Chapter 9
Chapter Nine
Becca picked up on the third ring. “Hey, there. How did the auditions go?”
“Well, actually.” Skipping to the point, I said, “Why are you discussing me with Trey Collins?”
She laughed. “I haven’t been discussing you. He asks about you a lot. I think he has a crush.”
We needed to crush that crush. “You told him I refuse to date.”
“Of course, I did. Isn’t that what you’d want me to tell a guy showing every indication of asking you out?” I hadn’t thought of it that way. “Linds, Trey is really nice. I think you two could hit it off, but I respect that you don’t want to go out with anyone. I was trying to save his heart, that’s all.”
I couldn’t argue the nice guy part. Not only had he insisted on waiting with me for the locksmith, he’d also insisted that I wait in the warm truck while they worked the lock, and then claimed that Larry offered the service free of charge. As if I didn’t know they’d made arrangements for Trey to pay him later.
Reading lips was an odd skill of mine.
“I don’t dislike him,” I had to admit. “He’s growing on me. Like a fungus. I just didn’t expect him to know so much about me.”
“Not disliking him is big for you. Did you two talk then?” Before I could answer, she said, “Don’t pull Milo’s tail, baby.”
I assumed that was meant for Noah. “Trey stayed with me while I waited for a locksmith to come open my car. I locked the keys inside today.”
“Again?”
“It’s been over six months since the last time.”
Yes, this was something I did often. I considered keeping the extra key in my purse, but if I ever locked the keys and the purse inside, then I’d really be in trouble.
Rolling down Mansfield Boulevard, I had to slam on the brakes to avoid getting t-boned. “It’s called a stop sign, not a pause sign, jerk.”
Becca sighed. “You know you can never drive Noah anywhere, right?”
“I’m an excellent driver. It’s these idiots who are the problem.”
“Your skills are not the issue. Your mouth is.”
“I wouldn’t say things like that with him in the car.” It wasn’t as if I had no control at all. “For crap’s sake, pick a lane already,” I barked at the sedan in front of me, which was riding the yellow line.
“Why don’t I believe that?” she said. “Anyway, it was nice of Trey to stay with you.”
“He says I need more adventure in my life. Am I boring?” The man was giving me a complex.
“I don’t think you’re boring.”
She was my best friend. She had to say that. “I’m adventurous, right?”
“Well…”
Quite the telling answer. “Well, what?”
“You used to be. But that isn’t a bad thing,” she assured me. “We’re growing up. We’re in our thirties. Look at me. I spend most of my time covered in spit-up and washing sleepers. Heck, my most exciting purchase lately was that thing that puts dirty diapers in neat little bags. Adventure is for the young.”
We weren’t on the verge of retirement, for heaven’s sake. “Thirty-three is still young. And having a baby is a total adventure. I don’t even have plants.” Mental crisis in full swing, I pressed a hand to my forehead. “Dang it, I’m completely boring. Why didn’t someone tell me?”
“Don’t be dramatic,” she said. Not something you tell a drama teacher. “We’re all boring. This is life. Those people climbing mountains and jumping off cliffs are still doing laundry and scooping litter boxes. Don’t let them fool you into thinking their lives are any less mundane than ours.”
Maybe we both needed to get out more. “You think your life is mundane?”
“Yes.” Becca grunted, then I heard Noah coo into the phone. “And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”
Having little man around made it hard to be un happy about anything. “I bet Noah doesn’t think you’re boring.”
“He doesn’t think Aunt Lindsey is boring either.” I heard another voice, and then she said, “Jacob says dinner is ready. Are you good?”
“Yeah, I’m good.” There was still plenty running through my mind, but she deserved to go enjoy her meal without worrying about me.
“Okay, sweetie. Love you.”
“Love you, too.” The call ended as I pulled up to a red light.
Living alone meant I could do what I wanted when I wanted without having to please anyone else. And without any noise. My apartment was small and cozy and quiet. After talking to Becca and hearing the buzz of her little family, the word quiet shifted to empty .
But empty wasn’t a bad thing. I liked my space. My solitude. After the noise overload at school, I needed the silence to restore my sanity. No one ate my food when I was gone, or moved my stuff. I never had to negotiate what to watch on television, or make excuses for staying up too late on weekends.
As I turned into the alley behind my apartment, I realized my life wasn’t boring. It was peaceful. Which was exactly how I intended to keep it. Adventure was another word for drama, and not the good kind. Trey Collins could chase down all the adventures he wanted, but none of them would involve me.
“Think of it as an adventure,” Megan said as we trudged along with a few hundred other people.
I was starting to hate that word.
“There isn’t much adventure in being a spectator,” I pointed out.
We were in line for tickets into the last Carnegie High football game of the season. If the team won tonight, they would carry on into the playoffs, which had caused a complete frenzy at school.
The gang was all present and accounted for. Except Noah, of course, who was with his grandmother, and Calvin’s event venue had their largest wedding today, complete with a live band for the reception, so he wanted to be on site to deal with any hiccups.
The rest of the guys were here to support Trey, while the women went along for a bit of nostalgia. None of them had attended a high school football game since they were students themselves. Needless to say, I never attended the games, so this was proof that peer pressure still worked, even in your thirties.
In truth, I was there to support Aiden and Burke. Despite working hard at practice, doing whatever it was football players did, they showed up every day for rehearsal. Aiden had even learned his lines already.
They’d also brought a couple more newbies to the cast. Leo DeStefano showed up on the second day of rehearsals. A trainer and glorified water boy—his term not mine—for the football team, he’d always wanted to join the play but thought himself too awkward to be on stage. When the players joined, he figured we were desperate enough that even he could get in, and the boy wasn’t wrong.
Except about being too awkward. He and Hannah hit it off right away, and by the end of the first week, Leo had not only helped design a three-sided spinning backdrop, but learned all of his five lines, as well as those of any character in a scene with him. He took the police officer role, a small but substantial part as the play unfolded.
Kandace Akina appeared out of nowhere on the fifth day. A senior, a cheerleader, and one of the popular elite, the sudden interest in acting was unexpected to say the least. Fifteen minutes into rehearsal and the mystery was solved. Kandace had a thing for Aiden, while Aiden had eyes only for Emma.
Teachers knew never to meddle in the interpersonal relationships of teenagers. However, this one looked like potential trouble for the show. By the end of the second week, a clear love triangle was afoot, and I could only hope that three would whittle down to two before the dramatics moved off stage, forcing me to step in.
Step in how I had no idea, but I’d protect the play by whatever means necessary.
“Here you go,” said Jacob as he passed out the tickets Trey had left in an envelope with Jacob’s name on them at the ticket window. “We’re right on the fifty yard line.”
His tone implied this was a good thing. The men marched down the hill to the entrance while the ladies fell into step around me.
“Your first game,” Josie said. “How does it feel?”
“It’s not as if I’ve never attended a football game before.” I tucked the scarf closer against my neck. Three days ago we had temps in the sixties, and tonight we were facing low forties that felt much closer to the freezing mark. “I just haven’t gone as a teacher.”
“Or as the coach’s crush,” Megan teased.
My friends were having far too much fun with this crush mess, which I could safely say had been a figment of Becca’s imagination. There’d been nothing more than casual greetings in the hall since the day I locked myself out of my car. Trey dropped in on a few rehearsals, but always stayed in the back and left before the end. I was a big enough person to admit that his sudden avoidance annoyed me.
Why was he all chatty that day in the truck, but barely said hello since? Not that I wanted him to talk to me. I just wanted to know why he suddenly wasn’t talking to me. Essentially, I’d regressed to middle school brain. Maybe this was the start of my mid-life crisis.
“Hey, Ms. Pavolski,” said a student from my third period Lit class as we stepped through the gates. “What are you doing here?”
“I’m supporting the team,” I replied, trying to sound convincing.
“Right.” He did not look convinced and immediately turned to the student next to him, who then looked my way with a curious gaze. Why was my presence such a shock? I wasn’t a complete recluse.
When we reached our seats, Becca spread out a blanket to protect our bottoms from the cold bleachers, then Donna spread the one she’d brought over our laps. Josie passed out the hand warmers, and Megan directed Ryan and Miles to stand between us and the wind whipping from the east.
You’d never know we weren’t professional spectators.
We used the time before the game to catch up. Becca was nearly back to full speed at work, Megan’s library won a grant to expand the children’s reading program, and Donna’s new home studio was working out just as she’d hoped. So far, no one had had trouble finding the place, and with the parking pad in the back, there were no complaints from the neighbors about random cars taking up spaces on the street.
Josie was having fun with her niece, and had taken on two new bookkeeping clients in the last month. Everyone was in a good place, rolling into the next phase of their lives. And then there was me doing the same old thing.
A month ago I’d been happy with my life. Content, even. Now Trey Collins had me second guessing my choices, and that was an unforgiveable offense.
As I was losing feeling in my toes, the band finally rolled onto the field to perform the National Anthem. I didn’t notice until the song ended and the crowd went nuts that they’d formed a sort of human tunnel, through which the football team made a very loud, very enthusiastic entrance.
Cheerleaders leapt in the air, contorting their legs at odd angles, and I spotted Kandace waving her pom poms with the rest of them. Once both teams were on the field and the band was up in the stands, the cheerleaders took their place directly in front of our section and I spotted a small number painted on Kandace’s cheek.
The number from the jersey Aiden wore every Friday. She clearly wasn’t giving up.
The team finished their stretching and ball tossing to also take their place on the sideline. Jacob stood and yelled Trey’s name, causing him to turn our way. I’d never seen such an intense look on his face before. Until his eyes met mine. Then he smiled and my heart did a backflip in my chest. What the heck was that about?
The first half flew by, and I cringed with every bodily collision, which essentially meant on every single play. How could anyone find this level of brutality fun? Or entertaining? At the same time, I knew these kids and I couldn’t help but root for them. There was a real sense of pride in seeing them do well.
We were ahead by a touchdown going into halftime, and I’d been so engrossed in following the kids I knew around the field, I almost forgot how cold it was. The break in the game meant getting up to stretch and taking a trip to the concession stand for hot chocolate. Yes, please.
“Are you having fun?” Megan asked as we squeezed through the crowd behind the stands.
“Not sure fun is the word for it,” I replied. “I’m struggling not to run onto the field and make them all stop hitting each other.”
She nodded. “It looks violent, but the protective gear helps.”
You couldn’t convince me that those helmets were truly protecting their still developing little brains. The human skull wasn’t designed for that level of impact. Now how was I going to convince my sister to pull her son out of this sport before his little noggin got too damaged?
As we approached the concession stand and spotted the large crowd forming multiple lines, Megan said, “Halftime is going to be over before we get up to the window.”
“I can’t sit through another half of this without something warm, so we’ll have to suck it up.”
“Well, look who’s here.” I turned to find Pepper Lowell coming our way. “Never thought I’d see the day.”
“Don’t get used to it,” I said, knowing exactly what she meant. “I won’t be attending another one. Pepper, this is my friend Megan. Megan, this is Pepper Lowell. She’s the choir director at school.”
“Nice to meet you,” Megan said. “I’d shake your hand but I have warmers in these pockets and I don’t want to pull my hands out.”
“I totally understand. I found the ones that go in your shoes.” Pepper lifted the toe of her right boot. “Life savers.” To me, she said, “So the rumors are true then?”
Who were they gossiping about now? “What rumors?”
“The ones about you and the coach.”
Lovely. Just lovely.