“This is like the tenth time you’ve played this. Turn that shit off!” Matt shook his shaggy hair from his eyes and pulled the needle from the album with a scratch.
“Dude! You’re gonna ruin my record. Chicks love REO Speedwagon. You gottta learn these lyrics if you’re ever gonna get laid.” Craig gently replaced the needle. Off key, he sang , “And I’m gonna keep on lovin’ you…”
“Yeah, we’d all be better off if you put as much effort into scoring on the football field as you do trying to score with the cheerleaders.”
“Hey last I looked, I’m leading the league in touchdowns. I don’t wanna sleep. I just just wanna keep on lovin’ you. Ooh-ooh-ooh.”
“And you scored every one of them off my damn blocks.” Matt fought his way out of the beanbag chair on the floor of Craig’s bedroom. “I gotta get home. I’ll see you at school tomorrow.”
Craig and Matt chatted about nothing as they made their way through the lunch line, their jerseys on, indicating it was game day Friday. Craig idly smacked a freshman in the back of the head as he scampered past.
Matt rolled his eyes and made his way to the senior football players table. He stopped dead in his tracks. Craig bumped into him from behind, nearly dumping his tray. “Hey man! Move along!”
Matt didn’t hear him. He was too busy staring at the most beautiful girl he’d ever seen. Her hair was ash blonde and shoulder length. She had high cheekbones and an orthodontic wonder of a smile. Her green eyes were focused on the girls sitting around her. Matt thought she looked shy and nervous, almost delicate.
“DUDE!”
Matt shook himself back to reality. He took his seat, but craned his neck around to look at the girl again.
“Oh, you noticed her, eh? She just started here Monday. Parents moved from Columbus or Cleveland or some shit like that.”
“She’s gorgeous.”
“Of course she is. She’s a city girl. She got like breeding and shit like that,” Craig said as he shoved in a mouthful of canned cafeteria peas.
Matt spun his head back when she caught him staring at her. “Do you know her name?” he asked.
“Linda. Lisa. Laura. Something like that.” He downed his carton of milk .
“So you’re willing to learn all the lyrics to a stupid REO Speedwagon song, but you haven’t bothered to learn her name?”
“You gonna eat your peas?” Craig asked. Without waiting for a response, he took a forkful of his friend’s food. With his mouth full, he continued. “ I’ll figure it out soon enough. But she wore an REO Speedwagon shirt on her first day. That means something, to wear that shirt on her first day at a new school.”
The hometown crowd was on their feet. The scoreboard said it all. The visiting Wildcats were up 21–17 over the Titans. Just five seconds remained in the fourth quarter. The Titans had the ball, 4th and goal on the Wildcats’ three yard line. Every fan in the stadium knew Craig McPherson was going to get the ball.
The offense lined up their formation. The referee blew his whistle. The quarterback put his hands under center and shouted “Blue-28! Blue-28! HUT! HUT!”
The center snapped the ball. Matt leapt from his stance in the fullback position and as usual, he faced two defenders. He hit them both with all he had.
The quarterback handed the ball off to Craig, who followed Matt’s block. Matt drove both defensive players back into the end zone and Craig went in standing up. Titans win.
Matt and Craig hugged in the end zone as the rest of the Titans piled in. Raising their helmets high they shouted “WE ARE! TI-TANS! WE ARE! TI-TANS!”
Celebrations only beginning, they made their way toward the tunnel. The student body and other Titan faithful had left their seats and lined the way.
Craig shouted in his buddy’s ear, “Dude, pick one! We are both getting so laid tonight!”
Craig pushed a girl from the crowd into Matt. It was the girl from the cafeteria. She slammed directly into him. Sweat dripped from Matt’s hair onto hers. Beaming, Matt gave his own rendition of REO Speedwagon, “And I’m gonna keep on lovin’ you…”
“Matt, meet Linda. Newest Titan and major REO Speedwagon fan.”
Blushing, the girl said, “Um actually its Laura.”
“What?” Craig shouted over the din of cheers.
“It’s Laura! My name is Laura.”
“OK, yeah, whatever.” Craig moved on with the rest of the team and fans. Matt stood with Laura. They found themselves behind the parade.
Elated that she didn’t move on with the crowd, Matt said, “So it’s Laura. Ok. Where are you from?”
“Cincinnati. We just moved here.”
With a laugh, Matt said, “Cincinnati, huh? Well that’s not Cleveland or Columbus, is it?”
Laura looked nervous and confused. “Well no. It’s not. Why?”
“Nevermind.” Matt smiled. “Listen, I gotta get to the locker room with my team, but I’ll be done soon. You wanna go do something?”
With a tilt of her head, she replied, “No. Sorry. I gotta get home.”
Matt’s gaze dropped. “Oh. No biggie… I’ll just, you know… see you at…um school.”
Laura’s eyes widened. “You were the one who was staring at me in the cafeteria this afternoon, aren’t you?”
“Busted I guess yeah.” Matt looked up with a dopey smile.
She gazed into Matt’s eyes. His heart jumped a beat as he stared back.
She looked away for a moment, then reached into her jacket and produced a pen. “Here,” she said, “Give me your number.” She extended her hand, palm up.
Matt took her hand in his and wrote his number on her palm. “You’re gonna call me, right? You’re not just gonna go home and wash this off are you?”
“Are you kidding? You sang REO Speedwagon to me. Of course I’ll call you.”
Read Part II
