Chapter 28

David
David arrived at his accounting class to find Alyssa already there with a coffee for him. He looked around and saw there were more people in class than average.

“Do we have a quiz today?”

“No. Why?” Alyssa asked.

“It just looks like everyone’s here today.”

“We have our first test Thursday, and Professor Scarpa will give us a review of what’ll be on it today,” she explained.

David was digging through his bag.

“Hey, do you have a pencil?”

“No.”

He stopped digging and looked up at her.

“Okay, I’ll play. Do you have two pencils?” David asked.

Alyssa grabbed her phone and tapped a few times, and suddenly David heard phones pinging all around him, his included. He gave her a confused look and pulled his out to check his message. He burst out laughing and was followed quickly by others chuckling when they checked their phones.

He’d never imagined that Alyssa would find a picture of a horse’s ass on the Internet and send it to him. David took a moment to consider what this meant about Alyssa, as a person, to have even thought to search for horses’ asses in the first place. He decided that made her more interesting to him.

David was clueless about how she’d done it because Alyssa didn’t have his phone number. When other people around them had begun laughing too, David had become even more intrigued. Somehow, she’d air-bombed her text to the whole class.

“How’d you do that?” he asked.

Unfortunately, Professor Scarpa picked that moment to come into class and went straight into the monotone monologue that he called a lecture.

As soon as class was over, David made Alyssa tell him what she’d done. She showed him an app that allowed her to send images to everyone within Bluetooth and Wi-Fi range. The best part was the text was anonymous. He decided this might be the best thing he’d learned in college to this point. His imagination went spinning in all directions, coming up with different ways to best utilize his discovery.

On his way to his Marketing Fundamentals class, his contemplation was rudely interrupted when he was accosted by a reporter.

“Cassie Krieger with In The Know. I was wondering if we could sit down and do a quick interview.”

That name sounded familiar for some reason.

“I’m on my way to class...”

After David had been ‘outed’ and began to wear regular clothes, he’d been recognized on campus. To this point, it had been the random person wanting to say hi or get a quick picture taken. He’d even had a couple of paparazzi follow him around. This was the first time a reporter had ambushed him between classes.

David spotted her cameraman, hoofing it with his equipment. She’d obviously left the guy in the dust when she saw David.

“I just need ten minutes,” Cassie begged.

“Let’s do this instead. I have to run to my marketing class. After that, I have an hour and a half before stats. Buy me lunch, and I’ll sit down with you,” David offered.

They made arrangements to meet at a local restaurant.

When David made it to class, he sent a message to Frank to let him know that Ms. Krieger wanted an interview. Frank sent him one back, telling him that she was the reporter who had interviewed Lexi. David had declined to sit down with her after his return from filming in New Zealand. Frank promised to prepare some talking points concerning yesterday’s confrontation with his ex-teammates.

The class was starting, so David focused on that.

When David arrived at the restaurant, he shook his head in amazement. Cassie Krieger had commandeered the prime area by the front window. Students had taken notice of her setting up and had stationed themselves outside the window so they could make it on TV. It was just like people did with those morning news shows in New York.

When Cassie saw him walk in, she jumped up and grabbed his arm to make sure he came to her table.

“Afraid I might bolt?” David asked.

“That’s why you don’t get to order food before you’ve done the interview,” Cassie said, not taking any chances.

Cassie had them sit beside each other with their backs to the window. When the little red light came on to indicate they were being filmed, the crowd outside got rowdy. David glanced back and was entertained by his fellow students mugging for the camera.

When he looked back at Cassie, she began.

Cassie: “I’m Cassie Krieger, and this is In The Know. I’m with David A. Dawson on the USC campus, and he’s agreed to sit down with us for an interview.”

David: “Happy to do it.”

Cassie: “The buzz in Hollywood is that you’ve found a new love interest. Can you tell us how you met Fiona Beckham?”

David had to gather his thoughts because both he and Frank thought she would ask about the baseball stuff. Then again, this was In The Know, and their audience wanted the scoop on celebrities.

David: “We met at a party hosted by Paul Andon.”

Cassie: “The Hollywood exec who is responsible for your Star Academy movies?”

David: “Yes, he is. Paul’s a great guy, and I was honored to be invited.”

Sucking up never hurt.

Cassie: “Tell me about you and Fiona.”

David leaned over.

David: “Can you keep a secret?”

Cassie nodded.

David: “It’s sort of a weird story. I mean, she’s like, extremely aggressive. She’s more like the dude in our relationship.”

Cassie: “Huh...”

David: “I think it’s cool. I’ve never really experienced the other side of the coin before.”

Cassie: “You were spotted having dinner. Did things heat up from there?”

David was sure that Cassie was trying to change the focus. David acted insecurely.

David: “I thought it went great, but I haven’t heard from her since. I mean, how long should I wait for her to call? Is it normal for a girl not to even acknowledge that they had a good time? Do you think I should call her, or would that make me look needy? How do you know if they will ask you out again?”

Cassie: “But you’re together now?”

David: “I wish I knew.”

After class, David checked his email and found a message from Frank with the video clips from Cassidy’s rowing race.

Amy’s GoPro showed Nicole calling the stroke and exhorting her teammates. The video was a bit disorienting, since Amy’s head moved a lot as she rowed, and Nicole didn’t. Still, the brief glimpses showed Nicole’s intensity as worked to guide the crew through the race.

Nicole’s video was much steadier. It showed the girls moving in unison with the call. Amy was right in front of her, moving forward and back, with Cassidy’s face occasionally appearing through a forest of flying hair.

Cassidy’s camera didn’t show Mimi’s backside, as she’d jokingly predicted, since it was firmly planted in seat seven. But it did show Mimi and Amy moving in synchronization with Nicole’s calls. The best part, though, was the sudden view of the sky followed by water as Cassidy’s teammates dumped her in after the race.

Frank would make this into a great video.

David was walking to the baseball field when his phone rang. It was his dad.

“David.”

“Dad.”

“Talk to me.”

The beautiful thing about talking to his dad instead of his mom was they could quickly get through all that had happened yesterday. But before David could get a word in, his dad beat him to it.

“Congratulations on the scholarship. I hate how you got it, but the football team should have ponied up,” Dad said.

“I agree. They told me that my baseball one would go away next fall. By then, the football team situation should be sorted out.”

“I wanted to let you know that Umberto contacted Fritz. I authorized Fritz to share the videos of what happened. Why wasn’t your door locked?” Dad asked.

“Don’t get me started on that. Alex never seems to lock it. I think it goes back to when he lived in Colombia. No one would dare break into the Sandovals’ home, so he’s never worried about it,” David responded.

“That’s about to change. Umberto told Fritz to put an automatic closer and lock on your dorm suite door. Umberto’s also putting permanent personal security on both Alex and Natalia.”

That was something David had been glad to ditch for college. He didn’t need someone following him around 24/7.

“Sucks to be them,” he said.

“If your mom had her way...”

“I love you, Dad,” he said, knowing his father had intervened on his behalf to stop his mom.

David arrived at the baseball field.

“I’ve got to go. We have a game tonight at UCLA, and I need to grab my gear for the bus.”

“Ashley and Peggy are going to the game tonight,” Dad said to give David a heads-up.

“I’ll look for them,” David said. “And seriously, Dad. Thanks for not forcing security on me.”

“You’d tell me if you thought you needed it, right?” Dad asked.

“I’d probably just talk to Fritz,” David admitted.

His dad chuckled.

“I sometimes forget that you’re not my little boy anymore and can fend for yourself.”

“I haven’t grown up completely. I’m sure I’ll need you and mom down the road,” David conceded.

“Okay. Good luck tonight,” his dad said and then hung up.

The centrifugal force shook David awake as the bus left the 405 at the Wilshire Boulevard exit. David had taken a power nap on the ride to UCLA. After leaving the highway, it only took them a few minutes to reach Jackie Robinson Stadium.

When the bus pulled up to the players entrance, David groaned. Waiting were fans and what looked like a rabid group of paparazzi. He mentally kicked himself for playing it cute with Cassie Krieger.