On Saturday, we’ll be competing for the state championship. I should be focused on the game, but really, something has been weighing heavily on my mind.
I talked to my dad about it before Thanksgiving, and I did what he’d suggested—thought about it and did not make a rash decision.
Because it was a big decision.
One I made last Friday night in the tent.
The one that I need to tell Damon about.
When I get over to their house, I find his dad at the kitchen island, eating a snack.
“Hey, Uncle Danny,” I say. “Damon upstairs?”
“He just ran to the store to pick up something for Jennifer. Should be right back.”
“Cool,” I say.
“You want some cinnamon apples?” he asks me.
Normally, I would say yes. I love those things, but right now, I’m feeling a little nauseous.
“Ah, no, thanks. I just ate.”
“Ready for the big game this weekend?”
“Yeah, and how about you? I heard you are going to be in the booth for some upcoming bowl games. You ready for that?”
“I hope so,” he says. “I’m thinking about taking Damon with me to a few. Thought it might be fun for him to see behind the scenes—”
I frown and interrupt him, “With all due respect, sir, you should take Dani. You know what she wants to do for a living, right?”
“She’s never really said. Just that she wanted to major in journalism.”
“She wants to be a sideline reporter. For football. It’s her dream.”
Danny narrows his eyes and looks torn between being confused and touched. “Really? That would be incredible. She certainly knows the game well enough.”
“Yeah, she does. She wants to apply for an internship at a sports network this summer, but she sort of didn’t want to tell you.”
“But why not? I could help her.”
“I think maybe she wants to do it on her own. I think it’s kind of like when she went through rush. She initially thought she would cut the one she was a legacy to because she didn’t want to get in because of that. She wanted them to like her, not feel compelled to take her because of family.”
“She’s a lot like me, isn’t she?” her dad says. “Wants to forge her own path.”
I nod. “She’s your biggest fan. And she has always wanted you to be proud of her.”
We hear the garage door open, and I add, “Please don’t tell her I told you.”
“I won’t. And, Chase, thank you. I will ask her.”
Damon comes in the house and puts the food away, and then I follow him downstairs. He used to have a game room upstairs, but with the addition of his little sisters, that room got made into a nursery, and the game room got relocated to the home theater. Which is better anyway because no one’s little ears can hear us cursing when we get blown up.
He starts the game, but I quickly pause it and turn to him.
“I can’t do it,” I finally say the words out loud to him. “I can’t go to Nebraska anymore. I’m sorry. I totally understand if you still want to go.”
“Because of my sister?” he asks.
“Because of me. I just can’t be there with her. I need to be able to focus on playing. On getting to the pros, going high in the draft. I can’t do that there. Where she is. I love her. And I just”—my voice cracks—“can’t.”
“It’s like you’ve been drunk on love or something,” he says with a little chuckle, trying to lighten the mood.
“I probably have been. But it’s not good for me. It has to stop. I’m over her—well, I’m working on getting over her.”
“You’re going cold-turkey sober?” he says with a smile.
“Why don’t you ever have girl drama?” I ask with a laugh.
“Because, me, I’m less of a binge drinker and more of a day drinker. You sure you aren’t just, like, hungover? You know, the day after is always the worst, but then it gets better. It will get better.”
“I considered it before Thanksgiving, solidified my decision after we came home from the game the day after Thanksgiving, and have continued to think about it since. I’m firm on this. And I am never drinking again.”
This causes Damon to laugh out loud. “Dude, you’re going to become—what’s that word—a tittillater.”
“I think you mean teetotaler. Someone who abstains from alcohol.”
“Hmm. I think I like the tittie one better. As a matter of fact, when we were on our recruitment visits, I ranked all the schools in some very important categories. One of which was boobs.”
“Boobs?”
“Yep, how pretty the girls were. I mean, if all else is equal, it’s a good tiebreaker, for sure.”
“You don’t have to do this, you know. I haven’t wanted to tell you because I know it’s your dream. To follow in your dad’s footsteps.”
“Chase, we’re in this together. Where you go, I do, too. We’ve be planning this since—”
“We were eight,” I finish as relief washes over me. “So, what else did you rank them on?”
“Game-day experience. Coaching staff. Number of top-ranked draft picks. Facilities. Campus. The town around campus. The weather. And last but not least, the tacos.”
“Tacos?”
“I mean, yeah. It’s my favorite food. I can’t go somewhere that doesn’t have a really excellent Mexican restaurant. Did you think during our meal on our own at each school that it was just a coincidence we ate Mexican food?”
“I don’t think I realized that.”
“Did you have a favorite one?”
“I don’t remember, honestly.”
“Did you rank the schools?” Damon asks me, his head tilted at me, looking puzzled.
“No.” I laugh. “I just went along for the ride.”
“Dude, it’s like we’ve switched brains or something.”
“I knew the word teetotaler,” I tell him.
“Good point. Plus, if we’d switched brains, I’d know all the dirty things you’ve thought about my sister. So, it’s probably a good thing we didn’t.”
“I’ll drink to that,” I say, holding up my Gatorade.
“Hold that thought.” He gets up and runs upstairs then comes back down with a notebook and hands it to me. “Here, take this. Let me know what you decide. But can we put it on the back burner until after Saturday? We need to finish our last high school season with another state championship.”
“Now that I know we’ll still go to college together and I can stop freaking out about it, yeah, actually, I can.”
When I get back to my house, I find Lacey waiting for me in my room.
“Hey, I was just over at Damon’s. Why didn’t you tell me you were here?”
“I think I’m a little bit in shock.” She waves a folded-up piece of paper toward me and says flatly, “I got in. I’m going to Auburn.”
I pull her up off the chair and hug her. “Lacey! That’s amazing! I’m so proud of you! Were your parents excited?”
“Yeah, they were. I honestly still can’t believe it. I keep thinking someone will call me and be like, Yeah, we meant that other Lacey.”
“It’s really cool you already know where you’re going.”
“What do you mean? Nebraska is all I’ve ever heard about from you since we’ve been friends.”
“Yeah, well, I’m thinking it might not be the right fit for me anymore.”
“Wait. What are you saying?”
“I’m considering my options.”
She grins. “Well, you visited Auburn, right? Come there with me.”
“Lacey, I wouldn’t want you to think—”
“That it meant something? Don’t worry; I’d have no expectations.”
“Well, the thing is, I wouldn’t be going with you exactly. I’ll be graduating in December and starting college in January, so I can play spring ball.”
“Chase! It’s December. How long have you known about this? Like, you’re accepted and basically enrolled in college? You planned this?”
“Yes, I had to plan for all options.”
“When were you going to tell me? And what about prom?”
“I won’t be here.”
She lets out a huge sigh. “Oh, Chase, you infuriate me. I really don’t know why I put up with it.”
“Honestly, Lacey, you shouldn’t. You deserve better. Someone who really loves you. I hope you go to Auburn and find him.”
“We’re over, officially now, aren’t we? I mean, we sort of already have been, basically since your birthday, but …” She studies my face. “Did you change your mind because Dani brought that guy home for Thanksgiving?”
“I’d say, that’s definitely part of it.”
“Well, if you’re not going to Nebraska and you decide to go to Auburn, let me know. Especially if you’ll already know the ropes when I get there in the fall.”
“Did you have tacos there? Like, when you visited?”
“Actually, yes! They have this great Mexican restaurant a few blocks from campus. I went back twice in one weekend!”
And I can’t help but smile.
Mr. Too-Nice-For-You Guy.
Devaney
“Well, congratulations,” my brother says when I answer his call. “You finally broke him. And probably me in the process.”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“Your little Thanksgiving stunt. Bringing that poor guy home. I bet he had no clue what he was getting sucked into.”
“I liked him.”
“Yeah, I liked him, too. We all liked him. But that’s not the point. The point is, you were using him. At least Chase has been honest with Lacey about what’s up. You paraded Eddie around like he was the greatest thing since cell phones. We all felt sorry for him. And what’s worse is that you made out with Chase in the laundry room and probably would have had sex with him had he let you. Sex, Dani. With Chase. In the laundry room. While your boyfriend was two rooms over, talking to Papa!”
“I, um, did Chase tell you about that?”
“He didn’t have to. I could tell by the way things went down. You really think no one notices the chemistry between you and Chase? Or the anger or whatever you both happen to be feeling at the moment? Fortunately, the nice guy, Eddie, didn’t seem to, but still, it’s just wrong.”
“You all wanted me to be with a nice guy.”
“Except that you don’t love him. Or did I misinterpret the way you looked at Chase? I understand you were all hyped up at Homecoming, feeling like a big shot, and you were pissed when he took the crown to Lacey, but if the tables were turned and you had been sick the night you won, wouldn’t you have wanted your date to do that for you? Simply out of respect? All the girls—and I mean, every. Single. One—was swooning about it at school. How sweet it was of him. But you got pissed and then decided to get even. Enter Mr. Too-Nice-For-You Guy.”
“You’re not being fair to me, Damon. Chase and I had an agreement. Friends with benefits. No commitment. And he was still dating Lacey, so why is that okay for him but not for me?”
“It’s different because you know he loves you. And so does Lacey for that matter. But you brought this guy home to flaunt him in Chase’s face.”
“I actually didn’t. I gotta go, Damon.”
“No, you’re going to listen to me. I didn’t say anything to you about this at Thanksgiving. Chase was nice to the guy. I was nice to the guy. Everyone was nice to the guy. But I’m done being quiet now because you just screwed with my future. The state championship game is this weekend, and eleven days later, we are going to sign our National Letters of Intent. Which is a legal commitment to spend our first year at that college. Our plan was to go to Nebraska.”
“And you should sign with them regardless of what my relationship with Chase is.”
“Yeah, well, guess what, Dani. Those plans got changed. Chase says he can’t do it. He can’t go there. Which means neither am I. And it really sucks because it’s what we’ve both dreamed about since we were kids.”
“Wait, you’re not committing to Nebraska? But what happened—”
“You happened. Your plan to make Chase jealous or piss him off or whatever your little deal was has become a big deal. I hope you’re happy, Devaney.”
“I don’t—”
“I know, sis. And that’s the problem.”
“Damon.”
“What?”
“I broke up with Eddie right after the game on Friday.”
“Why?”
“Because if I really cared about him, I wouldn’t have kissed Chase in the laundry room. He took it well. Told me it was a bummer. That he loved my family and to tell you and Chase that if you ever want to hang out, are considering joining a frat next year, or just need a place to party, to let him know. He seemed fairly unfazed by the whole thing.”
“Why in the world haven’t you told Chase?”
“Because.”
“Because why?”
“I don’t want to hurt him again. And I need to figure some things out.”
“Well, I hope to hell that you can do that fast. There isn’t much time.”
When he ends the call, I do something that I started during rush week but never finished. I watch the video of that day.
All of it.
From start to finish.
Then, I watch it again.
And I realize something important.
Something that makes all the difference in the world.
