Junior Year Box Set

When we were done, I had to admit that Damion got the better of me. Mike finally figured out to loft the ball and let Damion go up for it. In my mind, I knew that if I’d had pads on, I could have jarred the ball loose. I could only shake my head when Mike acted like he’d just won the Super Bowl.

“That was a lot of fun. I wish I could go against you in practice every day. I can tell that I need a lot of work if I’m going to make it to the next level,” Damion said.

“Once you get to college, you’ll be fine. You just need to get into shape.”

We were both drenched with sweat.

“I was sucking air at the end,” he admitted.

“Hey, see that girl over there?” I asked.

“That’s Coach Hope’s daughter.”

“Yeah, Cassidy. I gave her a bunch of invitations to the grand opening of my restaurant. Go tell her I said to give you some tickets. Invite your teammates.”

“Even Mike?”

“If he can act like a human being for a night, he can come,” I said.

“I’ll keep an eye on him,” Damion said, and then got serious. “David, I’ve never really thanked you. I was at the end of my rope when I talked to you in Houston last year. My grades weren’t good enough, and I was out of control. I still might have to go the JC route, but at least now I have a shot at playing college ball.”

“The key is you decided to turn it around.”

“I consider you a friend. If there is ever anything I can do …” Damion offered.

◊◊◊

Cassidy was a brat. I’d put her in charge of handing out invitations for tonight. Tracy called me, wanting to know why none of the girls were invited. It got better: Zoe called me, laughing because Cassidy had made her brother take his shirt off and flex for her before she let him have two tickets. She wanted to make sure only cute boys would be there.

The next call I got was from Coach Hope. He told me that all the coaches were invited except Alan. He wasn’t amused when I laughed, but I told him he had to talk to his daughter.

I drove to the club early to help, and Granny promptly sent me to Mary. She put me to work making different salads. I premade them, wrapped them individually, and put them on big metal serving trays that held eight plates. Then I slid the trays into a big rolling cart that held twelve of them. When I’d made 96 salads, she told me she would take it from there.

When I got upstairs, I found Jan wrapping silverware in napkins.

“The talent would like to talk to you,” she said as she rolled her eyes.

Of course, Jan knew Eve Holliday, since we’d all gone to school together. But Jan was one of the cool kids in middle school, and I doubted that she and Eve had ever hung out. Eve was too much of a tomboy. The band had set up and had claimed a table next to the bar and closest to the stage.

“David! I want you to meet my band,” Eve said with a big smile.

My guard went up because the last few times I’d seen Eve, she hadn’t even acknowledged my presence. This felt like she needed something from me.

I met all her bandmates. I was surprised that they were all in their thirties or early forties, a much different group than I’d met the last time I’d seen her. That group had been in their early twenties. These all seemed like nice guys and gals. They asked if they could invite their families, and I quickly arranged for them to be added to the list. I told them they might have to sit down by the dance floor because I thought we’d given out all the invitations for the upper-level tables.

After I arranged that, Eve grabbed my hand and took me to the other side of the dance floor so we might have a quiet word together.

“I see you changed bands.”

“Yeah. The old band and I had some issues. They expected if they couldn’t pick up someone that I should help them out. They were also a bad influence on me, buying me drinks. Angel found out and fired them all. That has turned out to be the best move for my career. These guys are all married and bring their wives with them. There’s never any drama, and I’m a lot happier,” she admitted.

I started to ask her if she had another record coming out, but she stopped me.

“I’ve been a terrible friend. When I left here, I never looked back; and when I was last here, I treated you poorly. I was ashamed of the breakup song. My mom told me what you said about being in the video for it, and I don’t blame you for not doing it. Recently, I wrote another song about you, and I want to share it with you before I release it,” she said in a rush.

She was clearly nervous.

“I’d love to hear it,” I said.

She pulled out her phone and played a slow ballad with a strong drum rhythm that sounded like a heartbeat. It talked about walking out and not looking back; that she’d gone to find her fame and fortune. Then she got to the chorus …

What does fame cost?

What does fortune cost?

I’ve been missing you

I may have lost you

It’s my fault, all my fault

I’ve been missing you

I may have lost you