"Babe, don't sweat it," I say, picking up my pompoms. "You deserve it, and besides, I got the birthday gift I really wanted."
Dani smiles as I look down at the silver and blue number 12 jersey that I'm wearing for the game. Each of the senior players had the right to nominate a girl for homecoming, and that girl got to wear that player's away jersey for the entire week. I'd been rocking the silver jersey with the royal blue 12 on it for five days. To say I'm proud of it is an understatement. I don't want to give the damn thing back Monday so that Silver Lake can wear their away jerseys next Friday night. "It looks good on you."
"Looks better on him," I say. Dani's wearing the number 54 of Pete Barkovich, a nice guy who is Troy's starting center. I'd have never expected Dani to accept Pete's request. He's nowhere near the level on the social ladder of some of the other seniors, but then I remembered that Dani is my best friend. Maybe she just specializes in finding diamonds in the rough. "Pete's going to be over the moon, getting to dance with you tomorrow."
"Maybe," Dani says in a way that makes me wonder if she'd just accepted Pete's offer out of purely charitable purposes. "Come on, the second half is starting."
The game is another win for Silver Lake, but the hardest fought one we've had so far. The Round Rock Mountaineers are usually one of the pushovers of our conference, but this year, they've got a couple of studs on the team as well, and Troy and the boys have their hands full until Troy intercepts a pass over the middle about halfway through the fourth quarter and returns it for a touchdown. It's no surprise at the end of the game that Troy is announced as the game ball player, even though he told me that Coach Jackson likes to spread the MVP balls around.
But even I can't miss the results Troy puts for in the homecoming game. Two passing touchdowns, another two rushing, a sack, and of course, the interception for a touchdown. Silver Lake scored thirty-five points for homecoming, and Troy has a hand in all of them.
After the game, I'm waiting outside the locker room for Troy. Mom has gotten used to us being together, and even the school, which burned for two weeks with scandal until it became less scandalous for us to be seen together, has accepted us. Troy comes out near the end of the line of players, and I smile to see that he's showered before coming out, something not all the players do. "You know, I know I asked you for a win for my birthday in my note, but you didn't have to take it so seriously."
"For my girl's eighteenth birthday?" Troy says, picking me up and swinging me around before setting me down. "You could have said tonight's game was against last year's Super Bowl winners and I would have still figured out a way to win. You deserve it."
"You say the cutest things," I giggle, pulling him in for a kiss. "So what about the rest of my birthday?"
"Your Mom's not going to kill me?" Troy asks, and I shake my head.
"Mom thinks that I'm hanging out with Dani, and she's agreed to cover for us," I say, warmth spreading through my body as I think of our evening's plans. "If anyone asks, Dani and I went camping, and you're just dropping me off since she’s taking care of the cheerleading stuff. I'm not seeing you until tomorrow for the dance, got it?”
Troy nods, and there's a certain tremble in his hands as we let go of each other and walk to his car. We get in and drive for thirty minutes, far out into the woods outside town, to a place that Dani told me about when she saw what I'm planning in my eyes. It's quiet, with absolutely no light from town to pollute the view of the night sky above us. The air is just a little bit chilly, and I'm glad that Troy packed two blankets that he pulls from the trunk of his car. I grab the cooler and help him spread out the blanket on the soft grass, sitting down after we're done. "It's beautiful out here."
"It is," Troy says, and suddenly, I realize he's the one who's nervous. He's sitting kind of hunched up, his arms wrapped around his knees and his back to me. I smile and put a hand on his shoulders, rubbing the big muscles around his neck.
"What's wrong, Troy?"
Troy turns and shakes his head. "I'm just . . . I'm worried, that's all."
I laugh lightly and stroke his arm, the muscles so hard even after the exhaustion of playing a whole game of football. "Think you're too tired for this? I can understand if you are. You kicked ass tonight."
Troy looks at me intensely. "I guess, well, this is the first time I've been . . . oh, you know! Emotionally involved, that's all. Before, it was just fun, a little whatever you want to call it."