Be My Friday Night (10 page)

Sam was ready to give this dad a knuckle sandwich. Everyone in this town was afraid of change. It made her crazy. She turned to look at Otto. He stood quietly. His hands were in his pockets. He faced Ron and watched him. Otto let the night air fill with silence. Visibly uncomfortable, Ron opened his mouth.

“Ethan really looked after our boys, taught them important values when it came to the game. He knew college coaches, and we could trust he’d get our boys into college,” said Ron.

Sam watched as Otto listened to Ron. She couldn’t help but feel curious about what Otto was going to do. The calm she felt radiate off his body was almost eerie.

In a funny way, Ethan had represented an ideal. Sam followed Otto’s gaze as he looked down at the field. Randy had his hair pulled out of his face in a short ponytail, and Gus paced the sidelines with his afro high. Those two were these dads’ worst nightmares. The way the dads saw it, Otto had turned their sons over to two nerdy hippies.

A grin crept over Otto’s face. He shot Sam a look as if he’d read her mind.

“Thank you for your thoughts. I have full confidence in our coaches. Enjoy the game,” said Otto. He turned before Ron could say anything in response.

Sam was left speechless. Also with a sinking feeling she knew she desperately wanted to touch Otto. To link her arm with his to show her support for his solid words, but she had missed her chance.

It was too late to show Grover she was dating Otto, that she didn’t give a damn what they thought. The sickening truth of her shame made her stomach churn as they found seats high up in the bleachers next to the band. She cared very much what the town thought, and she wasn’t sure why.

T
he game was close
.

Sam hated to admit it, but in a way she was grateful. It took her thoughts away from Otto. She was still the thirteen-year-old girl who cared what people thought, and was still relentlessly beating herself up about it.

If Otto and I keep sneaking off into the night, I don’t have to worry so much about leaving Otto behind in Grover.

It wasn’t kind, but it was practical. Sam threw herself into the game to avoid analyzing the person she’d become.

By the end of the game Sam was hoarse from screaming, Layla was jumping up and down, and Holly just kept covering her mouth with her hands, her eyes glistening against the stadium light.

“Who ever thought we’d care this much about a football game,” Layla cried. She was beside herself with excitement as the final seconds fell off the clock.

Otto whooped and stomped his feet. Sam delighted in seeing the joy on his face.

“We’re going to do this, we’ll come back,” he said in response to the close score.

Sam paused and took in the scene she was a part of, a scene she was helping create. Everything else in town was dark and closed. The air was cold but there was the warmth of the people, of gossip, of reuniting and getting to know one another.

Sam had banished this place from her mind as the possible home of her tribe years ago. Back then, she felt they hadn’t understood her, didn’t want her, and worse, judged her. Being back though, she realized this town belonged to her as much as it did to anyone. Nothing bad happened when you were judged. In fact, it was liberating, and every small town needed its eccentrics.

For a moment, Sam reveled in the idea of being an eccentric in Grover versus fitting into a more cosmopolitan area or an intellectual college town. She was home, with things to offer. She felt on top of the world. In reality, being on top of the bleachers with her best friends was plenty; it was all she needed.

Otto stood next to her, yelling with the crowd, cheering for the boys, for Randy and Gus. Sam grinned. He was having such a good time. She almost hated to disturb him.

The offense trotted onto the field to replace the defense, and there was a lull in the crowd. Otto rested his hands at his sides. Sam bit her lip and snuck her hand into Otto’s. He held onto it, strong and warm. Otto’s face stared forward, but there was a new quiet over him. Sam could sense it and didn’t know quite what to make of it. She gave his hand a quick squeeze and gave him a mischievous glance.

“You can walk me behind the bleachers if you want to,” she said.

Otto grinned at her and squeezed her hand back. Sam felt as if her body was being licked by the flames of a fire and then cooled by a refreshing sense of relief. Sneaking behind the bleachers was exactly what she wanted to do.

“Maybe I’ll make you walk with me to the snack bar when I feel like nachos,” said Otto with a glint in his eye.

The crowd began to sit in reaction to the lull in the action on the field. Sam snuggled closer to Otto, and he put his arm around her. Layla and Holly gave each other conspiratorial grins. Some of the girls in the band looked on and giggled and sighed. Most of the boys didn’t seem to notice. Those who did silently cheered on their young principal for cuddling with his cute secretary, the oldest Henry girl, who’d actually come back to Grover.

The game picked up again. It was close. So close. Sam’s voice was hoarse from screaming in the final seconds. No amount of screaming however could add the few extra points the Guanacos needed to the scoreboard. The game ended. They had lost.

“I think I might cry,” said Sam.

“Good! We’ll get some emotion out of you,” said Layla. Her voice was more raspy than usual.

Holly’s eyes shined with pride. She stood on her bleacher seat and began to cheer for her team, the ones who had fought for her. She cupped her hands around her mouth and called down to the field in a very un-Holly like, unladylike way.

“I love you Randy. I love you all. You never left me.”

She began to clap.

Sam and Layla didn’t even have to look at each other. In unison they also jumped onto the bleachers they had just been sitting on and began to clap manically.

“Now I am crying. Holly needs to cut out all of this sports movie applause crap,” Sam said through sniffles.

Layla grabbed her and kissed her forehead. She then did the same to Holly.

Otto had joined by this time, and slowly Sam realized they were part of a sea of applause.

Randy said something to the team, who looked exhausted. The players, moving slowly with sore muscles, lined the edge of the field. They removed their helmets, and let the steam from their sweat drenched heads float into the cold night air. Weary grins of relief began to spread over their faces. They began slowly applauding the stands. Randy and Gus waved toward Holly, and Holly blew them kisses.

Otto had a look of pride on his face. It shone bright under the stadium lights. Sam’s stomach tightened. This wasn’t what she’d bargained for when she decided to come home for a short time. It hadn’t been part of the plan. She never thought she’d find herself falling madly in love with a man who made his life in Grover, and maybe even a little bit with the town itself.

* * *

I
t didn’t seem right
to just give Randy and Gus pats on the back and send them home. Luckily Sam and Layla had a bottle of wine and enough crackers and cheese for everyone to munch on while Otto made a pit stop to Zelda’s to throw together a pizza.

He arrived with two piping hot pizza boxes in one hand, the smell wafting in the air and hitting Sam as she stood on the porch, and a six pack of cold craft beer in the other hand.

“You’re the hottest pizza delivery guy I’ve ever met,” said Sam as she sauntered down the porch steps to meet him. He looked rustic in his plaid shirt and jeans, his dark bangs swept up out of his face.

He leaned down and kissed her. Their faces stayed together for a while after the kiss was over. Yes, it was fun getting together with everyone. At the same time Sam couldn’t help but long for some time alone with Otto tonight, cuddled on his couch with wine and pizza for two. Something in her liked the idea of sneaking away while the rest of the town was abuzz on a Friday night.

A wolf whistle cracked through the air behind Sam. On the porch, Layla dropped her fingers from her mouth while Holly waved and grinned manically.

Sam shook her head.

“You’d expect this behavior from Randy and Gus,” said Sam.

Otto grinned and gave a playful shrug.

“I think they’re just supportive of the fact I’m getting some,” he said.

Sam gave him a light smack on the shoulder.

“Who knew, even Grover High had a boys club,” she said.

“Get over here! We’re parched,” Holly said, plopping down into one of the porch chairs.

Sam linked an arm through Otto’s and walked toward the porch. She’d recently strung the beams with twinkle lights. She'd also hung a few larger paper lanterns for more direct light.

They dug into the pizza and opened the beers. Randy and Gus were forbidden to talk about the game, but it did have a tendency to creep into conversation, oftentimes due to Otto’s doing.

The disappointment of the loss still hung in the air, but was coated over with the excitement of the next game. In the next game, the plays would be executed better and the team was going to be in better shape. They’d mentally be more ready, too.

“Well aren’t you all a bunch of Pollyannas,” said Sam, a twinkle in her eye as she took a drink from her glass of red wine.

“Back when we were actually in high school we would have been scheming revenge on whoever had slighted us,” she said to Randy, who grinned back at her.

“Yes, well to the joys of being an adult and being above such things,” said Gus. He lifted his can of beer to salute the night.

Randy took a swig of beer and eyed Sam with a twinge of nostalgia.

“What are we going to do? Steal their mascot? That’d be really mature,” he said, almost too nonchalantly.

Holly gulped down her wine. She held up a finger to signify she wanted to talk.

“You know what annoyed me most about Ethan leaving? It's so weird but it makes me crazy. His mascot is now the wildcats, and it’s like the most ferocious, cool looking mascot ever, and here I am stuck with the frumpy guanacos. Did you know Winthrop even has a wildcat they’re planning to bring onto the field during games? It’s totally cruel,” Holly said, shaking her head, disgusted.

“What? I’ve never heard about this,” said Layla, the resident animal lover of the bunch, her interest and horror mutually piqued.

Holly nodded and leaned forward in the fashion of someone in the know. Sam couldn’t help but lean in to hear the details too.

“It was Ethan who actually told me about it, as if it was like a rumor that Winthrop had their own wildcat. Someone had donated it, or something. It had been abandoned as a cub and adopted. It’s domesticated, but had gotten too big for its owners’ home. Ethan told me it lived in a cage behind the equipment shack next to their stadium,” said Holly.

"What!" Said Layla, outraged.

Holly's eyes widened in realization.

“Jesus, I bet they showed it to him to get him all excited about coaching there. It was a recruitment technique,” she said.

Otto coughed.

“He once brought up getting a real guanaco as a mascot,” he said.

Randy nodded.

“He thought it would’ve been good for morale,” he said.

Holly rolled her eyes.

“It’s stuff like this that reminds me of how different we’ve become, yet it still makes me crazy,” she said.

Sam put her arm around Holly’s shoulders.

“I think that’s normal and okay,” said Sam.

Layla shook her head in agreement, and then shifted the conversation back to the cat.

“So it’s at Winthrop High now, locked in a cage outside on this cold night where it can listen to all the free animals roaming around. What’s even worse is that it’s used to being someone’s pet. It must be so lonely.” She looked off wistfully into the darkness. Sam watched Layla carefully. It was almost as if Sam could see Layla’s wheels turning in the back of her head.

Layla’s gaze moved from the dark night onto Otto, who was unassumingly chewing a cheesy piece of pizza.

“As much as I hate to say it, it’d be just as irresponsible to let a captive animal loose. We don’t know where it came from, or if it’d know what to do once set free,” said Holly.

Layla nodded. She looked off into the night again.

“Well, if we can’t set the live wildcat free, let’s give the bronze wildcat in the town square a makeover,” she said.

Otto stopped chewing. His face grew stern as if he were about to reprimand Layla.

Layla met his eyes with a daring glare. Otto let out a defeated breath. He knew there was no arguing with Layla. He let her continue.

“Don’t worry Otto. There’ll be no permanent damage. I was thinking of draping it in orange and white streamers. You know. Good clean fun,” said Layla. She took a bite of pizza.

Otto rubbed his hand over his eyes.

“He’s not going to let us do it,” said Holly shaking her head.

Sam simply watched him, observing how Otto interacted with her mischievous friends.

“I’m not sure why you’re looking at me. If you think anyone’s going to keep you three from doing something you want to do you’re all crazy,” said Otto.

Sam, Layla, and Holly exchanged smug grins.

“And truthfully, I’m all for harmless fun. I think the world needs more harmless fun. That’s why I’m coming with you to make sure it stays harmless,” he said.

* * *

S
am and Otto
drove through the night in Otto’s pickup truck a few feet behind Layla’s station wagon. There hadn’t been room for the two of them after Layla and Holly had packed the car with streamers and other party supplies in Grover Guanaco themed colors.

The country station on the radio was playing its late night oldies show. Sam realized there was something more intimate about the space of the front seat of the truck tonight. She couldn’t put her finger on it. Maybe it was having a car load of their friends a few feet in front of them. Maybe it was the fact that the whole town now knew they were dating.