Chapter 2

"No, scissors go in the bottom-left drawer," Rhonda said from over Chet's shoulder, while pushing her black framed glasses back up her nose. He was putting away their trainer's gear in what looked like an over-sized fishing tackle box.

It was a month after his breakup with Lori. Irregular gusts of wind were carrying bursts of sun brightened reddish-yellow leaves down the length of the field as the football players trooped off to the showers.

Chet laughed. "You sound like Ms. Schlecht."

"Oh, the Freudian damage bubbles to the surface," intoned Jimmy. "Kindergarten teachers shouldn't still be in our heads, should they? It's not healthy."

"Have I been the third wheel for you two that long? Hard to believe," said Chet.

"Just get it right," said Rhonda. "It's shouldn't be too hard, even for a hot jock."

"Hey, down girl," Jimmy admonished his girlfriend. She winked at him for reassurance.

It was banter that had repeated itself ever since Rhonda had first held Jimmy's hand instead of Chet's when the three of them were crossing a busy street together to get to grade school. When she wanted to tease Jimmy, she'd say he won her heart instead of Chet because she was right handed and he had a strong left hand grip.

Chet shrugged dismissively. "Math nerds," he replied.

"That's 'Mister Math Nerd, ' to you," Jimmy admonished. "Remember, we had to boot you out of the club when you started fondling baseballs all the time, mister big man on campus."

Chet wasn't an exceptional athlete overall, but he'd been blessed with a superior arm ever since Little League. He didn't play much when he wasn't pitching, but was a terror on the mound when he did. He'd only gone out for football that year because of peer pressure from the cheerleader / jock crowd he'd found himself in while dating Lori.

"The physics of pitching is serious science," Chet protested mildly.

"Sure thing, Mr. Abercrombie and Fitch," Rhonda chipped in. Chet shrugged - Lori had tactfully helped him through a much needed wardrobe make-over. Rhonda and Jimmy could still be somewhat haphazard and shapeless with their clothing choices, their brains usually preoccupied with other things.

Chet had expected his old friends to give him a hard time while mentoring him as a trainer. He tried not to show he enjoyed it, grateful as he was for their friendship and fitting him in - their total focus was on academics while at school and each other when away from it.

Being trainers was part of their plan for going pre-med together in college. Learning from them had been a welcome distraction for Chet after his break-up with Lori. Especially since a week after their breakup, she'd gone back to dating Tommy, the football team's quarterback.

A nearby door from the gym banged open. To their surprise the cheerleading squad came out. Apparently taking advantage of the sunny fall day, they set up on the adjacent running track to practice their routines.

Chet and Jimmy gaped at the girl's long legged forms as they immediately began to work out, which did not go unnoticed by the head cheerleader.

"You keep your eyes off my girls, Chet Thompson," Lori called over to him.

Chet winced. 'Does that qualify as speaking to me again?' he wondered.

"Put some longer skirts on then!" Rhonda called back.

Some of the cheerleaders looked shocked - someone of lower social status was challenging their leader? Lori merely turned to call out the next routine for the squad to practice.

Chet grinned wryly at Rhonda. "I can defend myself, you know. Wait; do you know Lori?"

She looked momentarily abashed before she smiled back. "We've been to summer camp together." Then she made his jaw drop. "Why do you think she ever noticed you in the first place?"

"You mean you..."

"I might have put in a good word."

Rhonda laughed at his dumbstruck expression, as he digested how she had apparently taken a bulldozer to his world with just a few words to Lori.