“What are you guys doing here? How’d you get here faster than me?” said Sam.
“We’ve come to support you. You know, now that you participate in community events,” said Holly.
“We took the shortcut behind the house, down the alley. We wanted to watch you and Otto come in together. You should have seen the look on Rosalind’s face when she saw you here. Pure bliss,” said Layla.
Sam glared at her.
“I thought you’d be here to support Randy,” she said.
“Oh, I am. He’s being so stubborn about all this coach hiring business. He just needs to let it go. It will all work out,” Holly said. Her practicality surprised Sam. Holly still had every right to be on the couch, drinking wine and watching Nora Ephron movies. Instead, she showed up to tease Sam. Sam kept the frown on her face. Secretly she was delighted. Holly looked the happiest she’d been in two days.
“I just wish I was sitting back here with you guys,” Sam said.
Layla shook a finger at her.
“No, you’re part of the entertainment. Now go back to your seat next to Otto,” she said.
Sam rolled her eyes and did as she was told.
The board slowly took their places at the front of the hall. It was a hodge-podge group.
Maisey James, head librarian, rapped the gavel against the table, and shot everyone her famous laser beam stare. The general chatter hushed.
Sam wished she’d had a scary librarian glare when the freshmen class had gone berserk on her.
Maisey pushed her glasses up her nose and addressed the crowd.
“It’s good to see we have a full house tonight to address the hiring of our new football coach among other things,” said Maisey.
There was an overall murmur of approval.
Sam turned in her seat to view the crowd. From where she sat she couldn’t even see Layla and Holly. The room was packed. She gave a quick wave to her father who had snuck into a seat next to Rosalind, and saw Holly’s mother sitting with Holly’s eldest brother, Paul, and his wife, Heather.
In accordance with the agenda Sam had sent all the meeting’s participants earlier, the meeting began with the principals of the Grover Elementary School and Grover Middle School giving their spiels about what was new and the status of ongoing projects. Sam heard whispers and shuffling behind her. No one seemed to care about the fourth grade class’s recycling initiative. Even in a Southern California small town most people still cared about their high school football over teaching kids about the environment.
Next, it was Otto’s turn to talk.
He stood tall at the podium. Sam’s breath caught when he smiled at her. Embarrassed, she looked around to make sure no one had seen her reaction. She was in luck. Everyone was watching Otto. People leaned in to listen to what he had to say.
“I promise to be quick. I know you all didn’t come to listen to me,” said Otto.
The crowd laughed and quickly quieted down again to listen.
Otto proceeded to give a quick rundown of what was new at Grover High.
“Last but not least, I have a new executive assistant. She’s a hometown girl many of you know, and I just wanted to welcome her tonight and say what an awesome job she’s doing. Will you all help me welcome Sam Henry back to Grover.”
Sam snapped her gaping mouth shut as she realized people were turning toward her and cheering. In a blind moment of panic she stood and waved to the audience. The cheers intensified before they quieted down. It had probably been seconds, but it’d felt like eons.
Otto sat down next to her with a big grin on his face. Sam wanted to punch him in the arm. Instead she raised her eyebrows at him.
“You didn’t have to do that,” she murmured.
“Just wanted to show you some appreciation,” he whispered back.
Sam rolled her eyes, but she couldn’t help but grin in spite of herself.
“Thank you for your report Otto. The floor is now open. Is there anyone who’d like to share an issue with the board?” said Maisey.
Gus raised his hand. Everyone looked toward the man who was attempting to replace Ethan Cooke. Sam held her breath. She knew how Gus must’ve felt, alone and against the world. She knew the citizens of Grover had the ability to suffocate you with love. They also had the ability to make you feel isolated and outside the tribe.
He slowly wheeled the squeaky chalkboard to the front of the room. He held up the chalk as if he were about to begin a math lesson.
“Hello, I’m Gus Avery. Many of you may know me as one of the math teachers here at Grover High School. I’m applying for the position of assistant coach under the new head coach Randy O’Malley.”
“We hear you’re a ballet dancer,” a deep yell came from the back of the crowd.
There were a few muffled giggles. Sam turned in the direction of the shout. Some Grover Guanacos football players were sitting in a small herd in their letterman jackets. Sam shot them her best withering librarian glance, and was surprised when it actually changed smirks to shameful looks on a few of the players.
Rather than give a reply to the interruption, Gus looked squarely at the boys. He took a step forward, leaned into his front foot and twirled into a pirouette.
In his street clothes Gus looked magical and athletic twirling out of nowhere. Sam gasped in delight. The rest of the crowd was struck dumb by Gus’s sudden showcase of talent.
The spin stopped as gracefully as it had begun. Gus turned back to the chalk board with the attention of every person in the room.
“So,” Gus began. He raised the chalk and placed it against the board.
“We actually have an extremely solid defense, which is unusual for a high school team. This can be credited to Coach O’Malley’s hard work. What the Guanacos need now is to be more creative with offensive plays. Let me break down new possibilities for three typical Guanaco plays.”
Gus walked the town through the three plays. His chalk flew over the board in his math teacher style. The flourish of the chalk was a display in itself.
Everyone listened with baited breath. At one point, Sam turned to look at the crowd. People were sitting and listening. The crowd had parted in a way that she could see Holly’s face.
Holly watched Gus intently with a look of calm that made Sam silently thank Gus for his performance tonight.
“Whatever happens, you need to hire Gus,” Sam found herself whispering into Otto’s ear.
Otto leaned into her a bit. A shiver wriggled down Sam’s neck. His mouth came close to her face.
“I don’t think I’ll have to do any convincing. Look at everyone. They can’t take their eyes off of him,” he said.
Sam nodded in agreement and turned back to Gus. He was a good distraction from her burning cheeks.
In a dramatic gesture, Gus plopped the chalk down into its tray.
“Our pride has been hurt. We have a vendetta to settle with a certain hometown hero who has done us wrong. I’m not a native of Grover, but I understand your pride. Let me help Randy regain this pride and bring it back to our town,” said Gus his hand outstretched.
The hall was struck with a silence rare to the people of Grover.
Gus looked toward his outstretched arm a little surprised as if a spirit had possessed his body, given a crazy amazing speech, and had suddenly left him. He was back to being Grover High’s best math teacher who had somehow ended up in front of a packed town hall with everyone’s eyes on him.
Gus looked out into the hall, his eyes unsure.
In the midst of the silence Sam stood up.
“Go Guanacos,” she said from her seat. She began to applaud Gus.
Holly jumped to her feet and started clapping too. Otto followed suite.
Soon the whole hall was on their feet cheering for Gus.
Gus nodded bashfully in response to the applause. The startled look on his face acknowledged he’d just signed up for something bigger than he’d originally thought.
* * *
&
nbsp; “Wow, what happened in there?” said Sam.
Otto shook his head and chuckled.
“I’m not quite sure. Guess our hippie town has more school spirit than anyone ever realized,” he said.
Gus had had Maisey at his pirouette, but by the end of the speech the rest of the board had been drawn in. They unanimously recommended Gus for assistant coach to Otto.
A stunned Randy had no choice but to comply.
The jubilant audience exited the building in a chattering herd. After listening to the comments of a few of the enthusiastic attendees, Sam and Otto escaped to the edge of the crowd. They walked down the main street toward Grover’s business district where many restaurants and boutiques could be found, including Zelda’s.
“Are you hungry?” Otto said.
Now that she thought about it, Sam's stomach was rumbling.
“I could eat,” she said.
“It’s unoriginal, but I kind of feel like a slice of pizza. Also, Zelda will want to know what happened at the meeting,” said Otto.
It didn’t matter it was unoriginal. It was practical. This wasn’t a date in which getting creative would score Otto points. The problem was Sam hadn’t had this much fun on the past many dates she’d been on with guys who’d been trying to score points.
Sam looked across the street. Small twinkle lights hung in the rafters of Zelda’s. The space looked magical. The smell of melting cheese, warm marinara sauce, and roasting garlic wafted toward Sam in a cloud. She closed her eyes to savor the smells.
She opened her eyes to see Otto watching her with an amused look on his face.
“Now I’m glad I suggested pizza,” he said.
The bell jingled as Otto opened the restaurant’s front door for Sam. The restaurant was crowded. It appeared a few other town hall attendees had also felt like having a late dinner.
Sam had always loved it here. She loved the exposed brick, and the worn wooden tables with chairs in fading pastel colors. She’d spent many an afternoon studying or devouring a novel at one of the back tables. Sometimes Otto would be working. He’d always been ready to talk.
This was the first time they’d ever entered the restaurant together.
“Well I’m glad to see you’ve come in to help. It's definitely busy tonight,” said a voice behind the counter.
Otto let out a hearty laugh in recognition of Zelda’s voice.
A self-conscious jolt shot through Sam. She had said hello to Zelda many times before, but never as a guest of Otto’s.
“Zelda I’m actually here for dinner,” he said. He looked at Sam with warm eyes before turning back to his aunt.
“Aunt Zelda, you remember Sam. Sam, I'm sure you remember my Aunt Zelda,” he said.
Sam noted how Otto still made a formal introduction. It was his good manners. The situation also just felt different.
“Sam, it’s so good to see you. I hear you went all fancy on us and got yourself a PhD,” Zelda said. Rather than extending a hand to shake, she walked around the counter to give Sam a hug.
Zelda had always been known for being a little fancy herself. In her thirties, she’d gone to Italy to learn about pizza making, and came back with the ways of the Italians and the gusto to open her own pizzeria. She closed shop every August and September to travel. There had always been rumors she had an Italian boyfriend who she shacked up with every year. Zelda was yet to confirm or deny the Italian lover. According to Grover lore, his name was Cosmos.
“No one wants hot pizza in August,” she’d always insist.
Zelda’s hug was warm and solid. Something about it was reminiscent of Otto’s handshake.
“It’s good to see you!” Sam said.
Zelda fluttered her hands at Otto and briskly shooed him away, sending him behind the counter to serve customers and prepare a pizza for him and Sam. Zelda pulled a bottle of red wine from the impressive wine rack on the wall. She called to Otto for glasses and a corkscrew. He obliged. She popped the cork and poured the wine.
“Tell me all about the school board meeting. From all the snippets I’ve heard tonight from everyone it sounds like it was quite a doozy,” said Zelda.
Sam had always seen Zelda as a similar soul, someone who was also viewed as a little eccentric by the folks of Grover. To give Zelda a feeling of the energy in the meeting, Sam had no qualms about doing clumsy impressions of voices, or waving her arms. Zelda hung on her every word. It seemed like no time had passed when Otto arrived at the table holding a pan of pizza in one hand, and two plates in the other.
“It’s my turn with Sam. I’ll help you clean up when we’re done Zelda,” Otto said.
Zelda shrugged him off and insisted that he and Sam take their time. Sam waved to Zelda as she assumed her position behind the counter. She gave Sam a sly smile back.
Otto poured more wine and began slicing pieces of the steaming pizza for each of them.
“It’s like we’ve come full circle,” said Sam. A surge of feelings came bubbling oh so close to the surface.
Otto nodded.
“I always find it strange that we get close before you leave,” Otto said.
Sam stomach jumped. She bit into her pizza to avoid responding to his statement.
Otto had always been bad news. The kind of guy that if she let herself go, she was scared of what might happen, because she had no idea of what it would look like. With most guys, you could predict exactly what a relationship would look like.
Whenever Sam let her mind try to imagine being with Otto, something she usually made herself not do, she was never able to picture clear outcomes. She’d always had fun in the moment with Otto. It had never been something worth ruining in a relationship attempt. Relationships always led to drama. It was nice there was no drama with Otto.
Sam took another bite of pizza. She watched the way Otto bit into his slice. He had the ability to demolish half the slice in a clean precise bite.
This time was different. She was going to use the lack of vision she had with Otto to her advantage. Sam had decided. This time she was going to let herself have a little fun.
“I haven’t left yet,” she said. Surprised at her own flippancy she watched Otto for a reaction.
Otto simply nodded, and moved the conversation back to the meeting.
They began to rehash the events again. They laughed over each play by play, the delightful weirdness that was the town of Grover.
“I guess it’s not for everyone though. Ethan was very set on leaving the day he gave Randy and me his two weeks,” said Otto.
Sam chewed her piece of pizza thoughtfully. It had the right amount of cheese, olives, and mushrooms. No onions or pepperoni Sam noted.
“Otto, I know you’ve worked and lived here full-time for a few years now, but Grover is still a novelty to you. It’s not easy growing up here having things expected of you, or not expected of you,” said Sam.
“Interesting. Can you elaborate?” he said. He took another bite of pizza. He looked up at her with intent eyes.
No one had ever asked her to articulate the uncomfortable feelings bubbling up in her every time she feared she’d be stuck in this town. It was the same way she’d felt as a teenager. The sinking feeling she couldn’t escape. She’d drown here. Her lungs filled with water. She’d never regain consciousness. It was one of the only things she couldn’t tell Layla and Holly. They’d loved it here. She’d only hurt their feelings.
“I come home and feel I have no control,” said Sam.
“Is that a bad thing?” said Otto.
“Yes! It’s awful. I didn’t even know what the problem was until I went away to school. In college, I could go to the library and study, go to class and make conclusions based on what I’d studied. I was awesome at it. I come home, I no longer feel awesome. I used to blame my mother, but that’s so cliché to blame your mother. I take responsibility for how I feel, and that’s why I need to get out of here sooner rather than later, so I can continue living my life the way I like,” sh
e said.
To Sam’s annoyance, Otto shrugged.
“Sometimes really living is scary, and we hide behind things that provide a shield,” he said.
His words stung.
“That’s harsh,” she said.
He rested his hand on hers. Sam’s first impulse was to pull her hand away, to make sure Otto didn’t feel the electricity he shot through her body. He’d accused her of living small and he couldn’t be further from the truth. She left her hand under his. She was going to enjoy the way her skin tingled. She looked straight into his eyes.
“I’m sorry Sam,” he said.
Shit. Her eyes lowered to their hands.
“It’s just that you used to sit at the back table and look so damn wistful. I couldn’t help but go talk to you. You always had really interesting things to say. It doesn’t matter if you’re in control or not, I’d just love to see you be yourself. She’s really something,” he said.
“I am myself. I’m fine. Also, I don’t like that you were taking pity on me,” Sam said.
Losing her nerve, she pulled her hand from under his and took a shaky sip of wine.
“That’s not what I meant. Of course I wanted to talk to you, I needed a reason—” Otto began. He stopped abruptly.
Sam waited a few beats for him to continue. It took her a moment to realize she was caught in Otto’s stare. When Otto didn’t say anything she took a bite of her pizza. She closed her eyes. A low hum escaped from her chest.
“This is amazing, as always,” she said pointing to what was left of her slice.
Otto shook his head.
“Sam I talked to you because I wanted to talk to you. I didn’t feel sorry for you. I like being there for you. I always have,” he said. He let out a breath. Sam couldn’t tell if she sensed frustration in his voice.
Sam took a deep breath. She looked around the pizzeria like the words she wanted to say were somewhere in the room.
“I don’t like the idea of needing help. It makes me feel weak, but when you do help me it makes me happy,” she said.
Be My Friday Night Page 6
