Chapter Four
Date Night
Saturday, the holy grail of high schoolers everywhere. I sat on my bed, thinking about my date with Raven later that night and wondering how it was going to go. But I still had a few hours before we were to meet, so I decided to busy myself with homework until then. I could almost feel my brain getting smarter after a couple hours of studying, and learned things I didn't even think possible. I watched TV for the last hour, surfing the channels for something, yet there was nothing good on. Luckily, time favored me and passed pretty quick. Before I knew it, I was in my car driving to the movies to meet Raven.
I found a spot not too far out, as a lot of other people had the same idea as us and decided to make it a movie date that night. I walked into the lobby and saw Raven waiting for me by the concession stand. She smiled as I approached.
"So, what do you wanna see?"She asked.
Thinking about what she'd like more than what I'd like, I looked at the posters on the wall. Most of them seemed like romantic comedies and just retarded movies, so I picked the only one that sounded like something she'd watch; 'Headless Zombie 3: Please Give Me My Head Back' Oh yeah.
"Yes!I've been dying to see that!"She beamed when I told her, giving me the satisfaction of pride. "I hear in this one, the zombie goes on a rampage in a Congressional hearing!"
"Who could say no to that?"I grinned.
We bought the tickets and walked into the theatre and found it wasn't very crowded, and I could guess why.
"Where do you think we should sit?"Raven asked.
"Let's grab a spot down in front." I said.
The front was completely empty of life and so we got a good spot.
"Nice!All the annoying couples are in the back and all the old people are in the middle!"Raven beamed. "That means we get the front all to ourselves.."
I simply grin at her and turn as the movie starts. After about fifteen minutes into it, Raven poked me in my side. "Ugh... This goth is a total stereotype!It's offensive!"
"Huh?He doesn't seem that unrealistic to me,"I shrug. "He's got the white make-up and the vampire teeth and everything.."
Raven frowned. "Being goth isn't just about wearing dark clothes!It's about rejecting society's norms!A jock like you wouldn't understand.."
This time I frowned. "Now you're the one being judgemental!I understand it perfectly!In fact, I don't see myself as a jock!"
"Oh, really?" She seemed surprised. "You're saying you don't play sports?"
"Playing sports doesn't make you a jock. You might be surprised to learn that I read a lot, love classic movies and play the clarinet!"I said matter-of-factly.
"I'm impressed!Maybe I judged you too quickly!Is all of that true?"
"Well, okay, I made up the part about the clarinet," I shrug and grinned. "But the point stands... I'm more than just some jock stereotype."
Raven smiled gently. "No, no, I see it now... You'd make a great goth!A little eyeliner... A little black lipstick..."
I smiled a bit and raised an eyebrow. "Maybe if you're really lucky... Now, let's get back to this movie."
The two of us watched the movie in silence. About halfway through it though, I feel another poke in my side.
"Hey, Jason?I'm feeling kind of hungry... Do you think you could go get me a snack?"Raven inquired.
"Sure."
"Thanks... Make it something sweet, okay?That's what I'm craving."
"Something sweet. Got it."
I left the theatre and walked to the concession stand. I bought a few different things, making sure they were all sweet, and headed back. I handed the snacks to Raven and sat down again as I heard her trying them.
"Mmm, these are perfect!Thanks Jason!"She beamed.
"No problem." I smiled at her.
We settled back and watched the rest of the movie uninterrupted. After the movie ended and we left the theatre, I walked Raven to her car. She turned to me when we reached it.
"Good night, Jason." She said.
I thought about doing it. The atmosphere was right and I was in the mood, so I decided to go for it. I leaned forward and kissed Raven on the lips and to my surprise, she kissed me back. We broke off after a few seconds and she smiled shyly at me.
"Heh. Now good night, for real!"She said and got into her car. I watched as she drove off, running a finger across my lips. Her lips were soft and warm indeed..
Sunday finally rolled around and another free day to do what I wanted. I grabbed my keys and drove to the gym. Following my routine, I lifted weights for a few hours until I was tired and then headed home.
It was my first game. My third week at Centerscore and I was about to play against our first match of the season. I was pretty excited as I sat in history class, only to have that excitement dimmed by the quiz in Mrs. Swovelin's hand as she approached my desk. "Jason, please answer these questions."
"Which of the following men assassinated an American president?"
I almost laughed a bit as she read the choices. All of the them except for one had been presidents. Save for the last. "John Wilkes Booth."
"Correct. A movement to end women's suffrage would be trying to abolish women's..."
"Suffering?"I shrugged, knowing it wasn't right.
"That is wrong. Final question. The world's first artificial Earth-orbiting satellite was called.."
"Sputnik."
"Correct!You got two out of three. Not bad."
School flew by. Soon, I was at practice on the field afterwards. Coach was running us through every exercise in the book to prepare us for the game.
"I've never done so many push ups." Howard complains.
"I never want to run again." I joined him.
Practice ended soon and the coach waved me and Adam over. "Adam, Jason, I want the two of you to work together," He said. "We could use something new in the playbook." He tossed the book to Adam and left.
"All right, meat," Adam began. "I don't like it, but since you're backup QB, we're going to have to work together on these plays."
"I've got some ideas for plays that we can put together..."I said.
"Yeah?Well, you can use your ideas somewhere else. This is my team."
I frowned. "Come on, Adam. You heard what Coach said. We're supposed to work on this together. How can you just assume that I don't have anything to contribute?"
"You think you can come with something good?Okay, impress me." He scoffed.
We sat down on the bench and began working on it. I thought for a while..
"Uh.. So what if we send the quarterback over here... And then the receiver would go this way..."I brainstorm, running my finger along the map of the field.
Adam seemed surprised as I mapped this out in front of him. "Huh. That actually makes sense!"
For the next half hour, we worked together trying to come up with different plays, both throwing out ideas and contributing.
"Then the quarterback would go this way.."I started, but Adam cut me off.
"That's not bad, but what if we sent the receiver over here instead?"
"That's even better." I had to hand it to Adam. He might be a jerk, but he really knows football.
At lunch the next day, I overhead Paula and Taylor talking as I drew close.
"... So then she showed up to the mall in tennis shoes, and I pretended I didn't know her." Paula said.
"But...,"Taylor began. "Amanda said she was coming there straight from the track... She's been jogging six miles a day ever since you called her fat."
Paula looked slightly disgusted. "Ew... I guess that's why she was also so sweaty."
This made Taylor frown. "You know, Paula..." She was cut off by Paula.
"Wait... Shut up for a second. That guy Jason is coming over!... Hey, Jason, did you see the new 'Young Cash' video?"
"He's the rapper with the gold foot, right?"I inquire.
Paula scowled. "It's platinum!Duh!"
I continued on my way, wondering why I always have bad run ins with those girls.
After lunch, I made my way through the hallway when I spotted Raven hanging out with some of her friends leaning against a wall. There was a girl with black hair in pigtails with a skull choker, I think Raven said her name was Dinah and a guy with spiky green hair and multiple ear piercings who went by the name of Spike.
"I'm serious, I bet it wouldn't even hurt that bad!My uncle got a tattoo of a dinosaur and he said he barely even felt it!"Dinah exclaimed.
"See?That's what I told my mom, but she just won't listen.." Raven said.
"You girls are crazy.."Spike bluntly spoke.
I walked closer and waved once they noticed me. "Um, uh... Hey, guys."
Dinah seemed surprised to see me, while Spike just frowned. Neither said anything though.
"Give us a sec, guys." Raven said as she grabbed my arm and pulled me around a corner.
I looked back around the corner and shrugged. "What's with them?"
"Oh,"Raven waved her hand nonchalantly. "They're just not use to being talked to by... You know... A guy like you. We're the outcasts, remember?"She smiled. "Anyway, listen. My mom's going to be out of the house this Saturday, and I was wondering if you wanted to come over and watch some movies. It's been a long time since I've had a good horror movie marathon... You in the mood for some werewolf versus zombie action?"
"Sure, count me in!"I grinned at the thought of it being just us two in the house. When she gets scared from the movie, she'll go right to me. I let her return to her friends and continued down the hallway to my next class. As I passed the counsellor's office, Ms. Lee waved me in.
"Uh.. Is this about my grades?"I asked as I entered.
"I just wanted to let you know... You're doing great!You're even getting a 3.0 GPA!"
New car here I come. I thanked her and made it to class and sat down. About halfway through, someone whispered from behind me. I turned to see the girl behind me, Mallika, smiling at me.
"Hey, Jason!I'm sneaking out to see a short film playing down the street!Want to come with me?"
Kat, the girl sitting beside me, turned to face us. "I'd stay... If you care about your grades."
"Nah, I need to work on my grades. "I told Mallika, who frowned at my response.
"Fine... Your loss."
Me and Kat ended up working together on an in-class assignment and thankfully, we passed. School ended soon and I decided to stop by the gym on my way back. I waved to Chuck, who was lifting weights as well, and headed to my usual bench. I tried lifting some of the heavier weights and finding they were manageable, I started lifting them. Apparently I had an expression on my face cause I heard Chuck comment on it.
"Whoa. That's a scary face... Grit your teeth at the other team like that next game!"He laughed.
After I was done there, I went home and relaxed for the rest of the night.
The next day, me and Howard were hanging in the hallway while we waited for our next class to start when we were approached by two girls carrying papers.
"Hey guys,"One of them smiled. She had bright blue hair, strangely, and wore a black tank top. "I'm Elliana."
"... And I'm Lisa,"The other said. She had short blonde hair and wore a similar tank top. I couldn't help but think that with all that make-up on, she looked like someone out of the movies. "Have a flyer!"
Lisa handed me a paper. " 'Midsummer Night's Dream'?" I lifted an eyebrow as I had no idea what it meant.
"Man..," Howard began. "Last summer I had this dream about this clown that had a kitten for a head. And then it came up to me and asked for a glass of milk!" He grinned as if it was the coolest thing ever and I just looked at him.
"Hey,"Elliana poked Howard's arm. "You're kind of funny."
" 'A Midsummer Night's Dream' is the school play. We're acting in it." Lisa explained. "You should totally come see us!"
I noticed how flirty Elliana was being with Howard and how he seemed to like it. So I decided to help him by diverting Lisa's attention to me and not them. Doing the only thing I could think of at the moment, I started laying on the charm.
"You know, I wouldn't mind seeing you in a dream sometime." I grinned.
"Oh... I've heard about you,"Lisa smiled. "The guy with all the cheesy pick-up lines, right?"
I blinked in confusion. "Uh.."
"I'm just kidding. You're kind of cute. Of course, I've also heard you're seeing someone... Too bad... Then again, if you should ever happen to be available...,"She winked. "Well... Anyway, maybe I'll see you at the play. Come on, Elliana. We've got more flyers to hand out."
"Okay... See you soon, Howard!" Elliana blew a kiss as they left and disappeared in the crowd. As they did, Howard turned and patted my shoulder.
"Thanks for the help, Jason. We've got to go see that play. Also... I think that girl Elliana is a Brazilian exchange student. Want to help me learn Portuguese?"
I simply grinned at him. "You're on your own on that one, pal."
Thursday finally rolled around and it was time for football practice. As I got to the field, Chuck jogged over to meet me.
"Hey, Jason!Coach told me to give you a lesson on how to play D!Since we're both just in high school, most guys play offence and defence... So in addition to your regular position, you'll also have to throw a block from time to time."
"That makes sense. Thanks." I smiled.
"No prob... In fact... I'm going to show you my secret block!You have been working out, right?"He asked.
"Are you kidding?Check these out!" I flexed my arm and grin proudly.
Chuck blinks in amazement. "Whoa... For a rookie, you're packing some big guns there!," He then smiled. "Okay then!You'll have no problem learning this move!"
We spent the next few hours perfecting the move Chuck taught me and pretty soon, I began to get the hang of it. By the end of practice, I collapsed into the grass and tried to catch my breath. Chuck sat down beside me, grinning.
"Not bad. Now you're ready to kick butt at tomorrow's game!"
I gave him a thumbs up and grinned again. "You know it."
Friday morning, I still hadn't woken up yet. I laid in bed and tried to enjoy the last few minutes of freedom and rest before I would have to get up. My door opened and I heard someone come in, so I rolled over and opened my eyes to see a giant lizard head staring right at me. I nearly flew out of my bed and out the window, but spotting my mom by the door stopped me before I made for the window.
"What the heck is that?"
Then my dad's head popped out from behind the lizard head.
"Don't you recognize your school mascot, son?"
I wiped my eyes and looked again, and sure enough, it was a rubber lizard head hat. I just stared at in disbelief and slight annoyance.
"I bought this from your school!"My dad continued. "I want to be an athletic supporter!"
"Dear,"My mom sighed. "Put that monstrosity away.."
"I'm showing an interest in our son's life!Don't you want me to be a good father?"
"Other than the fact that I am now scared of lizards... Thanks for the support?" I offer half-hearted.
My dad grinned. "I'm looking forward to the game tonight, son!Knock 'em dead!"
"And be safe. I don't want you to get hurt." My mom added.
I sighed and got ready for school. It was another uneventful day, save for the game. Everyone was talking about it at school and because of that, I got pretty excited. It was my first game and would be where I would make my mark on the school. Once the final bell rung, everyone made their way to the field to watch. I met up with Howard along the way and we both headed to the locker room to suit up. As we got to the entrance, I spotted Kay and Kel running towards us carrying a helmet.
"Look what we did, big brother!,"I was starting to tell them apart by their voices and figured it was Kel speaking. "We're helping!You left this at home, so we brought it to you!"
They held up the helmet to show it was covered in flower, hearts and unicorn stickers. Howard went wide-eyed and snatched it from them.
"My helmet!What did you do to it?"
Kay smiled. "We made it pretty!"
Unfortunately for Howard, at that moment Coach came around the corner and saw us. The helmet caught his eye as he walked up and made him frown.
"Howard!Did you deface regulation equipment belonging to a regulation football team during a regulation game?"He snapped. "That's against every regulation in the book!... But since it's time for the game, I'll let you off with a warning!Get those stickers off and I'd better not catch you breaking any more rules!"
"Sorry, Coach. It won't happen again." Howard apologized.
The coach shook his head and went into the locker room.
"He seemed really mad," Howard sighed. "It's our first game and he already hates me."
I pat him on the back and we follow the coach into the room where the rest of the team was. We stood with the others as the coach began his pre-game speech.
"All right, team. This is it. The first game of the season."
"Go Lizards!"Chuck randomly shouts out, pumping his fist into the air.
"Let's kick some butt!"Jacob adds in.
Coach continued. "I know we've got a lot of new faces on this team, but I expect you to work together!"
As he said this, I noticed Adam was scowling in my direction and that just made me sigh.
"Now get out there and win!"
The team filed out onto the field and got into positions. I sat on the bench and watched Howard play in the first half along with Adam. I had to admit that Adam made some really awesome throws out there. When the buzzer sounded for half-time, Coach walked over to me.
"All right, rookie. Adam got us a nice lead, So I'm putting you in. Just make sure you don't blow it."
I glanced at the score board and saw the score was 35-21, which encouraged me a little. I grabbed my helmet and ran onto the field. The game lasted roughly an hour or so, with the final score coming to 49-35. As the rest of the team ran out to celebrate with us on the field, I noticed Adam and Bryce smile as they approached.
"Not bad, meat."
"Yeah, good game." Bryce said.
I grinned and celebrated with the team for a few minutes before we all filed into the locker room and sat around while the coach spoke.
"Good work out there, everyone." He said.
"We did it!"Chuck cheered and then he did a standing back flip, pumping his fists again.
"Woo hoo!Go Chuck!"Jacob clapped.
Howard walked over to me and grinned. "Now we just need to keep up this winning streak."
I laughed. "A winning streak of one game?"
"Hey, I'm looking on the bright side, okay?"He replied. "Today, we win a game. Tomorrow, we're State Champions..."
The coach overheard us and patted us on the shoulders. "Don't get ahead of yourself, Howard. We're going to have to train hard to beat Wilson high at the end of the season. It's going to take a lot of work... But after a game like tonight's, I think our team has what it takes."
We nod and grabbed our stuff as the team began leaving. I thought about what the coach said, but something bugged me.
"What's the big deal about Wilson?"
"They're our biggest rivals.." Chuck answered from behind me.
"And they play dirty. Watch out for them." Bryce warned was he left. Deciding to leave it at that, me and Howard headed our separate ways to home.
I went to bed early that night due to my rude awakening that morning.
Saturday, the day I was to meet Raven at her house. But I still had hours before that was to be, so I had to find something to occupy myself with for the day. TV seemed like a good option, so I sat on the couch for the entire day and watched TV, occasionally getting up to pee.
Before I knew it, I was pulling into the driveway of Raven's house and shutting my car off. It was dark out, but she had left the porch light on for me. I walked up and knocked on the door until a familiar face opened the door.
"Hey, Jason!"Raven greeted.
I was slightly taken back by what I saw. "Whoa.. You're... uh... I mean... That is to say..."
"I know, I know, "She smiled shyly. "I'm not wearing any make-up. I figured, I'm not going out and I'm not going to shock you, so what's the point?"
"Well, that makes sense. I was just starting to assume you were naturally that pale." I said innocently.
"Real cute. Now come on!"
She pulled me in and I followed her upstairs to her room. I sat on her bed and watched as she pulled out a pile of DVDs from the under her desk. "All right... I rented a bunch of these, but I haven't actually seen most of them..." She grabbed one at random and put it it, then joined me on the bed. A few minutes into the movie and I was already grossed out by it. Something about getting someone's eye cut out with a scalpel was said constantly. I wondered if these were the kind of shows Raven liked to watch, but she must have sensed my discomfort and turned to me.
"Hey... Are you okay with this movie?"
"Well... It's kind of gross to be honest." I admit.
She unexpectedly agreed with a nod. "I know, right?I am soooo not into these torture flicks! It's like, where's the suspense?Where's the drama?Where's the clever writing and the deep social metaphors?"
"Aaaaahhh!My eye!Why would you stick that into my eye?Who does that?" Is what we heard from the television.
"Why don't we put another DVD in?"I offered.
So we exchanged movies and found the next one more decent then the last. We ended up watching movies for a few hours and as the fourth one played, I began feeling the effects of the night and yawned as a new scene came on.
"No!You fool!Whatever you do, don't open the seventh door!"
Raven poked me in the side and grinned. "Betcha ten bucks he does it!"
The movie confirmed it. "Aaaaaaiiiiieeeeee!"
"Hah!,"Raven smiled proudly. "How about that, Jason?... Jason?"
I quickly snapped open my eyes and realized I almost fell asleep. "Huh?Buh?Wha?"
"You were asleep!"
"No, I wasn't!I was just.. uh.. doing an extended blink!"I said nervously.
"Oh yeah?Then what's the last thing that happened in the movie?"Raven challenged.
"The.. uh..," I struggled to think. "Mummy.. Had just killed the, um, cheerleader... So the, uh, sheriff had to go and buy some silver bullets... But he got attacked on the way by the crazed cultists?" I offered.
Raven just stared at me. "Wow..."
"Was I right?"
"Not entirely... But for a guy who was snoring away thirty seconds ago, that's a pretty good guess!"She said, nodding her head.
"Hey!I might've been sleeping, but I don't snore... Do I?"I asked.
Raven simply laughed, leaving me to only wonder what the answer was. She slid over next to me on the bed and smiled.
"Well... I guess it is getting kind of late..."
"So it is..." I wondered if this was the part where I was supposed to make a move. I couldn't tell if she wanted me to or not. I decided to offer it as a joke and see how she responds.
"So, uh, maybe it's time to do something more interesting..." I said, sliding closer to her.
"Oh really?You mean, like, do some paper crafts?"She beamed.
"Uh.." I raised an eyebrow.
"I'm just kidding, you dork!Come here!"
She leaned over and locked lips with me, which I readily accepted. I loved how her lips felt on mine, how her warm lips met my cold skin. We continued kissing passionately for a few minutes, but just as we were really getting into it, Raven sharply pulled away.
"Is something wrong?"I asked, unsure if I had done something.
"Nothing... Nothing.. It's just.."She leaned back and sighed. "Look. The last relationship I was in... Things ended up moving too quickly and I got really burned. I mean, I like you a lot, Jason... But... I kind of want to go slow and keep things innocent for awhile. Is that okay?"
I shook my head, but not in a response, rather disbelief, and smiled at her.
"Of course it is. I just like spending time with you, Raven... And if that means taking it slow and getting to know each other, I'm fine with that."
She brightened up at my response and smiled warmly. "You're so sweet and understanding, Jason. Now come here... I want to give you a kiss for the road."
We kissed one last time and I left, waving goodbye as I backed out of the driveway. On the way home, I thought about what happened and just smiled and shook my head.
Just maybe...
End of Chapter Four