Chapter 14

Practice the next morning was a little tougher, probably due to a lack of sleep, but also because some of the tackles were just that much harder. The coaches were impressed with Kyle's speed and his ability to cut direction but during one break, they emphasized that his speed was not the solution to winning games. They explained that it was just not possible to run the deep pass play more than once or twice a half, at best. The opponents aren't stupid. If we burn them a couple times with it, they'll just put somebody back there every time Kyle is in the game.

"What will win games is desire and performance. Performing each play to your absolute best and having the desire to win will be the secrets to our success. You must believe that you can be great, and if you do, you will be." Coach Saunders was a great man but was never too good at inspirational speeches.

Jason had been the first string quarterback since his first year in high school. Kyle was practicing at wide receiver and had been limited to two long pass attempts, both of which he caught, and a dozen or so plays where he was not the primary intended receiver. It was sufficient for him to fake going long that would tie up two guys on the defense. During a short water break, Kyle suggested a new play, one in which he would stay on the line momentarily, then break straight ahead for about ten steps. That would send the nearby defender on a full sprint and tie up the safety forty yards downfield. As soon as Kyle would run ten steps, he would turn sharply to the inside and break to the middle where, quite possibly, no defender would be. Jason called a normal pass play in the huddle and then acknowledged to Kyle that he should try his play. At the snap of the ball, Kyle stayed in position and blocked an oncoming lineman. He counted four and then sprinted, not quite as fast as he could but plenty fast, toward the end zone. Both the cornerback and the middle linebacker broke for the end zone as well, and the free safety felt confident that it would be interception time. Ten steps later, Kyle broke left and as he turned to look, saw the ball in the air straight over the center, with no defender around. He caught the ball with both hands, tucked it in and made for the goal line.

Of course it was just practice, but everyone, players and coaches, so what the result was. "Jason, where did that play come from?" the offensive coordinator yelled. "I didn't call that one."

"No, Kyle thought it up and we thought we would try it once. Sure looked nice, didn't it?"

"Yeah, well, run the plays that I call, okay?"

Jason wanted to argue that he should be able to call his own plays, but none of the coaches would hear about it. But he knew that it would work, and he knew that he would call it in a close game if he needed to.

After practice, Kyle was invited to a party on Saturday evening for just the seniors on the team. He received very detailed instructions on how to get there, and was told it would be casual and fun, with plenty of food, and maybe some girls too. Just don't breathe a word of it to anyone else, he was told. School would be starting on the next Monday, so this Saturday would be their last vacation night for partying. When he arrived home, he told Miss Lottie that he would not be home for supper, and she nodded her head acknowledging the courtesy. She still would not allow him into "her room" because of the incident with the "poll-ece" that first morning, but Kyle understood, and he was okay with that. Jill and Emma were out somewhere, shopping for school clothes, he supposed. He was astonished at how many clothes Emma had, and now she was buying still more. But, it wasn't his money, and it wasn't his concern. He opted for a short nap while there was peace and quiet in the household.

He was just about finished getting dressed when he heard the ladies arrive. As usual, Emma came up the stairs in warp speed as he stepped from the bathroom, just putting the finishing touches on his hair.

"Wow, you're all dressed up for a Saturday night. What's up?"

"I've been invited to a party."

"Well, give me a couple minutes and I'll get changed and we can go." She pushed by him with her arms full of packages. "It will only take me a few minutes."

"No, Emma. It's not like that. They only invited me. They didn't say anything about bringing anyone else."

"Well, what kind of party is this? Who's having it? Where is it gonna be?"

"I don't know ... casual. I don't know, and I don't know."

"Then how are you going to get there?"

"I'm going to drive to Jason's house and he is going to show me from there."

"What kind of party can't you bring a date to? That sounds weird."