Chapter 8: Tuesday After School

I guess it goes without saying that I was thrilled to get home from school so I could relieve myself. I practically ran into the house and locked myself in my bedroom so I could get "finished" before anyone else got home. I was lucky because both of my parents were still at work and my sister got out of school a bit later than I did. It must have taken all of about 30 seconds before I exploded. I was so jacked up from everything that had happened that day that I had to do it a couple more times just to get myself back to any semblance of normalcy.

After a careful inspection of the premises to make sure there was no evidence of my "activities", I felt that I could relax and unwind a bit. I plopped onto the couch and turned on the TV to see what was on. I flipped through all of the channels that our cable offered and found absolutely nothing to watch. I have always been amazed how one could have so many channels of crap on TV all the time. Even with all of the movie channels there was nothing good on. I usually ended up watching the same movies over and over again. I could probably recite half of the movies that I liked by heart because I had seen them so many times.

I quickly became bored with the channel surfing and decided that I needed to make a few phone calls. I still had not broached the subject of Leslie and I going to the game together on Friday with my friends or family. I needed to take care of that.

I called Tom's house and found out that he was out in his yard raking leaves. His mom told me she would have him call me back when he was finished. I had forgotten all about raking up the leaves. Normally that would have been my job, but my parents were letting me off the hook due to my physical condition. Raking leaves was one of my least favorite chores so I was actually thrilled to get this year off from it. I think they stuck Cara with the job since she would normally help me out. I hoped she wasn't pissed at me because my injuries made extra work for her. Oh well, shit happens, right?

The next person on my call list was Larry. I figured Larry would be a good indicator of how the other seniors in our little group would react to the idea of Leslie's sophomore friends hanging out with us at the game. After about six rings I was about to hang up when someone finally picked up the phone.

"Hello?" Larry answered the phone.

"Lars. What's up, man?"

"Hefe! What's going on?"

It's funny how people often answer a question with a question. He never even answered my question. I guess saying "What's up?" has become almost a greeting. No answer is expected. Sorry to get sidetracked here. I just had to make another one of my observations.

"Nada. What took you so long to get to the phone? What were you doing? Taking a shit?" I asked jokingly.

"How'd you know?" He laughed. "Sorry, man, you know you can't just stop mid-crap and go running to pick up the phone."

"I know what you mean," I said. "Remind me not to use the phone the next time I'm at your house. Okay?"

"What are you talking about?" He asked.

"I'm just assuming you didn't wash your hands before you ran to the phone and picked it up," I laughed. "You'll have to sterilize that thing now!"

"I did too wash my hands, you jackass! Next time I see you I'll make sure to wipe my hands on you and you won't know if they're clean or not."

"I'll just assume they're dirty," was my response.

"Funny!" he said. "You just think you're so smart, don't you? You just wait until I get you back to the gym to work out. I'm going to punish you for your insolence."

Larry was my workout partner and spotter in the gym. He was a good partner because he always pushed me harder and harder. If I thought I was totally exhausted he would push me for one or two more reps in each set. That was how I improved and he was good at making me do it.

"Now that I believe!" I said. "I don't know when I can go back to the gym. I have a doctor's appointment next week. Hopefully he'll clear me to start working out again. I feel like I'm getting weaker by the day."

"I hope he clears you soon, too. I need you there to spot me. I can't push myself as hard if I don't have a good spotter there. Seriously though, you're probably going to have to take it real slow when you go back. I'll make sure you don't kill yourself trying to get back in shape."

"Thanks, buddy. I knew I could count on you." I really did think I could count on him. Larry was one of my oldest and best friends. He was always very loyal and trustworthy.

"I'm looking forward to that party Saturday night."

"Me too. It should be really interesting if lunch yesterday was any indication. Are you going to the game on Friday night?" I asked.

"Of course, I always go. How about you?"

"I'm hoping to go. I still have to run it by my parents and make sure they don't get all overprotective on me."

"I think they will let you go. It's not like you did anything wrong at the last game or even that there is usually trouble at the football games. That was the first time that I can remember anything out of the ordinary even happening at one of the games."

"Hey, let me run something by you while we are on the subject of the game," I said.

"Go ahead."

"Leslie called me last night and asked me if I would go to the game with her on Friday night. She said that she really wants to go, but she wouldn't feel safe unless I was with her."

"So you want to know if I think you should try to bang her," He joked.

"Shut-up, dick weed," I replied. "It's not like that. She just wants me there so she doesn't have to feel scared of other guys trying anything. Anyway, what I wanted to ask you was what you thought of the whole thing. You realize that if I go with her, she and her friends are going to end up hanging out with our whole group?"

"Oh. I hadn't thought of that. She's going to bring a bunch of sophomores, huh?"

"Yeah, I didn't want to just assume that it would be all right with you guys to include a bunch of sophomore girls for the night."

"I don't have a problem with it. Are they cute?" he asked.

"Actually for the most part they are pretty cute. I've met a few of them and they're pretty friendly, too."

"That's cool," he said. "Maybe some of these clowns that we hang out with will actually meet a girl and have the balls to ask her out."

"I was thinking the same thing. I just wanted to see what you thought because they are a couple of years younger than most of the guys. That may actually be an advantage. You would think that younger girls would be interested in the attention of a senior guy," I told him.

"Yeah, you might be right. We could use a change of scenery at the game anyway. It's always the same thing week after week. We all go there and joke around. Then we try to find out where everyone else is going after the game. Then we go hang out wherever there is going to be a crowd, but we always end up staying together as a group and getting nowhere with the chicks."

"I never meet any girls at the game or after it," I said. "I do much better in a one-on-one situation. I have to meet them in class or some other place where it isn't just a big crowd at a party or a restaurant. Not that I meet that many of them anyway, but I'm not as shy about talking to them once the ice is already broken. You know?"

"Yep, I hear you. I feel the same way. I am a little better than you at approaching the girls though. I still think it will be pretty cool to have a bunch of girls that we know are going to hang out with us all night, even if they are a bit younger."

"Good. I'm glad you think it's a good idea. I didn't want to assume it was okay with you guys," I said.

"It'll be cool. I'll tell the boys about it for you. I'll also tell them not to make complete asses out of themselves. I wouldn't want the guys to embarrass you in front of Leslie. I know you're trying to make an impression," he laughed.

"You're just not going to let this go, are you?"

"Nope," he laughed. "It's just too easy to pass up!"

"Thanks a lot," I joked. "That's very mature of you."

"Mature, my ass! We're in high school. We are supposed to be immature. We're expected to be immature. I think my mom would send me to the doctor's office if I was suddenly mature. She would definitely think there was something wrong with me," he said.

"Oh, there is something wrong with you," I told him jokingly. "But it's nothing the doctor can help you with."

"Shut-up or I'll kick your ass the next time I see you," he laughed.

"All right, you win," I told him. "I'll let you off the hook."

"Yeah, that's what I thought you would say."

"Ha!" I laughed. "I have to go. My mom just got home and I want to see what's for dinner."

"All right, Hefe. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Later, Lars," I said and we hung up.

I did want to see what was for dinner. I was really hungry and I needed to get off the phone anyway. My parents were always complaining that my sister and I were tying up the phone line for hour and hours. What did they expect? That's what teenagers do.

"Hey, Mom," I said as I walked into the kitchen.

"Hi, honey. How was your day?"

"Fine. I'm still getting caught up with all of my classes," I replied.

"Did you do that research for your paper today?"

"I started it. I need to go back to the library again, though."