Chapter 47: Friday, Sept. 28

GAME DAY — DISTRICT OPENER, LIONS

The blare of the alarm forced its way into my consciousness, but I was unable to turn the damn thing off.

Kacie lay almost totally atop me, her boobs pressing into my midsection and her hair tickling my chin. I was afraid to move her off me, worried I’d dump her onto the floor. The alarm and my efforts to slide out from under her to the other side caused her to rouse. Sort of.

“Would you turn that thing off?” she mumbled grumpily as I managed to extract myself. Now, I was trapped between her and the wall.

“You do it,” I yawned. “You’re closer.”

“It’s your room and your alarm,” my sister grumped. “You do it. Hurry up. It’s annoying.”

I don’t know if my crawling over her body would be any less annoying, but I managed to get a finger on the button to kill the racket. The alarm had been sounding for nearly two minutes. Now, I was laying atop Kacie, which did nothing to improve her disposition. Have I mentioned that my sister is not a morning person?

“Get off,” she complained as I settled atop her. “You’re heavy.”

The thought of staying right where I was crossed my mind, but it didn’t sound like Kacie was interested in engaging in any activities before we started our day. Besides, I’d told myself more than once I needed to quit fucking around on nights where I needed to get a full sleep. I might even convince myself to do that one of these days. I certainly didn’t need to go again this morning with a game to play tonight.

Also, we didn’t need to take the chance on Mom or Dad checking to see if we were up only to find us doing the horizontal bop.

With a sigh, I rolled off her and got to my feet. While I’d gotten pretty much a full eight, maybe even a little more, I was still groggy as I staggered to the bathroom. I completed my business as Kacie wandered in, claimed her morning kiss and pushed me toward my room.

“Go,” she ordered, sending me to get dressed.

Since it was a road game, that meant the white team polo and khakis. I found a pair of blue socks that wouldn’t clash with the rest of my outfit — God forbid I commit another crime of fashion — and stepped into the loafers. Making sure everything I needed for school was in the backpack, I hoisted the heavy load one more time and headed for the kitchen.

Mom, already dressed for a game day complete with spirit button, was at the table with a mug of coffee and a muffin. I should have known she wouldn’t give up giving me grief for spending time with Marie last night.

“Did you at least use protection?” she demanded as I fixed my cereal and pineapple juice.

“Yes,” I admitted, not wanting to get into whether or not I’d had sex with my submissive bitch. Besides, it wasn’t a total lie. I had used a condom when I fucked her ass. We just got a little distracted at the start, but she was in the safe part of her cycle.

“You could have at least worn the same clothes home,” Mom carped.

“You would have complained even more if I had,” I replied as I took my seat. “I didn’t shower after football and got even sweatier doing the yard. Those clothes were getting a little rank, so I showered and changed at the apartment.”

“Are you ready for your test?” she asked, as if changing subjects would throw me. It was another tactic I’d become way too used to over the years.

“Pretty much,” I said after swallowing a spoonful. “I’ll be able to go over it again at lunch, maybe even in one of the morning classes if the teachers give us time. It just depends on how much homework they decide to dish out for the weekend.”

“I always hated when they did that,” Dad said as he came in and headed for the coffee. “It was like my teachers were determined to make sure I didn’t have any free time on weekends.”

“They were,” Mom snarked. “Your mother told me it was part of a plan to keep you from screwing every female under the age of 30 in Buchanan County.”

“I didn’t even come close,” Dad snarked in return. “A lot of those gals were married by the time they were 20. You’re the only married woman I’ve ever been with.”

“See? Their plan worked,” Mom grinned evilly. “At least a little. Now if we could just get Gary’s teachers to load him down with more homework, maybe he’d be forced to control himself a little better.”

“I do not go prowling for girls,” I said in an effort to defend myself. “I’ve turned down as many offers as I’ve accepted.”

“Not hardly,” Dad snorted. “Maybe half as many. You should at least ease up a little until football season’s over. Save a little something for the games. Speaking of which, what are our chances tonight?”

“Don’t blink or you’ll miss seeing the starters,” I said, glad to be off the subject of my amorous activities. “If we don’t beat these guys by six touchdowns, Coach Tucker may have us running gassers until midnight. But I do think he’ll try to keep it from getting too embarrassing.”

“What makes you think that?” he asked.

“This may be the worst defense we see all year,” I said. “Their offense has hit some big plays, but they’re giving up nearly 50 a game. I expect a running clock in the second half.”

“Well, that’ll leave more time for you to do any homework,” Mom declared. “Just make sure you have everything done tomorrow before your date with Stephanie.”

I suddenly found myself wondering if it would be such a bad idea if I was loaded down with assignments. Maybe I could use that as an excuse to weasel out of taking the head football coach’s daughter out for dinner. It was just a matter of whether going out or ditching created more drama. And Coach Tucker had told me to keep the drama to a minimum.

“I’d better get going,” I said, taking my dishes to the washer. “I need to stop off at the office before classes start.”

“Not taking Sherry today?” Mom asked.

“She should already be on her way,” I said. “The cheerleaders have to be there early to set up for the pep rally. Will y’all be there?”

“With bells on,” Dad said. “You’d better get moving.”

It was a good thing I left the house a little early. Every intersection with a stoplight had a work crew with one guy standing out in the middle of traffic holding a stop sign. It basically turned every major crossroads on the route into a four-way stop. I knew there’d been something screwy with the lights last night.

Even with a stop at an ATM to withdraw enough cash to cover books and mums, I still pulled into my parking spot a little after 7:30. I decided to hit the StuCo store and pay my tab there before stopping by the office. It was only a little out of my way.

Luckily, instead of the girl who’d taken my order — and seemed to heartily disapprove of me buying mums for three girls — I was waited on by a sophomore boy who apparently wasn’t up on the latest gossip. At least, he didn’t ask me about Kelli Thornton.

“That must be one heckuva mum,” he quipped when he discovered how much I owed. “Somebody’s plannin’ on gettin’ lucky.”

I didn’t have the heart to tell him the truth. From the looks of the kid, second base — maybe even first base — was still way in his future. Like his first drunken frat party in college.

As I turned to go, recognition hit him.

“Wait, you’re the one with the poster the cheerleaders are sellin,’” he gasped with a bit of astonishment. “From what I’ve heard, you don’t need to fork out that kinda money to get some action.”

“Yeah, well,” I said slowly as I considered what to say, “some things shouldn’t be taken for granted. It never hurts to show a girl you think she’s special. If she’s willing to spend time with you, she is special.”

I made my escape, feeling I’d done all I could to improve his dating prospects, before the little twerp could say something really stupid.

The traffic in the hallways had picked up as time for the first bell neared. I dodged and weaved through the crowd to the office only to find it completely packed with students needing something or other from an administrator. I decided to hold off on paying for the new textbooks. After all, I had until the end of the school year and Dr. Stirling had advised me to wait and see. I didn’t mind holding onto my money a little longer. I just had to make sure Kacie didn’t get a peek at my wallet or she’d clean me out. Again.

With that matter settled for the moment, I headed for my locker ready to finally unload at least a few of these books. I was pleasantly surprised to see Staci and one of the other varsity cheerleaders already had it open as they delivered my gameday goodies.

“Hey, sweet thang,” I drawled as I set my backpack on the floor. “Mind if I cut in line?”

“Good morning to you, too!” Staci chirped before sneaking a smooch. “Miss Wilkes told us what happened to your locker. Did she really do it?”

My sorta-kinda-maybe second or third girlfriend didn’t have to explain who “she” was or what she did.

“Don’t know,” I said quietly as the other girl — either Tiffany or Tyffani, I never could keep them straight — cleared her throat as if to indicate the subject was verboten.

“We’ll talk later,” Staci whispered in my ear, trying to disguise it by giving me a hug.

“While you’re here, I guess I should officially ask you to the Homecoming dance,” I said, to which Staci just stood there with an expectant smile on her face.

It took me a couple of seconds to catch on. I am a guy, after all.

“Would you please allow me the honor of escorting you to the Homecoming dance?” I managed to get out.

I didn’t know whether to laugh or put the little minx over my knee.

“I would be delighted,” Staci beamed, then gave her companion a look and a jerk of the head, meaning she should move on to the next player’s locker, which would be either Hunter Reynolds or Luke Riley if I understood their MO.

Leaning close, Staci again whispered in my ear.

“I know it’s my turn next week, but you should ask Bethany and Sherry, too,” she cooed. “Beth deserves it after giving up Sadie Hawkins and Sherry deserves it because she didn’t get a full date.”

“I’m OK with that, but Sherry’s going to be out all next week for her next round of treatment,” I said. “If it’s as bad as the last one, I doubt she’ll feel up to going anywhere.”

Staci pouted prettily at the news.

“I was afraid of that, but you could at least ask her,” she said. “She’ll be at the pep rally.”

“I’ll do that,” I agreed, telling myself that I should take my own advice and let all my girls know I thought they were special.

With another kiss, Staci moved on to resume distributing goodies while I removed Western Civ, English, Chemistry and Creative Writing books and their companion notebooks from my bag. I kept the ones for Algebra II on the off chance I’d get time to review for the test at some point this morning.

I closed the new locker door, which did not have the little poster from the cheerleaders, and spun the knob. Assured it was locked, I tried the new combination to make sure I remembered it. Worked like a charm. I picked up a much lighter backpack and began the journey toward Economics and another day of the educational process. I was halfway to Mr. Cochran’s room when the first bell rang.

I think strained was the best description for the look on Chuck’s face when he entered just before the tardy bell. I fervently hoped he’d wait until after the game to beat the shit out of me if his expression had anything to do with whatever was going on with Kelli.

Mr. Cochran’s monotone had me dangerously close to dozing off, but I managed to hold out until he was done. I really could have used a caffeine jolt halfway through the class. Good thing we were on a pep rally schedule. Those five minutes may have made the difference.

As I pretty much expected, he hit us with an assignment for the weekend — 1,000 words on the pros and cons of the president’s latest economic policy. It would take some time to research, but Mr. Cochran gave us a list of articles from publications ranging from the Washington Post to Newsweek magazine. There were a couple from our metro dailies expounding on the impact to our region and the state as a whole that should be useful. One thing I was fairly sure of is the doofus wouldn’t do anything to harm the petroleum industry. Grandpa might stage a coup if that was the case.

I swung by the locker to trade my Economics book for Western Civ and English before going to Mrs. Edwards’ room. We were getting into the Renaissance and reading Machiavelli’s “The Prince” in class. We could expect a healthy dose of it on our test Monday. So a couple more hours out of my weekend to bone up on that.

Mrs. Albracht earned my gratitude by not piling on with more homework in English IV. Instead, we got started on “The Taming of the Shrew,” which we would be tested on next week. Our pregnant teacher advised us we’d be better off reading the original instead of watching one of the “reimagined” movie adaptations like the one with Julia Stiles and Heath Ledger. I might be tempted to waste a couple of hours on that, anyway, assuming none of my afternoon classes had assignments. Julia Stiles was hot. I’m sure Kacie had the DVD.

At the bell, football players began moving toward the fieldhouse while other students either hit the cafeteria or headed to their next class. About all we’d do in athletics was go over the itinerary for tonight. That took less than five minutes as food service staff began setting up the serving line for the team meal.

We were told to report directly to the fieldhouse after school to get taped and begin dressing. We’d take yellow dogs to the stadium the Lions shared with the other teams in their school district, carrying our jerseys, shoulder pads and helmets like we would for a home game. Buses would pull out at 4:15, which should give us ample time to reach our destination even with the expected traffic.

Coach Tucker dismissed us with most guys going off to make sure they were presentable for the pep rally. I intended to study for my test in Algebra II, but the boss had other plans.

“Robinson, my office please,” he said as the brief meeting broke up.

“Yes, sir,” I said and fell in to follow him.

In his office, Coach Tucker closed the door and pointed me to a chair before taking his seat behind his desk. He took a moment to consider how to say what he wanted, heaved a sigh and started in, throwing me a curve with his first statement.

“Tell me what happened with the Thornton girl,” he commanded. “Dr. Stirling said you took some extreme measures.”

Oh, boy, I thought. This really was not something I wanted to get into with anyone, let alone the father of the next girl I wasn’t supposed to catch when she threw herself at me.

“Kelli seemed to think I’d gladly accept her offer of a tumble and never bothered to ask if I was interested,” I said. “Five months ago, she couldn’t have even told you my name, let alone ever considered spending time with me. I got the feeling she was just looking to boost her standing without taking into account how I might feel about the situation.”

“And just what are your feelings?” he asked.

“That I’ve got too many girls in my life and they should all take precedence over any outsiders,” I said. “I’ve told you before that I’m not looking to pad my stats. I don’t care if she is the most powerful girl in school, she’s just not someone I wanted to be with.”

“And how did you get yourself out of that predicament?” he asked.

“I created a situation where I had all the control,” I said. “I had her tied up and blindfolded, completely helpless. And it was consensual on her part, at least at first. I did not use physical force or drugs to subdue her. I could have done anything to her that I wanted. What I wanted was for her to back off.

“Besides, she’s supposedly got it bad for Chuck Edwards. I didn’t want to risk offending him, but he’s apparently been quite oblivious of her feelings. I’ve advised him to spend more time with her. I hope he can be a calming influence.”

“You actually have that kind of stuff?” Coach asked rather incredulously.

“No, sir,” I said. “Miss Benson, the young woman under my protection, obtained it from the home of her former Domme. She has quite a bit of experience in that scene. I relied on her tutelage to make sure I didn’t go too far with Kelli. I just wanted to warn her off, not harm her.”

Coach mulled that over, seeming somewhat disapproving of my tactics.

“Look,” I said, “I’ve caught more heat because of girls I haven’t fooled around with than because of anything I have done. I’ve had enough of being put in those kinds of situations and decided to do what I can to make it stop. If I’m going down for something when I’m not guilty, I won’t be going down alone. I think Kelli understands that now.”

“That makes me even less inclined to let my daughter go out with you,” he said.

“I understand completely,” I said, “and will accept any decision you make about that. I have no intention of trying anything with your daughter. I don’t want to appear to be leading her on or taking advantage of her feelings. But I don’t want to destroy her emotionally, either. Kelli needed to see that I could destroy her if I really wanted.

“Stephanie’s more like my little cousins than the girls I normally go out with. I’m actually hoping my cousins are at the club tomorrow night. One of them straight up told Elise Stirling she couldn’t be my girlfriend. I can easily see her saying the same thing to Stephanie.”

“Tell me your plans for tomorrow night with Stephanie,” he said in a tone that wasn’t quite as demanding as I would have expected.

“I told her I’d pick her up at 6:30,” I replied. “My mother expects me to be at the club by 7. After dinner, I thought we could hang out at the teen lounge, like I said. It closes at 10. The earlier I can get her home, the better for all of us, I think. And I’ll do my best to keep the drama to a minimum.”

“You know I don’t like this, but I’m really not being given a choice,” he sighed. “She’s been determined to go out with you since at least media day.”

“I understand, sir,” I said. “I can’t say I like it that much, either. I’ve said before I’m not interested in dating any freshmen. I’m just glad more girls haven’t tried something like Stephanie did by tracking my phone.”

“Just don’t leave the club grounds until you take her home or I’ll be the one tracking you down,” he threatened.

“You don’t have to worry about that, sir,” I said.

“And you’re to take her straight home,” he added. “No visit to your apartment.”

“Yes, sir.”

We just sat there staring at each other. I’d had enough of these talks with the fathers of teenage girls to have an understanding of where he was coming from. And I had no desire to find myself strapped to a blocking sled come Monday.

“I guess I should get the address of where I’m supposed to pick her up and return her,” I finally said, breaking the silence.

“She stays with me on weekends,” he said, giving me an address that was on the same street as Erin Bennett’s house. “Have her home by 10. She’s got church on Sunday morning.”

“Yes, sir.”

“We’d better get ready for the pep rally,” he said. “It’s getting to be that time.”

“Yes, sir.”

I tried to lighten the mood as I made my way to the door.

“You know, there’s always a chance I could get injured tonight and have to spend a couple of nights in the hospital,” I grinned. “That’d get us both off the hook.”

“As much as that would take care of my immediate concerns, it’d just create more problems in the long run — like finding a new holder,” Coach deadpanned. “And Stephanie would probably insist on personally nursing you back to health. I’m not sure I could allow that.”

I suppressed a laugh as I took my leave and hit the head before making sure my backpack was safely in my locker. I’d try to get with Cody after we ate to go over algebra one more time.

There was less than 10 minutes left in the period when I rejoined everyone else in the team room. We were soon lined up and proceeded to make our way across to the gym. I could hear the noise level increase as the student body began filing into the arena a few minutes after the bell. It wasn’t much longer before someone gave a signal, the band struck up the fight song and we made our entrance to stand in front of our adoring public.

As the last strains of the fight song faded, the cheerleaders began the first cheer. I, of course, was fixated on Staci, but something seemed a little off. As they performed their dance routine to Elton John’s “I’m Still Standing,” which seemed fitting after the disappointment of our last game, it hit me.

Kelli Thornton wasn’t out there.

I did a quick count and there were still 16 cheerleaders. I vaguely recognized one girl as being the head JV cheerleader. Curiouser and curiouser, I thought.

As the drill team performed to “The Lion Sleeps Tonight,” the cheerleaders began to set up for the skit. When it came time for the opposing mascot — it looked like the same mangy cat used to represent the Bearcats, but with a mane tied to its head — to be pantsed, Libby provided the distraction while the big, blue fuzzball exposed a pair of boxers emblazoned with the Hello Kitty logo. It was typically the job of the head cheerleader to perform that part of the act.

After one last cheer and the alma mater, most of my teammates headed back toward the fieldhouse and lunch. I held back, waiting for the cheerleaders to finish up. Sherry had been seated over near the staging area and was helping put things away, so I headed in that direction.

“Hey there!” she exclaimed when she noticed me approaching.

“Hey there, yourself,” I smiled, stepping close.

“What do you want?” she asked with a bit of a smirk.

“To ask you to the Homecoming dance,” I smirked right back, causing some of the other girls to gasp in surprise. “Would you like to go with me?”

Sherry blushed as every member of the cheer program, including Miss Wilkes, looked our way. Whichever girl had accompanied Staci to deliver goodies this morning — Tyffani or Tiffany, I never could keep those two straight — stared daggers at me, as if I’d committed high treason by asking a second girl to the dance after Staci already accepted. I just let her stew.

“You know I’ve got treatment next week,” Sherry mumbled, fidgeting nervously. “I doubt I’ll feel like going.”

“But if you do, I want it to be with me,” I smiled. “I still owe you a full date. If you’re not feeling up to it, there’ll be other events coming up, so no pressure. Just whenever you’re ready.”

“On that condition, I’ll accept,” she grinned. “Just don’t be disappointed if I have to bail.”

“Of course I’ll be disappointed,” I said, “but I’ll understand.”

That drew a few “awwws” from a some of the girls who obviously weren’t aware I was already taking Staci and a very deadly look from the one who was. Sherry gave me a fairly chaste hug, which meant she only rubbed against me for a second, and let me go. I managed to take a half dozen or so of steps toward the fieldhouse when someone grabbed my arm.

I turned to find myself confronted by Miss Wilkes and Tyffani, based on the name embroidered on her cheer jumper.

“Just what do you think you’re doing?” the cheer coach hissed, looking to make sure Sherry wasn’t paying attention.

“What I asked him to,” Staci said firmly from behind my two assailants, making them jump. “There’s nothing in the student handbook that says a boy can take only one girl to a school dance. I checked. I thought Sherry should get another turn after Sadie Hawkins.”

Miss Wilkes and Tyffani continued to glower at me as Staci held her ground. I was very glad that riding herd on this little bunch of princesses wasn’t part of my job description.

“You’ve caused enough trouble for my program this week,” Miss Wilkes spat in my direction. “You’d better quit fooling around with these girls. You’re a bad influence.”

I had to bite my tongue to keep from saying I’d “fooled around” with just one cheerleader. I’d hardly consider what I’d done with Sherry or Kelli to be fooling around. As for being a bad influence, I wasn’t the one who convinced Kelli to attend the party where she allegedly consumed an illicit substance. Any trouble stemming from that was all on her.

“Yes, ma’am,” I forced out through gritted teeth, trying not to give my own death stare. “If you’ll excuse me, I need to join my teammates for lunch.”

I made my way back to the fieldhouse and got in the serving line, which was fairly short after most of the team had made their first pass through. We were again having grilled chicken, potatoes and veggies. Filling, nutritious and tasty enough if unimaginative.

Morgan and my parents waved me over to the table they occupied after I filled my plate and grabbed a bottle of water.

“Where were you?” Morgan asked as I took a seat beside her. “Some of the other guys have already gotten a second helping.”

“Good, maybe that’ll keep them from stealing mine,” I said. “Staci thought I should ask Sherry Parker to the Homecoming dance. Miss Wilkes and one of the other cheerleaders took offense because I asked Staci earlier this morning. Apparently, I’ve caused enough trouble for the cheer program this week.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Dad asked rather sternly.

“I couldn’t say, but I noticed Kelli Thornton wasn’t out there,” I replied.

“I wonder what that was about?” Morgan asked rhetorically.

“We aren’t supposed to talk about it,” Staci said from behind us before taking the seat on my other side. “We’ll have to find some privacy later so I can tell you. Probably after school. Coach Wilkes isn’t real happy with me right now, either.”

“What did you do?” Mom asked.

“Made sure she got a report from Daddy’s investigators about that party,” the cheerleader said. “He seems to think there may be a connection with what happened out at Cedar Springs. I don’t know what was in the report, but apparently Kelli’s behavior wasn’t very discreet.”

I could only imagine how juicy the story was if Staci was willing to violate a gag order from her cheer coach. I’m sure I’d learn what I was meant to know in due time. Probably before the end of the weekend.

Mom decided to change the subject to something that should have been a little less juicy, but that was debatable since it also involved me. Indirectly, at least.

“I’ve invited John Tucker to join us at the club for dinner tomorrow night,” she said.

“I guess you’ll have to behave yourself on your date,” Morgan smirked, causing Staci to giggle.

“Like I’d even think about trying anything with Stephanie,” I shot back. “It’d be too much like trying something with Kinsey. They’re closer in age than she and I are.”

“Didn’t stop your cousin from tryin’ at her birthday party,” Dad snarked.

“I noticed he doesn’t wear a wedding band,” Mom cut in to regain control of the conversation.

“He’s divorced,” I said as I continued to empty my plate. “Stephanie lives with her mom a couple of towns over, but spends weekends with him. She can attend school here as the child of a district employee.”

Mom got a speculative look on her face, causing Dad to scowl at her. I didn’t think anything of it as I finished my meal. Cody saved me from any interrogation about my readiness for my upcoming test by coming over to ask if I could help him review the material one last time.

“That sounds like a very good idea,” Mom said as I shoveled in the last forkful. “Get on it.”

“My bag’s in the locker room,” I said after swallowing, only slightly surprised she hadn’t added something about not staying up too late out of habit.

I drained my bottle of water, gave Morgan and Staci hugs and told my parents I’d see them at the game before heading across the hall with the student trainer. We had about 15 minutes until the bell and spent about 10 covering the section Cody was most worried about.

“I thought Zoe had you caught up on this,” I said as I walked him through a problem.

Cody blushed almost as red as Zoe Yeats had when she tried to ask me to Sadie Hawkins.

“Uh, yeah, well,” he stammered, “every time I go over to her house to study, we always wind up getting distracted.”

“Is that what the kids are calling it these days?” I smirked. “Let me know if you need any protection. I’ll hook you up with Chuck Edwards. He’s been known to purchase certain ... useful items in bulk.”

“That’s not an issue,” Cody said as we packed up. “Yet. I know where Doc keeps a stash, anyway. It’s supposed to be a secret, but I’ve seen Coach Ramirez sneak a few. He and his wife have the same conference period.”

Oookaaayyy, I thought. That was probably something I didn’t really need to know, but good on Coach Ram for fulfilling his husbandly obligations whenever (and, apparently, wherever) called upon. I’d have to check with Kacie and see if she had English III before or after Mrs. Ramirez’s conference period. Might make it easier to know what to expect in class if the couple had a regular date.