Chapter Twenty-Three: Marcus

Football season is over, we got stomped in the last game, and we didn't make the playoffs. I don't want to talk anymore about it...maybe just a little. Coach Dell has no idea how important that game against King was to Caleb and me and our college and pro future. He called boneheaded play after boneheaded play, and we got beat 35-14. Our offensive line sucks and our whole defensive line can't put any pressure on the quarterback. I play against those guys almost every day in practice, and they can't defend against Caleb and me, and they sure as heck can't defend against a team like King.

I'm glad to see a lot of those seniors move on. They've got no game and even the best of them is looking at going to a DII school at best. There was too much arguing going in the locker room with those guys; they can't stand it when Caleb tells them what to do.

I'm playing basketball on the varsity, but I'm a little behind on learning the plays and getting in good basketball shape. It won't be long, I bet, before Coach Henson puts me in the starting lineup. All I've got to beat out is a junior who, basically, has no touch from long range. Coach Henson needs a good shooting guard who can drain it from beyond the line.

It's all over school now that Kylee and I broke up last week...it was all over school, Facebook, and Twitter, man, in like five minutes. That's good because the ladies need to know that I'm available. Things started off great with Kylee and me, but she began to complain and was real standoffish about stuff. I asked her what her problem was, and she said I should know what the problem was. How are us guys supposed to know what we're supposed to do to make things right if the stupid girls won't tell us. It's like they want us to play some stupid game like 20 Questions, just trying to figure out what they want us to do or how we're supposed to treat them.

We would argue just about every day in school between classes or during lunch about something ridiculous, usually something she thought I did or didn't do, or some silly thing that I was supposed to do but wasn't doing and things like that. And finally I told her to lay it on the line about what was bothering her. And she got all sarcastic and said did I want one thing or just three or four things or all of them. And I got real sarcastic right back and said why didn't she just give me the top five or six.

She laughed this evil laugh and said okay, that will be easy. Then she said, I was "in order" was how she started out, "immature, stuck-up, and clueless." Then she said that I didn't want to talk about anything but football, that I never asked her opinions on anything, that I was insensitive about her feelings and had unrealistic goals about the future. Kylee got really harsh next. She said that the only reason she ever went out with me in the first place was that I was so good looking and on the football team. But, boy, her mama was right about looks not being everything. I got so mad at her that I said that she was nothing but "eye candy" to me, and I could do a lot better in the "looks and personality" department. So that was that with her. I won't stay single long.

I've already been talking to some new babes as potential girlfriends. I think I've settled on Camila, you know how hot those Dominican girls can be. She's got a real chance to be my number one jaina. The past three days I've stopped by her table during lunch (she sits with Hannah and Mia most days) and let her see what she's been missing in the man department.

Anyway, I asked her out Monday for Friday night. She said she would have to ask her parents first, that they had said she might could do some dating this year, but they weren't all the way sure. I told her no sweat, no problem, that I needed to know by Wednesday. I told her we could go double date with Joshua and his girlfriend, maybe go out to dinner somewhere nice. She said she has a curfew of 10:00, and I said that was no problem. That's my curfew too, but I didn't see any point in telling her that.

The whole time we were talking Monday, Hannah and Mia were like hanging on every word, and I don't understand why they didn't get up and go somewhere, go get some more food or go to the restroom or something, and let Camila and me have some privacy. Girls are funny like that, it's as if they feel like they have to herd up, like they were some prey animal or something like that and the jungle is full of lions.

I'm really sure Camila is going out with me on Friday. I mean she's not going to do any better than me.