by Tim Mettey
**
It was amazing how well the suit fit. I looked like a celebrity ready to walk the red carpet for a big movie premiere.
“Nicholas, you look handsome.” Cora had walked into my room. She was wearing a pair of faded jeans with a gold Winsor hooded sweatshirt. She had her hair up in a ponytail with green and yellow ribbons coming down from it.
“So how do I look?” She spun around like she was modeling for a high school fashion show.
“You look like a Winsor High School model,” I chuckled.
“Well, that was the look I was going for, but I don’t want to upstage you!” She turned quickly and bounced down the stairs. “Hurry, you don’t want to be late.”
We got to the school right on time. The parade was already lined up in the school parking lot and ready to go. I saw the sophomore float near the front of the line. From a distance, our float looked like a large brown egg that had a little yellow chicken sticking out of it.
“Good luck, Nicholas. I will see you tonight,” Cora said, throwing me a pack of Tic Tacs.
Joy Lemmins was standing right in front of my class float, which turned out to be a football with a yellow football player coming out of it, not a chicken. I tried to walk by Joy Lemmins without her noticing me, but it didn’t work.
“Well, goodness gracious, bless my stars. There he is, the star of the tenth grade, Mr. Nicholas Keller,” she said in a high-pitched voice. She grabbed me and pulled me right next to her with her arm around my waist. “I’m telling you, if I knew then what I know now, I would have given you a king hat with your class schedule that day you were in my office. And to think I was worried about you,” she said, giggling. Did she really just say that?, I thought.
“I’m here to get on the tenth grade float for the Homecoming Court.”
Joy started to laugh in a larger-than-life belly laugh.
“Don’t be ridiculous! You are riding with the rest of the tenth grade Homecoming Court nominees in a nice red convertible—” She stopped mid-sentence, looking down at my suit. “Oh my! Is that an Oxford suit?”
I nodded yes, which was a mistake because she began to feel the suit and turn me around, looking me up and down saying, “Oh my goodness,” over and over again. It was like I was a kid trying on clothing in a fitting room for my mother.
“That suit is gorgeous! Each Oxford suit is handmade with the finest fabrics and by the finest craftsmen. Where did you get it?”
“It’s a long story.”
She smiled and pointed at the red convertible in front of the tenth grade float. Two girls and a boy were already sitting in the car. I recognized the girl sitting by herself from homeroom but didn’t know her name. She was sitting up on the trunk with her feet resting on the back seat.
“Nicholas, you get to sit up here with me,” she said.
I got in and sat next to the petite blonde, who was wearing a pale yellow dress with a large white bow on the back. She looked like a southern belle; all she was missing was a large parasol and fan.
“Hi! My name is Amber King,” she said to me.
I turned and stuck out my hand and said, “Nice to meet you. I’m Nicholas Keller.”
She laughed and shook my hand. “Nicholas, everyone knows who you are.” She linked her arm around mine and the car started to roll forward.
It was perfect weather for the parade. The temperature was in the mid 60s with a light breeze. The fall sun was beginning to set with a harvest moon high in the sky.
The parade lasted forty-five minutes. We wound in and out of busy streets, led by a pair of police cars. The whole time, while waving to the people along the route, I thought about what Amber said—everyone knows you. Yet, my secret was still safe, which again made me question why I had been hiding this whole time.
Going down the last street back toward the school, it dawned on me that Elle was somewhere behind me, which made my heart race. But my image of her beauty faded quickly, tarnished by the thought of Oliver sitting right next to her.
The parade stopped. Amber gave me a big hug. “See you at halftime.”
I got out of the car and headed to the locker room, where the team would be waiting to go into the tunnel. I sat down in front of my locker, where my equipment hung untouched. My jersey, which had been sewn back together after being cut off of me, was now framed and hanging in my locker. The frame had an engraved inscription that read, “Winning is not the most important thing—teammates are.” How ironic that that was what they put on it, especially since every billboard I had seen said, “Winning isn’t everything—it’s the only thing.” Everyone on the JV and varsity teams had signed it, including the coaches, but with only one obvious exception: Oliver.
Coach Miller called everyone over to do his pre-game talk. Everyone was restless today. During Coach Miller’s speech the guys were still talking. Normally Coach Miller didn’t put up with that, but today he didn’t acknowledge that they were talking, understanding that Homecoming had something to do with their restlessness.
“Excuse me,” he spoke up in a louder voice and waited for the room to quiet. “Tonight we have three guys on the team who are part of the Homecoming Court. Please stand,” he said.
Oliver stood up and Chad stood up. I waited to see if someone else stood; I hoped another person would stand.
“Nicholas, stand up,” Coach Miller said, motioning to me. I stood up in the back.
He pointed to each one of us in order. “Chad, if you are chosen to be Junior Duke, or if Oliver is selected to be Junior Duke, or if, Nicholas, you are selected to be Sophomore Prince, I hope you remember that it’s an honor, and you are representing the football program and your school. So be on your best behavior.”
He motioned for us to sit. He continued his talk about how every win from now on is important because it gets us one step closer to our goal of winning a state championship. He went to one knee and bowed his head. A minute later he rose to his feet and yelled, “Let’s go!” and the team jumped up.
I walked behind the team to the tunnel with the student trainers. The team ran onto the field through fireworks and cheers from the crowd. I walked over to the sideline. The stadium seemed to be even more crowded and louder than at other games.
With five minutes left in the half, Joy Lemmins appeared about ten feet from me. Seeing her nearly gave me a heart attack. She waved me over to where she was standing. I reluctantly walked toward her, still remembering the last time she saw me. I was hoping she wouldn’t grab me again and feel my suit. That would be a lot more embarrassing in front of ten thousand people.
“Nicholas, you need to go to the south end zone where the scoreboard is. All of the Homecoming Court is down there waiting for you.”
I looked down at the far end zone, and there was a group of people congregating, all dressed up in suits and dresses.
I walked along the track toward the end zone. The closer I got, the more nervous I felt. Amber spotted me right before I made it to them. She ran up to me and gave me a big hug.
“So glad to see you again, partner! Are you nervous? I’m a wreck!” she exclaimed, pulling me over to the other waiting nominees.
“No, I don’t get nervous,” I lied.
Then out of nowhere, I was grabbed from behind and spun around. It was Joy Lemmins.
“Okay, now, everyone line up. When you hear your name over the PA, you and your partner will walk to the center of the field and face the home stands and wait. They will first announce the Freshman Prince and Princess, Sophomore Prince and Princess, Junior Duke and Duchess and then Senior King and Queen. If you are so lucky as to win, step toward me, and you will get your crown or tiara. Then we will have a group photo taken for the paper.”
Right then the halftime buzzer went off, and both teams ran to their locker rooms. Chad and Oliver ran over to us and got in line behind me. Elle was somewhere behind us, maybe right behind me. Nicholas, I told myself, you need to forget about her. It’s going to be
hard enough to move feeling the way you feel now. Plus, she is going with Oliver to the dance. The nervous feeling subsided, but my jealousy bubbled back to the surface.
I hadn’t noticed that they had already announced all of the freshmen and the one other sophomore couple. Then over the loud speaker I heard, “Amber King escorted by Nicholas Keller.” Amber pulled me across the field to the middle, right next to the other sophomore couple.
The next names were announced, “Elle Canan escorted by Chad Reiger.” I turned and looked at them. There she was. She was more stunning than I had ever dreamt her to be. Her black hair had big thick curls that bounced as she walked. Her eyes sparkled, reflecting the light from the stadium, making them look like bright blue stars. She was wearing a long brown flowing dress with yellow accents that made her look like she was floating on air. She looked right into my eyes the entire way. I couldn’t break away from her gaze. She had me, again, under her spell. Then she gave me a smile and turned with Chad, facing the crowd. The rest of the Court followed.
The announcer thanked everyone on the Homecoming Court and Joy Lemmins, who did a very awkward curtsey in front of the home crowd, almost tipping over. Then the announcer said, “And now, for your 2012 Homecoming Court: The Freshman Prince and Princess are Joe McDonald and Lisa James; your Sophomore Prince and Princess are Nicholas Keller and Amber King; your Junior Duke and Duchess are Elle Canan and Chad Reiger.”
I looked back to watch Elle walk up. Behind her I saw Oliver looking angrier than I had ever seen him. He didn’t win; Chad did. The most popular guy in the school didn’t win Homecoming Duke. How was this possible? The captain of the football team always wins. Then the announcer said who the Senior King and Queen were, but I wasn’t paying attention. I was obsessing over why Oliver hadn’t won.
I felt a warm, soft hand grab mine. I looked over and Elle was right next to me with a big smile. She squeezed my hand and let it go. The warmth from her hand spread through my entire body. Right then, I knew that I loved her.
That night I sat on my bed, staring at my suit and trying to remember every detail of the last couple hours. The crown I had won was on my desk. The fact that Elle was still going with Oliver to the dance didn’t crush my excitement completely. The moment we shared on the field was one I would remember for the rest of my life, even after I moved away.
My excitement was nothing compared to Cora’s. I had to get away from her. During the whole ride home, she talked about me winning. The way she talked made me think that she must have won something herself. She was also impressed that when they took the winners’ photograph for the newspaper, I turned my head so it wouldn’t be a clear photo of me.
Finally, I was alone in my room. I put my head down on my pillow and fell into a dreamless sleep.
A light, cool rain was falling the next morning. The excitement I had felt the night before had washed away with the rain. Whatever effect Elle had on me was all but gone. I searched my room for my Tic Tacs, but all I found were empty boxes like little skeletons littering my floor.
“Cora!” I yelled.
“Yes, Nicholas?” she called from downstairs.
“Do you know where any Tic Tacs are?”
“There are some in my purse. I’ll get them.”
I heard the comforting rattling sound as she walked up the stairs. She tossed them to me. I quickly put three of them in my mouth.
“Nicholas, you shouldn’t get so worried about tonight. You are going to have a wonderful time with your friends. Plus, you are going to look sharp. You will have to beat the girls off.”
“I thought that I was supposed to avoid relationships?” I said.
Cora rolled her eyes at me. “You know what I mean.”
“Maybe I shouldn’t go.”
“No, you have to go; you will have a great time. Plus, you are the Sophomore Prince. In the three months since we’ve been here, Nicholas, you haven’t exactly flown under the radar. The one thing it has shown me is that maybe I’ve been too strict with you. Now that you’re older and you’ve made all the right decisions, I should trust you more.”
I shook my head in disagreement.
“I may have done things differently, but you have not been recognized and you have been able to lead a normal life—well, somewhat normal. So there is no way I’m going to let you miss Homecoming, Mr. Sophomore Prince.”