Chapter 11

For the next two weeks Christa and I spent the afternoons together doing homework and went to classes on Monday nights. She seemed to like the first-aid classes, but I knew she wouldn’t want to come to the regular classes; She just wasn’t inclined towards what she saw as violence and no amount of discussion was going to change it.

School was going great! We’d won every game so far, if only by a few points but all we cared about was the win. I’d made several great plays and was able to force a fumble that turned into a touchdown for our side in the last game. To me, I was just doing what I was supposed to do but everyone kept making a big deal about it. One result of the play, I noticed, was an increase in the girls hanging around me. I wasn’t flirting with them and I always made sure Christa knew anything that was going on, but she started to get more and more distant. It seemed that every time I’d try to talk to her about it she managed to find something else to do. I needed to fix this fast.

Since today was Wednesday I decided to confront her about it before I went to class. We walked in the door at her place, said hi to her mother and as we sat down at the dinner table to study I said,” Christa, are you mad at me for something?”

She looked up from her books and said,” No, I’m not mad, but I’m not happy about all the attention you’ve been getting from some of the girls at school.”

“You know how I feel about cheating Christa. You’re my girlfriend. I can’t help what others do, and you know I haven’t done or said anything to lead those girls on. I’ve made sure that they all know I’m with you. What can I do to keep you from pulling away from me like you’ve been doing?”

She took a deep breath and said,” It’s not what you do or say David, it’s just you being you. I know how you feel about me. And, I know that you can’t help the way those tramps keep pushing their chests into you all the time. I just worry that you’ll find someone else you like more than me!”

I took her hand and said, “Not happening beautiful. You’re everything I could ask for. Heck, you put up with my busy schedule. I don’t think anyone of those girls would tolerate spending so little time with their boyfriends. We’ve been dating almost four months and I’m not looking to replace you. Please don’t worry about those other girls. Things will die down in a couple weeks, you’ll see. They’re all just trying to up their popularity by being around one of the football players. Besides, I can’t wait to see their faces when we go to Homecoming together! You’re already the most beautiful girl there and when everyone sees you in that dress I’m gonna be the one worried. I’ll be fighting the guys off with a stick!”

She gave me one of her megawatt smiles and bent over to kiss me. Man, I love her kisses!

We didn’t have much homework to do today so after finishing our math work we went and sat on the couch for a while and made out till I had to leave for class. This had become our routine, so her mom was used to seeing us kissing on the couch, as long as my hands were visible we were good. The one time they weren’t generated a VERY loud cough and a, “Hands please...” comment. Thank God she didn’t’ see where my hands went when we went out. We’d progressed from having my arms around her to having them on her butt and inside her top, with a little fondling to boot. Neither of us was ready to go any further then that but I knew we wouldn’t want our parents to know about any of that.

Before I left for class I asked her if we were going to pick up Valerie and Glenn. They were still dating off and on and since I hadn’t seen Glenn outside of practice lately I wasn’t sure what the plan was. “I’ll talk to Val tonight and let you know tomorrow. You see him every day, you know. You need to make sure you spend time with your friends once in a while. All work and no play makes for no friends David.”

“Yes ma’am. I know. I’ll work on it, I promise.” And with a kiss and a hug I was out the door.

Today’s class was supposed to be working with projectile weapons, things like knives, shuriken, blow guns and bows. Even though we spent a lot of time learning the more common weapons, Sensei wanted us to learn some of the other, more traditional weapons like the bow and arrow. One thing I learned is ‘Don’t call it Bows and Arrows in class!’ No, it’s Kyujutsu.

By the time class was over my shoulders were a little sore, but I was able to perform the traditional moves much more fluidly than before. I’d never be an expert, but it was fun. My blow gun skills had improved dramatically though. I had moved from the very long twenty-four-inch gun to the much shorter six inch. They were only accurate at very close range, but I learned there were many situations where it was the better weapon to use.

As soon as class was over I headed back home and spent a few minutes talking with my sisters. I hadn’t spent a lot of time with Christina lately and wasn’t feeling like a very good brother, so I knocked on her bedroom door and opened it when she said, “Come in.”

“Hey short stuff, how you been?”

For my efforts I received an exasperated huff and then she said, “Oh, so you remember me? I wasn’t sure since you haven’t said anything to me in a week or more.”

Crap! She’s right, I thought. “Yeah, sorry ‘bout that. What with school and football and everything else going on I guess I haven’t been a good big brother lately. I’m sorry.”

“It’s ok I guess. I know you’re always busy and when you’re at home you do usually talk to me and Kenna. Where have you been lately anyway? You’re usually home right after school.”

“Yeah, Christa was feeling abandoned too, so I’ve been going over to her house to study after classes. She’s not really happy with me right now either.”

“David, what did you do now?” She asked with a little attitude.

“Hey, it’s not what I’m doing, it’s what the other girls at school are doing. She’s not happy with the attention I’m getting from them.”

“Well, you need to make sure she knows where she stands. You should get her flowers or something like that and take them to school for her. Let the others know how you feel and maybe she’ll lay off you for a bit. At least till you do something else stupid to make her mad.”

Man, I can’t even get a little respect from my kid sister! But, she does have a good idea so, being the “GROSS” big brother that I am I snatched her up and gave her a bear hug and a kiss on the cheek.

“EEEWWW, quit that! God, did you have to slobber all over?” she said while laughing at me.

“Well I gotta make sure my little sister knows I love her, don’t I?”

“Not like that! Go! Shoo, get out of here. I have to wash all the boy cooties away now,” she said while running to the bathroom...

When I woke up the next day I ran to the back yard and cut a single red rose off our bushes, making sure the petal was still closed. I always thought the closed petals were prettier than the open ones.

As I got off the bus I was looking for Christa when I found her talking to Val. I walked up behind her and in my worst British accent said,” G’day love! I wanted to give me girlfriend a little sometin to shows how much I likes her. Have you seen me little dove around?”