scoreboard I’d still made the field goal. I wondered if the guy who hit me was going to get a skull.
Doc Larson took me to the hospital, where an X ray revealed I had bruised my ribs but not cracked any of them. He said I was still good to go. Lucky. He wound some gauzy junk around my torso and told me not to let my girlfriend hug me too hard. I was psyched I’d still be able to go to the dance.
I had the doc drop me off at the high school so Icould take half a shower. The guys all cheered when I showed up in the locker room. They were all lying around in a sea of pads and stinks and smiles, so I knew we’d won.
“Glad you’re okay, Jann,” said Coach. “As I was saying, while we’re that much closer to State, it gets harder from here, not easier. Everyone’s going to challenge us for the title, so we’ve got to do what we’ve been doing, and double it.”
“We’re going to have a conditioning workout tomorrow at eight,” said Kearny. “So go home early and get some sleep.”
“Uh-huh,” said Leland. He gave us a look, like yeah, right.
“The coaches totally kicked Beargrease’s butt,” Mikko informed me later. “The Pirate guy got a roughing penalty, but the coaches aren’t letting Jimmi play blocker anymore because he can’t contain.”
“Whatever,” I said. At this point I was believing more that Jimmi didn’t cut the mustard than that he was letting people in to gish me.
“Gotta pull your weight around here,” ALL-PRO declared as he opened a new three-pack of Fruit of the Looms.
“New undies, huh?” sniped Leland. “Some cocky weegie thinks he’s gonna see some action tonight.”
“That’s for me to know and you to find out,” said Mikko with a sly grin. “Maybe I just ran out of clean ones.”
“Who’re you going with?”
“Cindy Gray.”
“Oh, that girl, she’ll do it with anyone,” said Rom from the other side of the room. “I mean, even more than the rest of the cheerleaders. Believe me, I know.”
“Kreeger, you are so full of it,” Mikko said. “No girl would want to touch your hairy butt.”
Mikko patted some Brut onto his face. I wished I had enough whiskers to shave.
“You and your ribs ready to go, buddy?” He put his hand up for a high-five.
Slap!
I was ready.
The school dance reminded me of one of those After School Specials on television. There were streamers all around the gym, punch in a bowl, and chaperones. Corny to the max. Maybe dances at my old school were like this, but no one I knew had ever gone to one.
Corny or not, it was worth it to see Rainey in a slinky black dress with blue trim that exactly matched her eyes. Man, it was worth it.
Mikko dragged me into the bathroom first. He’d brought some booze in trial-size shampoo bottles. Westood in the large handicapped stall and downed them. The bottles still tasted of soap.
“I think it was a mistake to bring Cindy,” he said miserably. “Now she thinks I like her, when all I wanted to do was come to the dance.”
“You don’t like her?” I said. Now I could distinguish between all the blond cheerleaders: she was the one with the interesting ice-cream-cone eating technique.
“She’s just too, too—um, enthusiastic.”
“So what are you going to do? Stay in the bathroom all night?”
Mikko wrapped an arm around my neck. It felt as heavy as an anaconda. “You’re a cool cruiser, Chan. My whole life has changed because of you.”
He was getting drunk. I took the bottle away, pretending to drink it myself. If I sneezed, I expected bubbles of Pert to come blipping out.
“Come on. Let’s go dance this stuff off.”
Rainey was an awesome dancer. I was merely okay. For all my soccer and tae kwon do prowess, I couldn’t quite get my feet to do what I wanted them to do when out on the dance floor. I liked it when they played slow songs, because I got to hold her, and I didn’t have to move around as much.
“Look who’s with the sausage queen!” said Rom, just loud
Doc Larson took me to the hospital, where an X ray revealed I had bruised my ribs but not cracked any of them. He said I was still good to go. Lucky. He wound some gauzy junk around my torso and told me not to let my girlfriend hug me too hard. I was psyched I’d still be able to go to the dance.
I had the doc drop me off at the high school so Icould take half a shower. The guys all cheered when I showed up in the locker room. They were all lying around in a sea of pads and stinks and smiles, so I knew we’d won.
“Glad you’re okay, Jann,” said Coach. “As I was saying, while we’re that much closer to State, it gets harder from here, not easier. Everyone’s going to challenge us for the title, so we’ve got to do what we’ve been doing, and double it.”
“We’re going to have a conditioning workout tomorrow at eight,” said Kearny. “So go home early and get some sleep.”
“Uh-huh,” said Leland. He gave us a look, like yeah, right.
“The coaches totally kicked Beargrease’s butt,” Mikko informed me later. “The Pirate guy got a roughing penalty, but the coaches aren’t letting Jimmi play blocker anymore because he can’t contain.”
“Whatever,” I said. At this point I was believing more that Jimmi didn’t cut the mustard than that he was letting people in to gish me.
“Gotta pull your weight around here,” ALL-PRO declared as he opened a new three-pack of Fruit of the Looms.
“New undies, huh?” sniped Leland. “Some cocky weegie thinks he’s gonna see some action tonight.”
“That’s for me to know and you to find out,” said Mikko with a sly grin. “Maybe I just ran out of clean ones.”
“Who’re you going with?”
“Cindy Gray.”
“Oh, that girl, she’ll do it with anyone,” said Rom from the other side of the room. “I mean, even more than the rest of the cheerleaders. Believe me, I know.”
“Kreeger, you are so full of it,” Mikko said. “No girl would want to touch your hairy butt.”
Mikko patted some Brut onto his face. I wished I had enough whiskers to shave.
“You and your ribs ready to go, buddy?” He put his hand up for a high-five.
Slap!
I was ready.
The school dance reminded me of one of those After School Specials on television. There were streamers all around the gym, punch in a bowl, and chaperones. Corny to the max. Maybe dances at my old school were like this, but no one I knew had ever gone to one.
Corny or not, it was worth it to see Rainey in a slinky black dress with blue trim that exactly matched her eyes. Man, it was worth it.
Mikko dragged me into the bathroom first. He’d brought some booze in trial-size shampoo bottles. Westood in the large handicapped stall and downed them. The bottles still tasted of soap.
“I think it was a mistake to bring Cindy,” he said miserably. “Now she thinks I like her, when all I wanted to do was come to the dance.”
“You don’t like her?” I said. Now I could distinguish between all the blond cheerleaders: she was the one with the interesting ice-cream-cone eating technique.
“She’s just too, too—um, enthusiastic.”
“So what are you going to do? Stay in the bathroom all night?”
Mikko wrapped an arm around my neck. It felt as heavy as an anaconda. “You’re a cool cruiser, Chan. My whole life has changed because of you.”
He was getting drunk. I took the bottle away, pretending to drink it myself. If I sneezed, I expected bubbles of Pert to come blipping out.
“Come on. Let’s go dance this stuff off.”
Rainey was an awesome dancer. I was merely okay. For all my soccer and tae kwon do prowess, I couldn’t quite get my feet to do what I wanted them to do when out on the dance floor. I liked it when they played slow songs, because I got to hold her, and I didn’t have to move around as much.
“Look who’s with the sausage queen!” said Rom, just loud
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