Kaleidoscope

Chapter Eight

The following week, Danny settled into a routine of school and soccer practice. His visit with his dad, with its brevity and awkwardness, reminded him of one of the reasons he went away in the first place. Their estrangement was only the tip of the iceberg in his family's sea of woes. He was determined that this was his one and only chance to prove himself and succeed in school. But, as with all resolutions, there was always a crack. His came in the form of his roommate.

"Hey, how'd you like to come to a party this weekend?" Chuck asked one Thursday afternoon when Danny came in from practice.

"I'm not much of a party guy," Danny answered, feeling a little nerdy. Everyone partied at school but, so far, he had escaped the temptation. He had been a straight arrow in high school, never even dating much.

"Come on, big guy. What can it hurt? And we'll get to meet some girls, too."

"Oh, I don't know, man. That's not really my thing."

"Suit yourself, but they're pretty awesome." Chuck had clearly found his niche.

Danny thought for a moment. It would give him something else to do besides studying and soccer. He finally caved just to be "one of the guys." He would put off his work until later, a decision he would come to regret.

That Saturday Chuck took him to an apartment outside of campus. They could hear the noise from two blocks away. Danny, his inner alarm bell sounding making his heart pound, wasn't sure what he was doing there. As they approached the house, a beer bottle dropped and rolled right in front of him on the front lawn. Half a dozen well -inebriated kids were smoking and drinking on the front porch.

"Are you sure you want to go in there?" Danny asked.

"Why not? We're here, aren't we?"

They pushed through the crowd and made their way inside. The noise thundered through Danny's ears and before he knew it someone thrust a beer into his hand.

"Hey, what if we get caught?" he shouted out to Chuck who already had half his beer consumed.

"Don't be so uptight — just enjoy it. Everybody does it."

Danny thought about his scholarship and what would happen if he were found out. But the temptation was too strong and he took a swig. It went down much too smoothly. He was a beer virgin, and it went straight to his head. Before he knew it, he was reaching for another. Suddenly, all thoughts of his family, the accident, his sister, disappeared. He liked the feeling. The thundering music drowned out his conscience, and by one in the morning, Chuck was dragging him back to the dorm, completely inebriated. He couldn't navigate the ladder to his bunk so he just fell asleep on the floor with a grin on his face.

The next morning was unlike anything in his small sphere of experiences. He squelched the nausea rising in his stomach, grabbed his gear and headed for soccer practice with an almighty hangover. He would have to gut it out in front of the coach or he would be in trouble. He began to do sprints hoping it would clear his head.

Coach Wilson pulled him aside. "You feeling alright, son. You look a little pale."

"Yeah, Coach, I think it's just a touch of the flu. I'll run it off and I'll be fine," he lied.

"Go home and get some rest. We need you in top form out there for next weekend's game," the coach advised. He wasn't so naïve as not to know what was going on. He had seen it all. But he was hoping for more from Danny. The hurt in this young man didn't escape him.

Danny knew he had dodged a bullet and vowed he would never repeat last night's escapades again. Empty promises echoed in his head.