High School Again? Ugh! Ch. 08

I was always part of the popular crowd in school, but today just about everyone said hello to me. It got to the point where a small group actually had me surrounded. I hadn't realized that surviving a coma would make me a celebrity. They were asking all types of questions like what it was like until Mr.Prestin broke it up. The bell was just about to ring. I made my way to my first class.

"Hi John." I turned and saw Pamela Stevens smiling. She was always cute, but this year she seemed to have blossomed, or at least her boobs had. Don't get me wrong. They weren't huge or anything, but they were certainly more noticeable. I tore my eyes away from them and focused on her face as she continued speaking. "I heard you were back. I also heard you and Tiffany broke up."

I realized that there was more to the differences in her than simply bigger boobs. It was in the way she carried herself. She seemed more confident and comfortable in her own skin.

"Yep, I'm a free man," I smiled. "By the way, I like your hair."

"Thanks," she replied, primping it with a grin. She was flirting with me, not that I minded. Obviously, a lot had changed with Pamela this past summer, all of it promising to make her much more popular this year. The fact that I seemed to have caught her interest only made it better. Things were looking up.

I spent the past weekend focusing on getting ready for football, but I couldn't stop myself from also thinking about my love life and everything that happened. In the end, I decided that if Tiffany wanted out, then so be it. There were plenty of fish in the sea. Of course, sometimes I wasn't so sure if giving her up without a fight was the right decision, but this wasn't one of those times, not standing here in front of Pamela. The bell rang, distracting me from my thoughts.

"I have to go," she said. "I can't be late to class, but we should talk. I think we have the same lunch period this year. Why don't you come find me?"

"Sounds like a plan," I grinned, making her smile grow wider.

"See you then," she replied and disappeared down the hall.

I wasn't quite whistling as I arrived at my first period class. I was feeling pretty good despite having to deal with one of Mr. Hardgrove's lectures. Hopefully, this one wouldn't put me into a coma like the last one did. I was just about to walk in when I saw them and my good mood dissipated like so much smoke.

Tiffany and Brad hustled past me hand in hand obviously running for their first period classes. I might have decided to let Tiffany go, but Brad was a different thing altogether. No one gets away with stealing my girl, especially not when I'm in a coma. I was sorely tempted to deck him, but that wouldn't accomplish much except get me suspended and that would interfere with me regaining my starting position on the football team. I saw Brad watching me out of the corner of his eye. He looked nervous. Smart man, but there'd be plenty of time to deal with him later. I forced myself to look away as I entered the classroom.

"You're late Mr. Simmons," Mr. Hardgrove said, but he was smiling as I sat in a free seat. "Welcome back. Let's hope this lecture will go a little more smoothly than the last. I've had students tell me I was boring before, but you're the first to fall into a coma." The whole room froze in surprise. I totally forgot about Tiffany and Brad for the moment.

"Wow!" I said, shaking my head. "I disappear for a month and all kinds of crazy things happen. No disrespect meant Mr. H, but when did you develop a sense of humor?" Mr. Hardgrove surprised everyone by laughing. Of course, that didn't stop us all from being bored to tears fifteen minutes later. I might have discovered Mr. Hardgrove's sense of humor, but that didn't make his lectures any more interesting.

*********

"Simmon, good to have you back," Coach Riley said.

"Thanks coach," I replied as I stepped on the field. The equipment seemed heavier than I remembered, but I knew I'd get used to it quickly enough. "Good to be back."

"Think you'll be ready for Saturday's game?" he asked.

"Sure thing," I said confidently.

"That's the spirit!" he laughed, slapping me on the back. Jimmy looked at me from behind the coach and rolled his eyes. I had a hard time not laughing. I guess Riley was a good coach in his way, but not many of the players liked him.

Practice was a lot tougher than I hoped, but not as bad as I feared. I was exhausted by the time it was over, but no more than anyone else. I had no real competition with Brian hurt, but then again I wanted to do more than just start. I wanted, no needed, the college scouts to notice me.

I showered and took the bus home. I walked into my house and saw my sister Cindy at the dining room table drawing. I took a look at the picture and grinned.

"Pregnant Bear?" I asked.

"It's a dog," she snapped. Cindy was actually a good artist. I just liked teasing her.

"How was it?" my father asked from his chair in the living room. He put down the newspaper and stood. I was surprised to notice that his stomach was starting to bulge slightly. Oh well, I was sure he'd work it off eventually.

"Tough," I replied honestly. "But good."

"You look exhausted," my mother said in concern as she entered the room from the kitchen.

"I am," I grinned. "But I'll be fine after a good night's sleep."

"I'm still not so sure about this," she said nervously. "You were in a coma only a week ago."

"Two and a half weeks ago," I replied. "Admittedly, I was so drugged up for the first week after I came out of it that you probably couldn't tell the difference, but I'm good to go. Doc Rivers cleared me."

"You and your father bullied him into it," mom frowned.

"Mom, I don't know what happened and neither do the doctors," I said with forced patience. This wasn't the first time we'd had this conversation, or even the fifth. "The bottom line is that all of my tests came back fine and I feel great."

"Doctor Rivers may have cleared you, but Doctor Hammond refused and he's been your doctor almost since you were born. Besides, even Doctor Rivers told you it would be a bad idea to play football after what you'd been through." Thankfully, my father stepped in.

"Babe, we gone over this all before," he said. "John promised to stop if he feels anything is wrong. We can't let this one episode change his entire life. The boy wants to go to a good college and a scholarship would go a long way to helping." Mom nodded, but she clearly still had reservations.

"When are we going to eat?" Cindy called from the other room. My mother frowned, obviously remembering dinner.

"Soon," she said, making her way back to the kitchen. "Cindy, set the table."

"Awe mom! Isn't it John's turn yet?" my sister yelled back, making me laugh. Mom had been letting me slough off on chores since I came home.

"I got it," I said despite being tired. I walked into the kitchen and grabbed the plates. I caught my mother looking at me with a worried expression as she stirred the gravy on the stove. I grabbed her with one arm on the way by and lifted her, giving her a big kiss. "Mom, I really am fine."

"Put me down!" she snapped, but she was finally smiling. That was better.

********

I was at my locker the next morning when I saw her. I'd forgotten about the girl who was watching over me the first time I woke up at the hospital, but the dirty blond hair and pink tips was pretty much a dead giveaway. This time I recognized her. It was Tara Kingsly, the prettiest girl from grammar school. I had a crush on her back then, but now she was just too weird. Don't get me wrong, she was still hot, but in a scary way.

"Hello Johnny, feeling better?" she said as she walked up and opened her locker.

"Yes," I replied. The odd combination of good looks and weirdness always made me uncomfortable around her. It had since the first day of high school. Actually, it was more than that. There was something about her. I can't explain it. "Um, why were you in my hospital room?" She looked at me and shook her head. She obviously could feel my discomfort.

"Let's chalk it up to morbid curiosity and leave it at that," she said, grabbing a book out of her locker and disappearing before I could question her further.

"That's one strange girl." I turned at the voice and saw Mike staring after Tara.

"Amen," I said, watching her as well.

Thoughts of her reminded me of my other visitor, the brunette with the pretty blue eyes and crazy monologue. I couldn't remember everything she said, but then again it was all pretty nuts. I shrugged to myself. Maybe, unlike Tara, she was just a drug induced hallucination, but then again she said something about speeding up my healing process and even I couldn't argue that I recovered remarkably fast.

"Big game this weekend," Mike said, changing the subject.

"Yep," I replied, slamming shut my locker. "I'm looking forward to it."

*********

"Hey Pamela," I said as I walked up to our lunch table and sat across from her. It was Thursday and we'd been sitting together all week. We were hitting it off surprisingly well.

"Hello John," she replied with a warm smile. I returned it. We'd talked a lot these last few days, mostly at night over the phone, but also at lunch. I'd learned at least part of why she seemed different this year.

It turned out that Pamela's parents bought a shore house this past summer and her family all but lived there. She'd made some new friends. She didn't really get into specifics, but the end result was that she seemed much more comfortable with herself now. I found it very attractive.

I wasn't the only one noticing the difference either. Pam was always a nice girl who had a lot of friends, but this year she seemed to slip into the in-crowd with no muss and no fuss. The part I liked the best about the change in her was that despite her growing popularity she was into me for some reason. The feeling was quickly becoming mutual.

"Halloween's coming fast," Jimmy was saying to Jenny. She was sitting next to Pam and he was next to her. "I'm having a big bash this year." She nodded, but didn't seem that interested. I shook my head. Poor Jimmy. I'd watched him get shot down all week with her. On the other hand, I had to give him credit. The boy simply refused to give up - either that or he was a masochist.

"I've already got my costume picked out," Mike said as he walked up and put his tray next to mine. "Tracy's too." His girlfriend rolled her eyes as she sat on his right.

"You aren't really dressing up as a caveman, are you?" Tracy asked.

"Yep," he grinned. "And you're going to be my cavewoman!"

"Let me guess," I joked. "Fred and Wilma?"

"I don't know," Tracy smiled. "I think I look more like Betty."

"Well I'm no Barney!" Mike insisted.

"Fred and Betty?" Jimmy dead panned. "That's just wrong!"

"I don't know," I smirked. "Bambam looks more like Fred than Barney to me."

"Now that's wrong!" Pam laughed. We continued to joke about the Flintstones for a few minutes until Jenny chimed in.

"Barney and Bambam are the only blonds," she said. "Genetically speaking, it's far more likely Barney is the father."

"Geek alert!" Mike snorted. He liked to tease Jenny. She was a bit of a science geek, but then again a redhead as hot as she was could be any kind of geek she wanted and would still draw more than her share of attention.

"Please!" Jimmy snorted. "Neither Fred or Barney are Bambam's biological father. He was adopted."

"Somebody spent way too many hours watching Saturday morning Cartoons," I said, shaking my head. There was a general laughter before the subject switched. Somehow we ended up on politics, which was more than a little unusual, but then again Jenny was the one who started the conversation. I thought about chiming in, but truthful I could care less. All politicians were liars and thieves. Everyone knew that.

I focused on eating. I was just finishing my chocolate milk when I noticed something going on at one of the other tables. It was halfway across the hall, but a number of the people at it were laughing pretty loudly. The one who caught my interest was Tara. Her face lit up while she was laughing.

She was sitting with the burnouts. I didn't know most of them, but I remember John from grammar school. Maybe it was because we shared a first name. I thought the girl next to him was his girlfriend. Her name was Janice. No! Janey, her name was Janey.

John has a plastic cup filled half filled with milk. He was putting the leftovers from his plate into it. It was pretty gross even from here. As I watched one of the lunch ladies moved over to their table. I don't know what she said, but John's answer made his tablemates laugh even harder. The lunch lady said something else and John shrugged, picked up the plastic cup and drank its contents.

"Gross!" I said, shaking my head. That didn't stop me from laughing.

"What?" Mike asked. I pointed to the other table. He looked and shook his head, quickly catching on to what was happening. He grinned and added, "She looks like she's going to be sick!" He was talking about the lunch lady.

"I don't blame her," I said, shaking my head. "I'm pretty queasy watching from all the way over here."

"What's the big deal?" Jimmy shrugged. "It all goes to the same place anyway?"

"Eww!" Jenny cried. "And on that note, I'm off to the library. I have a test to study for." She got up and left.

"Son, you have a way with words," Mike said, looking at Jimmy.

"What?" he asked.

"You don't have any sisters, do you?" Tracy asked.

"What's that have to do with anything?" Jimmy asked.

I was only half paying attention. I was still focused on the other table. Okay, Tara. I wasn't even sure why.

"John," Pam said, reaching across and touching my hand. "We're still getting together after the game, right?" I refocused on her. She was frowning for some reason.

"Sure," I replied. "There's an after game party at Jimmy's house."

"As usual," Jimmy smiled. "If we win. If we lose, then forget it."

"We won't," Mike said confidently, sounding like the team captain he was.

We bullshitted until the bell rang. I got up and carried Pam's and my tray to the garbage. John was there with his group of friends.

"That was pretty gross," I offered, causing him to grin.

"It all goes to the same place," he shrugged.

"That's what I said!" Jimmy cried, earning groans from the people from both tables. There wasn't a lot we jocks and the burnouts agreed upon, but this was clearly one of those things.

We left the lunch room in mass. People started splitting off to go get ready for their next class. Tara wasn't really walking with me, but then again our lockers were pretty much next to each other. She was a little ahead of me and I caught myself checking out her ass.

"See you later John," Pam said as we passed her locker. She surprised me by giving me a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Later," I smiled, forgetting about Tara for the moment. Things were definitely looking up for me and Pam. The rest of the trip to my locker was uneventful, at least until I opened it a little too quickly and my book bag fell out, the contents spewing all over the floor. "Shit!"

"Smooth move," Tara grinned, but she also bent down to help gather everything.

"It's a gift," I sighed, making her laugh. It didn't take long to pick it all up. Tara handed me what she gathered and somehow our hands touched, but only briefly. Our eyes met at pretty much the same moment and I found myself remembering the crush I once had on her. I paused for just a moment before I took my stuff from her and threw it in my locker.

My fingers felt tingly where they touched hers. I knew what that meant. I shook my head, surprised to realize that I still had a crush on her despite how much she changed and how little we had in common these days.

"Are you seriously going to play football this weekend?" Tara asked without preamble as she opened her own locker and grabbed her books. "Don't you think that's a little crazy, considering?" I knew she was talking about the coma.

"You know, I already have a mother," I joked. Tara seemed only mildly amused and certainly not put off. I sighed and added more honestly, "How else am I going to get that scholarship?" She shook her head.

"There are more important things than going to some big name college," she said. "Like your health."

"I'm fine," I insisted. "Great even."

"That's not what she said!" Jimmy chimed in as he joined us. I blushed. Goddamn Jimmy sometimes. He'd gotten me good. On the other hand, at least his arrival got Tara off the subject of my coma and football.

"That true?" she teased me, obviously not embarrassed or even annoyed by his comment.

"You know," Jimmy grinned. "He's been in a coma recently. I doubt he could handle someone like you right now. Me, on the other hand..."

"You'd never survive," Tara said with a laugh. I was certain Jimmy was going to have a quick comeback, but before he could get it out, she continued. "Besides, don't give up on Jenny just yet. You've got move of a chance than you think." She'd stunned him with that one.

"What?" Jimmy asked. "Do you think so?" Tara grinned knowingly and then walked away without another word.

"Yeah, two chances," I chimed in. "Slim and none."

"Asshole!" he snapped, causing me to laugh.

I tried not to watch Tara as she left, but my eyes did drift after her once or twice. She wasn't like any other girl I knew. I wasn't sure if that was good or bad.

**********

"I love Friday practices!" I grinned as I stood under the flow of water. I was showering after practice as usual, although today it almost wasn't necessary.

"What's not to love?" Jimmy grinned. "It's short and sweet. We do our normal warm ups and then just walk through all the plays."

The showers were in their own tiled section of the team's locker room. There were two posts in the middle with four heads each and all eight were occupied. We generally didn't bullshit much while we washed because there were always others waiting for their turn and we didn't want to miss the late bus, but it was Friday and practice ended early.

"You got a hot date tonight Jimmy?" one of the guys asked.

"Don't you know it!" he grinned. I knew he was full of it.

"Yeah, with his friend Lefty," I interjected, making a rude gesture with my left hand and causing general laughter. Jimmy opened his mouth for a retort, but Mike jumped in first.

"Just remember the team curfew," Mike said. "Don't let Lefty keep you up all night."

"I always up all night!" Jimmy grinned. He was pelted by more than one washcloth.

"By the way, I was serious about the curfew," Mike said afterward. "And I wasn't talking to just Jimmy." Mike didn't want anything to go wrong with tomorrow night's game. It was against a team that beat us last year. He was planning some serious payback.

"Hey, did anyone else notice Coach Bo talking up Ms. Valente?" Carlos grinned, thankfully changing the subject.

"Can you blame him?" I snorted. "That's one hot piece of ass!"

"Says the guy who gets tongue tied every time he's around her," Jerry teased. He was in my gym class. I laughed along with the others.

"Don't worry about John," Mike said, coming to my rescue. "He's pretty hot and heavy with Pam. I hear she had a wild summer and we all know what that means..."

"Lucky dog!" Jerry groaned. "First Tiffany and now Pamela."

I frowned a little at mention of Tiffany, but she was the past. It still hurt sometimes, but mostly because I felt foolish. Brad was my friend and stole my girl. I hadn't forgotten that, but it was less important as time went by. Besides, at the moment I was more interested in what Mike heard about Pam and her 'wild summer'. Of course, I sure as hell wasn't going to ask him now with everyone else around. It was safer just to act like I knew.