Well this took a while but here it is. One in which Varsity pulls a prank and Lizzy worries. So without further ado...
Chapter 41: Competition
When I woke up the next morning it was five a.m. I leaned over the edge of the bed and grabbed my zip up hoodie. I pulled my arms through the sleeves backwards and tried to shake the sleep from my brain. When I was about as awake as I could get I slowly pulled myself from Dean's grip and then got dressed in my favorite pair of work out clothes. I checked around my room to make sure I hadn't forgotten anything and then leaned down to gently kiss Dean. I stood up and left the room making my way down to Goldberg's room after making sure I left a note on my dry-erase board.
"Goldie...Goldie...Goldberg." I called through the door. When I didn't get an answer I knocked a few times.
"Are you normally up this early?" Goldberg asked yawning after he had opened his door.
"Of course not but I'm sure we'll both get used to it." I answered. After spending an hour coming up with a workout routine and schedule we worked out for a bit. I headed for the locker rooms and showered before heading to breakfast. I noticed that most of the team ate like normal kids but a few of them were really chowing down and a few others were healthier about their choices.
Classes passed by slowly and soon it was time for lunch. "Where were you this morning?" Dean asked as we sat down to lunch.
"I went for a walk." I answered.
"Oh...I just woke up and you were gone. Then I didn't see you till breakfast and I thought..."
"Sorry, my walk kinda turned into a run and then I had to shower in the girl's locker room...I'm sorry?"
"No, it's fine, just a little odd." Dean shrugged and let it go.
"Welcome to the first day of the rest of your lives." Our psychology teacher said as the late bell rang. I glanced at Luis and Russ but they seemed as confused as I did. "For the past week we've been talking about psychology that deals with marriage and building a family. Today is the day we put that psychology to use and take it a few steps farther. I will pair each of you up and decide a few things for you. What you do with your situation is yours to decide." He said.
"As the number of males is greater than the number of females by three we will have one same sex couple and one single parent." There were jeers and boos around the room. "Settle down, I know it may seem like I'm doing this to hurt you but I'm not. This project is worth fifty percent of your grade. If you refuse to do this or if you don't do it you will more than likely fail this class."
He went into more detail about this project and I hoped he would put me with Russ or the baseball team's other trainer Sam Mathers. Sam was a sophomore as well and the team had given him the nickname Yogi. I knew that Sam or Russ wouldn't cause much of a problem with Dean but knowing my luck I'd get paired with Luis who Dean would be hard pressed to accept.
I was then hit with a thought and raised my hand to ask it. Mr. Stewart gave me a look and I said, "How long is this project supposed to last?"
"Seven weeks." He answered.
"Seven weeks?" I asked.
"Is there an echo in this room?" A few guys laughed. "Do you have a problem with that?"
"Er...No sir." I answered. This could be a huge problem. He went back to pairing people up and the next time I looked up he was standing between two members of the wrestling team. I'm talking about big buff guys who were known for being the straightest guys in the school along with Luis, Dean, and Fulton. They were major flirts, both seniors, and I believe one had a girlfriend in my Civics class. They looked at each other then swallowed probably knowing what was coming.
"Mr. James, Mr. King the two of you are probably the two most mature young men in my class." Mr. Stewart said. "The two of you are paired together for this assignment and trust me this will affect your eligibility to graduate if you don't." They sighed and nodded. He gave them their assignment and then made his way over to me. I looked around the room and noticed the only guys left were Luis, Russ, a kid named Mike who was a senior, and two musicians. Sam had been paired with a girl whose name I didn't know but that he seemed to like.
"Ah Ms. Jacobs...now who did I put you with again...? Oh that's right you're with..." He said.
"Luis? How did you end up with him?" Kenny asked loudly later in study hall the next period.
"How'd you end up with whom and for what?" Dean asked as the room got silent.
I swallowed hard and looked down at my nails. "Luis and I are paired together for our psych project." I said.
"Can't you ask him to change your partner?" He asked.
"Hey, she's your girlfriend and I know she's off limits. I have never made a move on one of your girlfriends until she was an ex which was the case when Kay-see and I went out. Not to mention she's solely devoted to you and would deck me if I tried anything serious with her. I don't like her like that not to mention there's this really cute girl in my art class..." Luis said his face turning slightly red as he finished.
"Luis has a crush." Dean taunted.
"Do not." Luis answered quickly. Charlie raised his eyebrows in disbelief and Luis sighed. "I don't it's just a general admiration. You should see her work it's amazing."
"She got a name?" Julie asked.
"Maryanne Sanders." Luis answered almost automatically.
"They call her Anna and if you hurt her or use her as your next fling I swear I will hang you from your skate laces and use you as a piñata so all they'll find of you will be a broken hockey stick and your skates hanging from the rafters over the ice rink." I said.
"Look I'm serious about this...I'm not gonna hurt her, not this one." Luis said.
"You're defending her pretty quick." Kenny said.
"Anna is my friend and if you hurt her I will hurt you."
"Grandpa Jacobs had a saying that roughly translated means you mess with my friend I'll mess you up." Charlie said.
"I would defend of all of you at the drop of a hat; I would for all my friends."
"Really?" Russ asked.
"Absolutely. Like Charlie said you mess with my friends I'll get you back worse. But if you're certain this one is different then I will stand back just remember my warning. Now Dean...Mr. Stewart says that if I don't do this the way it was assigned then I'm gonna fail the class. Do you know what that will do to a 4.2 GPA?" I asked.
"You have a 4.2 GPA?" Julie asked.
"4.2371," Connie, Guy, and Averman answered. I blushed.
"Wow, why so high?" Russ asked.
"Competition."
"With who?"
"My brothers. It's...My dad can tell you anything about them hell, about Charlie or Fulton as well but if you ask him one thing about me he won't be able to tell you."
"Yeah right." Julie says rolling her eyes.
"You don't believe me. It's true. Ask him...what was the color of the car Chris backed into in his first wreck. He'd tell you at the drop of a hat. Ask him the score at Seth's first hockey game. Once again drop of a hat. Ask him when Matt lost his last baby tooth, almost every visible scar on Ben's body, which elementary school Matt went to, hell even the day Charlie was born and he'll tell you at the drop of a hat. You ask him a single question about his little girl and he can't tell you."
"Come on Lizzy, don't you think you're being overdramatic?" Fulton asked.
"No, you can ask my father what day Charlie was born and he'll tell you July 21, 1981. You ask him when I was born and he'll tell you June 15, 1980." I said looking down. "Did you know he's only remembered two of my birthdays? My 10th and my 13th. He only remembered I had turned 16 because he was writing a card to Fulton and then realized Fulton was younger than I was. I could drop off the face of the earth and my father wouldn't care. Hell I doubt he only knows I exist because of my big brothers."
"At least you have a dad." Averman muttered. I cringed and looked at my hands.
"I apologize Averman and to you too Charlie, it wasn't fair and I shouldn't have said it." I said.
"It's alright Lizzy." Charlie said rubbing the back of my hand.
"Yeah coming from a family of five kids sometimes seeming like seven it's got to be tough to remember everything." Dean said.
"Yeah I guess." I answered. When I looked around the table I saw Kenny shaking his head, Luis looking sympathetic, and Guy whispering to Connie rubbing her back. I cringed knowing I had terribly upset her. "God Connie I'm so sorry." I whispered. She gave me a weak smile but still looked a little down in the dumps. So I dropped the subject and turned back to Dean.
"So anyway this...project of yours," Dean said.
"Yes, yes this project. Well the entire class was split up boy/girl except for the fact that we have three more guys than girls. One...same sex couple and one single parent." I said.
"Who's the lucky single parent?" Kenny asked.
"He's a wealthy businessman who owns a newspaper in upper Minneapolis. He's got a 25 year old son who works at the docks on Lake Superior. Our lucky or as he said unlucky businessman has been widowed for the past 11 years and hasn't seen his son in six years since he got married."
"I'd think I'd like to be in that position." Dwayne said.
"Well you can ask Russ how it feels."
"That's you?" Julie said.
"Yeah lucky me." Russ muttered.
"Why don't you sound happy about it?" Fulton asked.
"Because knowing our teacher I won't be a lonely old businessman for much longer." Russ answered. That's when the bell rang. I looked at Dean as the room emptied and then filled up again. He had a contemplating look on his face.
"You know...I've met your dad and he doesn't strike me as one who doesn't care about you."
"I never said my dad doesn't love me I'm just saying he knows very little about me. You've seen the videos of my mom and you've met Matt, Chris, and Ben. You know how much they look like her."
"Yeah I guess."
"Well then did you know that every time I see them and then look in the mirror I wish I looked more like them?"
"Why would you wish something like that? You're beautiful just the way you are. You don't need blonde hair or green eyes to prove that."
"That's not what I meant. I just meant that good or bad Dad has always noticed what they've done. I guess I figure the more I look like my mom then my dad would realize he has more than four boys."
"Lizzy you know your dad loves you. And I'm sorry you can't see it but even if you don't look like your mom you act so much like her that sometimes it's a wonder how your dad can't see her in you."
"Yeah I guess but sometimes I wish I knew for certain that my dad wouldn't have to be reminded 16 times that he's supposed to walk me down the aisle on my wedding day, that he's not gonna spend my birthday dressed in black mourning my mom's death, and I wish I knew that my dad remembers I have feelings and can't be paid off when he forgets something important. That's how I got my car. Three days before Fulton's birthday in August my dad was making out Fulton's birthday card. When he put 'Happy 16th birthday Fulton' on the card he remembered, 'Hey my little girl is older than Fulton crap I must have missed her birthday.'
"I walked into the room and he grabbed his keys saying 'Come on Lizzy we're going car shopping.' I asked him why and you know what he had the balls to tell me? He said 'Because you're 16 now and you deserve a car.' I stared at him for ten straight minutes until I barely choked 'I've been sixteen for a whole month you jerk'. He glared at me and then took me shopping for the Mustang, seat covers, and my TV."
"Lizzy..." Dean started.
"You know just once I would love to get embarrassed when my dad spouts off childhood stories to my boyfriend the first time they meet. I think my dad remembers less about me because he's spent so much time working to be away from Alicia."
"Lizzy don't you think I know how you feel? My dad is rarely at home and I never can talk to him when I call, the last time I heard him talk about my childhood was when he said 'congrats on the game son'." Dean said.
"Yeah and...I guess it could be worse. I could be an orphan in the care of my step-mom."
"So tell me more about this project."
"Alright...Well Luis and I have been married for 26 years and have two kids. Luis is a retired pro-hockey player that is now coaching college hockey and I'm a third grade school teacher. Our youngest is 17 and will be starting college in a few months. As daddy's little girl she'll be going to the school where he works. Our other child is 25 and is getting married soon. He works at a bar 20 minutes from our house. I'm also nine months pregnant but we don't want to know the sex."
"One boy, one girl, and one unknown?"
"Yup, Luis says Mr. Stewart will assign us a boy and I say it'll be a girl."
"Lizzy..." Dean paused seeming hesitant about what he wanted to say.
"Yes?" I prodded when he didn't continue.
"Do you like Luis?" he asked. I laughed for a bit at the notion of what he was suggesting. When I stopped I looked at him seriously.
"Dean, he's cute I'd be lying if I said he wasn't, but...well like he said I'm devoted to you and only you and as I said during that truth or dare game the only ones I could see myself dating on this team are Russ, Adam, and Tex."
"So this project...?"
"This project will only bring us closer as friends. Not to mention he likes Anna, which reminds me I have to talk to her and Alyssa."
"You're gonna set them up with Luis and Fulton?" Dean asked wrapping his arms around me.
"I know Anna already likes Luis but I have to make sure Aly's not gonna break my best friend's heart." I answered.
"Portman, Jacobs don't make me write you up." I jumped and Dean dropped his arms.
"Damn." He muttered. "Do you really think she'll do that to him?"
"I don't know but if I talk to her I can find out."
"Just don't let Fulton know you're interfering."
"Yeah I got that." I answered sitting back in my chair and feeling his arm lying across the back of it brushing my shoulder.
That night at dinner the varsity team played their prank on us which involved showering the entire JV team in flour and chocolate syrup. Charlie, Fulton, and I, who happened to be in the lead, looked at each other and I couldn't stop laughing.
"Varsity strikes back." Charlie gritted out wiping the chocolate syrup out of his eyes.
"Lizzy what is so funny?" Dean asked finally looking at me.
"Chris played this exact prank on Matt right before Matt started high school. He was so angry because he had the perfect outfit on and he was going to be late to school now that he had to shower and find something else that looked good on him." I said laughing.
"Well we'll follow his actions and go shower." Kenny said taking a few steps back. Half the team went with him. Connie, Julie, and I looked at them then at Fulton, Charlie, and Dean who decided to stick with us.
"Just make sure you're out of there by 9 o'clock. It's our turn to shower tonight." Connie said.
"Yeah I'd hate to set the Velvet Hammer and ER on you boys." Julie added. Connie and I smirked as the guys swallowed and nodded. They left and the rest of us went and got dinner.
"Aw did our poor little duckies forget how to shower?" Andy taunted as we sat down.
"We're all Ducks ya Varsity goon." I snapped.
"Yeah in case you hadn't noticed last year Linda's petition went through and we won the bet." Charlie added.
"But that's what sets us apart; none of you are good enough to play Varsity." Andy answered.
"At least none of us had to buy our way on to the team; we all have pure talent." Connie answered.
"That and I'm playing Varsity come spring." I said.
"Varsity Hockey genius. You still look like an idiot covered in chocolate syrup and flour." Andy snapped.
"Hey Kyle." I said looking past Andy.
"Do I know you?" Kyle answered.
"No but you can tell Rick I say hi and that I miss him." I smiled knowing he was Riley's younger brother.
He gapped at me for a second before it sank in. "Jacobs...Jakie...Makes sense now." He said putting it all together. Andy looked around at us then shook his head.
"Let's go, we'll deal with these ducks later." He snapped.
"Ms. Jacobs what are you covered in?" An authoritative voice asked from behind me. I turned to see Dean Buckley standing there. I lifted a finger and ran it down the side of Fulton's face even though I knew what it was. I tasted my finger and shook my head.
"Tastes like flour and chocolate syrup sir." I answered.
"I guess the better question would be why are you covered in it?"
"Laws of Physics, sir." I said.
"Laws of Physics?" Dean Buckley asked.
"Yup more like Newton's first law of motion. The law of inertia. An object at rest will stay at rest until acted upon by an outside force. In this case the object, the buckets holding this mess, was at rest until acted upon, the door being pushed open, causing gravity to take effect, another one of Newton's laws and thereby shower the entire JV team."
"Uh...I'm glad you're learning something Ms. Jacobs. Do you have any idea of who set this up?"
"Well...no sir."
"Not even a guess?"
"Sure but that guess could incriminate the wrong person sir."
"Do any of you know?" The others shook their heads as well. "I suggest then that you go shower and stop getting this mess all over my mess hall floor."
"Er sir we would but that would mean that..." Charlie started.
"That would mean that we couldn't finish our delicious and nutritious dinner and I'm sure that a great man like yourself would not like to bear the brunt of Coach Orion's anger if six of his players showed up hungry when he decides to call practice at o'dark early tomorrow because you didn't let us finish our dinner." I said lightly when I knew Charlie would flounder.
"But if you really want us to go shower we can." Fulton added.
"Alright finish up here but then I want you to go shower. Not all at the same time granted but eventually."
"Thank you sir." Charlie said. When Dean Buckley walked away Charlie turned to me. "How do we get them back?"
"Let me sleep on it and I'll tell you at breakfast." I said. The rest just nodded and we got back to our dinner.
Well there you have it. You know it's a lot harder than I thought it would be to do this. I like to write my stories out before putting them up. However that means writing them out twice. First on paper then again typing them up. I really wish there was any easier way to do it but a lot of the methods I know of are really expensive and I can't afford a tablet pc. My problems aside let me know what you think of the chapter by reviewing if you please.