Chapter Six

Going Places

Monday. Which mean a quiz to start the morning off. And what made it worse, was the fact that it was a math quiz. I sighed as Mr. Russell stood beside me with quiz paper in hand.

"Okay, Jason. 4 x 4 x 4 = What?"

"64"

"Correct. 3 x 3 x 3 = What?"

"27"

"That's right. If A = 4B and A = 20, what is B?"

"5" I yawned at how easy this seemed now.

Class breezed by as I didn't pay much attention and pretty soon, the final bell was ringing. I grab my stuff and head out to my car when I saw Paula angrily storming by.

"Stupid Amanda!"She muttered. "What am I gonna do now?"

"What's wrong?"I decided to ask, stopping beside her.

"Amanda was supposed to give me a ride home today, but she got scared in Math class and went home early!Fractions get her every time.."

"I could give you a lift if you want... My car's right there..."I pointed to my old rustbucket.

"Are you kidding me?"Paula scowled. "In that piece of junk?If anyone sees me in that, my popularity will plunge so fast I'll have to take Spud to Homecoming!Just looking at it makes me want to shower and get a tetanus shot..."

"Okay, okay. I get it." I frown, knowing fully well my car wasn't very cool.

Suddenly, a large van full of students pulled up next to us, blasting loud techno music. A handsome guy with brown hair jelled back in an casual jacket leaned out. I recognized him as Hector. "Yo, Paula!Looks like you need a ride in the Party Van!"

"Yeah, Paula,"Jacob peeked out as well. "Come on!This van's a blast!"

"Wow, thanks, Hector!You're the best." Paula smiled and hopped in, then the van sped off.

I stood there looking at my car and then sighed. I really needed to get an upgrade.

The next day, I was walking to the cafeteria for lunch when Dinah pulled me aside in the hallway.

"Hey, Jason." She said.

"Dinah?What do you want?"I asked.

"Do you have a minute?I need to talk to you about Raven..."

"What's going on?"

Dinah rubbed her arm. "I know what happened between you two... And I think I know a way that you can patch things over."

I frowned. "You want me to patch things over?You're one of the reasons she broke up with me!"

"I know, I know," She sighed. "And I feel really bad. She's just been so sad the last few days... She hasn't been herself at all... She really misses you, Jason... And I'm sure you miss her too."

"I do miss her... But I'm pretty sure she doesn't want to see me."

"Look. This weekend is the Vampire Ball,"Dinah offered a sympathetic smile. "It's this big goth party where we all get together and role-play as if we were vampires. I know she said she needed space... But she'd be absolutely thrilled if she saw you there!I'm sure she'd realize just how much you mean to her... Will you go?"

Thinking for a second, I decided. "I'll be there."

"You'll do it?Really?"

"I can't believe I'm going to attend a Vampire Ball... But yeah, for Raven, I guess I will."I grinned.

"That is so cute!"Dinah beamed. "You're going to make her so happy, Jason... I know it!"

"I sure hope so..."

School ended and I made my way to the field for practice. As I entered the locker room, I noticed Howard was scribbling on a piece of paper on the bench. I walked over to him and peered at the paper.

"What's that?You're not doing homework, are you?"I mocked.

"No,"Howard said. "I'm trying to come up with a play for the team. After the prank my little sisters pulled, I'm still on thin ice with Coach... But I figured this might get me back onto solid ground."

"Let me see."

We spent the next few minutes going over the play and discussing different positions. After a few changes, I grinned.

"There, that looks good. I think this just might work!"

Howard smiled. "Nice. Thanks for helping. But Coach will never look at it if he knows I worked on it. He thinks I'm just a slacker."

"I have an idea." I said, grabbing the play and leaving it beside the Coach's playbook.

"Heh, that's perfect!Now we just have to wait to see what he thinks of it.."Howard beamed.

Once everyone was there, Coach ran us through a brutal set of exercises and drills for a good half hour before he ended the practice. As me and Howard walked into the locker room afterwards, we saw Coach looking at Howard's play and scratching his head in confusion.

"Where did this play come from?"He muttered.

I stepped forward, acting as if I just happened to see it. "Oh, I think Howard was working on that play earlier. It must have gotten mixed up with your playbook."

"Huh?Howard came up with this?"After looking at it for a few seconds, Coach grinned. "This is a solid play!I guess he's more serious about football than I thought!"

Across the locker room, I shot Howard a thumbs up. After everyone left, we gathered our things and headed out.

We had practice on Thursday and once I got there and began, I was approached by Adam who was frowning.

"Hey, meat!Your runs are looking sloppy out there."

"Whatever, man..."I brushed him off. "I can still run circles around you."

What he said next surprised me. "Look. I'm not here to get into a fight... I'm here to try to teach you something... For the sake of the Fighting Lizards. It's a special move that'll boost your game, But honestly, I don't think your pathetic legs are strong enough to handle it!"

Frowning, I sprinted to the end zone and back. Adam nodded.

"Not bad, meat... You might actually be strong enough to learn this... Check this out."

Me and Adam worked on the move for a little while and next thing we knew, practice was over. We sat in the grass trying to catch our breath while the rest of the team left the field.

"I guess you could be a lot worse," Adam said. "For the team's sake, I hope you learned something."

I grinned. "We'll see in the next game."

The next morning, I went downstairs to grab some breakfast when my parents strolled into the room arguing about something.

"I said no, and I mean it!"My dad frowned. "That woman is not setting foot in this house!Not after last time!"

My mom returned the frown. "She's my sister and she can visit whenever she wants!"

"She gave me three ulcers!And one of my ulcers had its own smaller ulcer!The doctor had never seen anything like it!"Dad exclaimed.

I immediately knew who they were talking about. "Uh oh... Is Aunt Bertha in town?"

"Yes, she is," My mom answered. "And she's coming to dinner tonight!... And wait a minute... What do you mean 'uh oh'?"

"Nothing!I just, uh, have a football game tonight!"I said.

My mom nodded. "Well, be sure to rush home right after. Your aunt will definitely want you to be here when she reads her latest excerpts from her autobiography!"

"And you're not weaseling out of this,"My dad frowned. "If I'm going to suffer, so should you."

"And you'll both be on your best behavior!"Mom threatened.

Me and my dad didn't have anything further to say, mostly because we feared getting into prolonged arguments with mom.

Later that day at lunch, I overhead Amanda and Taylor talking while on my way to sit with Howard.

"Hey... Wait a second... Are wearing Paula's skirt?"Taylor asked.

"Yup!We're BFFs now!"Amanda beamed.

"But... I thought we were BFFs!"

"We are!"

Taylor frowned. "But... But you can't be BFFs with two people!Plus Paula is really mean to you!"

"I know," Amanda shrugged. "But she's really cool... And she's got awesome clothes to lend me."

"But... We were going to get revenge, take Paula down... Rule the school ourselves!"

"I know... But look!This skirt is so cute!"

"I..I know it is." Taylor admitted. "But one day, mark my words, I'm taking Paula down... And then I'll be the most popular girl at school!"

Amanda seemed to have lost interest as she dug into her pocket and pulled something out. "Ooo!I found a piece of candy in my pocket!"

"Never... Never mind." Taylor said. "Oh!Here comes Jason..."

I walked over and stopped by there table. "Hey girls."

"Hi, Jason... Hey, have you heard the new Caniohead album?"

"I can't understand a word Tim Yolk says... That dude is such a mumbler!"

Taylor frowned. "Well, maybe you're not listening closely enough!"

Sighing, I continued on my way to Howard. I should probably give up trying to please those girls, as it seems I can't quite get the hang of it.

After school ended, I headed out to the field for the game. I suited up and followed the team out. Coach put me on the bench for the first half while Adam and Howard were called in. While I sat there watching, A little kid came running up and tapped me on my shoulder.

"Hey, Jason!It's me, Elmo!Sorry you're not playing right now..."He said.

"Um... Hi, Elmo. Who are you again?"I asked, not quite sure if I should know him or not.

"I'm your biggest fan!That's who!You're my favorite football player!I just know you're gonna make the pros."

I smiled at him. "Gee, thanks, kid."

"Sure thing!"He smiled back. "Good luck. I hope you get to play in the second half!Remember me, Elmo, your biggest fan!"

The kid ran off and I turned my attention back to the game. I did so just in time to see Howard going long down field for a pass. To my horror, I watched as two large guys tackle Howard to the ground just as he dives for the football. For a few seconds, he just laid there, unmoving. Someone went over to check on him.

"Hey!Howard's out cold!"Chuck called out.

Jacob cleared the area arround him. "Everyone, get away from him!Give him some air!"

I quickly ran out and pushed my way through to Howard. "It doesn't look like he's waking up!"

"Can we get a stretcher out here?"Coach shouted.

"Coach, is he going to be okay?"I asked, worried.

"The doctors will take care of him," He replied as they made way for the nurses to take him on the stretcher. "For now, concentrate on fooball. Jason, Get in there!Since Howard's out, we're going to change our strategy and run the ball every play!"

Everyone cleared off the field except for the players and the game resumed. It wasn't easy, but we managed to pull off a win even with our loss. The final score was 35-28 and after congratulating the other team on a good game, I quickly ran to the sidelines where Adam met me.

"Hey, Jason. Good game. I know it's tough playing when you're worried about Howard."He said.

"Yeah... I hope he's okay."

"Me too..."Chuck walked up and took his hat off, running a hand over his head. "I've had enough concussions to know they're no picnic."

"Maybe Coach talked to the doctors..."Bryce offered.

We waved the coach. "Coach, is there any word on Howard?"I asked.

"He's at the hospital. You can go see if there's any news on how he's doing."

I quickly gathered my things and drove to the hospital. I asked where he was at the front desk and she guided me to the seating area. I saw that Howard's parent's were already waiting there. They acknowledged me with nods.

"I just know he'll be fine. I just know it." His mom was saying.

His father sighed. "He's a tough kid. He'll oull through.."

We turned to see a doctor enter dragging Kay and Kel by the arms behind her. "I'm sorry. Howard can't have any visitors right now."

"Let go!We need to see Howard!"Kay frowned.

"We have to tell him that we put spiders in his car and deleted all the numbers in his cell phone!"Kel cried.

Howard's mom quickly grabbed her daughters. "Katherine! Kelly Marie!I told you to get a snack and come right back here!"

"But.."

"We were just.."

"Girls,"Howard's dad intervened. "Now's not the time. We all want to make sure Howard's okay, but we need to trust the doctor."

"How... How is he, doctor?"Howard's mom asked.

"He still hasn't woken up, and we're running some tests. It will take a while, so you might as well head home for the night." She said.

That's when I remembered that my Aunt Bertha was coming over for dinner and my mom would kill me if I didn't show up. But... I decided to stay longer, for Howard's sake. Me and his family were waiting in the seating area for a few hours before the doctor came back out.

"I see you're still waiting here. Howard's awake now. He's going to be okay."

Howard's dad grinned. "That's my boy!"

"Can we see him, doctor?"His mom asked.

"We'll keep him in the hospital overnight just to make sure everything is normal. But you're welcome to talk to him for a few minutes. Follow me."

We followed her back into the room and Howard was sitting up in bed, and he gave us sympathetic smile. "Hey... You guys must have been waiting forever."

"It was forever!"Kel cried.

"It wasn't so bad." I offered.

"Thanks, Jason, for waiting. You're a good friend." Howard said.

I waited around for a little while longer until Howard finally sent me home to get some rest. Giving in, I drove home and quietly entered the house. Unfortunately, my parents were waiting for me in the living room and they were not happy.

"What are you doing getting back so late?"My mom scolded. "We were so worried!"

"I'm sorry... Howard got knocked out. I didn't want to leave the hospital until he woke up.."

"Well, you missed your Aunt Bertha."

"Boy, you don't know the horrors I had to endure.."My dad gritted through his teeth.

"Dear, be quiet!We're trying to punish him!"Mom said.

I frowned. "For sticking by Howard's side when he needed me?"

My parents stared me down for a few moments and I stared back. Finally, my mom sighed and hugged me.

"Sorry, honey."

"You did the right thing, boy." Dad said, softening up. "Just don't abandon me when I'm with that woman again!She read a section of her memoirs to us out loud. It was truly chilling."

"I believe you..."I assured him.

"Let's all get to bed now. It's late."My mom said.

"Goodnight, Mom, Dad. Thanks for being so understanding."

I went upstairs and quickly fell asleep. It was another exhausting day and tomorrow would probably be no better.

End of Chapter Six