope cut our warmup short, and sent us into the locker room. The team managers were waiting on us with longer cleats. We normally had half inch cleats. They were switching us out into three-quarter inch cleats for better traction.

I broke out my Range Sports gloves. The ball was going to be slippery when it got wet and drying your hands off with towels would only do so much. I had three extra pairs so I gave them to Jeff, Wolf, and Bill. We planned on trying them and seeing if we liked them before the game started.

Before I knew it, it was time for the game to start. From the time we warmed up and came out for the game, the weather had changed. It had stopped raining, but it was much cooler. It had to be in the low forties. Wet and cold: two of my least favorite things.

Tim and I went out for the coin flip and that was the first chance we got to see how really big Springfield was. They were not any taller than us, it was just they looked like college players playing a high school team. They were big boys.

They won the coin flip so we got the ball first. For this game the coaching staff had decided that I was going to be on the field for punts, field goals and kickoffs. I would have nothing to complain about as far as playing time went.

Prior to the kickoff, I took a moment to take everything in. We had come a long way since the start of the season. Coach Hope was pulling out all the stops for this game. Our goal was to run Springfield off the field. We were bringing our own brand of shock and awe! I heard the referee blow his whistle, and then watched as the kicker boomed the kick to me.

I headed up the left sideline drawing the defenders to me. Ed had eased out to the right with Tim. When they were almost on me I tossed an overhand lateral to Ed. He gathered it in, and made the mistake of out running his blocking. It happens, sometimes, when you get excited. Ed could taste the touchdown and darted past Tim. One of their defenders had stayed home and made a crushing tackle at the thirty-five yard line.

I huddled us up as they helped Ed off the field. I got everyone's attention.

"Okay, focus. We have three plays called. I want you to hustle every chance you get since we are in better shape. These guys are big and powerful. I want you to remember that you just need to redirect them, not take them head on. I want you to protect yourselves, even after the whistle. They've been warned, but that doesn't mean they won't take a cheap shot.

"Alright, power option pitch strong, on one."

I had just called the new play with the fullback leading the option between the quarterback and tailback.

"Down, Set ... HUT!"

My first clue that this was going to be a long day, was when their defensive tackles seemed to toss our guards out of the way. Thank the football gods that Jim was holding his own with the behemoth defensive end. Wolf was able to tie-up the linebacker that was tracking me as I went down the line. Bert led the play across the line and the strong safety ran right through him. Jeff had lost his battle with the cornerback who was now all over Kelly, my pitch option.

My only choice was to take on the safety.

You could hear the crack of pads over the roar of the crowd. I hadn't hit someone this hard in a long time. We both staggered and went down, but it was after I had picked up seven yards. Wolf came over and picked me up. The referee had to stop play so they could look at their safety.

Two plays, two injured players. If this kept up we would lose. We didn't have the depth that Springfield had. Several of our players played both ways. If this game continued to be this physical, we were in trouble.

We lined up as soon as they helped the safety off the field.