Ruby did hardly much of anything before school started for another week the following Monday – the Rocket Squirrels' victory celebration at Gus's Games and Grub the previous Saturday had taken a lot out of her, not to mention the nausea that still lingered within her from the spicy wing eating contest she had been thrust into by Spencer; even a growing teenager such as she had her limits. Spencer, meanwhile, felt he had earned some serious bragging rights, as he demonstrated during lunch that afternoon, where he boasted about everything from their winning of last Friday's game, to how Ruby managed to defeat the claw game to win him the Shorty McGillicuddy bobble head he was unsuccessful for months at trying to win, to her winning the wing eating contest… sure, he was being a big braggart, but Ruby did not mind, considering his bragging made her the center of attention as she liked – she was just grateful that nobody within their group chose to bring up her less than stellar attempts at some of the games at Gus's. Plus, invitations to join their school's cheering squad were brought up in conversation again after they had witnessed her moves at Dance Battle, but she still continued to decline said invitations; spending chilly autumn evenings in a uniform that consisted of a sleeveless top and short, pleated skirt did not sound very enticing.

The four o'clock bell finally rang, which concluded school for another day, and began the various extra-curricular clubs and electives, of which, Ruby accompanied Spencer to the sports club, as they strolled down the hall together.

"So, like, what's on the agenda for this week?" She asked him.

Spencer smiled and said, "More of the same!"

"The same?" A confused Ruby asked.

"Yeah; it's still football season, after all," he explained.

"Oh… yeah… right…" she responded with a bashful smile.

"I mean, I ended up missing much of the season already, because…" he immediately cut himself off; there really was no need to go into detail as to why he missed much of football season. "Well… you know…"

"Yeah…" she said.

Spencer did perk back up as he pointed out, "But, there's still a few weeks left of the season, so at least I don't have to miss anymore!"

"Awesome sauce!" Ruby exclaimed, even though she, at first, was not entirely sure why Spencer and his teammates would just keep practicing and playing football week after week – after all, in theater club, the thespians participated in a different acting exercise each week… but, then again, once they did finally get to putting on an actual production, they spent multiple weeks basically doing a lot of the same things to rehearse for and eventually perform A Midsummer Night's Dream; perhaps engaging in football over multiple weeks wasn't much different from that.

As was the case of the previous week, Ruby found herself sitting among a number of the other girls from the sports club up in the bleachers to watch their boyfriends during practice; she still had to admit that in spite of his burly size and build, Spencer's training continued to amaze her – particularly how agile, light, and quick he was on his feet, as she watched him engage in more drills that involved various different shuffles that would be beneficial to a lineman's responsibilities for the team during the games. He continued to prove himself a rather valuable asset to the team during their following Friday night game, during which, this time, Ruby knew for certain to keep an eye on the player in the number seventy-seven jersey. Much like the Hazeltucky Hustlers, Slapneck's high school team, the Scorpions, were, likewise, worthy adversaries, and even though they had pretty much stung the Rocket Squirrels at first, it wasn't enough to deter the home team, who had managed to overtake their rivals after halftime, which resulted in another close game with the Rocket Squirrels just barely beating the Scorpions 21-20.

Agile and quick footwork was not only skill that a lineman needed to be proficient at, hand and arm work was also crucial in order to block and/or tackle the opposition, which is why among some of the drills that Spencer practiced during the following week included an initial contact drill, in which he would sprint and charge toward a dummy that was held up by another player; a shuffle to block destruction drill, in which he shuffled his feet over a set of bags on the field before he extended his arms and hands out to punch against a large rubber ball; and even a momentum drill, in which he and his fellow linemen would, while down on their knees and feet, make contact with lev sleds. Those training drills proved most effective during the Rocket Squirrels' next game against the Beaverton Bruisers; another regional high school team that lived up to their name, the Bruisers were not only huge, they also, ordinarily, crushed their rivals. Even though the Bruisers put up a great fight, it was the home team who, essentially, bruised the visitors during that week's game: Spencer and his fellow Rocket Squirrel linemen really had their work cut out for them as they pushed back against their opposition, and needless to say, there was quite a generous amount of blocking, sacking, and tackling that came from both teams – so much so that Ruby's concern over Spencer's wellbeing during the game was ceaseless. Even in spite of his bulk, some of these Bruisers were bigger than him, like the size of actual N.F.L. players, and she was constantly worried over the possibility of him being seriously hurt or injured from all of the physical contact he engaged in with the opposing players, but he still had aggression and competiveness in his favor, and was able to help carry the home team to a 27-15 victory.

Not only was Coach Rubiner very much satisfied with how much Spencer had lived up to the promise he had shown from the time he had initially enrolled in the sports club, his fellow Rocket Squirrels were definitely pleased with the turn-around they experienced since he got back into the game; just three weeks since his triumphant return, and he seemed to play better than ever, which was especially noticeable to those who had played sports with him years before in middle school.

"Man, Spence, you have been a beast out there," said Carlton while he and the rest of their team worked on removing their jerseys and pads in the locker room after the game.

"Yeah, I mean, you always were good, but I've never seen you play this good before!" Brandon agreed after he wiped his sweaty face with a towel.

"What's your secret, hombre?" Horatio asked as he stuffed his uniform into his locker.

"I ain't got no secret," said Spencer as he, likewise, stuffed his uniform into his own locker.

"I don't know; you must be doing something different, cause you have been straight-up killin' it these last few games!" Brandon said before he tossed his towel into a nearby bin.

"No, nothin' different; just the same ol' training during the week, and playin' my heart out every Friday," shrugged a modest Spencer, until he pointed out something about his return to the club, although it had nothing to do with his athletic abilities. "Only diff is now I got Ruby out there watching."

That was true; during what brief little time he spent in the sports club prior to his temporary absence, Ruby was not among the other girlfriends who were there to show their support, but now she was… perhaps that made more of a difference than he believed? Most logically, that was rather unlikely, but it did not stop the others from joshing him a little more.

"Hey, maybe that's it… maybe she's your new good-luck charm," Carlton playfully ribbed.

"Aw, get outta here!" Spencer responded as he, just as playfully, nudged his teammate away.

Unlike some in the world of sports, Spencer held very little superstition, but even so, in the moment, he did actually begin to consider if such an idea held water. Whenever he applied himself to something, especially sports, he always gave one-hundred percent… but, he would be fooling himself if he denied that he brought just a little bit extra with Ruby in the picture… truthfully, it was mostly out of a desire to impress his girlfriend by showing off just a little; as some superficial people may testify, a great girl is great motivation. Even so, perhaps his zeal to bring one-hundred-ten percent to his training and game play to impress his girlfriend may, indeed, have been a source of good luck.

Ruby, on the other hand, felt as though she probably could not stick with sports for much longer – even as a spectator. After three weeks, she still wasn't able to really get into football; the brutality and violence aside, it was such a technical and complex game that she didn't understand what happened on the field half of the time, other than a team's goal was to score touchdowns. At least by now, she had the foresight to not only eat dinner before attending the game so as to not have to pay for Flip's overpriced concessions (and to prevent any bad breath, in case she and Spencer tried to kiss again), but also to dress warmly for the increasingly chillier autumn nights. Sitting in on practice after school the rest of the week had also become a drag for her as well… at least there was a sense of energy that was somewhat contagious from a crowd of spectators on Friday nights, but that was otherwise absent during the rest of the week.

When another week started anew, she had decided that it was time for another change of pace, and when Spencer dropped by her locker after school for their walk out onto the playing field, the situation did become somewhat tense between them.

"This week should be a breeze," said Spencer. "Our next game's against the Glendale Goonies, but from what I hear, they got a pretty weak lineup this semester, so we probably won't even have to practice too hard this week."

"Oh, cool," responded Ruby. "Guess I'll just, like, catch the game Friday, then."

A puzzled look soon took over Spencer's previously contented face as he asked, "What do you mean?"

"Well, if there's not gonna be much in the way of practice this week, then, like, maybe I'll just go off and do my own thing for a while…" she said.

"What are you talking about?" He asked. "This is our thing!"

"Yeah, but, I'd kinda like to do my own thing, too…" she countered.

"Aww, come on, Rubes; I need ya there!" He insisted.

"I'll still be there at the game," she assured him. "But, you, like, really don't need me when you're practicing and all…"

"Sure I do, for moral support," he said.

"That's why I'm, like, still coming to the game Friday night to cheer for you guys," she pointed out.

That may not be good enough for Spencer at this point, even if they wouldn't have much of a fight against the Glendale Goonies, having Ruby there watching among the other girlfriends and groupies was the major incentive for him to bring one-hundred-ten percent to his performances, whether on the field during the game, or in training; as far as he was concerned, no Ruby meant no motivation, and no motivation would hinder his performance otherwise. Perhaps he had taken that good-luck charm concept to heart.

"Come on, babe; all the other girls still sit in on practice. I mean, it'd look kinda silly if my girl's not there." From his perspective, yes, it would look kind of silly that so many of his teammates' girlfriends would still show up to watch them practice, but not his… it may even have a bit of a negative impact on the macho image he had tried so hard to maintain.

"Don't you think that's, like, kinda silly?" From her perspective, unless she was a cheerleader or something, there really was no reason for her to continually just show up for practice when she otherwise has nothing to do.

Still, he was determined to get his way as he asked an obvious, yet blunt question: "Aren't you my girlfriend?"

"Duh, dude," she said; what a silly question, she thought.

"You'd really let me down?" He asked.

That question left her quite bewildered as she responded, "You don't have to say it like that…"

"I don't know how else to say it," he argued.

Ruby sighed; in as much as she did want to have a life of her own, she also still felt an obligation to fulfill her role as a supportive girlfriend, and in the moment, she did feel as though that Spencer was guilt-tripping her for trying to slack off in that role.

"Is it really, like, that important to you?" She asked.

"Of course it is," he insisted. "I need you there, Rubes; I'd be there for you!"

In a final sense of defeat, Ruby shrugged her shoulders; perhaps now was not the time to make new plans for herself after all.

"Alright, fine," she reluctantly agreed. "Send me in, coach…"

Spencer smiled, wrapped his arm around Ruby's shoulders, pulled her close, and walked toward the exit onto the playing field with her as he exclaimed, "That's my gal!"

Another reason that sitting in on practice and training sessions was such a drag for Ruby was that she shared almost nothing in common with any of the other girls. After the past few weeks, it became clear to her that they, as was the case with practically everybody in this club, did not hold just a mere interest in sports – they practically lived and breathed sports; it was what almost all of their conversations were centered around. When she was in drama, even her fellow thespians had other pursuits of interests outside of theater, not to mention other things to talk about… Luan alone had an endless supply of amusing anecdotes regarding the chaos that went on under her roof as the result of any of her siblings' antics. A small part of Ruby began to wish she had not dropped out of the theater club. She was accustomed to floating her way through one social circle after another, and with jocks naturally being popular kids in school, she figured it was a good opportunity for her to boost her own social status at Royal Woods High… sure, a bunch of theater geeks may not have done much for her in that regard, but they had a way of making her feel like she was one of them, and that she belonged… it was probably the first time she ever felt truly connected to any social circle she had been in previously. Even though she had been well accepted and integrated into the sports club, it was more obvious to her now that she was out of place in said club… could this have been what Spencer felt like when he was in theater? Granted, he did seem to actually enjoy that club; far more than she was enjoying sports. Nevertheless, as she sat on that bleacher in the chilly autumn air, while her boyfriend and his teammates participated in more of the same old drills and exercises they had been for these past few weeks, Ruby was bored out of her skull.

In as much as the other girls did enjoy watching their boyfriends doing what they loved to do, they also would occasionally converse amongst themselves – conversations of which Ruby almost never contributed to, given her lack of interest or background in anything having to do with sports, she really had nothing to say or talk about… in fact, Brandon's girlfriend, Tiffany, had finally taken notice of this, and tried to bring the Indian girl who sat next to her into their conversation.

"Yo, earth to Rubes," she said.

Ruby was snapped back to reality when she heard the little redhead call out to her in such a manner. "Huh? What?"

"We were just curious if you've ever played any sport before," said Tiffany.

As a matter of fact, there was… however, it was not a sport that she had played as part of a team, it was more or less because it was something that was played for a brief period of time in her eighth grade gym class.

"Well, I, like, played volleyball at Fern Valley Middle…"

Surprisingly, she was actually quite good at it… so much so, that not only her peers in gym class, but Coach Keck had tried to persuade her into joining their middle school's girls' volleyball team; it would have seemed like such a waste of talent and skill if she did not. However, she declined. Even if she was good at volleyball, it was not something she was interested in participating on a regular basis, and in fact, she really did not see much of a point to this sport… spiking a ball back and forth over a net suspended in the air? What was the point to that? Actually, she felt that way about a number of sports, such as tennis, for example, which was another sport she also once played in middle school gym class (and one she was not good at in the slightest): same principle, only striking a fuzzy green (or yellow, depending on what you see) ball back and forth with rackets over a shorter net close to the ground… again, what was the point?

She also felt a little put off by the look some of these other girls had on their faces – particularly the cheerleaders like Brittany and Sophia. Of all of the teams that rivaled Royal Woods, Fern Valley was their biggest arch-nemesis, and as steeped into sports as some of these girls were, just hearing that name had them gnashing their teeth.

Luckily, Tiffany wasn't as much of a die-hard as the cheerleaders were, and decided to steer the conversation into a different direction before it crashed and burned.

"So, what brought you to Royal Woods?" She asked.

"A business-op," explained Ruby. "My parents became the new owners of the Royal Woods Riviera."

This revelation succeeded in not only changing the subject of the conversation, but also the reactions and attitudes of the other girls, who now seemed amazed to hear about this.

"The Royal Woods Riviera?" Brittany asked.

"That really swanky hotel downtown?" Sophia asked.

"Your parents own that?" Tiffany asked.

"They totally do," nodded Ruby.

As the other girls marveled at the revelation that Ruby's parents were the owners of a thriving, upscale hotel in their town, Ruby herself was satisfied to finally be included into a conversation with these other girls that had nothing to do with sports, but at that moment, a blow of the whistle ceased that conversation, as Coach Rubiner indicated that practice was over for the day, much to Ruby's relief.

As he had previously mentioned in passing, the Glendale Goonies were not very worthy adversaries during their next Friday night game… in fact, they could probably best be described as the arch-typical high school team comprised of a ragtag bunch of misfits that are commonly seen depicted in movies about underdog sports teams – even Coach Rubiner could not help but feel as though that Friday's game was a bit of a joke… it was pretty pathetic that a high school football team was so inept and incompetent that one of their biggest highlights of the game was fumbling the ball on their own 1-yard line. Even those in the stands who came here in support of the visiting team felt a sense of embarrassment with the frequency of laughter that came from the local spectators who rooted for the home team; it felt more like being in the audience of the taping of a sitcom than it did a football game. At one point at the line of scrimmage, the Goonies were in possession of the ball after they, somehow, managed to score the previous touchdown; with both teams into position, the quarterback of the offense called his play…

"85! DONNER! SPIELBERG! COLUMBUS! HUT-HUT!"

The Goonies' center punted the ball to their quarterback… who immediately fumbled as he tried to catch it, which brought about even more laughter from the crowd, and a number of groans from their opponents.

"Oh, come on!" Spencer groaned. "Are you guys even trying?"

The Rocket Squirrels barely had much of a fight that evening, and with how the Goonies spent more time fumbling, tripping over themselves, chasing their own tails, and getting tackled, the home team ended up winning that week's game by a much wider margin of 31-5. All the while, Ruby continued to take her cues from the rest of the crowd, and particularly the other players' girlfriends she always sat with; like a trained seal, she cheered whenever they cheered, laughed whenever they laughed, groaned whenever they groaned… even she had to admit that week's game was far more entertaining than it was exciting, but for her, that was not saying much – if she thought that the whole routine of practicing all week for a Friday night game was monotonous, the following week would bring about something that would break said monotony.

When the Rocket Squirrels met up after school for practice the following Monday, Coach Rubiner reminded them that this would be the week in which they would be the visiting team, as they were to travel to Great Lakes City to play against their high school team, the Lake Loons, which was always one of the most exciting matches for Royal Woods every season; although the Lake Loons were still presently undefeated against the Rocket Squirrels, each and every year the Rocket Squirrels' odds look better and better, and with the way they had been playing this season, this could be their year to finally defeat them… especially if Spencer had his good-luck charm accompany him.

"So, you gonna tag along with us to G.L.C., babe?" Spencer asked Ruby as they departed from the playing field after practice that day.

"Tag along?" Ruby responded. "Dude, this is, like, short notice…"

"This is such a big game, though," he said. "From what I hear, those Lake Loons are undefeated, but we could change that this year!"

"Sounds totally awesome," she said with a little bit of false enthusiasm. "Wouldn't wanna miss that."

"Come on, then," he insisted. "Ask your parents; G.L.C.'s only three hours away, it'd be just like getting permission for a field trip."

"Goody-goody, I haven't been on a field trip in long time," she said with more of her false enthusiasm.

Ruby was not going to ask her parents for permission to tag along with the Rocket Squirrels for a football game two-hundred miles away that she had pretty much been seeing every Friday night at home for the past month or so; she wasn't even going to bring it up to them at all. Spencer had been calling most of the shots in their relationship, she wanted to be able to make her own plans and live her own life for a change, and when they met up with each other the next morning, she put on a performance worthy of an Oscar…

"Hey, babe!" Spencer greeted his girlfriend when he dropped by her locker before classes began. "So, did you tell your parents about the trip?"

"I did," lied Ruby while she induced a tone of disappointment in her voice for his benefit. "They said I can't go."

"You can't?" He asked, likewise in disappointment.

"No," she moaned. "I mean, three hours or not, it's two-hundred miles away, that's, like, a totally long way for them to drive, not to mention all the money they'd have to spend on gas, and…"

"I'll talk to the coach after school," he interjected when such a thought occurred to him. "Maybe he'll let you ride along on the bus! That way, you can still come with us to the game, and your folks won't have to worry about all that driving or using up all that gas!"

Ruby did her best to screw a wide and toothy smile onto her face upon hearing Spencer's suggestion, as she croaked, "Yaaaaaaaaaaaaay…"

Sure enough, when the sports club met after school had concluded later that afternoon, Ruby reluctantly took her traditional spot up on the bleacher with the other girls, and as she looked down on the field where the football team was converging to engage in their drills for the day, she saw Spencer approach Coach Rubiner, undoubtedly, to see if he could talk the coach into letting his girlfriend tag along with them on the bus ride to Great Lakes City for their upcoming away game. As she studied the coach's body language, the repeated shrug of his shoulders and shake of his head brought her a sense of relief, as she assumed that these were visual and physical indications that his answer to his player's request was a no; even when Spencer glanced up to where Ruby sat with more disappointment on his face, she responded with a mask of concern. After a couple of hours of more of the same kind of drills the players had endured almost every day for the past several weeks, it was time to call it a day, and as Ruby met up with Spencer once more, he relayed the bad news to her.

"Coach said the bus is for the team only; school rule," he moaned.

"Aww, so I can't ride along with you?" She asked as she tried to sound as sincerely disheartened as she could.

"Guess not…" he said with a defeated shrug.

"Aww! So close, and yet, so far away!" She wailed.

"I know; I can't believe you're gonna miss one our biggest games of the season!" He muttered while he kicked up a clump of grass with his cleat.

"It totally sucks," she responded. "Stupid bus rule!"

"Sorry, babe," he apologized. "I tried."

"I guess that's, like, all you can do," she said.

As the two of them began to leave the playing field behind, Ruby remained silently discontented on the outside, but on the inside, she squealed, YES!

Ah, yes. Ruby's parents owning a hotel. At least I aimed for a more positive stereotype... it could be worse - they could own and operate a convenience store (not that Flip would appreciate any competition), or even work as customer service representatives for a big tech company.

Either way, calling all angels, there's trouble in paradise! Spencer wants a good-luck charm a-hangin' on his arm! Wow... two old song references in a row... Luna Loud is rubbing off on me. At least Ruby can finally enjoy her own life again... or, will she?