I’m shocked at how calm and cool Damon is about today. In just a few minutes, we’ll be live on television, announcing which college we’ll go to.
We’re all set up in the school gym, and there are numerous local news stations as well as reporters from each conference we’re considering—not to mention, a few sports channels.
I’ve been so torn. I wish more than anything that I could just go where I dreamed of going as a kid, but it’s not that simple.
Because Devaney is there.
I know watching the video was supposed to be eye-opening, and it was—but probably not in the way she’d thought it might be.
All she really proved is that I don’t deserve a girl like her.
I’m pretty sure I’m choosing the taco school.
It doesn’t feel right, but it doesn’t feel wrong either. And it had the overall best score in Damon’s ranking of all the schools we’d visited.
“We’re about five minutes out,” our high school’s athletic director says. “You’ll be interviewed by a local reporter, and then you will make your decision. Damon tells me you’re both going to simultaneously put on your chosen school’s hats and then sign the agreement.”
“That’s correct,” I tell him.
The gym is pretty crowded, but I easily spot my parents and younger siblings in the front row, minus Haley. Her leg is fully wrapped, as opposed to being in a cast, because they have to be able to monitor her wounds. She’s not allowed to put any weight on it, so she’s either on crutches or in a wheelchair.
“Two minutes until we’re live,” is announced.
Haley is wheeled up to the front of our table by one of the girls on her cheer squad, and she’s followed by a four others. Each girl has two small white boxes in her hands, the name of each of our five schools written on top of it.
The boxes are laid on the table next to the appropriate hat.
Haley smiles at me and says, “Choose well you must.” She’s rolled over to where the rest of my family is.
I notice that Danny, Jennifer, and the girls have joined my parents along with Damon’s mom and her husband. And Damon’s family is all wearing Nebraska jerseys.
Nothing like a little pressure.
I take a deep breath, trying to remain calm.
If this decision was just about football, it would be easy, but there’s so much more involved.
And I hate that I’m going to disappoint everyone.
“And we’re live.”
“We’re here live,” a familiar voice says as the crowd parts, and Dani walks toward our table, “with two five-star recruits, quarterback Chase Mackenzie and wide receiver Damon Diamond—son of retired professional quarterback Danny Diamond.”
Dani looks like a natural with a microphone in one hand as she rattles off our stats without even a glance at the paper in her other hand.
“We know the recruitment process has been a challenge for the two of you. Most of us here know that you have been best friends and teammates your whole life. And a lot of people have criticized your decision to play college ball together. They seemed to think the chances of you both getting scholarships or playing at the same time were slim, but I think you’ve proven them wrong. You’ve also gotten a lot of advice, suggesting that you should individually choose the college best for you. And we know that time is coming. You went on official recruitment visits this fall, and your top five colleges are represented here, on the table in front of you. And the world is watching, Chase and Damon, wondering if you will put on the same hats, or if the so-called Shock-and-Awe package and two best friends will go their separate ways.”
Dani stops and looks at me, her eyes filled with emotion. “How will they choose between what others tell them is best for them and what’s in their hearts? That has been the real question in this whole process, but what people don’t know is that it’s not about just you two. It’s about me.”
“And me!” Haley calls out.
“So, in order to help you make the best decision, we’ve made something for you. Because it doesn’t matter how old we get. A promise is a promise.”
“I think we’re supposed to open the boxes,” Damon whispers to me.
I lift the lid on the first one and discover a cupcake that looks much like the one Dani made for me in the Ozarks, the picture of which hung in my locker all year and happens to be in my pocket at this very moment. But this cupcake does vary from that one. The first difference is that it is decorated in one of the team’s school colors. And the second difference is that there’s a volleyball on there for Haley, and the third difference is that instead of just my number on the jersey, there’s a triple one—for One Eleven, my and Damon’s numbers combined and the name of our company.
Damon has already opened all of his boxes, and I see that there is a matching cupcake for each school, varying only in color. I notice that when he touches the volleyball, his eyes get misty.
“All of us?” he asks Haley.
She nods.
Are they saying that no matter which school we choose, we’ll all go there together?
“Anywhere?” I ask in disbelief.
I look up at Dani, and even though she’s holding a microphone in her hand, she mimes a boxer’s one-two punch combination.
And I know what that means.
That she’s here, fighting for me. For us.
And she wants the world to know it regardless of what they might think.
“What’s it gonna be, bro?” Damon whispers.
But I don’t have a chance to reply because Dani saunters toward me, a sexy sway in her hips and a huge grin on her face.
“All right, everyone, here we go. Your favorite five-star recruits are going to …”
Two pieces of paper.
Devaney
Damon and Chase turn, smile at each other, and nod in agreement. They reach in front of them, pick up the white hats with the red Ns on them, and happily put them on their heads.
The crowd goes nuts.
Chase’s parents unbutton their matching chambray shirts to reveal Nebraska shirts.
I walk over to my dad, who has tears in his eyes.
“Danny Diamond, three-time champion quarterback and future Hall of Famer, how does it make you feel to know your son and your godson, who grew up playing ball together in your backyard, are going to your alma mater?”
My dad looks at the boys’ smiles but grins at me. He and Phillip hug. The bro hug that is trying to hide their tears.
“Definitely thrilled,” my dad finally says.
I go back to the front of the table. “Damon Diamond, do you have any words you’d like to say?”
“Yeah,” he says. “I have a message for my friends—you know who you are—let’s get it done.”
“And what about you, Chase Mackenzie?”
In one swift and athletic move, Chase vaults himself over the table so that he’s now standing directly in front of me. And before I can even take a breath, he pulls me into his arms and kisses me.
When we pull back from the kiss, I turn off the mic and set it on the table.
Chase smiles, reaches into his pocket, pulls out two pieces of paper, and hands them to me. “You want to know why I kept winning? What my goal was? It’s all right here.”
I unfold the paper and find both the dream note he put on his window and the cupcake photo I put on mine.
“Where did you get these? I thought they got thrown away when—”
“I made sure they didn’t. And they have been hanging in my locker all year.”
“And here I assumed, you’d wadded them up, stomped on them, and then burned them.”
“Trust me, I considered that.”
“I’m glad you didn’t.”
“So am I.”
“You know, you once told me that when what other people think of me is less important than what I think of myself, that’s when you’d believe me. I’m here for me right now, Chase. Because I love you. And I’m pretty sure the whole world knows it now.”
In the house.
Chase
Everyone is over at our house, eating celebratory pizza here instead of trying to get Haley into a restaurant.
Her bedroom is upstairs, so she’s been moved into the guest suite above the garage since there’s an elevator that can take her up there. And I’m pretty sure she plans to never move out.
A national sports channel is playing in the background as the reporters try to rank each college’s recruitment class. And I finally understand what Damon meant when he said he had a message for his friends. He’s been doing a little recruiting of his own, and because of it, numerous big names shocked everyone by choosing to come play with us.
There’s even a clip of Dani interviewing her dad playing on repeat every few hours.
The doorbell rings, so I go answer it.
And, boy, does it make me happy.
“Attention, everyone!” I yell out. “P-A-C-E is in the house!”
Our teammates all cheer for him, but he only has eyes for Haley, who he gingerly walks straight over to and kisses.
“What a day,” she says, grinning.
