Friday
"I'm late for class again," I say as I jump down the last few steps. I run through the hall knocking over some underclassmen and receiving dirty looks from the others.
"Hey Kid. Kid, wait up," screams Mike, trying to catch up with me. I am now three minutes late for Hungarian class, and Mike expects me to wait up. If he could walk just a little bit faster maybe I could be on time for class on Monday. Of course, there is this strange force that glues my feet to the spot and forces me to wait for him. "You're not late for Mr. Vaytay again, are you?"
"Mike, you're in my class. And I ever on time?" I ask him. It's a pretty obvious answer. We walk into that class at the same time everyday, and I am the only one who gets in trouble.
We walk into the classroom. "Ms. Carson, you're late again I see. Take a seat. Probe holnap, �n rem�ny te osszes tanult." (Test tomorrow, I hope you all studied.) I tune out most of what Mr. Vaytay has to say. He dismisses us at the end of class, but says, "Carson Kecske, marad �rt an kev�s szabatos, tetszik." (Kid Carson, stay for a few minutes, please.) Reluctantly, Mike and Kalla leave me behind to get yelled at by Mr. Vaytay, yet again.
Needless to say I am now late for lunch, not like it matters to him. Only two more classes till the end of the day and it can't come soon enough. I struggle through the over crowded cafeteria to the table I share with Mike and the rest of my friends. It's game day, so everyone brought lunch from home, if you could call it lunch. I plop down between Mike and Krista in an attempt to eat my lunch in some sort of peace. "Hey Kid," says Mike "You ready for a career high game tonight?"
That's Mike, always thinking about football. "You take care of the defensive side. I'll rack up the yards on the offense." Mike is the best defensive lineman in the county, no take that back, the state. He's always worried about me getting hurt. "It helps when your boyfriend is your blocker." That comment always ends the conversation.
Lunch ends and we all go our separate ways. Biology passes relatively quickly and we [the football team] get to leave last period early to get ready for the game. I have to change in the locker room with all the cheerleaders. I normally hate having to do this, but today I don't care. I'm too psyched over today's game to think about anything else. Today is one of the biggest games of the season, and a factor of school and town pride. I change quickly and run across the hall for the coach's talk. Mike and John and a few others are already geared up and I join them as we wait for the rest of the team. When the last few players leave the locker room, Coach Butler closes the door. We all rest our helmets on the floor and take a knee around him.
"Today is a big game," he says starting his pep talk. "Hillside has always been one of our biggest rivals. I want you to forget about all the school and town hype and just play the game. I want you all out there giving it your all. You do that, and we can crush this team. Play with all you have. Let's go Tigers!"
We line up under the bleachers as they announce the Hillside team. They receive cheers from their fans. The away team approaches their bench and the crowd quiets down. Over the loudspeaker we hear, "And now your 2001- 2001 Ridgefield Prep Tigers." We run out onto the field to a cheering stadium. The cheerleaders are going crazy on the sidelines, stupid blondes. Our captains, Mike and JD, head out to the center of the field for the coin toss, which Hillside wins.
Mike and his defensive squad are able to hold Hillside to only two field goals in the first quarter, 6-0. Our team has the first possession in the second quarter. Thanks to a 17-yard run by John we are now first and goal from the nine yard line. We are told by Coach to run play seven, a quick drop pass to a wide receiver. We line up and set the play in motion. I am the only one open and receive the pass in the end zone. A perfect extra point makes it 7-6, and the score stays that way through the third quarter.
The forth quarter starts with another Hillside field goal, putting us down 9-7. As the minutes tick off the clock, we become closer to a defeat. As the two-minute warning passes by, we get a break, Mike picks up and interception at the Hillside 30 yard line, putting us in position for another score. We inch our way to the 15-yard line with only ten seconds left.
Special teams runs out onto the field for one last field goal attempt. The play starts with only two seconds remaining, it's the perfect set up and the kick is good. The crowd flips out, edged on by the cheerleaders, of course. We rush the field, and Mike and John do the customary pouring of the Gatorade (Coach is somewhat appreciative for a change).
~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ * ~ *~ * ~ *
John stops his car in the driveway and turns it off. I dig my keys out of my backpack and we go inside. My parents aren't home, but they did leave a note for me:
~Kid~
There's pizza in the fridge for you and John, just heat it up and you should be fine.
Matt's sleeping over a friend's house. It'll be just the two of you till we get home from Christine's piano rehearsal, about 9:30.
See you later.
~MoM~
I turn to look at the clock, 6:30. Three hours alone. We heat up the pizza and go into the family room to watch a movie (The Matrix, John's favorite). We put the plates on the table and cuddle up on the couch in each other's arms to watch the movie.
FIN
And be guaranteed there will be more entries for this story.