Chapter 62: Tests and Re-tests

Friday, December 9, 1983

We were on the pep rally schedule today, notwithstanding that the game was tomorrow. The many kids who wouldn’t get to go still wanted to cheer, after all.

It was a weird pep rally. We’d had pep rallies in the gym while it was partly decorated for a dance, of course, but those were Homecoming, which was just a lot of red and white, and Halloween, which was a lot of black (they’d added the orange later). Having the walls covered in glittery blues and grays, and with some holiday decorations already in place, seemed odd.

It wasn’t a Christmas dance, and they didn’t use trees, holly, or presents, but the stars were quite Christmas-y, as were the strings of lights.

Mel had let me know that Trish and company were going to the Winter Formal. That was a break with tradition, and one that would likely annoy quite a few juniors (not that they could do anything about it). I could charitably say that perhaps Trish didn’t know, but I suspect she just didn’t care. There wouldn’t be a King or Queen at the Winter Formal, but it was a fancy dress ball. Most likely they’d leave it and head to some big party.

I hoped she enjoyed being the star of the show (to whatever extent she was). Perhaps she’d be happy that we’d stayed far away and not rained on her parade. Happy enough that this high school stuff (literally!) would stop.

One can always hope, after all.

Saturday, December 10, 1983

As much as I wanted to, I resisted the temptation to get up early and race to Jasmine’s and hold her hand. She needed to be the heroine of her own story on this one. Camille and Francis would have things well in hand, and Jas could do this without a man (even her future husband) there to kick down doors and beat up evil-doers.

Instead of that, I went off shopping for Christmas presents. Mom and Dad, for better or for worse, were easy. I had to get the standard gifts (after-shave for him, perfume for her), and I found some nice car mats for him and a throw blanket for her. She was often complaining about being cold when it got below 70 outside. I was pretty sure that was just who she was since she’d been the same way in my first go-round.

Jasmine, Angie, and Paige had been tougher to shop for, and I’d spent a lot of time trying to figure out what to get. In the end, I resisted the temptation of buying anything related to college. I wound up buying Jasmine a simple gold necklace and diamond earrings. They weren’t as flashy as what I’d given her before, but they were quality jewelry that she could wear many years from now.

I didn’t feel good about clothing, jewelry, perfume, or anything of the sort for Angie or Paige. They might well be giving each other those things. Instead, I bought Angie a nice travel kit, which would hold at least some of her must-have supplies as we traveled. Her old kit was falling apart and inadequate to the job. We would be flying at least twice (perhaps three times or more) in 1983, plus several long bus and car trips, not to mention our proposed cross-country tour. She’d need it.

I spent much too long trying to figure out what to get Paige. Gift certificates for anything she would buy herself (music, books, and so forth) kinda sucked. Throwing money around also sucked. Jasmine’s gift cost more than I suspected she would think it cost, but it was still reasonable. The same was true of Angie’s gift.

In the end, I took a guess and went with a kit like the one I’d gotten Angie, but one more in Paige’s style. I thought about making it larger (because I was pretty sure that Paige used more stuff than Angie did — but, being a clueless boy, I could easily be wrong about that) but didn’t.

If Paige didn’t particularly like it, oh well. I was out the cost of a kit and the opportunity to give a good present. I was nearly certain she wouldn’t hate it, no matter what. With all of the traveling coming up, it might perhaps be seen as what it was: another way of embracing her as one of our merry band of troublemakers.

I made sure to be at Memorial in plenty of time to greet Jas and give her a hug after the test. So did Angie and Paige, as well as Carole, Sheila, and Lexi. Camille and Francis, of course, were there as well, and we let them have the first hugs.

Jas smiled, looking none the worse for wear.

“So,” she said, grinning, “I think I kicked ass! I feel really good about that!”

That set off a round of congratulations, along with more hugs, and kisses (lips from me, cheek from most everyone else).

“We knew you would,” Camille said.

“Indeed we did!” Francis said.

“You are heading off to San Antonio?” Camille said, glancing at the buses arrayed in the parking lot. Not all of them fit, of course — others were waiting their turns to load up.

“We could all get some lunch first,” Jas said.

Camille and Francis agreed. The others wanted to join us, but they were heading to the buses.

On Jasmine’s suggestion, we all headed to the Italian place and enjoyed a fairly leisurely lunch. We had plenty of time, after all. Conversations ranged from the SAT (though we exhausted the possibilities of that fairly quickly), to our trip to San Antonio, then to our trip to New Orleans, and then our summer plans, followed by our thoughts on college.

At least both sets of parents knew well in advance that Jas and I would be moving in together. That could have been a disaster if things had gone differently. We were hardly going to spend a year living in the dorms just for the sake of appearances, and everyone knew it.

I knew Mom and Dad weren’t entirely happy about it, but they knew how committed we were, and Mom hadn’t even chided me about it. Camille had been on board with it for a long time, I was pretty sure, and Francis certainly seemed happy with things.

No one seemed upset that Angie and Paige would also be living together, either. It was yet another thing that proved just how far we’d come. Friends of mine in college had gone to great lengths to convince their parents that they weren’t doing exactly what they were doing all of the time.

We said goodbye to Camille and Francis around two and hit the road for San Antonio. It was fortunate that they’d planned this as a night game, because it easily could’ve been this afternoon instead.

We drove straight through, singing along with the radio and talking the whole way, arriving at the Hilton right about five. We stayed there just long enough to check in, put our bags in our rooms, and phone home, then headed off to Alamo Stadium.

By the time we got there, the buses from Memorial had arrived as well, as had many of our friends who’d driven over. Mel and Cammie had ridden on a bus with many of the team girlfriends, and Connie had traveled on one of the team buses, but Mark, Morty, and Emily had gotten permission to drive over themselves and brought Jimmy with them. Gene had brought Sue (they were staying over), and Calvin had brought Megan (they weren’t). And, of course, Carole and Lexi were here, and Sheila had found Amit somewhere (no surprise there).

We found seats (pretty good ones), bundled up (it was pretty cold!), and settled in to watch what we hoped was a good game.

The first quarter was a purely defensive battle. Neither team could get past midfield. I felt like it was frustrating Converse Judson, but it was frustrating Memorial, too.

Halfway through the second quarter, two Memorial defenders got crossed up somehow and let a Judson player make a long run. They stopped him, and the defense held, but Judson got a field goal.

That held up until halftime, making for a 3-0 game. Knowing that they’d won 39-0 last week made 3-0 seem much more palatable.

We bought hot chocolate and snacks at halftime, walked around to warm up a bit, and then settled in. Jess looked terribly cold out there, though I knew her ‘bare’ legs were just an illusion. So did the others, of course, but my eyes always went to her first, even though I could easily pick Linda and Sam out of the rest. They weren’t the only ones; I knew at least a dozen of the cheerleaders now, and had probably kissed (or, more properly, been kissed by) at least twice that many.