CHAPTER 17

I woke up early Saturday morning and went to the gym, it felt good to be working out again, I was beginning to get lazy. I got back home about eleven that morning, Ashley was out shopping. So I took a long shower and changed clothes. The State Championship Celebration would be tonight, the entire town was buzzing with excitement. The celebration was scheduled to begin at four in the afternoon and would last until midnight.

I still had not heard from Courtney, so I decided to call her and ask what time she wanted me to pick her up. Her cell phone rang three times, she picked up.

"Hello", she said in a very dry tone.

"Hey Court, I just wanted to know what time to pick you up this evening ?", I asked.

"Uh… I am going to ride with Jasmine and Kelly. I guess I will see you there.", she shot back, a certain chill was in the air.

"Oh, ok. I will see you there then.", I replied.

I left the house about four thirty and drove to the outskirts of town where the huge event had been set up. When I arrived police officers were guiding cars into a parking area in an open field. There were well over a hundred vehicles already there and a long line behind me to get in. I parked and started to make my way toward where the stage, music and food were set up. As I made my way through the crowd, I was continually congratulated on our historic season. I saw a few guys from the team huddled together with a few girls, I made my way over there. I guess I had been there for about thirty minutes before I saw Courtney, Jasmin and Kelly across the fields from where I was standing. Two guys from our school were standing with them. One was Kelly's boyfriend, the other I was not sure of. I made my way over to where they were standing, everyone greeted me warmly, except Courtney. I was beginning to get a bit tired of Courtney's attitude, I had done nothing to deserve this other than to think about both of our futures. I decided to play along for a while longer, see what happened. As I was talking to Jasmin, I noticed Courtney and the guy that was standing next to her walk off towards the food booths that were at the far end of the field. He was a baseball player named Darren, I knew who he was, but we never really spoke. Everyone else noticed too, both Kelly and Jasmin gave me a funny look. I shrugged it off and kept talking to Jasmin, I was not going to let Courtney ruin my night.

I walked toward the food booth myself to get a drink, I ran into Courtney's Mom and Dad, her Dad had put this event together. He pulled me to the side and spoke quietly.

"Brian, what's wrong? Why is Courtney with this other guy ?", he asked with concern in his voice.

"I don't know Mr. Timmons, I guess she is mad at me.", I replied.

"You guys get into a fight ?", he inquired.

"Not really sir. We had a disagreement about something. I didn't think it was serious at the time but maybe it is.", I answered.

I walked over to the drink booth and grabbed a Coke, I turned to head back to where I was. I noticed a bunch of students over by a cluster of trees, Courtney and Darren were there with them. I could see someone with a bottle of whiskey pouring shots into the Coke cups, everyone was lining up. I walked back to where Jasmin and Kelly were, and we resumed our conversation. About seven that night, the awards celebration started, Ms. Carter was hosting the event. She introduced Coach Mike who took the stage and gave a short speech recalling our memorable season. He then called each one of the players up to the stage and one by one, presented us with our State Championship Jacket and Ring. Once the entire team was on stage, pictures were taken as a group. We all exited the stage and made our way back to where we were standing. Ms. Carter once again stepped up to the microphone and took charge.

"Ok everyone, please settle down. We have a couple of special gifts we want to present at this time.", she said.

She motioned to several of the faculty that was behind the stage to start coming forward, one at a time. The first teacher came up the stage carrying a full size football in a clear square display case. I knew what this was, all the members of the team had signed a football for Coach Mike several weeks ago.

"First and foremost, to Coach Mike, who has done a wonderful job this year in lieu of extraordinary circumstances. We would like to present you with this small token of our appreciation for your efforts.", she said, turning and motioning him to join her.

Coach Mike joined Ms. Carter on the stage, they hugged briefly and he accepted his gift with much thanks to all. She then turned back into the microphone, her familiar voice once again resonating through the public address system.

"Next, I want to give an honor to a senior who epitomizes this year's struggle for the State Championship. He has been the anchor of this team for the past two years and has played through some unforgiving circumstances. I would like to ask Brian Stevens to join me on stage please.", she said, scanning the crowd.

Everyone was cheering as I slowly walked up towards the stage. I saw Ashley right in front, a huge smile on her face. I slowly climbed the stairs to the stage and joined Ms. Carter near the microphone. We were also joined by two teachers who were holding a large, thin square object, draped in a sheet.

"This is the first time in the history of this town, this type of award has ever been given. Brian, I am so excited to be able to tell you that we have decided to retire your jersey forever in tribute to your efforts since you have been with us. This is your's, however an exact duplicate of this will hang in our gym for all to see.", she shouted.

The teachers removed the drape and their was my home jersey,

# 99, framed with an eight by ten action photo of me during one of the games. I had won a few awards up to date but nothing even came close to this. Everyone was applauding loudly as I stepped forward and accepted the award, Ms. Carter hugged me tightly, then stepped back to the microphone.

"Any idea whose jersey you will be wearing next year Brian ?", she asked coyly with a devilish grin.

I quickly shook my head no, the crowd erupted into laughter. Ms. Carter then instructed the crowd to enjoy the rest of the evening, then walked me off the stage. As soon as I stepped down Ashley was there hugging me as well. She whispered that she was going to call it an evening but that she would take my award so it got home safely. I walked her to her car, loaded the frame carefully and made my way back to the crowd. I sought out Courtney's Dad, I knew he had a lot to do with this evening's festivities. I found him with his wife and a few of the other faculty members.

"Mr. Timmons, I want to thank you for the award. It really means a lot to me, it will always hang wherever I call home.", I said softly.

"You're quite welcome Brian. You deserve it son, you're an incredible football player and a fine young man.", he replied, shaking my hand.