Rehearsing with Dale

Sunday morning, I pulled onto Marcus' drive as the sun broke over the treetops. Cars lined the edge of the pasture while people gathered around the pasture fence.

"What's with all the spectators?" I asked Bella as she walked toward me.

"Ah, didn't you drive through town? It's blanketed with Dale, and these are Dale's fans."

I smiled and shook my head. "What…?"

"Everyone is here to support Rooster and Marcus. Come on," she said and, taking my hand, towed me toward the trebuchet.

I stopped us under the shade of trees and had her turn toward me. I gave her a gentle, lingering kiss. "Good morning."

She ran her hand up the buttons of my jacket and ran her finger along my jaw. "Morning."

With secret smiles, we continued to meet the group setting up the trebuchet.

As we approached, Carlisle's hawk-like eyes fixed on our entwined hands. His eyes studied Bella before they cut to me, and with a slight smile, he nodded and turned to help Marcus check the rope's knot.

While the trebuchet was being set up and checked, I took some time to move through the crowd of spectators and found Emmett and Rose with the varsity and junior varsity football and cheerleader squads.

"Did you have anything to do with this?" I asked Emmett.

He grinned and threw his arm over Rose's shoulder. "Ah, got JV to deck out Main St. I knew the townspeople would be curious, and once they saw the awesomeness with their own eyes, they'd stay on as fans. If you know what I mean."

"It's great to see everyone here. Thanks."

I walked on with slaps to my back and handshakes from townspeople I did not know but who seemed to know me and my relation to the Fling King.

"Good morning, Mr. Cullen!"

I turned. "Tyler, what has you out on a Sunday morning?"

I watched as students seemed to come out of the woodwork and gather around Tyler. It was a little 'children of the corn,' not gonna lie.

"I have an idea of how I can help." He motioned to the group gathered around him. "We are the Mathletes and Robotics clubs, and we think we can help you win."

"Really?"

"Yes, it's a matter of balance and aerodynamics. Using a DSLR camera and Meshroom software, we could make a model to scale and figure out Dale's weight distribution." Heads nodded as he talked.

"That's a lot of work in one week, fellas."

Tyler stepped forward, standing tall, and looked me in the eye. "We've got this, Mr. C. We've scheduled and estimated the time, and it's doable when running two team shifts."

I looked around the group of eager faces and back to Tyler. "Well, mister, you've just earned yourself detention." The group stepped back with a groan, but Tyler beamed. "Yes, sir, we'll give it everything we've got." Tyler said and then laughed when three of the geeks said, "Scotty."

I grinned, "I'll see you in Monday detention."

I kept my eye on the group of science nerds taking pictures and measurements of Dale, all while huddling in animated discussion.

"What the hell are your students doing around Dale?" Carlisle asked.

"They are some of the greatest minds in this town, and they are working on an aerodynamic strategy for your team, dear uncle."

Carlisle ran his hand over his beard in thought, "Hmm, well, between the crowds and the geek squad, we've got quite the backing to win this year."

I patted him on the back. "The whole town is working to make an honest man out of you, Uncle. We'll get you down that aisle."

Carlisle brushed my hand off his shoulder, and I laughed as he barked, "Fuck off."

The last practice throw was off its mark and didn't fly as far as the week before. Tyler and a boy with stereotypical taped glasses, who I later found out was Eric, huddled with Carlisle and Marcus. I thought Tyler would pass out, but he stated his statistics and hypothesis while still upright. When Carlisle turned a frustrated glare on Eric, his knees buckled, and I think he may have ralphed behind the barn later.

The whole day had been frustrating. There was a lot of pressure placed on the team. Carlisle was barking. Marcus could not be still, causing him to mess up, which just perpetuated the cycle. You know what they say, 'a bad rehearsal makes for a great performance.' Next week I guess we'll find out if that's true.

After the crowds left, we cleaned up and made our way to Evanson's for consolation pie. Carlisle, Esme, Marcus, and Carmen sat in one booth canoodling while at the children's table; Bella and I actually ate our pie."

What are we doing wrong?" Bella asked. "We're the young couple. We're supposed to be making everyone uncomfortable."

I stole a spoonful of Bella's cobbler and said, "We're just getting warmed up." I kissed her nose, and she wiped away the sticky with a napkin. I stole another spoonful and added, "One of these days, we'll blow right past them."

We both glanced over to the table of Carlisle pulling Esme onto his lap while Carmen fed pie to a starstruck Marcus.

Bella took a bite of my custard pie and said, "yeah, like that's gonna happen."

I threw my arm behind her and wrapped my arm around her shoulder. "We'll make it happen."

She leaned in and kissed my neck. I left the sticky right where it was.