Chapter 110: Going Out In Style

Saturday, April 16, 1983

Alarms went off at eight, and we were on the bus by nine. Some people were groaning for coffee, or Coke, or whatever else might give them caffeine. We didn’t have the time for the Frisco Shop this morning, so off to IHOP we went. After a cup of whatever, everyone seemed well-rested and in good spirits. I wasn’t sure what the other patrons made of nearly forty very talkative teenagers. Hopefully, they found it all amusing.

We made it to LBJ around ten-fifteen. We could’ve arrived a bit later, but there was no sense risking actually being late.

They’d put up multiple copies of the octofinals postings. Because of that, Cammie and Paige didn’t even bother trying to be our reporting crew.

CX was a surprise only in that I didn’t expect all six teams to break, even as good as we were. But, there we were, all still going. I felt particularly good for Linda and Darla, since they were the ‘new kids’ on the CX side.

LD was a mixed bag. Callie and Kenzie broke, but Brad didn’t, nor did Eric, Janice, or Crystal. Jaya did (no surprise there, really), but Bree breaking was a surprise. I wondered if they’d try to do a bit of both CX and LD next year. It might work for them.

Mind you, that still gave us four out of sixteen. Not bad at all.

Extemp was a flurry of names. Again, expected. Me, Cammie, Amit, Sue, Angie, Darla, Linda, Bree, Megan, and Jaya were all still going. Ten out of sixty-four.

On the Drama side, our three Duo pairs (Jas and Carole, Sheila and Lexi, and Ben and Penny) were in. Still standing in Dramatic were Caitlyn, Mikayla, Sheila, Paige, Jas, and (maybe surprisingly) Carla. Last but not least, in Humorous we had me, Angie, Jas, Paige, Sara, Lexi, and Marsha.

Thirty-eight Memorial kids at the tournament, and twenty-eight (twenty-eight!) had broken. At State! We were still going to be hated, no doubt about it.

Cammie and I checked the lists and found that our opponents were ‘Maxwell/Wyatt’ from Klein Forest. We looked at each other and shrugged. If we’d debated them before, neither of us remembered it.

Looking down the list, I spotted some familiar names. Brad and Chelsea, for instance. Natalie and Brenda from Duschene. A few looked vaguely familiar. And then, opposite Darla and Linda, appeared Mayrink/Myers.

No sign of Nick and Ryan, as I’d expected. However annoyed they were, seeing Dave Mayrink and Adam Myers breaking over them would likely make it worse, if I knew anything about how Bellaire’s Debate program worked. Dave and Adam might well be Bellaire’s ‘A’ team next year. At Memorial that meant almost nothing, but at Bellaire it would be a big deal.

I was happy for Dave, but I hoped he knew he had a big target on his back now. He probably did, and ... well. He could probably handle it. Probably? I really didn’t know the guy all that well now, after all.

I headed off to Humorous Interp. With eight groups they had the Memorial kids spread out, but I was slightly nervous seeing Marshall in my round. Still, the top half of the group broke.

Marshall and I shook hands, but that was it. It was extremely unlikely that Glen would ever figure out who any of us were (or even try), much less connect us via Drama, but playing it safe still made sense.

The round itself went fine, but that was expected. I went in, performed my cutting, and then headed off to my Extemp round. Better to be early than late!

Megan was waiting when I got there. She obviously felt the same about being early (pun not intended, but noted).

“Hey,” I said.

“Hey,” she said, and moved to hug me.

I hugged right back. “How’re things?”

“Great!” she said. “We’ve got some team from Lamar in octos. I’ve never debated them, and neither has anyone else that we talked to.”

“Cammie and I didn’t recognize the name.”

She shrugged. “We’ll take on anyone.”

“Of course.”

“How about you?”

“I’m amused. An old friend of mine that I’ve barely seen over the past three years or so broke. He wasn’t involved in Debate when I knew him. I haven’t actually seen him so far, but he’s debating Darla and Linda.”

“Cool! Amusing, too. I don’t have anything like that, though I am starting to make friends at other schools through basketball.”

“Sorry I didn’t make it to more games.”

She shrugged. “You’re busy. Everyone knows that. I’m glad you got out to one.”

“I’ll try to do better next year.”

“We appreciate the support. The guys don’t get that much, but a lot more than we do.”

“Speaking of, how’s Calvin?”

“Great!” She grinned a little, then blushed just a bit. “Um...” she said, hesitating, “I ... how did you, um ... know Jasmine was ... um. You know. ‘The one?’”

It was my turn to blush, if only a little. “I didn’t, I suppose. Or I don’t, either way.”

That got her a bit redder still. She started to speak, but I shushed her, then went on, “What I know is that she might well be ‘the one.’ We both know that enough to change our expectations a bit and keep going. Until someone proposes, it’s not really set for any couple. Maybe not even then.”

“I guess that’s fair. I mean ... um...” she said. “We’re really good, and ... I think ... maybe... maybe ... we could beat the odds and stick together. It’s so early, and we’re so young, but ... I really like the guy. He’s down-to-earth, he never acts like he has money or anything, his dad’s super-cool, all of that. We have the same interests. He’s smart, I’m smart. We like the same colleges, so far. It’s just ... daunting. I know how few high school relationships last.”

“All you can do is decide if you want to invest in it. Any relationship at all can be blown up by a bad deed, or two or three, depending on what those are and how forgiving the other person is. Hundreds of good deeds don’t matter if one person decides to really be a jerk. What you’re doing, I think, is learning more and more about each other, and also increasing the ties between you, so it’s less likely that someone will be a jerk.”

“That makes sense. I’m ... I just ... I want it to work. I guess I’m just impatient.”

“Impatience is natural, but you have to get past it. Things are going to take time. We’re still growing, no matter how grown-up we feel.” Okay, Angie and I were (mostly, at least) an exception to that, but still. “Just recognizing that and saying ‘I might be a different person in a few years, and so might they. Those different people might still be right for each other, or they might not. Let’s find out as we grow together’ is better than trying to make these decisions now.”

She nodded. “Thanks. This is why I brought it up. I knew you’d have a good perspective on this!”

“For what it’s worth — and it’s not really worth that much, even if you think it is — I hope you and Calvin stay great for each other forever. In the end only you two can decide that, though.”

“It’s worth a lot to me!”

“Good, then,” I said, smiling.

We hugged again, then switched to less significant subjects, since we’d have to compete any minute now.

After my Extemp round (which went just fine, as expected), I hurried over to join Cammie for our CX round. Our opponents turned out to be Ken Maxwell and Sandy Wyatt. She looked vaguely familiar. Most likely I’d talked to her at the Klein Forest tournament, but neither of us remembered each other.

It was fairly obvious that our reputation preceded us. They looked nervous from the start of the round, and it didn’t get better as the round progressed. We’d drawn Affirmative, and while it felt like they knew what case we were running, they still weren’t really all that ready for it.

Anything can happen, but I was expecting a win.

We shook hands after the round, wished them well, and then headed back to the cafeteria to await the results.

Postings came out just a few minutes after two. They were moving right along, and we had a shot at being done before midnight. Earlier than that, if no Memorial kids were in finals, but the odds of that were quite low.

Cammie and Paige headed off, then returned quickly with their sheets of paper. Paige got the first turn.

“Everyone shush. I’ll make this quick.”

There was a round of applause, which made Paige stick out her tongue.

“Shush! Okay, first, Duo. Everyone made it. Keep it up!”

Another smattering of applause.

“Next, Dramatic. That’s me, Mikayla, Jas, and Sheila.”

That meant Caitlyn and Carla were out. Tough, but not a total surprise.

“Finally, Humorous. Me, Jas, Lexi, Angie, and Steve.”

And that was it for Sara and Marsha.

Cammie got up next. “First, CX. Still standing are Steve and me, Sue and Amit, Megan and Anne, and Janet and Lizzie.”

That meant Brad and Chelsea had beaten Angie and Gene, which wasn’t a big surprise, and that Dave and Adam had beaten Darla and Linda, which ... might be a surprise. Also, there was every possibility that Angie and Gene had just had their last round together. I could easily see Sue and Gene teaming up next year, which might mean Angie and Amit, or Angie dropping CX, or ... who knew? Not Angie, so definitely not me.

“Next, LD, and you’re all four still in.”

Bree continued to be a pleasant surprise. Go Bree!

“Finally, Extemp. We’re down to me, Amit, Sue, Steve, Angie, Darla, and Jaya.”

Linda, Bree, and Megan were out, leaving seven out of thirty-two. A bit ridiculous, really. We’d lose more on the next round, no doubt.

And that meant, on the Debate side, Gene and Linda were done with the tournament.

Overall Memorial still had twenty-two kids in quarterfinals at State. It was entirely possible that no other school had even brought twenty-two kids. Probably at least one or two had, but we were still kicking butt, both in quantity and quality.

After they’d finished, and before I left for Humorous, Janet came over. “I hear you know the guys we’ve got next round.”

I nodded. “Dave Mayrink, in particular, though it’s maybe fair to say I knew him. He’s more just an acquaintance now. I don’t know his partner well at all.”

“Anything interesting?”

“I think you’d have destroyed Dave’s brain with the Valley Girl routine a year ago.”

Janet giggled and nodded, then said, “But not now?”

“You might get Adam. Dave’s come a long way.”

“Noted. Anything else?”

“They’ll likely be a little shaky. It’s new ground for both. Until maybe a tournament or two ago, those other guys...”

Janet growled a bit, nodding.

“ ... were Bellaire’s ‘A’ team. And, over there, that matters.”

She nodded again, this time smiling.

“I think Dave and Adam stole the title. Quarters at State compared to the other guys not breaking.”

“Couldn’t happen to a more deserving pair.” I knew exactly which pair she meant, of course.

“I think Dave will manage it, but right now?” I shrugged. “They need work, I think. I’d go at them directly, if I were you. You don’t need tricks to win that one. Obviously, if they’re pulling rabbit after rabbit out of the hat...”

“Totally baffle them with bullshit,” she said, grinning.

“Yeah. Can’t hurt, but I don’t think you’ll need it.”

She smiled, then hesitated. “You’re not close friends?”

“If you’re asking me if it bothers me if you beat them: no. And I mean, hell no! Friends, yes, but this is a competition and you’re much closer friends, plus you’re also on my team. We have a date in finals, after all.”

She giggled, then hugged me. “I never would’ve predicted this on the bus to Bryan, though I maybe had an inkling that you were special about ... oh, ten minutes in.”

I nodded, smiling.

“Thanks. Both for me, and especially for Lizzie.” She hesitated, almost to the point of it getting awkward, then continued. “We’ve both experienced a nice guy on the team being friendly with us, and then ... well. Finding out he wasn’t, not at all. That he was looking down on us and saying shit behind our backs. That was hard. Really fucking hard. We felt better when he left, but still ... if you hadn’t clicked so well with Cammie... especially behind the scenes ... I don’t know.”

She shrugged, then smiled, and hugged me. “But you did, and it means a lot. Thanks.”

“Thanks for being my friend. Both of you.”

“You’re welcome. Friends, always, even if we have to tear your heart out in finals.”

“Vice versa.”

“Yeah, yeah. Promises, promises!”

She headed off, while I stood there, thinking. I didn’t really think she’d quite meant to give me all of that information. Maybe she had. Janet was anything but dumb, after all. But ... well. The implication was either that someone had been a jerk to them during their freshman year (which would mean I’d never met them) or it’d continued into their sophomore year (in which case I probably had).

My guess was that she meant sophomore year. The way she’d tangled up his leaving and my joining ... who knows? I could be reading something into nothing.

But, if so, that narrowed the pool, and some of the names left weren’t ones I’d expect. I needed to think about this some more.

Same old, same old for Extemp and Humorous. Show up, do your stuff, get out of the way.

Jas and I wound up in the same Humorous round and didn’t even make out (though we did kiss just before she went in to compete, and again before I did, which made a few of the other kids roll their eyes at us). Cammie and I wound up in the same Extemp round. No kisses there, but there were hugs.

In between Extemp and CX, I headed back to the cafeteria and almost immediately spotted Dave Mayrink. He spotted me, too, and waved.

I headed over and offered my hand. He shook, smiling.

“So, how’s your tournament going?” he said.

“I’m still in three events, so I can’t complain.”

“Just the one for us, but that’s fine. I’m not thrilled with hitting your other team, though.”

“One of four we still have competing.”

“Rub it in, why don’t you?” he said, pretending to groan. “We’re the last Bellaire team. We’ve still got a few Extempers, though, and a few Drama kids, I think.”

“I imagine we’ll have at least one or two lose.”

“I can’t imagine you’d tell, but ... any hints?”

“They are my friends,” I said, chuckling. “That said ... well. More just for yourself, rather than strategically, just treat them as some nice people that you don’t know. I guess that’s more ... life advice, maybe. I try to do that unless I have some reason to dislike a team.”

He snickered a bit. “Like a certain pair I know?”

I shrugged and smiled. “Like I said, I try to do that unless I have some reason to dislike a team.”

“Coach is pissed at them, and I mean, really pissed. He thinks they were trying to get on the bottom of the bracket and succeeded too well.”

“Not my style,” I said, shrugging again, “so I can’t even presume to understand how that would work.”

“I see why you do this,” he said, “and why you’re so different than you used to be. And why Dad was so happy when I gave it a try. I thought, you know, go learn some facts and triumph by knowing more than the other guy. That’s part of it, but it’s so much more.”