Chapter 130: Dates and Rumors of Dates

Sunday, May 13, 1984

We were up bright and early and went to church with Mom and Dad. It was nice to get back. It might well be one of the last few services we would ever attend, and we both knew it. Oh, we’d probably attend occasionally when visiting Mom and Dad, but that would change over time. Once Dr. Ott retired, as he inevitably would, we would lose a lot of interest in going back. The ministers who had followed him had simply not been as good.

After church, we (along with Dad, of course) took Mom out for pancakes and eggs as planned. Angie and I had cards ready, and I’d snuck the flowers into the trunk of Dad’s car, so we were able to give them to her at brunch.

Mom had no idea this was going to happen, and was very happy with it.

After lunch, and before the show, we all called Grandmother and Professor Berman. It was great to get to talk to them, if only briefly, and update them on all of the good things that had been happening recently.

Professor Berman seemed himself. The clock was ticking, but the clock is always ticking on all of us, every day. He might pass away today, and he might make it years still.

All we knew from our first lives was that we didn’t know. Neither of us could be sure of when he’d passed away, but Angie was certain that it was before now, and I was nearly as certain.

The understudy matinée went nearly as well as last night’s show. Oh, the understudies were (in my opinion) not up to our level, but that was to be expected. They were still really good, and Steffie had a lot of talent to build on.

All of us had our fingers crossed that the grade point changes would make that easier. The more freshmen and sophomores who could try something different without wrecking their GPA, the better. It probably meant more dilettantes — anyone signing up for Drama or Debate now was making a serious decision — but that was okay.

The audience was very different, skewed to the friends and families of the understudies, along with a bunch of Memorial kids and community members who’d missed the earlier performances. Some of them probably didn’t know they were seeing ‘The Understudy Show’, and most of them probably didn’t care, either. They’d seen a very solid high school production of ‘Bye Bye Birdie’, and that’s what we were offering, after all.

As before, the after-party was at Carole’s house. Perhaps the cast party would be, too.

Angie had floated the idea of having it at Gene’s, but that had been rejected. Many of the parents of the underclassmen wanted at least nominal parental supervision. How much might be less than they expected, but there would be some.

Steffie, her husband Ryan, and Meg were the guests of honor, of course. We goofed off, sang, joked, and generally hung out.

After about an hour, Steffie took the floor. She went around the room, praising everyone in turn. She didn’t overly lavish praise on us seniors — it was just enough to fit, without being overdone.

When she got to us, Steffie said, “I can’t mention Angie without mentioning Steve, and vice versa, so you’ll just have to put up with it.”

Everyone chuckled at that.

“Steve, you joined us at a time when I wasn’t expecting anyone to join us. Not only did you commit right away, but you brought Angie, too — at, I’m told, significant personal risk.”

Everyone chuckled at that.

Steffie continued, saying, “And, Angie, you committed even more than Steve did. I can’t dispute the results, with both of you going to Nationals in your preferred event. Both of you have certainly complained, but it’s always been the good kind. I’m proud and honored that I got to spend almost three years of my life around both of you, and I’m looking forward to seeing great things in the future.”

That got a round of applause, as everyone’s had. Angie and I both hugged Steffie, then sat back down.

When she got to Jasmine, she said, “Jasmine, you’ve been a joy to teach, to coach, and just to know for the past four years. I’ve watched you find yourself, both as a performer and as a person, and help others find themselves as well. You have a generous spirit, and I’m pleased as punch that you and Steve have found each other.”

Jasmine blushed, sniffled, and gave Steffie a big hug.

A bit later, she got to Paige, and said, “Paige ... Paige ... Paige.”

That got a chuckle, and both a blush and a grin from Paige.

“What can I say? You came in like a hurricane, and I wasn’t sure how much drama you were going to add to my Drama class in that first year.”

Paige grinned, linked her hands, and waved them overhead, looking like a champion on the podium.

Steffie said, “I had to start with that, both because some of us remember that...”

“If you’ve heard the stories — all true!” Paige said, to laughter.

Steffie nodded, then said, “As I was saying — the other reason I had to start with it is ... well, somewhere along the line you found the brakes, and a filter. Suddenly you were a focused storm, one that put wind in everyone’s sails. I can’t credit Angie with that, nor you for firing up Angie, but the two of you truly complement each other. I wrecked my makeup watching you two at Prom, I’ll have you know!”

That got a bit more laughter.

“I’m not sure I’m ready for another freshman quite like you, but I hope I have many seniors who have your spirit, drive, and passion while still being a joy to coach and be around.”

Paige started sniffing along the way as Steffie was saying that.

“Sorry I was such a pain in the ass,” Paige said, as she gave Steffie a big hug.

“Freshmen are supposed to be a pain in the ass,” Steffie said, then stared at a few freshmen. “After the spring musical, you’re sophomores in my eyes, so that no longer applies to you!”

Everyone laughed.

“Don’t apologize. It was right for you, and ... it was right for my class, in the end.”

Steffie kept going around the room, saving Jess for last.

“Finally, Jessica Lively. If you’d asked me as recently as last spring if I’d ever get to know you, I’d have said that was very unlikely. I’m very glad you proved me wrong. You’re a rare talent, both because you’re such a natural and because you’ve come in as a senior, overachieved, and not ruffled anyone’s feathers in doing so. I doubt there will be many people at Nationals in their first year of competing. Thank you for giving Drama what you give everything else in your life — your best. And thank you for being a wonderful person, not just pretty, smart, and talented.”

Jess sniffled a bit herself and gave Steffie a big hug.

“For my part, thank you for welcoming me — and I mean all of you!” Jess said. “The last thing I would’ve wanted to do is ruffle anyone’s feathers. Sometimes you have to — I know that — but not this way, not this group. I hope that all of you will stay in touch as we all move away. After all, whether you’re a freshman — or a nominal sophomore, as Steffie says...”

Everyone laughed.

“ ... or whether you’re a senior, I’ve spent the same amount of time in Drama with you. You’re all peers, you’re all my friends, and you’re all wonderful.”

We all clapped.

I had a feeling there would be some more speeches before the semester was over, but this was the big deal for Drama. After this, Drama was, for most intents and purposes, done — except for the cast party, that is. And except for Nationals, but that was only a few of us, and Drama class had very little to do with preparation. Angie, Paige, Jas, Carole, and Jess knew what they were doing, after all.

This party was relatively restrained, but there was a lot of kissing.

A lot of kissing!

I kissed every girl that was there (Angie’s was on the cheek, as were a few others’ kisses) and somehow wound up kissing Bob, too. Not seriously — definitely not seriously! Played for laughs, but it was a real kiss.

That left Darren as the only senior I hadn’t kissed, and we both agreed it would stay that way.

I spoke briefly to Sam (who wanted to leave our date until after finals, given her schedule) and Jess (who didn’t, given hers). I suspected Jess was considering that there might be a few, while Sam was only expecting one, or perhaps two — but ones that were a bit more ... explosive.

Jas and I, and Angie and Paige, decided to double-date tomorrow, including time at Jasmine’s house. Everyone wanted to celebrate — and simply to be together when we weren’t stressing about tournaments or rehearsals.

Sure, we had finals coming up in a week, but I don’t think any of us were nearly as stressed about finals as we had been about State, ToC, or the musical. Finals were finals, and we would do great, even if we didn’t need to.

With that plan in place, we simply dropped Paige and Jas off, then headed home. Mom and Dad were already in bed, and we didn’t stay up long. We had sleep to catch up on!

Monday, May 14, 1984

The morning announcements praised the musical, but that wasn’t the big news, or at least it wasn’t for most people. The big news was that Memorial’s boys’ tennis team had won State, while the girls placed second. The track-and-field girls evened the score, winning their state tournament, while the boys placed third.

Two more State titles in the same year, and the baseball team was a favorite to make at least regionals.

If I was Principal Riggs, I might be asking for a raise. Strike while the iron is hot!

Since I wasn’t Principal Riggs, I instead made a mental note to remind him that, if anyone questioned whether the last two proms, or the new dress code, or anything else had been a distraction, the unprecedented number of State championships combined with having the most National Merit Finalists in the state tended to argue that everything was going fine. Not that he’d miss that himself, but he would appreciate that I was looking out for him.

It turned out that I knew (peripherally, at least) a few of the new state champions and runners-up, and they knew me. Not well, but enough that I was able to exchange some high-fives and the like.

During the day, we briefly discussed the problem of Cindy (aka ‘the clue’) but no one had any ideas. We would brainstorm tomorrow at Study Group and see what we could come up with.

Late in Drama, and while we’d managed to mostly be apart from everyone, I said to Jess, “Ms. Lively, might you be interested in dinner on Wednesday?”

She smiled and said, “Why, yes, I would. Thank you for asking me!”

“Then it’s a date. Any suggestions?”

She grinned. “If I suggest seafood?”

“Then I’ll consider our long-standing conversation renewed.”

She giggled, then said, “That works for me. Seafood actually would be wonderful, but surprise me. One day I’m going to take you out somewhere magical in LA.”

“Of course, if you do that, it’s possible that the paparazzi will have all sorts of juicy gossip by the end of the evening.”

“Not doubting it! I’m at least half a step ahead. The Memorial gossip network is intense. I’m sure that’ll be worse, but we do have the advantage of being old friends.”