Chapter 3

The next morning I lugged the bull riding trophy to school. Dad said he was too busy to drop me off. He just wanted me to carry that darned thing around. If he was polite he would have waited till I was far enough away that I couldn’t hear his laughter.

Of course, I was stopped at the school doorway by all the kids wanting to see it. I thought about setting it down and leaving it. It was like that Phil Harris song, The Thing if I put it down it would come right back to me.

Anyway, I got lucky, Mr. Brown the janitor was right there, taking it and locking it away next to my golf trophy. I slunk into my homeroom, just wanting to be another kid in the crowd. I thought it was working until Mr. Gordon made the morning announcements including.

“On Friday after the lunch period, all classes will walk as a group downtown to the Holland Theater where there will be a pep rally and a tribute to our most famous student, Ricky Jackson.”

Of course, everyone in the room turned and looked at me.

Sally Bronson sitting next to me commented, “Rick, I never knew anyone could blush that dark of a red, it really goes well with your blue eyes.”

It would have helped if she hadn’t gone off in peals of laughter. It must be my day to be laughed at.

Classes went as classes always do; I kept working in all of them, to keep ahead, but as much to avoid how uncomfortable I felt with being the center of attention.

At lunch something else hit home, previously the table I sat at was occupied by the golf team and Tom. Since the season ended the team had moved on, to what I thought must be their regular friends.

Other kids had taken their place; they were what I thought of as the ‘elites’. Now we lived in a small town, so there wasn’t anyone who should be a snob. But as Orwell wrote, some pigs are more equal than others.

The highest-ranked, ‘pig’ there was Anne Howison. Her Dad was a big-time contractor and business owner. I think he owned a bunch of IGA stores. He started out small in Bellefontaine and grew quickly. I know he was in business with several other big wigs from Columbus.

Her parents were divorced. Anne would start school in Bellefontaine every year, but at Thanksgiving, she would transfer to live with her mother in Clearwater, Florida. She would then be back after Easter to finish out the school year with us.

I had a crush on her since the second grade as she was a textbook blue-eyed blonde. She never knew I existed. Over the years she had gone in my eyes from an angel of perfection to someone I knew.

Now Anne was motioning for me to sit beside her.

“Hi Ricky, I saved you a chair,” she bubbled.

I sat down because I needed a seat and was hungry. I knew this was about social status, her status reflecting in my glory. When I thought about it, it was funny, I didn’t want the attention; she did. Why couldn’t I write a transfer of fame and glory to her, and get on with my life?

She proceeded to tell me she was about to make their annual trip to Florida, she couldn’t wait to get back to Clearwater High and the Tornadoes.

Bellefontaine was okay, but the larger school had so many more interesting people. Why except for us, this town was pretty boring. As I listened I realized that she wasn’t the person I thought she was.

I escaped as quickly as I could. Tom was walking out the door at the same time so we walked toward the other end of the school together. Our classes were as far away from the cafeteria as you could get. Tom started with, “I see Queen Anne has set her sights on you.”

“Looks like it, should I run for the hills.”

“Nah she wouldn’t seriously date you, you are just the biggest fish in the pond right now, so she has to be seen with you. Rumor will take care of the rest. Before the day is over you will be facing a possible shotgun wedding.”

“I think I would let them shoot me.”

“My feelings exactly, I don’t know what people see in her, she is the most popular girl in school, and she has done nothing to earn it.”

“Tom that is how I feel about myself.”

“Nonsense, you have accomplished things, your grades are out of sight; golf and rodeo speak for themselves. You have accomplished things. Name me one thing she has achieved for herself or the school.”

I couldn’t.

Tom continued, “You have done some neat stuff, but you are still you. Right now I admire the way you aren’t letting it go to your head.”

“Thanks, Tom, I can’t tell you how hard it is, not getting a swelled head, but listening to other people carry on.”

“Well don’t do anything else for the rest of the school year, and maybe it will settle down.”