Junior Year Box Set

We had planned to go to college together, but that was before. While I had no objection to Tami attending whatever university she wanted, I no longer felt she had a say-so in where I went. In my mind, I had removed her from the equation. We both needed to move on with our lives, even if seeing her reminded me that I still loved her, which in turn took a lot of the joy out of the trip.

“Okay.”

Apparently, I pissed off Tami with my one-word answer.

“Why do you have to be like this? We’ve been best friends since I moved here over ten years ago. I still have plans for us when we grow up and decide to move to that phase of our lives. You made it clear that you care for me when you gave me this ring. At some point, I plan on collecting on the promise it represents.”

“A phone call or a text would have been nice. This is almost sneaky,” I said as Alan and Brandon got in the back seat.

“Out, both of you,” I said to Brandon and Alan. When they stepped out of the car, I turned to Tami. “So, what’s the deal?”

“I figured if I asked, you’d say ‘no.’ It’s always been easier to ask for forgiveness than permission with you. Frankly, I didn’t think I’d need permission to go look at colleges.”

This opened up a whole new set of issues, but everyone was waiting for us. As time dragged on, Tami got a nervous look as if I might actually kick her out of the car. It was tempting to make her ride with someone else, but I knew word would get back to my mom. I would rather suck it up and deal with this than fight any more with my mom.

“I understand why you’re here. What has always been my problem is when I feel like I’ve been manipulated. I’m sure you talked Alan into helping you. It’s the same old crap. You’re always doing an end-run on me,” I said, glaring at her. “Since when have you been afraid to ask me anything? For that matter, if you thought I’d say ‘no,’ why’d you force it?”

“I’m afraid to ask you because this is how you react,” she said.

“In the future can you just talk to me? Our friends don’t need to be in the middle.”

“I agree, and I’m sorry.”

I rolled down the window and told the guys to get into the car.

“Nice,” Brandon said when got in and saw the backseat of the car.

“Check this out,” Alan said as he flipped down the tray in the seat back and showed Brandon that there was a tablet built in for each of them to use.

The guys in the back geeked-out over all the features Range Sports had added to my Charger. Alan pointed out the Wi-Fi and showed Brandon how to use the car to answer his phone or make calls. I focused on not talking to Tami. She let me think about what she’d said as we drove to Evanston.

When we were about halfway, Brandon gave us our itinerary for the weekend.

“I’ve arranged for you to meet with both the Stanford and Northwestern coaching staffs before the game. We’ll do the tour of the Northwestern facilities first. Then, while the tour of the campus is happening for everyone else, you and Jim will meet with Stanford. They’d like to work you out so they can see the two of you in person.”

“Why just the two of them? Why not Tim, Ty, and Wolf also?” Alan asked.

“They want to give the other guys a year to develop. The quarterback position is critical, and they need to see if David is everything they think he is. Jim’s a senior, and they have a high interest in him after what he did at the summer lineman camps.

“This is also not a home game for them, and they don’t want to be poor guests. We arranged to have the workout done off-campus,” Brandon said.

“Will Tami and Alan get a chance to talk to academic advisors?” I asked.

“Yes, that’s been arranged. The advisors will also help them with their applications. Both Alan and Tami have the grades to get in without a problem. I hadn’t realized you all did so well, grades-wise. When do you plan to take the standardized tests?” Brandon asked, referring to the ACT and SAT college entrance exams.

“In the spring,” Tami said as she joined the conversation. “Have you looked into tutors for the exams?”

“Uh …” Brandon stammered.

“I think that was directed at me,” I said to let him off the hook. “I believe in working with others to make me better, whether it’s academics or athletics. I hadn’t gotten a chance to talk to you about that. I think we can set something up for my friends at Lincoln and Wesleyan, so everyone has a good chance to go where they want to. I might need help because I’ll be in LA at the end of the year for my new movie and the release of Star Academy. At some point, I need to prep for the tests in January.”

“That makes sense,” Brandon said as he took notes on his phone.

“What about the game and the rest of the day?” Alan asked.

“I got twenty tickets. We had to pay for Tami, Jim’s sister, and Ty’s two brothers. I went ahead and paid for those. We can bill them for what they owe us,” Brandon said.

“I’ve got Tami. Plan on covering all her expenses when she travels with us,” I said.

“What about me?” Alan asked.