Chapter 28: The Flying Mendozas

Even while it seemed like my personal life was going into the crapper, my soccer-playing alter ego was flourishing. In the two weeks since my selection as an All-State athlete, even snooty upperclassmen were saying hello to me at school. It was an odd juxtaposition. On the one hand, Molly and Tessa were barely speaking to me. On the other hand, I was becoming something of a BMOC, a Big Man On Campus. The other jocks in school, football players and basketball players and track and field guys, finally were accepting the fact that soccer could actually be a real sport. The members of the varsity and junior varsity soccer teams were finally being accepted into the Fraternity of Sweat.

The next weekend, my family and I were invited down to the State Capitol for a reception for all the All-State honorees. Soccer still wasn't a first-tier sport, so the Governor wasn't going to come, opting instead to send the Lieutenant Governor in his place. We checked into the sponsoring hotel on Friday evening. There was an informal party for the All-Staters in one of the conference rooms that night after dinner. It was a chance for the players from around the state to get together socially, so we could try to get to know each other. Parents and families would be there, but were only invited to the formal dinner and ceremonies on Saturday night. Friday night's party was reserved for the athletes.

I walked into the room a little nervously. I only knew a couple of the guys by sight, having played against them during the tournaments. I hadn't ever met any of them before, since there wasn't anybody else from my school, or for that matter from my home conference, that was selected. I saw Jesse Wilhoit, the All-American forward from Planey, standing with a couple of other guys near the soda bar. He glanced over at me, leaned in to his group to say something, then started walking toward me.

"Sean Porter?" he asked as he came up to me.

"Yeah," I answered. "You're Jesse Wilhoit, right?"

"Right," he said. "We played against each other a couple of weeks ago. You torched me pretty good that game, Porter."

Suddenly embarrassed, I quickly replied, "No, I didn't. I think you scored three quick ones on us early in the game, didn't you?"

He grinned. "Yep, I did, but then your guys on defense shut me down. That was a cute trick, using a double sweeper. Didn't hurt your offense any to do that, either, did it?"

I smiled. "No, I guess it didn't."

"And, if I remember right, you got the assist on the winning goal that game, didn't you?" he asked.

"Well," I said hesitantly, "yeah, I guess I did."

"See? You did torch me." He laughed. "Set on fire by a sophomore! Boy, that felt good, let me tell you." He started steering me toward the group he had left to come talk to me.

"It felt good?" I asked. It was a puzzling thing to say.

"You betcha. I was way too big for my britches all season long. I was headed for a fall. I'm just glad it happened now, when I was still playing high school soccer. I've got a full ride to the University of Florida next year, and I would have really been in deep shit if I had walked in there thinking I was King Soccer, and then have somebody there kick my ass like you did. So, you see, you did me a big favor in that game," he finished as we stepped up to the others.

"Okay, if you say so," I said doubtfully.

Jesse introduced me to Wayne Phillips, a senior keeper, and to Harlan Corwin, a junior forward, both from Rock Falls, the state champions.

"Jesse's been telling us about your game against Planey," said Wayne. "I'm glad you got that out of your system before you played us."

"Well, we were on a high for Friday's match, but by the time we got to you guys reality had set in," I replied. "Besides, your team was really good. You deserved to win State."

We fell quite naturally into an easy friendship that evening, and I relaxed and enjoyed meeting all the guys. There was just one other sophomore on the All-State team, a midfielder from South High School in the city named Spencer Goldman. I saw him standing near the door, looking uncomfortable, so I excused myself from the group and went over and introduced myself. I insisted he come over with me, which he reluctantly did. Jesse, Wayne, and Harlan treated him with the same respect they had showed me. It made me realize that these guys were all here for the same reasons, because they loved the game they played, and they were recognized as being good at the game, just like everybody else in the room. It created a real sense of camaraderie among all of us.

The next night at the banquet, Jesse made sure we sat with his family at a large round table. My mom and dad and my brothers, Michael and Stephen, were falling all over themselves over the fact that they were sitting at the table of the state's only soccer All- American. Jesse and I just laughed at the absurdity of it all. Jesse introduced his parents and his younger sister Anna, a pretty, dark- haired freshman with shiny braces on her teeth. She had to be embarrassed by those braces, because she rarely smiled. When she did smile though, her whole face lit up, and she turned from merely pretty into something extraordinarily precious, and I couldn't help staring at her in awe.

Later on, after dinner and dessert, and after the Lieutenant Governor had given his speech and handed out plaques to all the players, a band over in the back corner of the room began to play. Jesse, having noticed the effect Anna was having on me, amused himself by insisting I dance with her. After cajoling me mercilessly, joined in by Michael and Stephen, I finally got up and asked her if she would like to dance. Her face turned beet red, but I was rewarded with one of her radiant smiles as she nodded and stood. She was nearly as tall as I was, and very self-conscious as we walked to the dance floor and found a space. It was a fast song, so we shook and jumped all over the place together, hidden in the middle of the crowd. Her hair bobbed up and down as she danced, and even though I tried not to stare, I couldn't help but notice that her small boobs jiggled just a little bit as she moved. Unfortunately, all that did was remind me of how much I had missed warm female companionship, now that Molly was getting her itch scratched somewhere else. I certainly wasn't going to try anything with Anna, especially with her big brother around, but it was apparent that I was a horny young man who was temporarily smitten.

I tried to concentrate on watching Anna's face, but I still found my eyes sliding down occasionally. I would notice where I was looking, and jerk my eyes back up to her face. A couple of times she noticed, but was too nice to slap my face or anything. She would just turn a faint pink again, smile at me, and continue dancing.

To my surprise, I found myself having fun with Anna. We ended up staying out on the dance floor, shaking and shucking to the fast songs, box-stepping to the slow songs, and even standing there, side by side, watching the band play on those occasions when the beat was one of those in-between rhythms that I have always found it hard to dance to. She was comfortable staying by my side, and I fell into an easy association with her. By the last set, we were holding hands in between dances, neither of us willing to go back to our table and possibly break the spell.

Finally, though, the band played their last song. Anna and I were just about the last couple left on the dance floor, and we stayed there, dancing close, until the echoes of the last notes bounced off the walls and faded into quiet. Only then did we reluctantly turn to walk back to our table. Jesse and Michael were still sitting there, paying absolutely no attention to us. Apparently, they were becoming good friends, from the look of things. Wayne and Harlan and a couple of other All-Staters were also there, sitting in on their conversation. When Anna and I walked up, she dropped my hand before her brother could see her and say anything. We sat with the others, until a few minutes later it was clear that the party was breaking up. As we all walked toward the banquet hall doors, Anna and I delayed as much as we could, lagging behind the others on the way down the hall toward the elevators. Jesse managed to herd everybody into one elevator, and, with a little smile on his face and a twinkle in his eye, pressed the button to close the door just as Anna and I got to them. He winked at us just before the doors closed, leaving us to get our own elevator. Anna's cheeks turned red, and she shyly reached for my hand once the coast was clear. We stood there, hand in hand, as we waited for the next elevator.

An older couple got on the elevator with us, so we stepped to the back corner, silently holding hands, until we got to the fourth floor, where the Wilhoits were staying. I walked her to her door, which was left open a crack. We stood facing each other silently, each of us nervous about what might be expected of us by the other, until I finally slipped my arms around her and pulled her to me. She put her arms around my neck as I kissed her softly on her lips. I could feel the heat radiating from her cheeks as she flushed, so I let her go and dropped my arms, stepping back.

"Goodnight, Anna," I said quietly. "I'm glad you were here tonight." I turned to go back to the elevator.

"Sean?"

I turned back to her.

"Thank you for tonight. I'll remember it always," she said. She had one hand on the doorknob, the other at her throat. I tried to memorize how she looked in just that moment, so I could recall the vision she presented as she stood there, shy and smiling her dazzling, beautiful smile, shot through with white and silver.

Back at school on the next Monday, I very quickly fell back into the routine, and only occasionally thought about calling or writing to Anna, until finally, I hardly thought about her at all.

Around Valentine's Day, our school held its annual Turnabout dance. Back when my parents were going to school, a turnabout dance was themed around Sadie Hawkins Day, a fictional holiday created by cartoonist Al Capp. They dressed up like hillbillies straight out of Li'L Abner and Dogpatch, his comic strip creation. By now, though, our school had dropped the Sadie Hawkins name, the bib overalls and blacked out teeth and hay stuck in your hair had been abandoned in favor of casual, comfortable clothes, and the event was moved from mid-November to February. It was still a turnabout event though, with the girls asking the guys out, asking the guys to dance, all that stuff.

The bunch of us decided to go to the dance as a big group, instead of putting ourselves through the pressure cooker of finding dates. Josh had been going out with Andrea Coulter since just before Christmas, and they were going to be joining Toby, Jake, Jorge, Kristina, Ashley Horvath, Becky Steinman, and me at the dance, and at a local restaurant afterwards for desserts and sodas.

The dance was held in the school gym, and it was decorated Dogpatch style, with hand painted banners and signs, bales of straw, and crockery jugs marked "XXX" with magic marker, I suppose as a sop to the old traditions.

I met up with the group at the dance and we wandered slowly around the gym, stopping to catch up with our friends, checking out who was with whom. I stopped and traded backslaps and lies with some of the kids I knew. I happened to glance over toward the double doors of the gym and saw Kevin Soranno and John Pennington come in the door with their dates, and there was a big crowd gathering around them. Jorge, Kristina, Ashley, and I headed their way, intending to say hello, when the people standing around them parted momentarily. I got a glimpse of a wheelchair being pushed through the door by a man who looked like he was somebody's father. As we got up to the edge, John and Kevin spotted us and waved the group back to let us through, just as Mr. Jameson was able to wheel Theo into the room and to the side. Theo saw me and smiled, all the while nodding and waving at all the well-wishers gathering around.

"Porter!" he called in a surprisingly strong voice. "Damn, boy, it's good to see you. I've been reading about you, and these guys here," he said, jerking his thumb at Kevin and John, "can't seem to shut up about you. Congratulations!"

"Thanks, Theo. We all have been thinking about you, too, obviously. How are you feeling?"

"Pretty damn great right about now, but I think that's because I'm living better through chemistry. I've got a whole damn drugstore running through my veins right now."

"Wow, it's really good to see you. This is such a surprise."

"I don't think I'm going to get out on the dance floor tonight, but I'm getting closer," he said with a smile. He looked over my shoulder and saw Ashley Horvath standing behind me, peeking around to see Theo sitting there. His face kind of crumpled.

"Oh, Ash, I'm sorry, I didn't see you there. How are you doing?" Seeing Skip's sister wasn't something he was expecting, and it was affecting him.

Ashley could see it, too, and rushed over and knelt to give Theo a fierce hug. "I'm doing okay, Theo," she quietly whispered to him. "I'm glad to see you're doing better, too."

"Yeah," he whispered back to her, "I'm doing better. It's been really tough. But it's been tough on everybody, especially you. You sure you're doing okay? Say, you didn't bring this sorry excuse for a soccer player, did you?"

She looked up at me, and her face tinged pink. "No," she said, smiling. "I just came with along with Sean's friends, that's all."

"Well, if he tries anything, you come look for me. I'll give him what-for," he said as he let her go. His eyes were shining with unshed tears, for Ashley, for Skip, for himself.

"Thanks, Theo. I will." She turned then and walked away quickly. I thought she needed a moment to compose herself, so I shook Theo's hand, assured him I would come talk to him later, and handed him back to John and Kevin before going off to catch up with Ashley.

She was still slowly walking away, staying close to the wall, when I jogged up and put my hand on her shoulder.

"Ash?" I asked gently. "Are you okay?"

She turned and melted into my arms and sobbed. "I miss him so much, Sean," she cried. Her face was buried in my shoulder, and I could feel the sobs wracking her.

"So do I, babe," I whispered. "So do I."

She got herself under control and stood up on her tiptoes to kiss my cheek. "Thanks, Sean," she said. "Thanks for being a friend."

"Aw, cut it out," I said. I wiped the last of her tears off her cheek with my fingertips. "Go fix your makeup, kiddo. I'll be right over there," I continued, pointing to where Jorge and Kristina were standing, waiting for us.