The Franchise

With the season over, there were just a few weeks before the end of school. I was busy catching up on stuff I'd missed during the tournament, prepping for exams, and writing final papers. I saw Kelly in class and met her in the library a couple of times to work on catching up together, but we never had the chance to connect like at that party. And that's how it was, rush-rush-rush, until I walked across the stage in May. And then, after all the busyness—nothing. All of a sudden I had nothing to do but wait a month for the draft. And my last chance to try connect with Kelly seemed to be gone. With too much time on my hands, I did the one thing I couldn't during the season: drink. From graduation until the draft I went out to the bars almost every night, tasting some of the college life I had missed out on by being an athlete. To my surprise, almost as many girls recognized me off-campus as on and reacted to me much the same way; I made out like a bandit. But I was still bored all day long. So when coach came up a couple weeks later and asked me if I would consider helping out with the youth camp, I said sure. The basketball team ran two weeks of camps for 5th-12th graders; the team was always involved as coaches, but many more were needed. Since I was a graduate he offered me a small stipend, but I refused. One way or another, I'd be making a chunk of change before the summer was up. I was happy to help just to get out of the house.

When the draft came, dad used the Jammers' first-round pick, 11th overall, to select me. Some sports media called him an idiot for using a high pick on a player he could have had anyway when the team had other needs to address. His response was that everyone in the league knew the Jammers biggest need was the point, and I was the best on the board when the Jammers selected—which was true. He said it was the only fair thing to do. I think he gained even more respect in front offices around the league for choosing the honest route. It also worked out well for me money-wise. I always wondered, had I gone undrafted, if dad would have offered me money equivalent to where I should have gone, or lowballed me with a non-draftee level salary. Now, I was guaranteed a nice rookie contract by virtue of where I was selected.

It was quite a press conference when I was formally introduced. My mom was the team's PR director, so she spoke first and then turned the podium over to my dad as GM. My dad then talked about me as he would any other first-round pick. Then before he turned the mike over to me, he said how proud he was as a father. There were tears in everyone's eyes as I took the podium. In every conceivable way, the future of the franchise was in my hands.

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That was an emotional day, but there wasn't much time for reflection because the summer camp for kids started bright and early that Monday morning. When I showed up I assumed I'd be working with the high school point guards, but Coach had other ideas. He had me working with the younger grade school kids on their ball-handling skills. They were fun; they were enthusiastic, admiring, and had seemingly endless energy. It challenged me sometimes to keep all the energy focused on the task at hand, but it was fun nonetheless. Certainly it was better than sitting at home watching TV until the first training camp. What Ididn't know was that Kelly was spending the summer working the desk for the youth basketball, volleyball and soccer camps the athletic department was running. I probably walked right past her when I showed up that morning and never knew it; there was a long line of parents filling out whatever paperwork was still needed, and I often hustle past crowds with my head down to minimize the chances of being recognized and waylaid by fans. But she must have seen me.

I was with the kids all morning, and then when I got a moment's peace over lunch, Kelly's staff had charge of the kids. It wasn't until my 20-minute afternoon break that I heard a pleasant voice behind me saying "Hey stranger. I'm surprised to see YOU here."

My brain instantly recognized the voice, but I whirled around just to be sure. "Kelly! Not as surprised as I am to see YOU!" She was wearing short shorts, tennis shoes and a well-fitting college t-shirt. Her pale legs seemed to be a mile long and I could see a hint of fine freckles on her thighs. Damn she looked fine.

"I was looking for work-study to earn money over the summer, so it's no surprise that I'm here. But you're alumni now, Mr. First Round Draft Pick" she pointed out. And it told me she had paid at least a little attention to what had happened to me after graduation.

I nodded. "Keep reminding me, because I sure don't feel like it yet. Coach asked if I could help out with the clinics, and since I was hanging around town anyway I agreed to help."

"Making a little extra money before you sign your big contract?" she teased.

"Nah... I told coach I'd do it as a volunteer, just to help out."

"Well, I watched you working with the younger kids, and you did very well. Very patient; I'm impressed." Her voice sounded like she meant it.

"Well, thanks. They're fun; you just need to keep their energy focused in the right direction."

"Easier said than done," she complained, "I have that group at lunchtime, and they're a handful."

"I don't think I could handle them at lunch," I agreed. "But I don't have to. They're here because they like to play ball, and they know I'm a good player. They're a little in awe of me, which I use to help keep them focused."

"It's very nice of you to help out."

"Yeah, well, Coach did a lot for me, so I'm happy to give something back. Besides, I'm so BORED until training camp starts!"

"Tell me about it," she agreed. "I've not stuck around over the summer before—I wasn't prepared for it to be such a ghost town around here! I guess not as many people take summer courses as I thought."

"Or they take them online?" I suggested. "Fortunately, this week is going to be better, since the big music fest is on."

"Yeah," she agreed, "it sounds awesome. I hope to make it down there Friday or Saturday."

"It's running all week—I've got a run of festival pass, I intend to go every day."

"Must be nice," she said ruefully, "but I can't afford that..."

"No, but I can," I interjected. "By getting drafted in the first round I'm about to be a guaranteed millionaire, so I'm buying. Let's go right after work, we can catch some dinner down there." I knew she was going to protest, so I held up my hand to stop her before she started. "Uh-uh-uh. I know what you're going to say, so let's clear the air on this right up front. I am inviting you to come with me, as a friend, nothing more, no strings attached. Look, I really need a buddy here. If I'm there by myself, people will keep coming up and wishing me well, and I won't get to see any of the concerts. And if women start coming up to me... who knows what will happen..." I pretended to be afraid. "I need someone to keep me out of trouble."

The corners of her mouth turned just a fraction, but her eyes were smiling. "OK. I'll go with you... just to keep you out of trouble. But just today."

"OK. I'll meet you out front, say 5:15?"

"I have to stay until the last kid gets picked up."

"You name the time then."

"A little after 6:30?"

She came out at 6:33, and seemed to be excited. After a moment's discussion, we decided we would just walk down to the lakefront festival park. It was almost two miles away, but we were both athletic and nearest parking might still be almost a mile away. So we started walking briskly, and chatting. One of the first things I asked was "so is Chad going to have a problem with this?"

"Chad is back home for the summer," Kelly stated matter-of-factly, "we decided that we should take some time apart from each other."

"Really?" I asked hopefully.

"Well... maybe it's more accurate to say I insisted and he didn't have a choice." I left that alone, but inside it felt like this day just kept getting better and better.

We made good time walking down to the festival. I stood in line to buy her a ticket (I already had mine). I bought her a run-of-show pass like mine. "Hey—what's this?" she accused as I gave it to her.

"Your ticket," I said innocently.

"This is a run-of-show pass. I said I'd come with you just TONIGHT."

"I remember. This way, you can come down here again tomorrow night by yourself," and I named some of the bands playing on Tuesday.

"I'm not going to come down here by myself," she protested.

"Sorry to hear that," I replied, "I'm coming back tomorrow. Of course, if you wanted me to walk you down, just so you're safe and all..."

"Yeah, how convenient," she pretended to scold. "Suddenly I'm feeling very manipulated."

"By me? This from a girl that's been dating Chad?"

"Shut up," she snapped and punched me in the arm—but she wasn't really mad.

We were both starving by now, so our first stop was to get food. I made no effort to buy her food just based on my read of her mindset. We made our way to the main stage, where the most popular acts were going to play. Almost immediately, things started going haywire. I just wanted to go, listen to some music, and maybe get to know Kelly a little more. But every drunken yahoo in the place seemed to want to talk to me, high five me, wish me well, whatever. I can't tell you how many times I heard random shouts of "Go Jammers!" I was doing my best to be polite, because after all the Jammers are ultimately a business, a business that I am going to inherit. I couldn't even see the show, because it seemed like I was surrounded by all these guys. The worse was this one who was probably a roto-geek and was trying to show off by asking all these seemingly penetrating questions about the team, while not apparently being smart enough to realize that even if I knew the answers he sought, I wasn't going to tell him. It was kind of overwhelming, and I felt Kelly shrink away rather than fight these gung-ho guys for position. I reached as far as I could before she was out of range, grabbed her waist, and drew her back in next to me. She huddled in close, uncomfortable with all the attention and the physical press of people; I had hoped that maybe seeing me with a girl would give these guys a hint, but no such luck. Finally I whispered to Kelly to meet me outside the men's room in five minutes, and escaped to the john. That was the only way I could rid of them.

"I'm SO sorry about that," I apologized as I came out of the restroom.

"Don't be, it's not your fault," she said, "is this what life is always like for you?"

"Not always, but enough to be annoying," I agreed. "And I'm in a weird spot; if I was just a player, I could be rude and not care, because my salary was paid and the fans would probably still like the team even if they stopped liking me. But I can't do that; being part of ownership, if I alienate a fan we risk losing them for life."

"Wow... I guess I never thought about that."

"I wish I didn't have to," I agreed, "but you can't enjoy the rewards of being in my position without having to put up with it. I'll let you in a dirty little secret: my family owns the Jammers, and not much else. The team isn't a hobby supported by a multi-billion dollar business empire; for us, they are our livelihood. "

"But the Jammers must be worth a lot of money?"

"If we sold them, sure. But it would devastate our family if we had to sell them—plus we would have no continuing source of income. So you might say we have assets, but a liquidity problem. Ah... enough economics. Let's go try to find somewhere where we can see or at least hear the show."

"Everyone seems to know who you are. You could probably get us backstage."

"Probably. If you really want to meet the band or something, we can try. But otherwise, I'd rather not. I don't like throwing my weight around like that."

"Really?" she sounded very surprised.

"No...When I became a star athlete people started treating me differently, and I've never felt entirely comfortable with it. Sometimes I will ACCEPT special favors that are offered, I've never felt right ASKING for them. Besides--what if they said no? What do I do then, throw a tantrum like a diva? No thanks."

She nodded her head sympathetically, listening closely. "I guess you were right all along—you're NOT the kind of guy I thought you were."

"Yeah, well... that doesn't help us get in on the concert..."

"We could walk around the back of the stage area. Maybe there's someplace we can see and not be mobbed."

I nodded and we started walking, but there was a chain-link fence surrounding the backstage area, and parked semis blocked any possible view. We had walked all the way around to the far side of the stage. There was a walkway, a short strip of grass with picnic tables and then the lake. There were some decent-sized trees dotting the sides of the walkway. I stopped; a few more steps would put us by the east exit of the grandstand, where I might be seen again. I looked around, scanning for any vantage point. That's when I noticed the tree situated just behind us had a broad, strong branch that jut out at a gentle angle towards the stage. "I wonder if you can see anything from up in that tree," I wondered, pointing. She turned her gaze that way too.

"Maybe... it wouldn't hurt to try." We walked over to it, but from up close the branch was higher than it had looked, maybe 8 feet off the ground. I was just thinking that it would be too hard to try to climb when she said "come on... give me a boost up..."

Of course she did—she was a cheerleader. I cupped my hands, she stepped on them, and I lifted her up. There was a good foothold about four feet up, and from there she was easily able to clamber over to the branch. "How's it look?"

"You can't see much, but the sound is good," she yelled down over the din.

"Great... only how do I get up there?" I mused. Fortunately the gnarled bark of the tree provided good traction; I was able to set my left foot into the bark and push off enough to get my right foot into the foothold. From there it was pretty easy to get up.

Kelly smiled as I sat next to her. She was right; you could only see a sliver of stage from the back between the stacks of the PA system, but the sound was clear up here. And wouldn't you know it—just in time for the band's last song. They said good night, and told the crowd it would be just a half-hour until the next band came on.

"Aw man," I whined.

"It's OK. It's kind of neat up here," she commented, looking around at the unusual vantage point.

I nodded. "I'm kind of thirsty though, I guess I have time to run. Do you want something?"

"What are you having?" she asked directly.

"I was thinking of having a beer," I answered cautiously.

"I'll have one too," she replied. That was a pleasant surprise; I didn't know Kelly drank at all. She wasn't in school, so she wasn't having to follow the athletic code either.

I crawled down (it was too far to jump in my estimation), got two beers, handed them up to Kelly in the tree, and rejoined her. I took a slug. "Ahh. Nice and cold; nothing better on a hot day!"

Kelly was sipping hers, too. "Agreed."

I sat pondering about what was up with Chad, and couldn't help but ask. "So what's the deal with you and Chad anyway?"

Kelly shrugged indifferently. "I'm in town working, he went home to mommy and daddy, so we're spending time apart."

"Oh... but you're still together."

"Yes and no," she said, turning an intriguing eye my way. "I told him that we should both see other people. Not that he will."

"Will you?"

She shrugged non-committally. "You invited me to come along as a friend. Are you changing your tune now, and trying to make this into a date?"

"No... no..." I backpedaled. "I'm a man of my word."

That ended the conversation for the time being. Shortly after that the next band started playing. We stayed for the whole show, then walked back to campus. I think she had a good time, because I had no problem convincing her to come with me again on Tuesday. Or Wednesday. Or Thursday. Every night we sat in that tree, drinking beer and listening to bands (except for one time when a cop chased us down). And best of all, I was spending time with Kelly. I sensed that she was warming up to me, but I was not about to push it. Friday night between bands, she the topic came up again.

"Thank you again for taking me to the festival all week. It's been great hearing all these bands," she announced. I agreed. "You said that you invited me along as a friend," she probed cautiously. "What would be different if this was a date?"

I thought about that for a moment. "If this was a date, I'd probably you put my arm around you," I suggested.

She looked my way again, looking a little nervous, the way you feel when you take someone you know and start moving your relationship a new direction. "You can," she said softly.

So I did. She felt a little stiff at first; maybe sitting in a tree didn't help that. But gradually she seemed to relax, feeling comfortable that I wasn't about to make a grab for her tits (not that I didn't want to).

The last band of the night band came on. We sat in the tree listening to the music as before, only now my arm was around her shoulder and it felt wonderful. As she became more comfortable she even leaned her head towards me gently. I could feel my heart pounding. Then all of a sudden, her mostly-full cup of beer tumbled out of the tree and onto the ground below. "Oh..." exclaimed, making a last-second grab at it but missing.

"The beer!" I kidded, "got to save the beer!" I readied myself like I was going to jump out of the tree to try to save it.

Kelly threw her arm in front of me to block me. "No!" she cried in alarm. "You'll break your leg if you jump from here. I'm not going to be in the news as the girl that caused Davis Rutherford to miss the first half of the season!"

I wasn't really going to jump, which I think she suspected but not strongly enough to call my bluff. "But the beer..." I pretended to protest. Our eyes met. That moment became one of those magical ones where all of a sudden you feel connection to another person, and things are never the same again. We both froze, unblinking captured in each others' gaze, caught in the spotlight of attraction that could no longer be denied. Kelly flinched; she blinked and turned her gaze to the ground, unsettled by the unspoken intensity of the feeling. I gently touched her cheek, and lifted her gaze back to mine. She accepted the challenge. I'm not sure how to label what passed between us in that moment; it wasn't lust, and it wasn't an a-ha. It was more like someone had opened a previously locked door, and was now holding it open for you to pass through. You might not know what was on the other side, but it was clear that you were welcome to enter. I felt like I had caught a glimpse of the real Kelly that lived under all those layers of protection.

I saw Kelly gulp, but this time her eyes did not flinch. "I really, really would like to do something right now, but I think I would be going back on my word if I did it..." I complained. Without hesitation, Kelly craned forward and planted her soft lips on mine.

My lips felt electrified by the excitement of meeting hers. Our eyes closed, and for that moment the only thing in the world that existed was my lips touching hers. Lost in the moment, perhaps we forgot we were sitting in a tree. Suddenly something felt like Kelly was slipping. Without thought I dropped my beer and lashed out at her with both arms, grabbing her fast. My sudden motion caught her by surprise; she had momentarily slipped but already caught herself before my attempt to steady her. Our eyes met again at close range as my arms were wrapped around her. "I thought I felt you falling," I explained, but didn't let go of my grip.