Next morning, I had a piercing pain in the right side of my stomach. It almost fell as if my ribs were broken. I placed one of the soothing patches after showering. I took three pain killers and had a banana before leaving the house. I was avoiding being seen by one of my frat brothers.
I drove to the building where my exam was going to be. I stayed in the car studying until it was 8:30 and I saw my classmates walking inside. My mind was not concentrated on the laws I had to remember for this test. The only thing I could think about was that someone might recognize me from last night. That would definitely be the end of my football path.
I got out of the exam not too sure if I even put my name on the paper. I hopped on my car and drove to the diner. Cheryl was on her day off, I still stayed for lunch. I was tense and any little thing would make me jump. When the waitress brought my food, I jumped at the sound of her voice. She looked at me confused.
After lunch, I went home. The guys were in the living room when I walked in.
"Blake!" Daniel called me. I cursed under my breathe and turned around.
"What's up?" I asked faking a smile and sitting down in the empty couch across them. Corey, Daniel and Dallas looked at me suspiciously and then Corey spoke.
"Have you already done it with Tina?" I sighed but at the same time got angry. That was none of their motherfucking business but I guess I made it their business when I agreed to play on this bet.
"I might" I answered with a smile. I couldn't say no but I couldn't say yes either "I'm saving the last move for Punta Cana" they laughed agreeing "have you guys bought your tickets?" I asked to change to topic.
"Not yet, my parents are giving me a headache about it" Dallas complained. I nodded thinking about my father. If he knew I was going away he would kill me.
I left to my room after another the short talk with the guys. Once in my room, I took the patch off and looked at the big purple bruise on the skin of my ribs. I touched and flinched from the pain. fuck. I placed another patched and laid in bed.
A knock on my door made me jump. I must've fallen asleep. I got up and opened the door. It was Olive.
"Hey Blake" she greeted walking inside. I closed the door and turned to face her.
"How are you Olive?" I asked her sitting on my bed. She looked around and then her eyes focused on me.
"You look tired" I smiled and sighed. If only you knew. She looked at me suspiciously and then sat next to me.
"You're going to Punta Cana with us, right?" I asked her after we fell silent for a couple of minutes.
"No..." she seemed sad "I don't have the money" she sighed and looked at her hands on her laps.
"Don't worry about it, you're coming" I assured her. She shook her head no and looked at me.
"No way on Earth would I let you pay for my ticket" I laughed and dodge her with my shoulder playfully. She smiled.
"I'm not paying for you ticket" I said still smiling. I had an idea "the frat house will" I added and she looked at me confused.
"Anyways, I came here to tell you that Jessica has been talking you lately" she looked at me suspiciously. I gulped loudly, Jessica saw my last night "she said that you were a pussy and that you actually never fucked her" she continued. I sighed relieved.
"Then why did she go around saying I did?" we both laughed. Olive rested her head on my shoulder "I don't understand you sometimes" I said looking at the door.
"Yeah, I know" she said "we can be complicated" she stood up "listen, Blake" she started "you need to do anything for me" she looked at my eyes "I appreciate it but it's not something I can just accept" she turned around.
"Hey Olive" she turned around "meet me in the gym where the cheerleaders practice tomorrow, I'll text you the hour" she frowned but nodded.
When Olive left I texted Tina asking her if I could drop by later to buy the tickets. Then I went out of my room to talk to the guys.
"EVERYBODY TO THE LIVING ROOM" I shouted on the hallway before walking downstairs. I heard the footsteps of the guys walking downstairs and then I had them all looking at me in the living room "Okay, I'm about to ask you to do probably the gayest thing you've ever done" they all looked at me confused "no offense, Ivan" I said looking a him. He nodded "Olive needs money and I think I know how we can raise a little for her" everybody was listening attentively "tomorrow at 4 pm, everybody has to head down to the cheerleader's gym to do a dance" some of the guys grunted, other started shaking their heads.
"Come on, guys" Corey stood up "we still have that dance we practiced with the cheerleaders last year" still nobody was agreeing "listen bunch of pussies, the worst thing that can happen is that people laugh at us" he looked at Ivan for support.
"I'm in" Ivan said with a smile.
Finally we got everybody to agree. We even practiced in the backyard for a while and then Ivan made some calls and arranged the funding. Tomorrow morning I had to drop by the administration's office and pick up the permission. Hopefully this would work.
I went to Tina's pretty late. She was not expecting me at all. I got dinner for us at one of my favorite restaurants. After dinner, Tina went to sleep but I stayed awake studying. I needed all the time I could get.
"Wake me up at 2" she said standing up from the stools and walking to the room. The little pants she had on gripped her ass really nicely.
I studied in the living room until it was 2, I went to wake Tina up by scaring her with my cold hands. She cursed me and stood up walking with me to the living room.
I looked for my flights based on Tina's. She booked one at 3 am for Thursday and so did I. Then I started looking for Olive's. Tina looked at my screen and frowned.
"What seat did you pick?" I asked her making her jump "are you okay?" she nodded.
"22a" she answered looking in her screen. I looked for the seat next her and luckily it was empty.
"Seat 22b, Thursday at 3 am" she looked at me confused.
We went to bed afterwards, Tina fell asleep almost immediately while I stayed up thinking about tomorrow.
****
I left Tina's before she woke up. I went to a cafeteria near by and got her breakfast before leaving.
The news about the fund rising campaign spread like a disease the next day. Everybody was talking about it and by now even the cheerleaders were doing their own dance to raise money for the cause. We made up the cause. Ivan said we needed some remodeling for the house. The goal was $1000 dollars.
I got the permit and then I had to go the store to buy shorts and fanny packs. The guys were going to kill me.
I went to take my test, this one wasn't as hard as the other one and besides I studied a bit more for this one. I drove to the frat house and gave the guys their shorts and fanny packs.
"Seriously Blake? A fanny pack?" Daniel asked holding the black thing in his hand like it was going to burst into flames any second.
"Yeah, it would give the final touch" I joked and Corey laughed.
We practiced for a few hours, accidentally I hurt myself whilst dancing. Ivan noticed but i quickly left to my room to put on a patch and drink some pain killers. I had to be ready for later.
I laid in bed for a while and I remembered I haven't really told Olive at what time she had to meet me in the gym. I took my phone and texted her. She answered with a ton of angry faces. I locked the phone and fell asleep.
I woke up to my door being knocked down by the pounds from outside.
"COMING" I shouted standing up with a groan. My ribs hurt more than ever.
"It's time, Blake" it was Corey, dressed with his tight shorts and a black t shirt with white stripes.
I walked inside my room and put on my shorts and a light purple t-shirt. We were about to destroy our reputation.
We drove to the gym on the team's van. Everybody seemed to be in a good mood. Ivan looked nervous and I didn't blame him. He was the Alpha of the house and the captain of the team and he was gay. For us it was a joke but for him it was almost as exposing himself.
We got to the gym and realized that probably the whole school was here. fuck. I saw the guys gulping and looking around at the amount of cars in the parking lot. We parked and hopped to the gym, going in through the back door.
"You're here guys!" one of the cheerleader said with a smile. She greeted each of us "looking tight, huh?" she joked looking at our tight pants "everybody is outside waiting" we nodded "go cheer!" she squeaked and jumped.
We walked out and everybody cheered.
"Come on, guys. It's just a joke" everybody nodded and we started the routine.
Olive and Jason were sitting in the front seat. The moment I saw them my mind went blank. I didn't remember any of the steps. At some point I had to twerk in front of everybody and specially in front of her.
We did the whole routine and then the cheers came and danced. The theatre kids did a small show and some other people did acts.
"Blake!" Olive said with her eyes filled with tears. She hugged me and I lifted her up from the floor "you didn't have to" she said with a croaky voice.
"Shut up!" I said smiling "go thank Corey" she blushed and ran to Corey.
Jason came up to me smiling.
"Are you sure you're on the right side, Blake?" He joked and started laughing. I joined him "great job" he said hugging me and walking towards the crowd.
I stayed on the bleachers a while because of the pain. It hurt really bad and I was afraid that if I moved it would hurt more. After I felt a little relief, I walked to my car and went straight to the house.
I took a shower and drank three pain killers. I put on another patch and went to bed. Just before falling asleep, I took my phone and took a picture of me on the bed with only my boxer briefs on. I sent it to Tina with "I miss you" written on the bottom. She didn't answer.
*****
Blake is the one with the light purple t shirt.
I know, i know. you're welcome.