Letters

More Homecoming

I was woken the next day by my phone ringing. I rolled over and looked at the clock that read 9:30. I must have been exhausted; I didn't normally sleep that long. I fumbled around looking for my phone and answered it.

"Hello?" I could tell immediately from the voice that it was Bryce and I fought the urge to groan. It was too early for this.

"Man, we've got problems," he said immediately. "Karen's mom just called to tell me that Karen's throwing up and can't come to homecoming. What am I going to do?" Slowly the fog of sleep began to lift off my brain as I realized that for Bryce this was going to be a huge problem. Now he didn't have a date, something that was practically taboo.

"I don't know," I managed to get out. "She definitely can't come?" I didn't know what to tell him.

"She's obviously too sick too talk," he confirmed with just a hint of accusation in his voice. As unfair as it was I knew he would blame Karen for this. "And there's no way I can find a date at this hour."

He sounded like he was talking about a material item instead of a person, but I decided not to say that. Instead I sighed. "Could you just tell people that she's sick and that you really did have a date?"

It was his turn to sigh. "I'm still going to be the only football player on the varsity and JV team without a date! How is that going to look?" I shrugged before realizing that he couldn't see me.

"I don't know man. Do you have any other choice?" I knew this was going to ruin his entire day, and all of homecoming for him.

He sounded defeated. "No, I don't." He paused for a minute. "Well, I guess I'll see you later. I'll call Nathan and see if he has any ideas."

"Okay, bye." I hung up the phone and flopped onto pillow. I didn't want to think about today. Just the thought of talking to Mia all night, dancing with her, trying to impress her, made me feel sick and nervous. And now on top of that, my best friend didn't have a date so he would be in a horrible mood the entire time. Homecoming was hyped up as way more fun than it should be.

After lying there for a few more seconds I finally dragged myself downstairs to where my mom was bustling around the kitchen making breakfast.

"Hey Zeke," she said when I came into the kitchen. "Are you okay?"

I grabbed a bowl of cereal and slumped down at the table. "Bryce just called to tell me that Karen's so sick she can't come to homecoming." My mom frowned.

"That must be upsetting for him." I nodded emphatically.

"Very. Now he's in a terrible mood because he's going to be the only football player without a date." This made my mom's expression worsen and I realized belatedly that saying that probably wasn't the greatest idea. She wasn't a high school football player, she wouldn't understand.

"Shouldn't he be worried about her since she's sick, instead of the just how he's going to look?" my mom asked judgmentally. I dumped my uneaten bowl of cereal in the sink.

"I don't know mom." She shook her head and went back to making her coffee. " I'm going back to my room. Where's Sadie?"

"She's outside with Katherine and Amelia." Hearing Katherine's name made me think about the letter for the first time in a couple of weeks. I pushed the thought away. I had too much else to think about.

"Okay. I'll see you later." I went back to my room closing the door and myself off from the world for a little bit.

The rest of the day went by too fast for my liking. After talking to Nathan, Bryce felt the need to have an emergency chat online, so I spent way longer than necessary chatting online with the two of them. When I finally managed to escape, I took my skateboard around the neighborhood, but even that couldn't distract me from my nervousness. Eventually I just gave up and took a shower, trying to "get ready" for homecoming.