Team Manager 2: SPRINT!
Chapter 21
“I DON’T OFTEN SEE students who aren’t in a crisis mode,” Ms. Duvall said. Dennis had managed to snag an appointment with her during his study hall period Wednesday. “Especially as we are rushing toward commencement and students are discovering they are one class short of graduation or that applying for college admission just slipped their mind. But the good news for you is that I’ve been working with the DMACC admissions office over the past few weeks and I know who to contact for the Career Advantage Program. I think you’ve identified a valuable course that we should get you enrolled in.”
“Do you know what tuition would be?” Dennis asked. “I’ll have to ask my mom if we can afford it.”
“You need your parent’s approval to enroll in the program, but as long as you’re in high school, your tuition will be covered. It’s treated the same as the rest of your high school education. You may, however, have some lab fees or the cost of a textbook to cover. This course is not on the normal CAP list, which is targeted toward the more general required classes or classes that can be used to fill high school requirements. I believe we can get you in as an elective for the summer, though, and then talk about a fall schedule that will earn you college credit at the same time that you are fulfilling high school requirements.”
“That’s great, Ms. Duvall. I’d definitely like to get started.”
“Your grades are adequate for admission to the program, but you should try to pull your math grades up in Algebra II next year. You do very well in history and science. I’d say English literature is one of the areas we might consider moving you into in the CAP program. For now, let’s get you registered for the summer,” Ms. Duvall said.
Dennis left the counselor’s office feeling very happy.
The girls had just two more meets before State Qualifiers. Thursday was the West Central Conference meet at Van Meter and Monday would be the Marysville Invitational. With the number of teams involved, both meets would use timed finals, just as the State Qualifiers would. The Monday meet of eleven teams was at 4:00 in the afternoon, and the girls were primed and ready. The girls would run in the same events as they would at the State Qualifiers. They dressed in the locker room at Bartley and were on the bus before three o’clock. Dennis checked the roster to make sure everyone was there and they took off for the forty-minute drive to Van Meter.
The team put everyone on notice with the first event. They brought the sprint medley relay in at 1:55.07 for a new school record. Leah took third in the 3000, just as Lana missed her last high jump attempt at 4'8". Nonetheless, that event wasn’t doing well and there was only one competitor who cleared the bar at that level. Lana was in a tie for second. Leah, Laura, Janice, and Diane managed second place in the 4x800 relay.
The Bartley sprinters led the field. Brenda’s first place in the 100-meter dash set a new personal best at 12.48. Judith did the same in her 200-meter win at 26.0 flat. Tori led the pack all the way around the track in the 400-meter, but her first-place finish at 1:02.37 was two seconds off her best effort to date. She was closely pursued by her teammate, Debbie, just half a second behind her. Leah won the 1500-meter run and Roberta, in a surprise showing, won both the 100 and 400-meter hurdles. The hurdlers were unable to put together a place in the shuttle hurdles.
In field events, Bartley was shut out of the long jump when Rosie fouled on both her attempts. Lana split the second place honors in high jump. Corrine put together a fourth place showing at the shot put with a throw of 32'6". She was jubilant and cheered for her friend Denise as the fellow junior threw the discus for a new school record of 106'5.5" and freshman Jennifer threw a personal best of 89'9" that was good for third place.
When the team boarded the bus to return home, they had taken second place with 150 team points to Van Meter’s 177. Both teams were nearly double in points what the next team in the meet accumulated. They were jubilant on the way home and incredibly playful. Judith trapped Dennis against a window seat and under the cover of girls leaning over the seat in front of them, smashed her mouth against his and trapped his hand between her legs.
“I want you,” she husked. “Can I sleep with you tonight?”
“It’s a school night,” Dennis protested.
“You know he’s right and Mom won’t let you stay over on a Thursday night,” Diane said from the seat in front of them.
“How about after the qualifier next Saturday?” Judith asked. “There’s no school. Oh, God! In fact, school’s out the day before. I could spend the next week with you!”
“Hey! He has other girlfriends, you know,” Brenda said. “And Sunday is my special day. I want him to take my graduation gown off me and discover what I’m not wearing under it.”
“You aren’t really going to go naked under your graduation gown, are you?” Leah asked. “That’s too daring for me!”
“No. I’m thinking I’ll wear hose and a garter belt,” Brenda laughed.
“Hey, can I get a kiss?” Tori asked. She was looking at Dennis but Judith pulled her into the seat and laid one on her before she could react. Tori started to scramble away and then relaxed and wrapped her arms around Judith’s neck as she kissed her back.
“Oh, wow! You’re pretty good at that,” Judith gasped. Tori grinned at her and turned her face toward Dennis. He gave up all thought of resisting temptation as soon as her lips touched his. Judith was right. Tori kissed with her whole body, molding herself against him and against Judith as well. The kiss went on and Dennis’s erection made itself known. Tori backed up a bit and looked at him.
“Okay. We’ve kissed,” Tori said. “I’ll show you my breasts again at the party Saturday.”
“Um… uh… What party?” Dennis asked. It seemed he was always the last to know about parties.
“The one at my house Saturday afternoon. It will be outdoors at the farm. You know what they say.”
“Um… no. I don’t think I do,” Dennis said.
“Hip hip hurray, the eighth of May. Outdoor fucking starts today,” Tori giggled.
“I thought that was supposed to be the first of May,” Brenda said.
“Does it make any difference what day in May it is?” Tori asked. She gave Dennis another quick kiss. “Four o’clock Saturday. See you there.”
“I know I’m slow and cautious,” Lana said. “But I hope you’re saving spot number ten for me. You can make Tori number eleven.”
“You know, I already have enough girlfriends. I’m not collecting,” Dennis said. They got in Brenda’s car with Amy.
“Do you think any of your girlfriends would prevent you from looking at Tori’s breasts?” Amy giggled. “Or having my beautiful classmate Lana as number ten?”
“Amy, you’re so sweet,” Lana said.
“Why would you want to be number ten to a guy who already has nine girlfriends?” Dennis asked. “It doesn’t seem logical at all.”
“Who follows logic?” Lana said. “Logically, I should want nothing to do with boys at all after what happened last fall. And mostly, I don’t. But you’re more than just a boy. I like you. And I think you like me.”
“I do, Lana. I like you a lot. But I don’t expect you to show me your boobs or to kiss me or to run around naked like my other girlfriends do.”
“That’s why you’re different. My experience with boys told me all they wanted was a wet hole to put their cock into. It doesn’t even make a difference if it’s a willing hole. I’m not sure it makes a difference if it’s alive. And you had that experience. You know the difference. You know I’m not just a collection of wet holes. Sometimes I wish you were the only boy in the world, because then all women would know what it means to be a real person.” Lana blew out a deep breath and sagged forward. Dennis automatically reached over and put his arm around her. She looked up at him and then leaned into his embrace. “I really like you,” she whispered. They rode the rest of the way to her house like that.
When Dennis got out of the car to walk her to her door, Brenda and Amy stayed in the car. At the door, Lana leaned into him and gave him a quick peck on the cheek, then opened the door and rushed in.
Dennis was so used to wearing his red emergency waist pack that he automatically strapped it on when he was getting ready to leave for the party Saturday afternoon. His jeans, he noted, were getting pretty worn. He tried to only wear them a couple of days in a row without washing them. Since he’d taken over doing the laundry a few months ago, it was easier to toss a load into the washing machine in the evening, change it to the dryer before bed, and have clean clothes in the morning.
Dot certainly appreciated the way Dennis had picked up a couple of chores, even when he was busy with the teams. It seemed like less of a burden to her to spend her Saturday morning cleaning the bathroom and kitchen, vacuuming the floors, and washing the kitchen floor. And she still did a load of her and Peg’s delicate underthings on Saturday morning. It wasn’t proper to give those to Dennis.
“You’re wearing your emergency pack to a party?” she asked her son when he emerged.
“Oh. Um. I guess I don’t have to.”
“If you and your friends are comfortable with having it with you, I think it makes sense. And it’s consistent with some of your goals,” Dot said. “Who is picking you up?”
“Oh. Natalie, Roberta, and Daniella. I think we’re picking up Leanne, too.”
“Well, better add some condoms to your kit,” Dot snickered. She went about preparing a snack for Peg. Dennis stood with his mouth open, then went back to his room and got a strip of condoms to bury at the bottom of his emergency kit.
The party was fun. There were no boys other than Dennis, but the girls were no less active than he would expect boys at an outdoor party to be. Among other things, they organized a softball game in the pasture next to Tori’s farmhouse. The McDonalds no longer owned horses, so Tori had mowed the pasture, making sure there were no cow patties or horse turds lying around to slip in.
Dennis sat out the game, which had most of the girls on the field. He cheered for each one. Some of the girls were pretty serious softballers who played in a church league during the summer.
“Hey, Dennis, come on in and take my place for a while,” Amy called.
“I can’t do that, Amy. All I’d be able to do is stand around until I got hit by something,” Dennis said. The girls all came over to where he was sitting in a lawn chair.
“I thought you could play everything,” Laura said. “You showed the basketball babes how to shoot. You threw a shot and raced Dave in the hundred.”
“You’ve coached us through improving our starts, our jumps, and our throwing,” Lana added.
“Well, I might be able to help your swing or your throwing,” Dennis said, “but softball is one of the sports I just can’t participate in. It has to do with peripheral vision and the speed that things come at you. By the time I can clearly see the ball to either bat or catch it, it’s past me before I can react. Maybe next summer I’ll be able to play if the eye stuff is all taken care of by then.”
“I hope so,” Diane said. “We’re going to need you to manage our new softball team next summer.”
“What? What new team?” Tori blurted out. Diane got a nod from Natalie.
“They’re going to expand women’s sports at Bartley next year,” she said. “You know Nat’s mom and my mom were elected to the school board this spring? Well, they’ve made a decision to hire four new coaches and expand the entire sports program. It will include boys’ football and wrestling. It will also include girls’ softball, volleyball, and cross country. Probably boys’ cross country, too.”
“Wow! We’re going to move into the twenty-first century at last,” Dennis laughed. “That will give us five out of ten IGHSAU sanctioned sports.”
“What are the others?” Natalie asked. “I’ll bet we can get more pushed through.”
“Maybe,” Dennis said. “I don’t think there’s anything we can do about having a swimming and diving team unless there’s another multi-millionaire donor who decides we need a pool. Other than that, we have the other two fall sports covered with Volleyball and Cross Country. Let’s see, I suppose we could work something out with the bowling alley in County Seat and start a bowling team. That’s the other winter sport. Spring is when we could feasibly add the most with soccer, golf, and tennis. Of course, we’d need tennis courts. And everyone has to provide their own equipment for golf. It gets individually expensive real fast.”
“Yeah, but soccer? I’m in!” Daniella called.
“You can’t possibly manage all those sports,” Tori said. “Not that we wouldn’t want you to, but if they’re hiring two more women’s coaches, we need at least two more managers. With the way you run all over for track and field, I’d say four more managers.”
“I know girls who would manage a team,” Leanne said. “They just didn’t think there were any opportunities. We forget that track is only the second women’s sport we’ve had at the school. I think people will come out of the woodwork to participate in other sports.”
“We should do a survey,” Debbie suggested. “Find out who’s really interested in what. We’ve got, like, 110 girls in our school. I think in a year there’ll be enough girls trying out for basketball to field a girls’ JV team in addition to varsity. I’m trying out this year.” There was a chorus of ‘me too,’ from around the group and Dennis wondered how they were going to handle that many girls in the sport.
Mr. McDonald grilled burgers for everyone. There were chips and deviled eggs. It was a simple party dinner, but it was dusk before people finished eating. Tori had her phone hooked up to a Bluetooth speaker and the music was loud enough to fill the back yard.
“Let’s play hide and seek,” Corrine suggested.
“Isn’t that a little juvenile?” Judith asked.
“Not if you play by adult rules,” Corrine continued. “You have the choice of hiding alone, as a pair, or as a trio. There’s always a pair who are it. Sometimes, no one ever gets found,” she giggled.
“Huh?” Rosie asked. Leanne whispered in her ear. “Really? Okay.”
“Isn’t this usually done with boys for partners?” Leah asked. “We only have one.”
“That’s okay,” Laura said. “I want Tori as my first partner. We have some unfinished business.”
“Ooh!” laughed the girls.
“Well, I claim Dennis for the first round since it was my idea,” Corrine said. “Remember, you have to um… stay in touch with your partner at all times. Hiders and seekers.”
They quickly divided up and there were no solos. There were a couple of trios. Tori ran into the house and was out a minute later with a handful of uncooked spaghetti.
“What’s that for?” Dennis asked. Corrine had already captured his hand and was holding it as if she would never let go.
“It’s just drawing straws,” Tori said. “It’s easier to break pieces of spaghetti up than it is to cut straws. And we can just fling them when we’re done. The squirrels love it.” They all drew their straws and Brenda pulled the short straw. She hauled Amy with her to the porch and started counting with their backs turned to the yard.
“Um… where should we hide?” Dennis asked.
“Oh, anyplace will do,” Corrine said. “Let’s go behind the tractor wheel. I just wanted to hold your hand for a few minutes.”
“Really? Why?” Dennis was nonplussed.
“Gosh, Dennis, how did you get ten girlfriends? Were you always this clueless?” she giggled.
“I uh… guess so. I don’t think I’d ever talked to a girl other than my sister until this year. I guess I’m still a little backward.”
“Well, you can be just a little more forward. I do have a reason I wanted to partner with you in the first round,” she gripped his hand tightly.
“Yeah?”
“Oh, gosh. This is harder than they said it would be. I… I’m not a very popular date,” she said. “I mean, there aren’t many people who are interested in dating the class whale. As in zero. And the truth is, I’ve never been kissed. You don’t have to if you don’t want to. I don’t expect to become one of your girlfriends or anything, but if you…”
Corrine’s commentary was cut off by Dennis’s lips. He was slow and a little clueless, but once he figured out what a girl wanted, he understood it was up to him to act. And Corrine was a warm and welcoming kissing partner. They were about the same height, which left them below the profile of the tractor wheel, and when Dennis put his arms around her, she melted against him, showing just how hungry she was for that experience.
“Got Leah, Rosie, and Lana! Olly olly all in free!” Brenda called out. Corrine separated herself from Dennis and took his hand again.
“Wow! Thank you.”
“Thank you for letting me be the first man you kissed,” Dennis said. “You’re a great friend.”
Apparently, it was ‘pass Dennis around to the prospective girlfriends’ night. Debbie finally got her kiss. It turned out that she was as new at it as Corrine had been.
“I know everyone thinks I’m a slut, but I’ve never been with a guy, even a little. I just have a dirty mouth and dress weird. I have friends, but I guess I never had a boyfriend. Thank you, Dennis,” she said.
Tori was another matter altogether.
“You should come out to play sometime when it’s just the two of us,” she giggled when she got him behind the tractor wheel. “It’s not like I’m a loose slot. I’ve had some fun, though, and I sure wouldn’t mind having some fun with you. I might not end up being girlfriend material, but feel these while you kiss me again.”
She pulled his hand to her breast and got right into a deep and passionate kiss that went on until the next round was ready. Dennis was ready to grab a condom out of his bag and continue with purpose. Tori pulled away and made sure their clothes were straightened.
“Yeah. Come out and play with me some time,” she said. Dennis was thankful his jeans were sturdy enough to only show a bulge and not a tent pole.
His next partner was Lana. As soon as the seekers started counting, they ran behind the tractor tire.
“How come no one ever comes here? I’ve hidden here every time.”
“That’s why no one looks here,” Lana giggled. “Um… Could we just hug?”
“Sure, Lana. You know I don’t expect anything from you.”
“I know. Sometimes that makes me mad. Like you don’t expect me to be a woman like the others.”
“That’s not what I mean.”
“Of course it isn’t. That’s part of what tells me I’m not ready for anything else. It’s a very childish way of thinking.”
“You’re one of my best friends, Lana. I just don’t think of you that way,” he said.
“Oh, yeah? Is that a roll of tape in your pocket?”
“I’m um… I mean… I’m sorry…”
“Shh. Hold me. It’s just another part of you and I like you.” She held him tightly until the next call.
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