Junior Year Box Set

“See that girl surround by all those guys? She must be the hottest girl here, and she’s deciding who’s taking her home tonight. I think she needs to meet me so she knows who that should be.”

The three of them looked at me and then Flee grinned. He had been around me enough to know I was probably pulling their legs, but he thought it was funny, and so played along.

“Yeah, that’s David for you. When we were at Alabama, there was this hot chick that everyone wanted. Mr. Smooth here quietly swooped in and stole her from everybody. This boy has some skills.”

I started over to where she was holding court and left Ben and Gus open-mouthed as I edged my way through the crowd, put my arm around Chris and kissed her. I held my forehead against hers and looked her in the eyes as she slowly recognized me.

“Hey, Baby. I see you’ve been teasing boys again. Do I need to take you back to the room and give you a spanking?” I asked.

Chris tried to push me away, but I hung on and smiled at her. I never let my eyes leave hers, and could hear the other guys grumbling as they all wandered off. I was surprised none of them challenged me. I grabbed her hand and led her back to where I’d left the other quarterbacks.

“Flee, Ben, and Gus, please meet Christen,” I said by way of introduction. “Flee, Ben, and I are here on a recruiting visit. Gus plays quarterback for Northwestern. Do you have any friends here that might be interested in meeting my new friends?”

Suzanne had warned me off Chris last year. I ended up hooking up with Lydia, Suzanne’s roommate. Christen had two wild friends, but I couldn’t remember their names.

“I have a girlfriend,” Flee said, looking for a way out.

“I could call Maya and Savanah,” Chris said.

Now I remembered; those were the other two Suzanne had warned me about.

“Perfect,” I said with a big grin.

As soon as Chris finished calling the two girls, I pulled her out on the dance floor. If I was going to be sober, I was going to have fun. Chris turned out to be a terrible dancer, but once I started dancing, I had girls willing to join me. The problem with dancing at a party is it gets hot. I’d sweat through my shirt and needed water to rehydrate. When I came off the dance floor, I found Flee all by himself.

“Where did everyone go?” I asked.

“Gus and Ben left with the two girls Chris called. Chris took off with some college guy. It’s just you and me.”

I looked at my watch, and it was close to midnight.

“Let’s get out of here. We need to be up early. I want to run before we go over to Ryan Field.”

On the way back to the hotel, I stopped and bought water. I chugged one right out of the display, which made Flee not want to be seen with me. I met him outside, and we walked back to the hotel.

◊◊◊

When I walked into the hotel room, a baaaadd smell hit me full force. Someone had had too much to drink and had puked. Of course, my gag reflexes kicked in, and I ran to the bathroom and closed the door. I tried to be quiet so I wouldn’t wake Tami up. If the smell was any indication, Brandon hadn’t done his job of keeping her out of trouble. After I closed the bathroom door, I turned on the light and saw the source of the smell. Tami must have tried to puke in the toilet and missed.

Puke was my kryptonite. If I saw it, I would join whoever had barfed. I had just drunk two large bottles of water, and they soon came back up with the remnants of my dinner. I didn’t plan on sleeping with the stench, so I got a towel and used it to clean up the mess. I gagged the whole time. Once I finished cleaning up, I took a long shower so I would feel clean again.

I slipped on a pair of shorts because I didn’t plan on sleeping naked with Tami in my bed. I brushed my teeth and flossed. When I threw the floss into the garbage, I saw it. It felt like someone had just punched me; I found myself collapsing onto the floor and couldn’t catch my breath. In the garbage was a wadded-up tissue with a used condom in it. Only someone you love can hurt you this much. I had to close my eyes and will myself to breathe.

Then I slowly got mad. Tami had told me of her desire to experience life, and that was the biggest reason why she and I couldn’t be together now. How could she bring back someone to my room and do him? Did Tami really take me for granted that much? Did she think I would put up with this?

I stood up and opened the bathroom door to let the light show me what was going on. There was someone in bed with Tami. I couldn’t see who it was, because the comforter was pulled over them both. I walked out, braced myself, and then pulled it off. What I saw I would never be able to get out of my head: lying there were the naked bodies of my former best friends, Tami and Alan. I’m not sure what I had originally planned to do. Sending the guy to the hospital was the probable outcome, but when I recognized Alan, the fight went out of me. All I knew was I needed to get out of that hotel room and think.