But suddenly, the cemetery started to dissolve around him. He could feel the cold in his face and extremities again as he took note of where he was now...apparently back on the rooftop where he'd met Stanpovalichki. And although his vision was blurry, he could make out, standing over him now in place of the dead Matt, crying his name...
"A-A-A-Allison," he stammered weakly through chattering teeth, finding himself unable to move due to the cold.
"Come on Brian, just hang in there!" she cried desperately at him. And over her shoulder, through the snow, he could see more familiar faces-faces he'd waited all night to see. "G-G-Guys," he barely managed to say. The world was starting to slip away...
"Oh God, he's completely hypothermic!" he could hear Claire gasp in horror, "How long do you think he's been up here!?"
"Never mind, just call 911 now!" Allison barked at her.
"All right, all right, don't shout at me!" things were getting blurrier for him, but he could still make out Claire desperately rummaging through her purse for her cell phone. He gathered enough strength to dig through his own pockets, and was relieved to find his wallet was there. "Yeah, this is a major emergency," he could hear Claire telling the medics, seemingly from the end of a long tunnel, "We've got a boy here, severe frostbite, maybe hypothermia, on the roof at...what the hell street were we even on!?" she bellowed in frustration.
"East Sixty-Eighth, I think. I'll go check, though," he could just make out Andrew rushing down the fire escape. From the alley below, he could hear a dog barking. Could they perhaps have been led to him by...?
"Stay down there and direct the ambulance when it shows up," Claire called down to the wrestler. "East Sixty-Eighth Street; we'll have someone to show you where he is. Hurry, he's fading fast!" she breathlessly told the operator before bending down and staring worriedly right in Brian's face. "We've got to get him warmed up somehow before they get here; I don't know if he can make it otherwise," her voice was fraught with deep fear.
"Well I'm open to any suggestions," Allison sounded deathly worried too.
"Hey don't look at me; he's the genius, not me!" Claire gestured down at him. "Come on Brian, please just stay with us a few more minutes!" she begged him tearfully, taking hold of his hand, "You didn't give up earlier when Shermer looked certain to lose big; don't give up now when...!"
Abruptly something flopped over his face from the side. "Bender," Allison sounded amazed, "You came back. How'd...?"
"Never mind, Reynolds, just get that ambulance here so I can have it back A.S.A.P., OK!?" Bender's voice snapped. Brian managed to raise his head to see him standing on the ledge, without his coat on.
"So, it looks like you do care for Brian after all, don't you, John Bender?" Claire was grinning, having some satisfaction in the moment.
"Shut up!" Bender barked unconvincingly at her, definite concern visible on his face even through Brian's blurred vision, "I don't care for him; it's just...it's just...I didn't want to live with the guilt of doing nothing!"
"You most certainly do care for him," Allison told him with a smile of her own as she wrapped Bender's coat as tightly around Brian as she could manage. "Are you OK, Brian?" she took his other hand, "Say something, please..."
"Is M-M-M-Matt alive?" he could barely manage the words. Then his eyes started going wide as he noticed a white light getting very bright above him. "N-N-No, pl-pl-please, not y-y-yet!" he pleaded softly, "I d-d-don't want to d-d-d-die anymore!"
"You're not going to die, Brian; we're here for you now, we're going to get help. Brian? Brian, come on, don't you scare me like this...!"
But anything else she had to say was lost as the light got brighter still and very quickly engulfed him entirely...
"No, you don't understand!" he cried into the whiteness, "I don't want to die anymore! Please, God, send me back!"
"I think that can be arranged," came Stanpovalichki's voice. The homeless man and his dog materialized out of the void slowly and walked towards him. "So, I take it you understand now what I was trying to tell you, am I right?" he asked Brian, grinning knowingly.
"Yeah, I see it now, I see everything now," Brian nodded, "It's just...the way things have gone for me over the years, what happened tonight just felt like the end of the world, like something I'd never be able to recover from. But please, since you told me everything else," he looked Stanpovalichki right in the eye, "why would Matt want to shoot himself in that world? No one loves life more than Matt; no one I know can make me or anyone else laugh harder..."
"Well, there's your answer right there, actually," Stanpovalichki shook his head softly, "The funny thing with comics, they're usually funny precisely because they're crying on the inside. Your friend was driven to be funny out of loneliness apart from having you around, thinking he needed to do it to keep you caring for him. If you hadn't been there, he wouldn't have had anyone to reach out to, and, well, you saw what would have happened there."
He put an arm around Brian. "Too often when I look around these days, people give up on life too soon," he said, a heavy look on his face, "They think they don't make any difference, that the world will just keep spinning as usual without them. That's what your friend thought in that world. That's what you've seemed to be thinking lately in the real world. But even for someone your age, every life ripples, every life has an effect. And not just the obvious stuff either; the most innocuous thing can have the most profound impact on someone else. And even the bad things can lead to good. Take a look at that detention a few weeks ago, for instance..."
"How do you know about that?" Brian had to ask.
"Oh, it's all part and parcel of the job," the homeless man told him, "I know getting detention seemed like the end of the world for someone like you who appreciates and respects the school system. But look at what came out of that detention: you earned a quartet of good friends, and it looks like that friendship just paid off in a big way. And besides, getting to know you helped make their lives better, just as getting to know them made yours better. You helped open them to understand more of the world around them, and that's going to be a big boost for all of them some day. Now take a look at the world without you: since you'd never been in that detention then to let them know what it felt like to be living your life, they kept their stereotypes about smart people. And even though they came out better with each other, they were still partially brainwashed-which would have left them lesser people still. You may have felt like a fifth wheel by the end of that day after they found companionship with each other, Brian, but they never would have learned the full lesson without you there."
"Hmm," Brian mused, "I never really thought of it that way. Well then, I guess good did come out of detention, then-although I hope I never have to go through another one. Well," he scratched Keema behind the ears, "If I can go back, I'd like to go back now, but first," he looked Stanpovalichki in the eye again, "Before I do, I just want to know, who are you, really?"
"Who am I?" the homeless man shrugged, "Just another guy who was handed a tough life, but made the best of it. And tough is an understatement in my case: if people had to suffer job loss, foreclosure, and the tragic death of loved ones, all of which left them living on the streets, as it did for me," he choked up, but kept his composure, "They might decide to do the same thing you thought of doing tonight. But it was the cold that got me in the end like it almost got you; when all was said and done, I froze to death in that alley below the building you climbed up, alone except for Keema here. No one wanted to help me, because too many of them only saw me as a homeless man. Too often, people can only see the superfluous, and not just the scoundrels like Mr. Vernon, who clearly, as your friend Allison might say, died when he grew up and can't see the forest for the trees anymore. Even the good people in the world can make those mistakes if they're not careful. And so I ended up here. And perhaps that's why the powers that be gave me this job, of watching over the city and helping those in need, that as the least in life, I could be tasked with doing the greatest good after life. Just promise me before I let you go, Brian, that from here on, you'll always remember what I'm telling you here. Life can be hard, too often it is, but it's ALWAYS worth living, because there's always hope for better days in the darkest storms, and you never know quite what's waiting around the bend."
He was grinning coyly, as if he knew something he wasn't going to reveal. "And I guess that's everything," he said as he and his dog started fading away into the whiteness, "Good luck to you, Brian Ralph Johnson; you may be surprised at what's waiting back on the other side."
"Wait, will I ever...?" Brian started to ask, but Stanpovalichki quickly disappeared, and all was white again.
Slowly, the light faded until it was fairly dim above him. Then he realized he was looking at an overhead light, and he didn't feel cold anymore. He moved his arms and legs to find himself covered with at least four layers of blankets. He had no clue where he was now, but he could tell at least he was alive. And at the moment, that was all that mattered to him.
And then he heard Mary's voice not that far off. "...just seems sometimes that he's the only thing that matters to you," she was saying, embittered yet sobering. He raised his head softly. He was inside a hospital room, and his family was slumped in chairs near the bottom of his bed, looking bleary-eyed and worried.
"Honey, your father and I love you so much," her mother hugged her close, sniffing loudly, "We always have and we always will. It's just that Brian's personality just ended up a little closer to ours, so I can see how you'd think we'd only care for him. But if anything like this had happened to you, we'd be just as scared as we are now for him. You're special in your own way, and we're proud of you for that."
She gave her daughter a kiss as her husband nodded softly, barely in reality. Brian could see the fear choking their faces, the tears choking their eyes-fear and tears for him. And he knew then and there they still cared. His fears had been unfounded after all. "Mom?" he let out a weak croak. His parents' heads shot up at the sound. Their faces promptly erupted in joy. "Oh Brian...!" his mother lunged for him in a flash and started smothering him with kisses. "Oh we thought we'd lost you!" she sobbed happily between kisses, "You don't know how worried your father and I were...we were driving all over the city once we realized how serious...if anything had happened to you...!"
"Listen," he still had to get one thing off his chest, "I'm sorry about earlier..."
"Oh just forget about the competition," his father pried him away from his mother and hugged him, "We don't care about you winning it or not anymore, Brian. We care about you; we care that you're still here with us. We love you, Son," he pulled back and looked his oldest child in the face, regretful but grateful, "Your mother and I love you so much."
"And if you thought we couldn't love you if you didn't win it, we're sorry," Mrs. Johnson added quickly, "Maybe if we'd told you what we're telling you now earlier, none of this would have happened. But your father's right; we love you, and we're proud of you, even without a win tonight. We've always been so proud of you."
She hugged him as well and seemed unwilling to want to let go (all while Brian watched his father pick his sister up and embrace her a strong kiss, whispering, "We love you just as much," in her ear-and for once, Mary appeared to be satisfied with the attention). "And," his mother said when she finally did release the hug, "You won't believe how many people have been waiting here for you to come back besides us. Maybe that will make you feel better, too."
She bustled to the door, thrust it open, and proclaimed, "He's awake!", which set off a cheer from what sounded to Brian to be close to a dozen people. "You can come in first," she addressed someone outside, "He certainly wouldn't be here with us now if you four hadn't found him."
A smile crossed Brian's face as his former detention associates filed in, looking deeply relieved. "Bender," he spoke up to the criminal, who was the only one not explicitly ecstatic at the moment-the blanket he had wrapped tightly around himself gave a hint why, "Thank you for your coat up on the..."
"Don't thank me, Johnson, please; I got frostbite when it took the damn ambulance five minutes longer than they said it would take to show up," Bender grumbled, "Why couldn't April have been more like April's supposed to be tonight so...?"
"What Bender's trying to say in his own unique way, Brian," Claire spoke up, "is that he's glad to have helped. And actually, he was just as worried for you as the rest of us; he was close to breaking down when it looked like you weren't going to make it..."
"I most certainly was not!" Bender snapped unconvincingly.
"Yes you certainly were," Andrew chided him teasingly, grinning, "You were fighting to keep from crying when the doctor told us all there was a good chance Brian might not make it; I saw it clearly, so don't bother denying it."
"All right, you got me, I was upset," Bender conceded roughly, "So what's the big deal to you?"
"The big deal is, you have changed for the better," Claire put an arm around him and smiled, "And truthfully, I'm proud of you for that, John Bender. I guess I did misjudge you earlier tonight; I'm sorry for..."
"Well, maybe in a way I needed that slap," Bender confessed, his face starting to contort with discomfort; clearly, confessing that he'd erred wasn't usually in his nature, Brian surmised, "Maybe I'm the one who's really been living in a dream world instead of the rest of you, thinking friendship's not worth anything. But anyway, after you'd left, I went into the deli I saw on the corner and ordered a hot chocolate to warm up. But as I sat there at the counter, I did some thinking, and I realized that if I just walked away when Johnson needed help, I'd be turning into my old man. And the last thing I want to do is become him. And, well, I realized you were right; I made that agreement same as the rest of you, and knowing I was letting Johnson and all of you down by walking away, especially you," he met Claire's eyes, "...in the end, I found I couldn't live with myself for doing that, that I owed you to do something as much as I owed Johnson."
"Well, you didn't need to think of it that way, but I really appreciate that, Bender," she leaned into him, still smiling, "It's because you were willing to sacrifice a little warmth for a little while that Brian's still here, so you should feel good about coming back. I won't forget..."
She was cut off as the door was flung wide open, and a deeply worried Matt barreled in. "Matt, you're alive..." Brian exclaimed, relieved the dream was only a dream.
"Yeah, I'm alive, and I've been scared stiff you weren't!" Matt shouted at him, "Every time I tell you that you take things too seriously, you go off and do something like this! Do you have any idea how scared I was you were already dead before we all went out looking for you!? Do you..." the rage quickly turned to tears, "Do you have any idea, Brian, what my life would be like if you weren't in it!?"
"I, I actually do now, Matt," Brian leaned up in bed, "And I'm sorry if I scared you. I'm grateful you've been my friend all these years; you've helped me when I needed someone to lean on. The whole time around when Mary was born, for instance..."
"Hey!" Mary shouted indignantly.
"Well it's true when someone's born after you, you know," Andrew leaned down to her level, frowning, "I felt the same way Brian did when my brother was born; you feel you're being pushed out of the way until the baby arrives. If your parents have another one someday, you might feel that way too."
"Exactly, Andy. You made me feel better then, Matt, and I'm glad you're here now, too," Brian told his friend, "I won't put you through anything like this again, promise."
"Thank you, because you've gotten me through so much more than you realize too," Matt told him, relieved. "And for the rest of you," he turned to the rest of his classmates, "I don't quite know how to say thank you for finding him in time..."
"Well, the truth is, we almost missed him," Allison confessed, "We'd actually gone past the building he was on and were about to go around the corner, when this dog came running up, barking like there was no tomorrow. It ran back into the alley as if it wanted us to follow it, and from there, we heard Brian up on the roof..."
"Was it a yellow Labrador, by any chance?" Brian leaned forward, intrigued.
"Uh, yeah, actually. Why?"
"Oh, just wondering," he smiled. Stanpovalichki had been looking out for him the whole time.
"You four have our thanks as well," Mrs. Johnson told them, grateful, "I'll admit I'm surprised it would be you that would have found him, since I'd never have thought Brian would have wanted to..."
"Well, truthfully, Mrs. Johnson, we probably wouldn't have done it up till a few weeks ago," Claire told her, "But somehow, something happened in that detention we were all in; don't ask me to explain it, but by the end of the day, we all understood each other, as if we'd..."
She was cut off again as the rest of the Shermer Simmons team now filed in as well. "You all right?" Corey immediately grilled Brian, heavy guilt on his face for what had happened earlier.
"I am," Brian nodded, "And I'm not upset anymore, Corey."
"Listen, Brian, I'm, I'm sorry," the team captain admitted, lowering his head, "I...I got too caught up in wanting to win the tournament for Dad too, and well, I shouldn't have taken the loss out on you. I guess in the end I'm not as good a captain as I thought."
"No, no, you are, Corey," Brian tried to encourage him, "You did a great job trying to get us together for this..."
"Yes, you certainly did, Son," Mr. Jacobson entered the room now and patted Corey warmly on the shoulder. "But you didn't have to win it for me," he told him, then turned to his entire team, "Just being able to work with five kids eager to learn and work hard is reward enough for me. So, Brian," he approached the bed, "If it can make you feel any better, it has been a great honor to work with someone like you these last four years."
"Um, well, it does a little, sir," he nodded.
"Maybe this will too, Brian," Lori leaned past the teacher, "I did some looking back when we were looking for you, and I realized, we owe you for finishing second in the end; if you hadn't nailed those three in a row towards the end of the first match, we'd've gone home early again."
"Really?" Brian thought it over himself. The final score for the first match had been 48-44...they were right, he realized; take away just one of those right answers, which hadn't seemed all that significant at the time, and Shermer would have gone nowhere again. THAT had been what Stanpovalichki had meant. "I, I guess you're right," he mused.
"Darn right we're right," Corey slapped him on the back, "And forget about that last question too; you single-handedly brought us back from the edge in the last round. If anyone's really to blame," his expression drooped again, "it's me; if I hadn't missed those two in the second round..."
"Don't worry about that, either," came a new voice from the doorway. Brian was amazed to see the Lake Forest Central team filing in now. "What are you all doing here?" he had to ask.
"We were worried too," Jeffrey approached the bed. "Hey listen, you have nothing to be upset about," he told Brian, a deeply respectful look on his face, "You really did win out there tonight. What you helped lead in that last round was just incredible. I think ninety-nine out of a hundred people would have folded being down that much. You showed real class and grit that I've never seen any team have in this tournament, and you have our deepest respect for that."
He extended his hand. Brian hesitated for a moment, then shook it. "Well, glad to make it interesting for you this year, I guess," was the best he could say, his eyes scanning for Melissa in the back of the crowd, but being only able to make out her outline behind her teammates.
"Interesting?" another member of the Lake Forest Central team spoke up, "That's the understatement of the year. That was far and away the best match I've ever been a part of, and I've been in it all four years. Like Jeffrey said, what you did at the end was simply extraordinary. In fact, I..."
He stopped short as the room's door opened again, and a dark-haired woman Brian didn't immediately recognize (although he'd thought he'd seen her in the front row at the convention center earlier) came rushing in, dusting off snow. "Hello, I'd heard that...oh good, he's all right," she breathed a sigh of relief between deep gasps to see him sitting up in bed, "I'd've hated to have all this end on a sad note..."
"Uh, excuse me, you are...?" Mr. Johnson inquired.
"Oh, yes, of course. I'm Elaine Turner from the Sun-Times," she introduced herself, "I've been hoping to find the Shermer team since the match ended," she turned to them, "Then I'd heard you'd all come here, and..."
"What do you want?" Mr. Jacobson asked, although he had a look in his eye that hinted he had an idea what she was there for.
"They assigned me to cover tonight's championship match. And let me just say, I think every single person in that building was impressed with what you all did at the end there," she told the Shermer team with a genuine smile, "Including me. In fact, I think it was honestly one of the most inspirational things I've ever seen. You may not have won in the end, but I think we all fell in love with you not giving up and fighting all the way back when we'd all thought you were certain to lose big. That took incredible heart and conviction from all of you. And so, if it's all right, I've been trying to track you all down to ask permission to feature you in a full page article I'd like to write on your team the next chance I get."
"A full page article in the Sun-Times!?" Corey's face lit up, "You're serious about that!?"
"Absolutely," she nodded warmly, as the rest of the Shermer team let out excited gasps at this terrific turn of fortune, "You all set a wonderful precedent by that tremendous comeback, and I think that might help inspire people, especially those with disabilities or who have low self-confidence, to know that that anything is possible if they try."
"Well then, I guess you have my consent, Ms. Turner," Mr. Jacobson nodded with a smile of his own as his team burst into ecstatic cheers, "As I've said in the..."
He was cut off as the door abruptly slammed open, and a fuming Vernon stormed in. "Well, I see you're up now," he glared Brian down, roughly pushing past Turner without looking at her, "Let me just say for the record, Mr. Johnson, how furious I am; you wasted major..."
"Now come on, Richard...!" Mr. Jacobson bellowed, looking furious himself.
"Stay out of this, Tom!" the superintendent thrust a finger in his employee's face, "You made us spend hours in the city looking for you long past curfew time, worried half of us stiff, and above all showed complete contempt for this school district by violating every single rule in the field trip guidelines," he glared murderously in Brian's face, "So, it's no skin off my teeth to tell you you've got another detention this coming Saturday..."
"Then you'd better give me detention too!" came Matt's indignant shout. Vernon spun towards him. "What did you say to me, Martelli!?" he asked, shocked and livid.
"You heard what I said!" Matt stepped between Brian and the superintendent, furious, "If you're so bent on giving Brian detention for this, Mr. Vernon, you'd better be prepared to give it to me too! I won't let you railroad him for everything after you almost sent him over the edge by being a sore loser with him tonight!"
"All right, Martelli, have it your way!" Vernon roared, "You'll be joining Johnson in detention this Saturday, and with an attitude like that...!"
"You'll have to give me detention too, Mr. Vernon," Corey joined Matt, also looking mad at the superintendent, "Matt's right; you made everything worse for Brian tonight, and this team sticks together."
"Now wait just a minute here...!"
"Better give me detention too," Lori also joined her teammates, giving Vernon a harsh scowl of her own, "We wouldn't have even finished second in the tournament if it wasn't for Brian, Mr. Vernon, and we could have told him that after the match if you hadn't chased him off by chewing him out."
"I'll take one too," Josh did admittedly look worried to be crossing Vernon, but he nonetheless joined the seniors at Brian's bedside. And then, to Brian's surprise, the entire Lake Forest Central team strode over and joined their opponents. "They're right," Jeffrey told Vernon sternly, "He doesn't deserve to be punished for anything, and after seeing what you did to him after the match, we'll all happily stand with him and them for..."
"You watch your attitude with me, buster! I know your school's superintendent very well, and I can have him send you straight to detention too!" Vernon shouted at him. "And as for you," he glared at his team, "I can't believe all of you! For people who got so far in this tournament by being so smart, you're all acting really dumb right now...!"
"Not just them!" Claire strode over and joined the academic teams. "I'll take another detention too if you insist on punishing Brian for this!" she glared at Vernon.
"Same here," Andrew joined her.
"And here," Allison stomped over as well. All eyes turned to Bender in the corner. "Don't you even think about it, John Bender!" Vernon warned him, "You take one step over here, and you're out for good! I mean it, mister!"
"Ah, shove it, Dick," Bender casually strolled over and joined everyone else, "After all, Saturdays just wouldn't be the same if we weren't together," he told his nemesis mockingly, "You complete me."
"You!" Vernon thrust his finger in the criminal's face, "I know you're behind this somehow! You warped Johnson's mind in that last detention, and now you've warped everyone else...!"
"EEEEEEEEP! Sorry, wrong answer, Dick," Bender folded his arms across his chest and yawned confidently, "And by the way, if you want to go ahead and throw us all in detention despite the solidarity we've just seen, perhaps the school board, and probably the press too," he glanced slyly at Turner over Vernon's shoulder, "would love to know that you openly gambled on the outcome of the finals. I think that-plus assaulting a student, as all of us saw you do earlier-is a bigger violation of the school code than running out on a field trip, don't you, Dick?"
"How dare you, you arrogant little cretin!" Vernon roared at him, "Well, Mr. Bender, what makes you think the school board or the press is going to believe someone like you, even if it was true that I gambled on anything!?"
"Well I think these are rather serious accusations," Turner strode towards him, frowning, "So I..."
"Mind your own business, lady!" Vernon told her off roughly, "I'm superintendent of the Shermer School District, and you're...!"
"Elaine Turner, Chicago Sun-Times," she furiously flashed her press pass at him, bringing Vernon to abrupt silence, "And it appears there's another story here besides the one I originally came for, one perhaps concerning teacher corruption at Shermer High. Because I saw you get physically and verbally abusive with this boy after the match too," she pointed at Brian. So I hope that's not the only skeleton in your closet..."
"I have nothing to hide, lady, and I don't like you jumping on my back over...!"
"Nothing to hide, Dick? I don't think so," Bender stepped forward, a massive grin spreading on his face, "I can tell you a load of things about Dick here," he casually put his arm around Turner, "Let's start with a few weeks ago in detention, where he took me into his office and did everything he could to goad me into hitting him so he could..."
"That's a bold-faced lie!" Vernon bellowed, purple with rage, "You cannot believe a word John Bender says, miss; he's in detention every single week and has no respect for me or any authority...!"
"Then she'll believe me! My father's one of the richest men in Shermer, after all!" angrily scowling at Vernon, Claire stepped forward as well and put an arm around Bender. "Everything Bender can tell you is the truth," she told Turner, "In fact..."
"I'm warning you, you're on thin ice already, Miss Standish...!"
"Go to hell, Mr. Vernon!" she shouted furiously at him, leaving him sputtering in shock, "If Brian had killed himself tonight, it would have been your fault! You deserve to go down for everything you've done, and you will! Because Brian's not the one who's a failure and an embarrassment to Shermer High, Mr. Vernon; you are!"
"And that, Cherry my dear, is why I love you!" Bender declared grandly, giving her a big hug. "Having fun tasting your own medicine, Dick?" he taunted his nemesis, "I'm enjoying every minute of this..."
"SHUT UP! JUST SHUT UP, YOU...YOU...FILTHY PARASITE!" Vernon roared at him. Taking a deep breath, he shouted at them, "That did it! You and Miss Standish are both out for good, you hear me, out! If I see either of you on Shermer School District property again...!"
"Oh go hump a camel!" Claire told him off again, trying fight off a laugh when Bender punctuated this by blowing a contemptuous kiss at Vernon. "Anyway," she turned back to Turner, "yeah, he did try and goad Bender into getting himself expelled in that detention. I was in it too, so I know it for a fact. In fact, Mr. Vernon coldly bullied all of us that day, made us feel like dirt. We can all vouch for it..."
"She's lying to cover up for him!" Vernon all but screamed, "John Bender is a terrorist at Shermer High, he's corrupted Miss Standish here to do his bidding for him, and I can guarantee you, miss, that absolutely no one else will vouch for a word he says...!"
"Wrong. I'm going to back him up," Mr. Jacobson spoke up sharply, looking outraged at his boss, "You've been out of line all night, Richard, and I think the school board's got to know about that-and if the press does too, so be it."
"Are you threatening me, Tom!?" Vernon shouted angrily at him.
"Yeah, I guess I am," the team instructor nodded, unmoved by the superintendent's ire, "And for your information, Richard, you may think the school board will blindly follow your every word, but I know full well there's lots of things they won't stand for, and getting physical with students is one of them. So once they all learn you shoved Brian after the match-after you all but threatened him before we went on stage to begin with-then not even Rooney'll be able to stop them from putting an ad in the paper for a new superintendent, effective immediately."
A wry smile crossed his lips, as if he'd been waiting years to say that. For the first time since Brian had know Vernon, a degree of fear crossed the superintendent's face. "Uh, well, Johnson," he hastily bent down over the boy, "I, uh, guess everyone does sort of have a point; I guess I got a little, well, carried away earlier. I, uh, want you to know I didn't mean anything by it, so, uh, no hard feelings, huh?"
"Sorry, Mr. Vernon," Brian shook his head, "But you've also been too hard on my friends, too," he glanced at his former detention associates, "So I think they deserve an apology too from..."
"Oh come on!" Vernon shouted, immediately dropping the charade, "John Bender your friend, Johnson...!?"
"He is now," Brian nodded firmly, "Especially since I wouldn't be here now if it wasn't for him, so I think you especially owe him an apology. Look, Mr. Vernon," he leaned forward and looked the superintendent in the eye, "I've always had the deepest respect for you, just like I've respected every teacher I've ever had, and I'm telling you what I'm telling you because I still respect you, and I don't think you're a bad man deep down. But you really need to change the way you look at the world. You only see what's on the outside; you showed that much just now. And you can't look at the world that way and expect to make a difference. I realized when I was in detention I needed to change the way I looked at the world; all of us realized we needed to change," he nodded at the rest of the Club, "And we have all changed for the better, and if we can do it, so can you. Please, Mr. Vernon, listen to me if no one else; you can't stay brainwashed your whole life and make something positive out of it. If you keep on blinding yourself to the fact there's more to people like Bender, who showed tonight he can be selfless and courageous when..."
"You know what, Johnson, just forget it; there's no point trying to reason with a complete fool like you who'd think John Bender amounts to two cents!" Vernon snarled contemptuously, emphatically choosing to remain brainwashed, "And furthermore, you've turned into a total idiot lately, so there's no reason I...!"
"Hey!" livid, Mr. Johnson stormed over and grabbed Vernon by the trench coat, "You will not talk to my son that way! Oh, and by the way, didn't you also yell at Brian that you really wanted to 'give him the gun back and let him finish the job,' was it? Well nobody gets away with that on my watch!"
"N-N-Now look, it, it, it wasn't a shove," Vernon desperately made a last ditch effort at damage control, "This whole thing is all just a big misunderstanding..."
"Misunderstanding nothing, you gutless coward!" Mr. Johnson angrily shoved a finger in the superintendent's face, "I'll see you in court, Vernon! And when I do, you're going to pay for everything you said and did to Brian like you can't imagine! Now get out of here!"
He gave Vernon a hard shove of his own. Vernon sputtered loudly, totally defeated. "You're mad," he snarled defensively at everyone in the room, "Every last one of you is mad!"
"Want to bet, Dick? Oh yeah, I forgot, you already bet, and you lost-in more ways than one," Bender was smiling wryly to see his foe going down, "But before they toss you to the curb, I just want to say, my years with you were the best I ever had, Dick. I salute you."
He gave the superintendent a contemptuous salute. Vernon roared in frustration and stormed out the door, kicking the garbage can so hard on the way out that he substantially dented it. No sooner had he disappeared from view than the Lake Forest Central instructor stuck his head in the door. "Well, I think it's about time we get going now," he told his team.
"Right, Coach," Jeffrey said to him. "Well, good night then," he told the whole Shermer team, "And regardless of the final score, I think you're champions. And it's good that the rest of the Chicago area's going to know it too," he gave a nod to Turner.
"He's right, you are champions," Turner agreed, "I'll give a call to set up the time for the interviews, then," she informed Mr. Jacobson.
"Let me give you my number," he scribbled it out on a spare piece of paper and handed it to her, "And thank you so much for this."
"I felt your team deserved a reward. And don't worry about your hard-hearted colleague; everyone's going to know about him too when I get done," she laughed when this prompted Bender to raise her arm high in celebration. "Well, good night."
She followed the Lake Forest Central team out of the room. "I don't believe it, the smartest kid in Chicago said we were champions," Josh was awed.
"On top of that, a full page article in the Sun-Times!" Lori was ecstatic, "I don't think they've ever gotten that, even when it was clear they were becoming a dynasty!"
"Hell, I don't think the basketball team even got that when they won the state championship three years ago!" Corey let out an excited cry. He turned to Brian with a wide smile, "And we have you to thank for this for not giving up, Brian, so be happy about it."
"I, I am," Brian nodded, delighted. This was certainly turning out better than he'd expected. He joined his teammates in a high five (Matt, though, his sense of humor now back, missed on purpose and pretended to fall on his face, cracking everyone in the room up). "I'd say this calls for a celebration," the team captain proclaimed, "If it doesn't conflict with the newspaper article, I'm open for dinner Friday at Chris's Grill at seven."
"Well for one thing, though, let's not let it get to our heads," Mr. Jacobson advised his son and his teammates, "While this is wonderful, let's not get egotistical about it." Then he smiled. "Nonetheless, I am proud of all of you. Even without a victory, tonight really was the crowning achievement of Shermer High's academic system, and you all brought honor to the school and the town. Well, it's getting late now, so let's leave Brian have some rest."
"You did great, pal, real great," a beaming Corey gave Brian's hand a firm shaking before he followed the rest of the team out. Matt, though, hung around a little longer. "So, all that time you were saying you felt you weren't good enough to be on this team, how does that feel now?" he asked his best friend, his eyebrows raised knowingly.
"I'm never been more glad to say I was wrong, Matt," Brian told him, "And thanks for what you said to Mr. Vernon; I appreciate that you'd care that much."
"That's what friends are for," Matt nodded, "True, I'm still trying to process that I actually just yelled at a teacher..."
"If it's any consolation, Martelli, Dick long ago forfeited any goodwill for his position," Bender snorted behind him, "So don't be upset; in fact, consider what we all did a plus."
"You have an interesting way with words, John Bender. But, honestly, I like that," Matt gave him a strong pat on the back that almost sent Bender sprawling. "And as my way of saying thanks," he told the rest of the Club, "Consider yourself invited to the party Corey just mentioned too."
"Well, if you insist," Allison told him, but she looked appreciative of the offer nonetheless.
"Of course I do," he gave her arm a vigorous pumping. "Well, have a good night's sleep," he told Brian in parting, "But before the sandman comes, stay awake for one more surprise I think you're going to like."
He made a grand show of pirouetting out the door. Brian frowned. "One more surprise? What's that about?" he asked his former and now perhaps future detention associates.
"Oh, I wouldn't know," Andrew shrugged, but he had a gleam in his eye that hinted he knew more than he was willing to immediately let on. "Well, I guess then we've all got a reunion on Saturday if Mr. Vernon's word sticks," he mused out loud.
"It's not going to stick, Clark; Dick's goose is already cooked. The school board'll have his head mounted on their wall in no time flat once all this leaks out," Bender predicted confidently.
"Too bad, I was hoping he'd at least try to hear me out on what we all learned," Brian shook his head softly. Rough as Vernon had been on him all night, and much as he agreed Vernon deserved everything that had befallen him in the last few minutes, he hadn't been lying when he'd said he still had respect for the man.
"Well you can't expect everyone to change when given the chance, Brian," Allison shook her own head, "It was just too late for Mr. Vernon, I suppose. Maybe the five of us are luckier than we realize to have seized the opportunity when it came. Well, anyway, even if Mr. Vernon does get all these detentions upheld, I don't think it'll be a tightly run a detention as last time."
"I guess I can live with that," Brian shrugged, "And thanks for standing up for me too, guys," he smiled at them, "That really meant a lot, even though you didn't have to sacrifice your weekends for me. You know, I couldn't find any of you all through the match and thought you'd decided not to come. I've never been so glad to have been wrong."
"We all made that pact, Brian; we had to..." Claire trailed off yet again, turning towards a figure that had suddenly appeared in the doorway. Brian turned to follow her gaze. His heart rate immediately skyrocketed: it was Melissa. "Hi there," she greeted him softly, approaching the bed.
"Uh, hello," he responded, sweating, "Uh, what, what brings you back here? Aren't you going to miss your ride back to Lake Forest?"
"I'm getting a ride from my parents; there's a lot I'm going to need to tell them after this," she admitted, looking somewhat uncomfortable and more than a little guilty, "I, well, had more to say than the rest of my teammates, but I wanted to wait until we were alone...well, reasonably alone," she acknowledged they were far from alone at the moment.
"OK, but I can't quite see what you'd have to say that the rest of your team didn't already cover," Brian told her.
"Oh it's more than the match, actually," she told him, a look of gratitude crossing her face, "This is about what you did for me tonight, Brian Johnson."
"Huh?" he frowned, "I'm...I'm afraid I don't understand..."
"Let me explain then," Melissa dragged over the last unoccupied chair in the room to the head of the bed and sat down in it. "I committed to Northwestern back in September," she began, "Their physics department was the best one I saw in all the brochures I got from the other colleges. As the year went on, everyone else in my class committed one by one, and it soon became clear I was going to be the only one who was going to be a Wildcat. Half my class seemed to be going out of Chicago, even out of state. Maybe they were bent on leaving home, maybe Northwestern's standards were too high...I don't know..." her expression substantially fell, "But that made me feel horribly alone in the world, like I was lost in a desert..."
She sighed miserably. "On top of that, the closer it's gotten to graduation, the looming knowledge that I'm going out into the real world's gotten worse and worse. And that's scared me; it's really, really scared me," she lowered her head, "I haven't felt ready for it at all. Knowing I'll be all alone in an unfamiliar place where I'll essentially be a nobody at first...it's been a really terrifying thought. I can't even count the number of nights in the last two months that I didn't get to sleep at all, or when I did that I cried myself to sleep; that's how hard it's been for me."
"Well I understand where you're coming from; I've felt a little nervous about graduation for the same reason, actually," Brian confessed to her, "But I still can't understand why you..."
Melissa quickly unzipped her purse and dumped its contents on the nightstand. Brian's eyes went wide when he saw what had been inside: rat poison, at least fifteen packets of it. "I'd decided I had nothing left to live for, that the real world would have been too much for me to handle," Melissa confessed somberly as everyone in the room gasped in shock, picking up what she'd intended to do, "I was going to sneak out after the match, win or lose, find a secluded place, and take every last bit of this. I'd convinced myself it was the only option I had, that I had no hope otherwise..."
She put her face in her hands and moaned with guilt. Brian's mind flashed back to earlier in the evening. So the look on Melissa's face throughout the match hadn't been determination at all, he realized; it had been indifferent depression. And then, Stanpovalichki's nightmarish reality came back to him, and he realized with horror that it wouldn't have been some anonymous bum the medics would have found dead in that alley below him when he'd woken up in the nightmare...it would have been her...
"I'm...I'm sorry," he managed to say, "You...you couldn't tell anyone?"
"As far as my parents were concerned, I was living the perfect life; I don't think they'd've believed me," Melissa shook her head, "Probably no one would have believed me; smart people like us aren't supposed to have these kinds of problems as far as most of the world's concerned."
She leaned closer to him. "But when I looked in the program before the match, and saw you'd be going to Northwestern for physics too...I can't really describe it, but that made me feel a whole lot better," she told him, her expression brightening, "Knowing someone I'd be in college with made everything look a lot less bleak for me. And then, when you ran off in tears after the match, I saw how worried everyone was for you, and I realized how much I'd be hurting everyone I care for if I'd gone ahead and killed myself. I felt like I had to find you and make sure you didn't do the same thing I would have. So I was out looking for you for close to an hour before I got the word they'd brought you here."
"It's true, Brian," Allison spoke up, "We ran into her when we were searching for you ourselves. And we could tell she was really, truly worried about you; we could see it in her eyes. Of course, we didn't know..." she glanced at Melissa almost apologetically for having not known of her dire circumstances.
"It's all right; no one else picked it up either," Melissa absolved her, "I covered up my feelings so well that no one had a clue what I was planning." She turned back to Brian. "But it's true, I was really worried for you, Brian..."
"You...you actually spent a whole hour out there looking for me on your own?" he was floored, "You don't even really know me..."
"Maybe not, but I feel like I've gotten to know you tonight. And besides, it was the least I could do for you after you gave me an anchor of familiarity to latch on to for next year. So please don't feel bad about anything that happened tonight, Brian; you may not have been the hero for your team in the end, but you are a hero to me," smiling gratefully at him, Melissa gently took his hand, "You saved my life tonight-really, you did, Brian," she nodded when he leaned backwards, stunned to be hearing what he was hearing, "I saw no one else on your team is going to Northwestern, so I would have taken that poison for sure if you hadn't been on that stage. I'm still here now because you were there. You showed me that I'm not alone, and that I have so much more to live for. And I can never thank you enough for that."
"I...I...I..." he stammered for something to say, "Well, uh, Melissa, if, if there's anything I can do to help make the transition to college better for you..."
"Actually, maybe the question should be what I can do for you," Melissa leaned closer to him with an even deeper smile, "I was talking to Matt while we were waiting for you to wake up, and he mentioned how you've felt miserable thinking you're the only one in Shermer High without a date for the prom."
"Well, that is a bit of an exaggeration; Matt does tend to..."
"Regardless," she took hold of his other hand, "I'd be more than happy to go out with you on prom night. Consider that my reward for you for everything you've done for me."
"You'd...you'd...you'd actually want to go out with me!?" he was dumbfounded, "I...well...you...there's no one else from your school...?"
"They've always thought I was too smart too," she shook her head sadly, "You're not the only one who's spent dance nights at home wondering if you were good enough for anyone-Matt told me about that too. In fact, he told me all about you-and how you've had a crush on me since the competition in freshman year..."
"He didn't...I...well...I..." he turned away guiltily.
"Don't be ashamed," Melissa gently took his chin and turned his head back towards her, "Don't be ashamed at all, Brian. You don't know how much it means to me to know you feel that way about me. I'd given up hope that any boy would ever have feelings for me. I really, really appreciate it so much that you care for me."
"Well...I...yes, yes I do," he started nodding softly, "I do like you a lot, Melissa. I've looked at girls before, but there was always something about you that stood out, something that said that you're someone special...thank you for taking all that time looking for me."
"Don't mention it," there was genuine affection in her eyes as she looked at him now, "Oh, and going by what everyone else told me about you when I asked them," she nodded at the rest of the Club, "It looks like you're exactly the type of boy I've been hoping I'd find for a long time now: sweet, loyal, hard-working, honorable, everything I really value in someone. So don't ever think that you're not good enough for me, Brian; you have everything I'd ever want just the way you are."
Words failed Brian. It was hard to believe he'd been in total suicidal misery not more than an hour or so ago, or whenever he'd last been fully conscious before now; now he had a place in a major newspaper article and, it appeared, the love of a stunningly beautiful girl. Why had he ever thought of killing himself, he thought to himself? Had he known all this had been waiting for him after the match...
"Well, I guess I'd better get going now," Melissa checked her watch, "Don't want to keep my parents waiting too long. But before I go," she dug out a pencil and piece of paper and scribbled down what appeared to be her phone number. "Here. Call me the next chance you get," she told Brian, placing the paper on the nightstand, "I'd, well, like it if we got together at least once before the prom-if your answer's yes, that is..."
"Yes? Of course it's yes," he was smiling broadly himself now, "How could I not say yes to someone...well, someone as beautiful as you are...what?"
Melissa sniffed happily. "You're the first person my age that's ever said that to me," she looked touched, "I guess it takes a brain to appreciate another brain in the end."
"Well they're fools not to appreciate how beautiful you are," he declared, unable to believe he was actually getting to tell a girl this, "I've known that about you since I first saw you three years ago, Melissa. I just could never get up the nerve to say anything, always thinking you wouldn't want anything to do with me, feeling I wasn't good enough for you. Well anyway, yeah, I'd be glad if we got together before the prom; maybe you can show me how far along you are on that rocket..."
"Oh, you want your name on it too?" she teased him, "Oh, and one more thing before I go," she reached into her purse and pulled out, to Brian's surprise, her first place trophy from the evening's match. "Here," she placed it on the nightstand next to her phone number, "You deserve this a lot more than I do. Besides, I have three others at home already; I don't need another one. And thank you again, Brian, for just being you," tears of joy flooded her eyes, "I owe you so much tonight...I owe you my life..."
She flung her arms around him in a big hug. Brian felt something wonderfully warm passing through himself. It was a magical feeling, one that got even better when he felt Melissa plant a deep kiss on his cheek, and he hoped the two of them could continue to share that feeling for a long, long time to come. Much like his mother, Melissa held the embrace for a long time before finally letting go. "Have a good night Brian-my hero," she bade him farewell with the warmest of smiles, gathering up all the rat poison packets and dropping them in the dented garbage can as she left. Brian pinched himself to make absolutely sure he wasn't dreaming. And it was clear it was wonderfully, wonderfully true: he was in love, and he could tell that she loved him in turn...
There came steady applause from across the room. "Well, it looks like someone finally got the girl," Andrew was grinning from ear to ear.
"I...I can hardly believe it," Brian stammered, still on a high from the encounter, "What exactly did you guys say to her while I was out?"
"Oh, just that we all thought you were a great and honorable guy, and that she'd be making a colossal mistake if she didn't go on at least one date with you," Claire admitted with a wide grin of her own, "It looks like she made her final decision about you before we could talk with her, but if we did help her make that decision in any way, we're glad to have helped. And it looks like you really lucked out too, Brian; we can all tell she's a really sweet girl deep down."
"You'd...you'd all do that for me?" it was his turn to look touched, "You'd all...?"
"You've more than earned a chance for true love, Brian," she told him encouragingly, "You deserve her. And she absolutely deserves you."
"I'll say she does," Mr. Johnson agreed with a warm smile of his own, "I always knew my son would make a wonderful husband for someone."
"I hear we have a patient who's up and about now," a doctor entered the room and nodded to see Brian awake, "How're we feeling, young man?"
"Very good, in fact, never better, really," Brian admitted. The doctor put a hand to his head, followed by a stethoscope to his heart. "Yep, looks like we're back to normal now, thankfully," he nodded, "I guess we can sign the release documents now and let you folks be on your way," he told the Johnsons, "Come this way, and we'll have everything taken care of in no time."
"Good. Get your coat on, honey, we'll be back in a minute," Mrs. Johnson told her son, pointing at his coat hanging on the chair in the corner. She followed her husband and daughter out the door to sign the papers. Brian swung himself out of bed. "Guys," he hailed the rest of the Club down before they could leave, "I'd just like to say, thanks so much for everything. How about dinner, next Saturday, my treat, to go with the one my team invited you to?"
"We'd appreciate it a lot, Brian," Claire smiled at him, "We were so worried for you earlier; you don't know how glad we all are you managed to pull through," she turned to the others, who nodded in agreement, "I hope you realize now how much everyone cares for you as a person, including all of us."
"I do, Claire. Believe me, I do," Brian smiled himself.
"You're a good man, Brian, and detention wouldn't have been the same without you," Andrew added, shaking Brian's hand, "We never thought you were a fifth wheel; you were always a full equal to the rest of us. Just know we've all got your back going forward, no matter what."
"I appreciate it, Andy. And Bender," Brian turned to the criminal, "you were wrong in detention..."
"Well thanks a lot, Johnson!" Bender snapped.
"...you were wrong that the world didn't care what happened to you," Brian emphasized, "I certainly care, and I think everyone should care. I'll make sure everyone cares from here on, I promise you that. I'll do it for all of you, actually," he smiled at the rest of them, "You upheld the bargain for me; I'll uphold it for you. You were all champions tonight too, and don't ever forget that, because no matter what happens from here on, you all amounted to a lot tonight."
"We all really appreciate that, Brian," Allison looked moved, "But you don't have to do anything for us. Knowing you're going to be OK is reward enough for us. You going to be all right if we go now?"
"Of course I'll be all right," he nodded, taking hold of Melissa's trophy and phone number and putting them to his heart with a smile, "For the first time in a long time, I know I'll be all right."
"Again, thanks for going out to look for me, Mom, Dad," he commended them a half hour later back home in Shermer, now dressed for bed, "I appreciate everything you've done for me over the years. I've...I've worked hard all these years to please the two of you, to make you happy..."
"You make us happy by being our son, Brian. You always have, and don't ever forget that," his father gave him one final hug.
"What everyone said in the hospital was right; you were a winner tonight in so many ways, and you always will be a winner to us," his mother added one more of her own. "Be nice in saying goodnight to your brother, Mary," she turned to her daughter and told her firmly.
"I'm glad you're not dead," Mary mumbled at him, not making eye contact-but Brian thought he could hear some humility in her voice. Perhaps she was taking some early steps to seeing him in a better light. Or maybe not. But at the moment, he didn't care. "Good night," he bade his family farewell for the evening, sinking into bed as they walked out and closed the door. He switched off the light and lay down on his back, feeling better than he had since...since he could even remember. And yet, he still felt he needed to do something for the Club despite their insistence that he didn't need to...
"Hey Romeo," came Stanpovalichki's voice at the window. The homeless man and his dog were standing on the ledge. Grinning, Brian walked over. "Have you been there all this time?" he asked knowingly.
"Oh, maybe, maybe not," Stanpovalichki shrugged playfully, "Glad to be home now that you know about everything you would have missed if you'd jumped or frozen to death?"
"Yeah, I am, and I can't thank you enough for showing me everything you did. All the time I was looking in the mirror and hating what I saw, I guess I wasn't looking close enough at who I really am. But, I do have one last request," Brian leaned close to the glass, "I you could help make my friends' lives better too...consider it my way of repaying them for tonight...if you could help make their parents understand, or make sure their lives work out..."
"Well, can't make any guarantees, but I'll certainly give it a try," Stanpovalichki smiled mischievously, "Have a wonderful life, kid; it certainly looks like you've got one."
A strong gust of wind blew across the ledge, and the homeless man and his pet appeared to disintegrate into the snow. Brian smiled as he trudged back to bed and sank back under the covers. It may have been brutally cold outside, but at the moment he felt oh so warm inside. Tonight, without question, he knew he'd won first prize.
THE END