Chapter 10: You Gotta Trust Someone

Friday was an interesting day around campus. The football team, which had been practicing for most of the summer, was being presented to the rest of the school. They were easy to spot around campus all day. The school had a standard dress policy for all sports teams. Guys were required to wear a collared shirt and tie on game day, or in the event of a weekend event, they had to wear them on Friday. This was intended to honor the other team. Of course it also gave everyone a chance to ID the jocks. You could pick the teams out just walking around.

We didn't have a separate freshmen team like some schools. You either made the JV or you didn't. The JV squad looked kind of nervous, especially the freshmen, walking around in shirts and ties. The frosh almost all looked like they had just bought the stuff the night before. Some of them hadn't even bothered to iron the shirts. Even some of the first year sophomores looked nervous. The varsity at least had some experience at it and took a little more pride in appearance. The seniors, particularly the black seniors, made an event, heck, practically a competition out of it. They just plain went for it.

The pep rallies used to wipe out the last two periods of the day. They quickly learned that two periods with no attendance right after lunch was a free pass to cut out early. Then they tried just taking attendance during sixth period and then releasing the students to the rally. That cut it down a little but not much. So they started varying the schedule. And they never used the last two periods unless the game was a long way off. For those games you really could just cut for the rest of the day, if, and it was a big if, you were an ASB (Associated Student Body) member and went to the game. It was kind of ridiculous, an office person was there at the gate and you showed the card and told them your name. Apparently it was pretty rare that they even looked at the name. There were actually some enterprising students that took advantage of the system by renting out their ASB cards. For five bucks you could cut class, then go the game and no one would know. I guess it worked out but it seemed kind of silly to me at the time.

This particular day, being just an introduction of the team and general rah-rah session, they only scheduled it for seventh period. A quick round of attendance and then you were free to go to the rally. Or, if you wanted to risk it, run for the hills.

Homework was generally light, as it usually is the first weekend of the new school year. I breezed through most of the morning. After my conversation with Allison we had pretty much decided to take Mr. Shelby up on his offer, provided we could find a suitable witness. As lunch approached, I still had no idea what I was going to do and I was getting pretty nervous. Maybe this wasn't going to work out after all.

I was on my way to talk to Bob when the situation resolved itself. Bob, Susan and Miss Jenkins were sitting at a table out in the sun by themselves. I had considered Susan but discarded the idea because it seemed that there might me more to her and Bob than met the eye... But Coach Jenkins? If there was anyone that appreciated the concepts of privacy and confidentiality, it was a lesbian school teacher. Okay, admittedly that was a bad way to think of it, but it certainly fit the situation.

In retrospect I can't believe how comfortable I had become in such a short time, but I just walked right up to the table and said, "Hi, everyone. Am I interrupting anything?" There were no objections, and after a round of pleasantries I was invited to have a seat.

"Actually, James, I was just telling Bob and Susan about your friend Mr. Davis, and how impressed I was with his apology yesterday."

"Really? I thought he was going to melt into the nearest crack at any second." Everyone smiled at that.

"Come on now, Jimmy," Susan said. "That was hard for him. It's embarrassing to have to do something like that. That's what makes it so impressive. I think we've probably all been there before, I know I have."

"Yeah, I know. But that doesn't mean I'm going to pass up the chance to bag on him just a little if I get the chance. After all, what are best friends for?" That got a chuckle from everyone. "Actually, Mr. Shelby, I came by to talk to you about that matter we discussed yesterday."

"Oh, then we'd better be going." Susan said. She started to get up but I reached out to stop her. There it was again, I swear there was a spark when I touched her arm. Not one of those painful static discharges, just a weird rush of sensation. Like electricity moving up my arm, but in slow motion. I could tell by the way she looked at my hand on her arm that she had felt it too. I noticed that the tiny hairs on her arm were standing straight up. Something to think about later, right now I had more important things on my mind.

"No, actually I would like both of you to stay if you don't mind." They nodded and sat expectantly. I took a deep breath and pulled the dollar bill I had prepared out of my pocket, unfolded it and handed it to Bob.

"Are you sure about this, Jimmy?" I nodded my consent; he looked at me as if he hadn't seen the gesture. I got the hint.

"Yes, I'm sure," I replied in a serious tone.

"Very well then. Ladies, you are witness to this. Yesterday, Mr. Matthews and I discussed some things that he had on his mind. Some of them he was apprehensive about bringing up for personal reasons. I assured him that in my role as counselor he had certain reasonable expectations of privacy in matters that we might discuss. When that was not enough I decided to take the matter further and informed him that I am in fact a licensed and bonded practitioner in this state. That if he wished, for the nominal fee of one dollar, I would agree to take him on as a patient, which will give him legal protections of a much greater magnitude. In the presence of you, Susan Swann, and you, Melinda Jenkins, I have just accepted that payment and all that goes with it. Jimmy, if I were ever to open my mouth without your consent you would own my ass. I hope you're happy, not too many kids your age can say that about one of their teachers."

"Well, Jimmy, thank you very much for your trust in considering me a suitable witness," Susan said covering my hand with hers. Mr. Shelby's eyes followed the motion. Again the rush of sensation; I felt a now familiar tingling begin low in my abdomen.

"Actually you were the first one that came to mind, and I wasn't going to ask you. I had decided to ask Coach Jenkins. Due to her background, I was sure that she would understand the importance of trust and discretion. Not that I think you don't, but I felt that it might be a conflict of interest for you. I'm sorry if I have the wrong impression, but I got the sense that there may be more to your and Mr. Shelby's relationship."

I couldn't believe how red she got. Then she chuckled and Mr. Shelby roared with laughter, "Oh, he's quick. You were right, Mel, when you said to keep an eye on him that first day."

Susan went on to add, "Actually, Jimmy, I am another one of Bob's patients." Mr. Shelby stopped laughing and looked at her and the surprise was evident. Miss Jenkins just glanced at Susan and nodded.

"Really?" This was definitely not expected.

"Yes really," she said. Wow. I couldn't help but wonder what someone as smart and beautiful as her could need with a shiink? Of course, she was probably thinking the same thing about me.

Mr. Shelby broke the silence, "So, Jimmy, what do you think of our little experiment with introductions so far?"

"I think it's going very well. I can't wait to see the results of the homework and stuff. I ran into Steve McGuiness last night and it has really had in affect on him."

Mr. Shelby looked surprised, "Well that's certainly something. How exactly? If you don't mind my asking."

"Well, he was really impressed with the way you took control of the situation on the first day and used it to kick off the whole topic. And he said he actually got a job offer when he was doing the homework the first night. He thought that was pretty cool, and I agree."

"Well, what do you know? It's usually the wise guys that drop the class."

"Oh, I don't think you're going to get rid of him that easily. I got the impression that he was really looking forward to seeing what came next." Just then the bell rang and it was time to go to class. As my class was with Bob we could walk together. I shook hands again with Susan and Coach Jenkins and thanked them again for helping out. I don't know what it is about Miss Swann but I kept getting a rush every time I touched her. It was like my whole body tingled. Then we all headed off to our respective classes.

"I see Susan has the same effect on you," Bob offered.

"What do you mean?" I asked, trying hard to control my blush.

"Well, you didn't blush this time but it's pretty obvious that you react to her presence. I don't know about you, but for me, touching her is like grabbing a live wire."

"I thought it was just me."

"Nope. And I was surprised that she told you about our relationship." He trailed off.

I wasn't sure what to say so I just walked on in silence. We got to class and I discovered that two of the "cheaters" had dropped the class; both were male, just as he had predicted. This meant that I now had a seat. I sat in the second row. I was surprised to see that McGuiness had moved up from the back row.

Then Mr. Shelby sprang his pop quiz on everyone. We were each given a set of photographs and a list of names, then asked to match them up. I felt like I did pretty well, I got about eighty percent. Strangely, the people that did the worst were also the people that most everyone missed.

"Anybody see a correlation here? Let me show you something else. You all recognized the people that scored well on introductions and handshakes. You failed to recognize those who scored poorly. At the same time, those people who scored poorly also had problems identifying the rest of you. This suggests that there is a definite correlation between the two. What are some possible causes for this? Anyone? Mr. McGuiness?"

"I think that if you make a positive impression, people will tend to remember you better. But at the same time, I think it's the desire to make that kind of impression, that desire to do well and be recognized that causes us to look for the same thing in others. So we pay more attention. It's like we give them the attention we want. It's wild but it seems to work."

Mr. Shelby just sat leaning on his desk staring at him for a second, "Mr. McGuiness, would you like your diploma now or do you want to hang around just to see how much more trouble we can get into this year? Not the most eloquent explanation I've ever heard but the basic foundation is right. Well done."

"I think I'll hang if you don't mind, I'm into trouble, especially this kind. Heck, I've gone to school with half the people in this room for years and never knew their names. Now I'm ready to ask some of them out! What do you say, Marsha? Doing anything tomorrow night?"

"Okay, stop right there!" Mr. Shelby said as he sprang up. "Hold that thought, time to put Miss Ostren on the spot." Marsha looked like she wanted to die. "Miss Ostren, from a purely clinical standpoint, what do you think of Mr. McGuiness' request? Did it enhance or destroy your already established impression of him?"

"Well," Marsha blushed, "destroyed may be a little harsh."

"On a scale of one to ten, going from bad to good, and with him starting at five before he opened his mouth, where would you put him now?"

"I don't know," she said, sounding a little embarrassed, "three?" She turned to Steve and silently mouthed, "Sorry. "

"Speak up, Miss Ostren. What did I tell you the first day? We communicate in this class? Here is an important bit of wisdom for all of you: There is nothing wrong with being brutally honest as long as the honesty is more important to you than the brutality. If no one ever tells Mr. McGuiness why they won't go out with him then he may never think to improve his approach, thus leaving him lonely, depressed, and with no potential for offspring. While that may be good news for the rest of humanity, it would most likely really suck for poor Steve. Am I right, Mr. McGuiness?"

"You got that right, dude. Sir."

"So, Miss Ostren, would you place the problem more on what he actually said? The place and time he chose to say it? Or perhaps that he had the audacity to ask in the first place?"

"Well, he could have said it better, but it was more the place and time that ruined it. I try to never fault a guy for asking."

"And for that we are in your debt. The rest of you gentlemen take note; you are now indebted to Mr. McGuiness for taking the bullet and showing you that asking a woman out in front of thirty people, especially thirty people she hardly knows and has to look at every day, five days a week for the next nine and a half months is a really bad plan. Now, as to the rest of this week's lesson, any good stories about your adventures in meeting people?"