Chapter 64

David
David woke to find his knee was aching and slightly swollen. Coach Clayton had asked him to come in before the team meeting at eleven. He had plenty of time, so he took two ibuprofen, grabbed a baggie, filled it with ice, and went downstairs for breakfast.

He had the cooks make him a couple of omelets and grabbed a big bowl of fruit. Turning towards the tables, David spotted Veronica and her two minions, Christian and Peter. Since she’d done him a solid and gotten him into the party last night, he decided to play nice and sit with them.

“Hey,” David said as he took his seat.

Veronica smiled while both Christian and Peter looked at her curiously. David guessed that she hadn’t told them she had taken him as her plus-one last night.

“Why are you talking to us?” Peter asked.

“David was my date to the booster party,” Veronica explained.

“That sounds lame,” Christian said as he scrunched up his nose.

“Who cares how it sounds? Only Veronica and I know what we went through last night,” David said dramatically. “No one else is entitled to judge the lameness of what we did.”

“Tell me you didn’t sleep with this guy,” Peter all but begged her.

’Personally, I’d rather be locked in a cage with a rabid dog than spend the night with Veronica,’ David thought.

“Like you two losers didn’t go home alone,” Veronica fired back.

“I sure as hell wouldn’t be sleeping in bed alone on a Saturday night,” Christian shot back, and David noted he sounded upset.

David wondered if there was something between Veronica and Christian.

“Dude, if you wanted a hug, you could have just asked,” Peter teased.

Christian shot everyone a pissed-off look. David bit the inside of his lip; otherwise, a very ill-timed chuckle might have slipped out due to his suspicions about Christian and Veronica.

“Settle down,” David said to Christian. “Veronica did me a favor and helped me get into the event. I wanted to meet the boosters and the bigwigs in the athletic department.”

“You never told me why,” Veronica probed.

“To effect change, you have to know all the key players and get their buy-in,” David explained.

“What are you going to change?” Veronica asked.

“I came to USC to win national championships in football,” David announced.

Saying that out loud somehow made his quest real. He’d just publicly declared his goal. In the past, he’d only told friends and family. Saying it to these three suddenly crystallized his commitment in a way he hadn’t realized was missing.

David suddenly remembered something his uncle had told him about accountability. The example he gave was a diet. Trying to lose weight on your own, no matter how much you wanted to do it, was destined to fail. Standing up and announcing it to the world changed things. Your odds of reaching your goal went up exponentially.

David realized that he had to start shouting his goal from the rooftops. He would need the buy-in from a lot of people, and just wishing it wasn’t enough. He felt like an important step had been taken and now knew that USC would win a national championship before he left the school.

Coach Farrow called David and told him that Coach Clayton had asked him to come in early so he could sit down with Matt to clear the air before the team meeting. The sit-down was probably needed, but that didn’t mean David was looking forward to it.

As he was about to walk out of his dorm room, David stopped. This might be one of those meetings where he would need backup down the road, so he grabbed his video glasses. He tested them out to make sure they were working and put them on. David figured it was better to be safe than sorry.

When David got to Coach Clayton’s office, he could hear Coach and Matt talking. As soon as he stuck his head in, the conversation stopped. David had a funny feeling they’d been talking about him.

“Come in and take a seat,” Coach Clayton said and then waited for David to join them. “I wanted to put an end to this foolishness between the two of you.”

“No hard feelings,” Matt said as he held his hand out.

“That’s it? I’m supposed to shake his hand, and all is forgiven?” David asked.

When neither of the others said anything, David continued.

“What are you sorry for?” David asked Matt.

“There’s no need for that...” Coach Clayton began but stopped when he saw the look on David’s face. He paused a moment, and David saw his recognition this couldn’t be glossed over. “Tell him.”

Matt didn’t look happy.

“I’m sorry John got out of hand.”

“You’re really going with John got out of hand?” David asked Matt and then turned to Coach Clayton. “If that’s the case, why isn’t John in here giving me an apology?”

“Okay, I might have said some things, and John just took it too far,” Matt said.

“So, this is John’s fault, and you really were an innocent bystander,” David said and stopped himself.

He could feel his anger rising at this entire situation and realized that being right wasn’t what was needed right now. Even though it would feel good, he would end up alienating Coach Clayton if he ripped into Matt as he deserved. But that didn’t mean David didn’t intend to make a point.

“This isn’t going to get us anywhere. What I want you to do is look at the bigger picture. What do you estimate your football career will be worth to you and your family over your lifetime?” David asked Matt.

“I’m not really sure,” Matt said.