Chapter Fourteen
Susie
We waited on the field while the crowd and marching band filed out, doing some dance moves as the music faded away. My adrenaline still pumps, keeping the high from the game and the crowd and all the cheering with me. The noise in the stadium simmered down to a buzz while reporters and photographers swarmed around the coach and players.
A few of the photographers turned their cameras our way here and there, and a couple of the girls posed for them.
I noticed Liz glancing at Bryan every two seconds, distracted from packing up our things. I was surprised to see a TV camera with a guy in a suit waiting with a mic in hand approaching Bryan. But Bryan was talking to a girl who looks like a student reporter, ignoring the other reporters who hovered around him.
The young woman has long hair in a ponytail and eyeglasses. She looks intense as she hangs on Bryan’s every word, bound to be disappointed since he never says much.
“Who’s the girl reporter?”
I ask Liz.
“She must work for the Connecticut Daily Campus. I don’t recognize her from last year. I wonder what happened to Ronnie? Must have graduated. I liked him.”
She makes a face while she studies the girl, her mouth in a rare grim line.
“You okay? She’s just doing her job, you know.”
Liz whirls around, startled. “What? Of course I know that. Bryan always talks with the press. Looks like he’s getting even more attention this year.”
“He played really well today. Even I know scoring two touchdowns and running through those tackles is fantastic.”
“How are you feeling? Sore?”
she asks, a touch of concern on her face.
My head almost spins with her change of subject and attitude, but at the mention of soreness, my wobbly legs and stiff limbs jump to the forefront of my mind, forcing me to acknowledge them now that my adrenaline is disappearing.
“Now that you mention it.”
“We should get back to the dorm and take a hot shower.”
“Too bad we don’t have a bathtub to soak in.”
She reaches out and gives me a one-armed hug. “Don’t worry, we’ll get into game shape in no time.”
She drops her arm, and we carry our things to where the band is marching off and fall in line behind them.
I nod. “Actually, I feel pretty good. We did a great job. I didn’t fall on my ass or trip or anything, so that’s a plus.”
She chuckles. “You did fantastic. But I knew you would. We all did. The crowd loved us, especially the collapsing pyramid stunt. I wonder if anyone got a photograph of it?”
I’m about to answer when Carol shouts through her megaphone to the group.
“Who’s ready for a party?”
Liz and the others let out a resounding cheer. I’m not as excited as they are. Maybe because my first thought is that I’ll need to babysit Liz and make sure she doesn’t get too drunk.
We’re marching, still waving the pom-poms at the few stragglers in the stadium. I resist turning back toward the players still on the field with the reporters.
If we’re sore, I imagine the football team is a hundred times worse, taking all those hits.
“Party at Eldy’s place!”
Judy shouts.
I whisper to Liz, “Isn’t that Bryan’s place? Aren’t they roommates?”
She nods and winks, looking like a Cheshire cat. “Yes, it is. It should be fun.”
She raises her megaphone as we leave the stadium, “Go team! Let’s celebrate and support the football team. Let’s all go to the football party.”
Keith whistles and everyone cheers at that suggestion. Except me. Partly because Liz is holding my arm, squeezing it, and partly because it seems strange that Bryan would be hosting a party, even if it was all Dane’s idea. He doesn’t seem like a partyer, and he’s not a pushover.
But then again, what do I know?