Authors: Donna Cain
Meadowview Acres (5 page)
Clara spit on the ground beside her and felt nauseous. “I’m never going to make it until prom,” she said to herself. “Come on, girl, eyes on the prize, eyes on the prize.” She took a moment to envision herself in a snow-white, flowing ball gown, her long golden hair shining with a huge crown on top of her head.
As she turned to go into the house, she noticed Hunter coming out of the side door to his house across the street. He happened to glance her way then turned back quickly. She felt the butterflies again and watched him as he walked the short distance to Eli’s driveway. When he got there, he turned in her direction again. Clara raised her hand and waved. Hunter kind of nodded and then turned to talk to Eli who was washing his dog. Clara watched the back of his head for a moment before going into her house.
Hunter had been on Clara’s radar for years. Unfortunately, he was not high enough on the social ladder to count for much. In Clara’s mind, if she could just make it to graduation with Hansen the Neanderthal, the summer was reserved for Hunter. He was her dream – the one. Her first love, her first real kiss. “Hold on, girl,” she told herself. “You can do this.”
For tonight, though, her dream was a night without Hansen, and a lot of pizza…
D
arren was alone in the locker room. He liked to get there early on game days to clear his mind and go over the playbook. He went over everything in his head, so he would be able to react quickly and accurately when the coach called any play. Darren usually wasn’t nervous before a game, but tonight was different. Tonight was big. Two different recruiters from two different colleges were coming to see him. If he did well tonight, he could write his own ticket.
If I mess up, though…
He shook his head to make the thought go away. That just wasn’t an option. He had to play well. He had to. He wished for the millionth time that he could talk to Shasta. She would say all the right things to ease his mind. She could calm him down just by being there. He knew he would see her sitting with his parents in the stands, though. She had never missed a game. Not even after things went bad.
That night at the party was such a mistake. Darren still couldn’t believe what he had let happen. Never to be one to let peer pressure get to him, Darren still didn’t know why that night was different. They had all been in the basement. All of the football guys with their girlfriends and Darren and Shasta. He was sure everyone knew that their relationship was one of friendship, but something had happened. Some of the guys started egging him on, daring him to kiss her. They were being pretty harsh about it, calling him names. Usually, that kind of thing didn’t faze Darren. At six foot two, he was a solid mass of muscles. No one bothered him, but that night was different. It was after a big game that they had won, so Darren was pretty pumped before they had even gotten to the party. Then with all the daring and pushing and everything, he gave in. He had moved in close to Shasta. “When did she start smelling so good?” He had thought. He remembered a clean, crisp, citrusy smell. He hadn’t noticed how deeply brown her eyes were until he was looking straight into them. He felt a weird rolling in his belly, and he had started to sweat a little. As soon as his lips touched hers, his whole body seemed to feel it. He moved his hands into her silky soft hair and pulled her head closer to his own. He was melting. He wanted to stay like that, touching her forever, but she had pulled away, looking embarrassed. “Crap!” Darren had thought. She obviously hadn’t felt the same way. The guys were being guys and saying stupid stuff like, “Get a room” or “Now he’s whipped”. Darren had gone upstairs to get a soda and hadn’t gone back down. Shasta followed him up after a bit and tried to talk, but he had been cool to her. He felt rejected – not just rejected, but rejected by his best friend. His ego deflated, he made an excuse to leave the party. Things really just fizzled after that. He was too nervous to be alone with her anymore. He just wanted to grab her, hold her and kiss her again and again, but he knew she just wanted to forget it. She started hanging out with her girlfriends more, and he had no choice but to find a new group of friends. She never missed a game, though. Darren was happy about that.
Alone in the locker room, he pushed his mind back to the game. He concentrated on each play – on his part of each play. He couldn’t mess up; not tonight. It could be amazing. What if both of the colleges wanted him? What if he could have his choice between the two? Darren knew his dad would be so proud. He had been supporting Darren for as long as he could remember. He remembered his dad outside playing ball with him even after a long day at work. He had made it to almost all of Darren’s games, ever since middle school. He had only missed a few because of a deadline at work. Darren knew his dad was just as nervous as Darren about tonight. He would never let Darren see, though. “Just play like you always do, Son. Any school would be lucky to have you. And if they take a pass, well then, they’re the losers, not you.” He had said that to Darren just this morning at breakfast before he left for work.
“Thanks, Dad. See you at the game,” Darren had replied.
He would see him at the game. They had a traditional salute to each other right after the National Anthem played. His mom thought it was silly, but she had filled in whenever his dad wasn’t there, so he had never started a game without that salute. Tonight would be no different.
Darren started to undress and change into his pads and uniform just as the idiots arrived. Hansen, Joe, Clark, Jacob and Alan were the most irritating guys on the team. Grouped together, as they usually were, they were really hard to handle sometimes. They came in loud, smacking each other around and basically acting like lunatics. They never bothered Darren, though. They knew he could lay each one of them flat. Darren’s crew trickled in a little after the idiots. Ethan, Chuck, Brian and Wes were the guys he had turned to when Shasta left. They were really good guys – real good friends. They all talked about the game, but it was almost like his friends were nervous, too – nervous for him. They knew how important the night was and what it could mean if it went well. Ethan, Brian and Wes were busy going over plays and getting dressed when Chuck came over and sat beside Darren.
“How ya feeling?” He asked.
“I’m good.” Darren replied. “I’ve done all the prep work and I know I can perform. I’ve just never felt these nerves before.”
“Man, that’s understandable. But listen, you can’t give in to them. You gotta go out there like you always do and play ball. Just play ball, D. You’ve got this.” He smiled at Darren and let him have his space.
Coach Ripley came in a few minutes later to go over last minute plays and the starting line-up. Darren’s nerves eased up as he listened to the coach go over the strategy for defeating the Glovercroft Mustangs. All of the guys gathered around in the locker room were amped up for the game; Darren was no exception. When he was finished outlining the strategy, the coach looked directly at Darren when he shouted his usual pre-game pump of, “Now let’s get out there and show them what the Hallston Jaguars are made of!”
A testosterone fueled battle cry ensued as the team ran out to the field. Darren scanned the stands for his folks and Shasta. There in the usual spot was his mom with Shasta right beside her. “Where’s Dad?” he thought. “He must’ve been held up at the construction site. Better hustle. I need my pre-game salute.”
He warmed up with the team and kept checking the stands. Five minutes until the National Anthem followed by the coin toss and Darren started to feel anxious. He saw his coach motion to him and jogged over.
“Listen, Son,” Coach Ripley said. “I know it’s a big night for you. But you just have to do your job as usual. Now I’ve already had a talk with both those recruiters, so they know what you’re capable of. I need you to go out there and show ‘em. Got it?”
“Yessir, Coach. Have you seen my dad, though? Was he talking to the recruiters, too?”
“No, haven’t seen Claymont at all tonight. But you know he’s here somewhere, Son. You’re damned sure he’s not gonna miss this game.” He clapped Darren hard on his shoulder pad and said, “Now get out there and get your mind on your work.”
That was all it took to make Darren feel better. Of course his dad was there somewhere. Maybe he just got hung up talking to someone, or maybe the recruiters wanted to talk to him, and they were behind the bleachers. Darren’s head was back on the game. When it came time for his salute after the National Anthem, Darren looked to the stands to find his mom standing up with two fingers touching her forehead. Darren grinned and returned the gesture. “Well, Mom doesn’t seem worried,” he thought. “So I guess everything’s fine.”
He jogged over to the middle of the field to join his co-captain for the coin toss. As the ref tossed the coin in the air, Peyton called “Tails” and the quarter landed to show its backside.
“Okay,” thought Darren, “Time to go to work.”
“I
look awesome!” Heather said to herself as she gazed at her reflection in the full-length mirror in her room. She had on low-waisted blue jeans that showed off her thin legs, brown suede boots with two inch heels and, the best thing of all, her brand new powder-blue sweater with a deep vee neck so a little of her cleavage peeked out.
She had gotten home from the mall just in time to change before Jake came back to pick her up. She knew buying the sweater had been an amazing decision, even if it cut into her birthday money. She thought her boobs looked incredible. “Jake won’t be able to keep his hands off of me!” She giggled to herself.
As she examined the rest of her look in the mirror, she took note of just how great her teeth looked. The braces had taken care of those unsightly buck teeth she had been forced to live with since they had replaced her baby teeth, and the acne wash she had been using for two years really made her skin almost perfect. Her crowning glory was her hair. Her shiny chestnut tresses cascaded down her back in perfect little ringlets. It usually took her about an hour to make those perfect little ringlets, but Jake loved her hair, so the time it took was no bother. She would do anything for him.
Heather wasn’t surprised at all that she was the only sophomore in school to be dating a senior.
Just look at me! Any guy would be lucky to have this!
Jake was falling in love with her, she could tell. If things kept going like they were, Heather thought she and Jake could get married right out of high school, and then everyone would be so jealous of her.
More jealous than they are now!
Heather turned and looked at her backside. “Perfect,” she said. “Those butt lunges are really paying off!”
She danced around her purple bedroom as if she were a bride dancing at her wedding.
Heather Mitchell
– Mrs. Jake Mitchell – Heather Andrews Mitchell
, which one would she use? “Hey! How old do you have to be to get married anyway?” She asked her room. Heather thought it was stupid to put an age on love – true love. She was sure the idiots that made up that law had never been in love before – at least not in love with Jake Mitchell.
Heather put the finishing touches on her lashes, answered two texts and went out to the living room. “Where is everyone?” She thought. “Oh yeah, Mom had to work tonight.” She remembered Eli was there earlier, but she didn’t hear anything coming from his room. Brody was asleep in his dog bed, but he smelled wet. “Maybe he got into something and had to get a bath,” she thought.
She scribbled
At the game with Jake
on a napkin in the kitchen and left it on the counter. She had cleared it with her mom earlier in the week, but she didn’t need Mr. “I’m in charge when Mom’s gone” calling her cell all night.
She grabbed an energy drink from the fridge and ran out when she heard Jake’s car in the drive. She jumped in the front seat and leaned over to give him a kiss.
“You look great,” Jake said while looking directly at her chest.
“Thanks, Babe.” Heather accepted the compliment without noticing his stare. She flipped down the car mirror to reapply the gloss she had lost kissing Jake hello.
“I was talking to Tessa, and she said just about everybody’s going tonight,” gushed Heather.
“Yeah,” replied Jake. “It’s going to be a good game. I know we’ll win, though. Darren and Peyton are beasts. Not to mention our defensive line with Hansen and all those guys.”
“Oh, I don’t care either way. I just want to show you off to everyone!” Heather felt like all eyes were on her when she walked hanging onto his arm through the halls at school. A football game was even better, because there were people from other schools to witness their love.
Twenty minutes later, they were making out in the parking lot, and Heather was getting bored. “What’s the point of dating a senior if you can’t be seen at a major social event?” She thought while Jake’s hands moved freely over her powder-blue sweater. She moved her head away from his and said, “Let’s go on into the game now, Babe. Our friends are probably looking for us.”
Jake shrugged and removed his sticky hands from their prizes. Heather reapplied her lip gloss again and fixed her disheveled chestnut ringlets. At the gate, they showed their school badges and went in search of their friends.
The scoreboard read Hallston Jaguars 14, Glovercroft Mustangs 7. The crowd was being stirred up by the cheer squad yelling, “Jaguars, Jaguars, GO, GO, GO!!” Pom-poms were shaking throughout the stands, and people had made signs out of poster board. It was all very exciting, and Heather was thrilled when she saw people looking at her with her future husband.
I really look fantastic tonight!
The make out session had left her thirsty, so they wandered over to the concession stand. Ms. Leezil was working and gave them a big smile. Everyone loved Ms. Leezil. She was pretty and smart. Heather thought maybe she should be a teacher like Julie Leezil. That would be a good career to have when she and Jake got married. She could have summers off to spend with their babies. She thought they should probably start a family pretty soon after they get married. She wanted to be a young mom, so she could get her body back into shape.
