He wants to leave. Head out into the night, fire up the truck, go to sleep in his own bed. Wake up in the morning with a fresh day, the snow covering the fields, everything clean. But he can’t. To leave now would be to acknowledge what Corson was saying, to have every word be true.
He doesn’t want it to be true.
It’s awkward. Somebody tells Wyatt what happened, but having Wyatt in his corner doesn’t exactly help his case. Jonathan Choo, who came to the party after the action was over, breaks the ice, tells Jessup he did good in the game today, wishes it could have been him slinging the ball instead of Phillip Ryerson, but still. He’s close to being back, he says, just waiting for doctor’s clearance. With any luck, in time for next week. Somebody turns up the music. People start talking and milling again. Derek Lemper brings Jessup a beer, calls Corson an asshole, and even though Jessup doesn’t drink, he takes the beer and chokes it down. He notices that Trevell and Jayden don’t come over. Steve Silver doesn’t either. None of the black players do, none of the Jews. Only a few of the white boys. Most of the girls keep their distance, too.
He forces himself to drink two more beers over the next fifteen minutes. After that, he slows down a bit, but soon enough he’s finished his fourth beer, and he’s pretty buzzed when it’s twenty to midnight and he feels his phone vibrate. Deanne again.
you still out?
yeah. about to go home.
come pick me up?!!
thought you couldn’t come out
can’t. sneaking out
really?
want to see you. pick me up and we can go to state street diner. megan and brooke are going with boyfriends. we are meeting them there ok?
Megan and Brooke are Deanne’s best friends. He won’t say anything about it to Deanne, but he thinks that Brooke is dumb. She’s Vietnamese or Chinese or something, adopted, complains that everybody expects her to do well in school because she’s Asian and that there are quotas now at some universities because there are too many Asian students, says Deanne is lucky because she’s black so every school wants her. Deanne laughs and calls her a bitch and Jessup doesn’t say anything; if he said the exact same thing, he’d be run out of town. He likes Megan: she’s sharp, wants to be a lawyer—mom’s a lawyer—does debate and runs cross-country and track with Deanne. Megan’s been dating the same guy, Josh Feinstein, since the end of last year. Given his name, Jessup is not surprised that Feinstein is rich, both parents doctors. Nerdy as hell but funny, and Jessup likes the kid despite himself. Brooke’s boyfriend has only been in the picture for a few weeks, kid named Stanley who’s new to Cortaca this year. Stanley’s fine, not a guy he’d necessarily hang out with, but he makes Brooke more bearable to be around.
okay. leaving now.
text when you get here. don’t park in front of house
why?
because I’m SNEAKING out dummy! park in front of church on pearl street and text and I’ll come over
okay
!!!
He sees the “. . .” bubble of Deanne texting something else to add to her triple exclamation points, but then it disappears, her thought never finished. He wonders what letters she typed and thought better of it. He looks at the keyboard, types in “I lo—.” Deletes it. Tries again:
I’ll text you when I’m there
He isn’t thinking about sneaking out of the party. Doesn’t plan to make a big thing of it, either, but one of the girls corrals all the football players, lines them up for a picture on and around the couches. It only takes a couple of minutes—they’re smart enough to make sure there’s no alcohol in the picture—and when it’s done, Jessup’s out the door.