Blitzed(21)

"Then he knocked up Mom," I groan, "and I ruin it the rest of the way for him."

"Don't you ever say that about yourself, Troy," Coach seethes, and I see real fire in his eyes. "You, despite all the flaws you've got—I know about almost all of them. We teachers aren't quite as stupid as you students seem to think we are. You're a better man at your age than Randy Wood ever was. I'd like to think I've had a hand with that, even if you aren't as good a quarterback as he was."

I nod, looking out on the field. "So what now?"

Coach stands up and brushes off his pants. "Well, first you're going to follow me to my house. My wife had plans for a pancake brunch, and that’s probably going to be a lot better for you than that old pizza you've got sitting in your backseat. Not a good idea, by the way, unless you're trying to get yourself a case of food poisoning. And I'm going to overlook the fact that the polo you're wearing right now and the pizza in your seat are from the same restaurant, and if I poked around more, I'd find a paystub from that place in your pocket most likely. How long's that been going on, Troy?"

"Three years," I admit. "But until this year, I only did it in the offseason. Honest, Coach. The owner thinks I'm older. I kinda need the money."

He nods. "If it were up to me, I'd . . . well, I'd do things that would get me fired and you declared ineligible for the NCAA, so I’d better not. But I can have a student over for a meal and tutoring, so that's what I'm doing. As for Randy, if he lays a hand on you again—and don't tell me that black eye you sported earlier this week was because of that new girl you're seeing—I’m stepping in. I won't have you risk your future being hijacked by his past and his inner demons."

We leave the stands, and in the parking lot, Coach turns to look at me. "When we get to my house, take about twenty minutes to take a shower, too. You smell like football stadium and old pizza. Not good, especially if you've got yourself a new girl. What's her name? Whitney?"

"Yeah," I admit. "Whitney Nelson."

"I taught her in American history last year," Coach tells me, smiling. "Nice girl. You could do a lot worse. But we'll talk about that later."





Chapter 7





Whitney





"And in second place . . . Whitney Nelson!"

The crowd in the stands claps hard, and I raise my hand, acknowledging the announcement while the crowd goes nuts. It's okay that I'm in second, since that means that Dani gets to be homecoming queen, and really, she deserves it more than me. She's the one who has been the social queen for all of high school. At least I get to be on stage with her tomorrow night, and besides, if I'd won, I'm sure I would have gotten some smart ass comments that I just don't need.

Dani looks cute and kind of embarrassed as she accepts the crown, still in her cheerleading uniform, and then the sash. The band plays the school alma mater and a pretty terrible version of the Miss America theme, and at least that part of the night is over. We head back to the sidelines, ready for the second half of the game.

"I'm sorry you didn't win," Dani says when she comes back after getting another photo taken by the local paper. "Really."

"Babe, don't sweat it," I say, picking up my pompoms. "You deserve it, and besides, I got the birthday gift I really wanted."

Dani smiles as I look down at the silver and blue number 12 jersey that I'm wearing for the game. Each of the senior players had the right to nominate a girl for homecoming, and that girl got to wear that player's away jersey for the entire week. I'd been rocking the silver jersey with the royal blue 12 on it for five days. To say I'm proud of it is an understatement. I don't want to give the damn thing back Monday so that Silver Lake can wear their away jerseys next Friday night. "It looks good on you."

"Looks better on him," I say. Dani's wearing the number 54 of Pete Barkovich, a nice guy who is Troy's starting center. I'd have never expected Dani to accept Pete's request. He's nowhere near the level on the social ladder of some of the other seniors, but then I remembered that Dani is my best friend. Maybe she just specializes in finding diamonds in the rough. "Pete's going to be over the moon, getting to dance with you tomorrow."

"Maybe," Dani says in a way that makes me wonder if she'd just accepted Pete's offer out of purely charitable purposes. "Come on, the second half is starting."

The game is another win for Silver Lake, but the hardest fought one we've had so far. The Round Rock Mountaineers are usually one of the pushovers of our conference, but this year, they've got a couple of studs on the team as well, and Troy and the boys have their hands full until Troy intercepts a pass over the middle about halfway through the fourth quarter and returns it for a touchdown. It's no surprise at the end of the game that Troy is announced as the game ball player, even though he told me that Coach Jackson likes to spread the MVP balls around.

But even I can't miss the results Troy puts for in the homecoming game. Two passing touchdowns, another two rushing, a sack, and of course, the interception for a touchdown. Silver Lake scored thirty-five points for homecoming, and Troy has a hand in all of them.

After the game, I'm waiting outside the locker room for Troy. Mom has gotten used to us being together, and even the school, which burned for two weeks with scandal until it became less scandalous for us to be seen together, has accepted us. Troy comes out near the end of the line of players, and I smile to see that he's showered before coming out, something not all the players do. "You know, I know I asked you for a win for my birthday in my note, but you didn't have to take it so seriously."