Chapter Fifteen
Dominic
“Are you ready?” I said to Candice as we made our way to Professor Jackson’s class.
“I’m ready! We’ve got this,” she said and smiled at me with self-assurance.
The project had come to an end and today marked the day that we were all set to present it to the class. I wasn’t nervous at all. Perhaps if I had still had Sam as my partner, I might be a little more worried. But it was different with Candice. We’d both been on the same page throughout, and the project had come together easily. Sam, on the other hand, had told me how worried he was about his grade. He was sure he was going to fail. And, judging from some of the snippets of conversation I’d heard around class, some of the other teams were just as nervous as he was. I was actually looking forward to presenting the project to everyone. I knew we were going to do well, and Candice did too.
We walked into class and waited for Professor Jackson to come in. When he did, he walked to the front of the room and looked out at us.
“As you all know, the presentations that you are going to give are going to count towards a big portion of your final grade. We won’t have time to get through everyone’s today, so for those that don’t get called up, please be ready to come up tomorrow. Once you’re done with your talk, please hand in your papers. I’ll have everything reviewed and finalized in about a week. We’re going to start off with Dominic and Candice.”
“First up,” I whispered to Candice as we made our way to the front of the class.
I had never been that good with public speaking, and according to Candice neither had she. She’d been homeschooled for such a long time that the thought of standing up in front of people was nerve-wracking to her. But the two of us seemed to give each other confidence, and we went through our presentation without any hitches. I was surprised at how calm and collected we were throughout the whole thing. When we were done, the class burst into applause, and Professor Jackson smiled at us.
“I knew I did the right thing by putting the two of you together. Great team effort. It’s obvious you work well together, and I’m glad to see you put in a lot of research into the project. That's a great way to start off the day. Please hand in your notes. Now, let’s see, who’s next?” he said as he looked around the room. “Okay, let’s have Thomas and Wendy.”
Candice and I took our seats at the back of the classroom and smiled at one another. We’d done it, and we’d done well. It was clear that we were going to get good grades. It was nice that we had gotten ours over with first too. Now we could just sit back for the rest of the lesson and listen to everyone else. She reached over and took my hands, and that was how we remained for the rest of the lesson. It was the most enjoyable a lesson had ever been for me. I wished it was a double lesson, just so that I could continue sitting with her. I barely listened to the rest of the assignments. I just sat there enjoying the feeling of her soft hand in mine. It was like we were in our own little bubble and the rest of the world had disappeared. It was only when the bell rang that I realized where we were.
“Come back to my place?” she whispered as soon as the class was done.
I groaned. “Don’t tempt me. I wish I could. But I have practice now. It’s the last thing I feel like doing,” I said with surprise. Football was usually the only thing I felt like doing, but all of that had changed now that I had met her. “But why don’t I come around afterwards?”
“You better,” she said and grinned at me.
I walked away from her in a happy bliss. I felt like I was walking around in a soft bubble. I had never felt like this before. I thought back to Madeleine. I had been so sure that she was the one for me. But now that I had met Candice I wasn’t so sure. This felt more solid, more real. My feelings for Madeleine seemed like childish puppy love compared to what I was feeling now. In a way, it scared me a little. I wasn’t used to feeling this way, and I was aware of the fact that it was happening a little fast. I had always laughed at couples who went from liking each other to falling hopelessly in love in the space of weeks. I had never believed it. Even in a few months seemed quick to me. And yet I could easily imagine falling in love with Candice. There was even a slight chance that the process was already happening. And I had no idea how to slow it down. I wasn’t even sure if I wanted to.
I still had my head in the clouds when I got to practice. Tim came up to me when we were on a break and asked me what was happening between myself and Candice.
“What do you mean?” I said with an exaggerated innocence that only made him laugh.
“I saw the two of you holding hands,” he said. “It’s not like you’re very discreet about the whole thing.”
I smiled. “I’ll be honest with you; I have no idea what’s going on. I mean, we haven’t really spoken about making it official or anything. We’re just enjoying our time together and seeing where it goes. But . . . oh man, she’s amazing.”
He laughed. “I thought you said you didn’t have time for a woman,” he said, sounding very much like Axel had the other day. I wished I hadn’t forced that belief on so much in the past. I had been so adamant that I was not interested in dating.
“Yeah, so did I,” I said. “I guess it’s different with her. I feel like making the time for her.”
“I don’t blame you. She’s gorgeous. What’s the deal with that Derek guy though? Isn’t she going out with him?”
I shook my head. “Nah, not anymore. She said it was over a long time ago. But she only just dumped him now. I’m trying to tread carefully, though. I mean, I know she doesn’t have feelings for the guy anymore, but it’s pretty obvious that he’s cut up about it. I don’t think he likes the fact that she was the one that broke up with him.”
“I’ve never liked that guy. I have no idea why. He’s never done or said anything bad to me or anyone I know. But it’s just a feeling I get around him.”
“Yeah, I thought the same thing. He’s sneaky. Did you know he tried to punch me the other day?”
“What? Are you serious? Because of Candice?”
“Yeah, but the idiot was so drunk that he just missed and fell to the floor. Anyway, don’t say anything. I don’t really want to spread the word too much.”
“I won’t say anything. What an asshole. Listen, if I were you, I wouldn’t worry too much about all of this. He’ll move on and meet someone else, and the whole thing will be forgotten about. Don’t try to hide what you have with Candice because of him. Anyway, it’s pretty obvious that the two of you are smitten with each other. You can’t stop staring at one another.”
“She’s very hard to ignore,” I said.
“Oh, I don’t doubt that. How far have you gotten with her exactly?” he asked.
As much as I wanted to brag, I also didn’t really want to give him any details. It wasn’t fair to Candice. Thankfully, I was saved from answering by Coach Bane coming up to us and telling us to stop yacking and start playing. The two of us had been talking so much that we hadn’t even realized that the break was over and that the practice was back on.
“Sorry,” I mumbled to the coach and took my position.
I couldn’t wait for the session to be over. All I could think about was the fact that it was almost time for me to see Candice. And she wanted me to come to her room. I was so grateful that she didn’t share that room with anyone else. I was glad that we had the whole place to ourselves. I hadn’t been with a girl in a very long time, and I now felt like I had a lot of making up to do.
“Dominic! The ball!” Coach Bane shouted, and I quickly snapped out of my reverie and forced myself to concentrate on what I was doing.
After practice, I wanted to rush off to the showers so that I could go and see Candice, but the coach asked to speak to me privately. I pulled a face behind his back as I followed him to the side. Couldn’t he see that I was in a rush to be somewhere? We walked over to the sidelines where we could talk without anyone around. I wondered what he was going to say to me that he couldn’t say in front of the other guys.
“Dominic, what the hell is going on with you lately?” he asked. He was standing with his hands on his hips as if he were admonishing a small child. I had seen him do the same with some of the other guys, especially Sam, but he had never done that with me. It made me feel uneasy and I wondered if any of the other guys could see us. They couldn’t hear what we were saying, but they would certainly be able to tell that the coach was not happy with me. That was not the stance of a happy man.
“I’m sorry about that coach. Like I said, I’ve been tired. But I’ll be fine. I’m sorry about practice. I won’t be like that in the game, though. I think I just need to get a good night’s rest which is exactly what I’m going to do tonight.” I had no idea what else to say. I couldn’t tell him about all the things that were going on in my life. He didn’t care whether or not I had met someone.
He sighed. “Look, Dominic, I’m sad to say this, but you really need to step up your game. You’re slipping, and you’re not concentrating as much as you used to. I don’t know what is going on in your life, but whatever it is, I want you to ask yourself if it is more important than football. If you want to be good enough to play in the NFL, then you’re going to have to prove it. No more slipping up. Anything out of football needs to take a back seat. This is a crucial time for you, and I really don’t want to see you messing things up. Out of everyone on this team, you were the one I had the biggest hope for. You have been the only one on the team that I believed had a future in this sport. But all that is going to change if you don’t get your head back in the game. Do you understand me?”
I nodded. I was sure he could see how surprised I was by the conversation. I had no idea that I was doing as badly as he thought I was. “Yes, of course. I’m sorry. I’ll do better next time. I promise.” There was no point arguing with him. He was the coach, and I was the student. I had to listen to him and assure him that my head was still in the game.
He sighed. “You know I like you, Dominic. I’m only saying all this because I care for you and because I believe in you. I wouldn’t say this to any of the other guys. Don’t let me see you slipping like this again. Whatever is going on, ignore it and concentrate on your football. Just like you have always done in the past. Can I count on you?”
“Of course you can,” I said.
I reassured him a bit more and then made my way back to the showers. I wasn’t too worried about his warnings. I had never slipped up before in the past, and I wasn’t about to ruin my chances of playing in the NFL. I was just a little stressed and tired with everything that was going on. But I knew how to zone in on the game when I needed to and forget about the rest of the world. I had done it before, and I could do it again. Anyway, the only thing I really wanted to do at that moment was to get off the field and get to Candice’s room.
“What was that about?” Harry asked when he saw me walking in.
I shrugged. “Ah, just game talk. Nothing serious,” I lied.
“Game talk? Only with you? You lucky bastard. You’re totally going to play in the NFL. You’re the only one in with a chance,” he said. I was glad that the guys hadn’t noticed that the coach was upset with me.
I laughed. “Nah, we can all do it if we set our minds to it.”
“Yeah, but not all of us are as dedicated as you,” he said.
I smiled. I was dedicated. I was also more than ready to take a break and forget about the practice and forget about Coach Bane. I climbed into the shower, and then quickly got changed.
“Coming for a beer?” Tim asked.
I shook my head. “Nah, not this time.”
Harry laughed. “You see! You’re more dedicated than any of us. I bet you’re going to go back to your room to study while the rest of us go for a drink. No wonder you’re going to make it big.”
I chuckled. “Something like that,” I said as I walked off. It wasn’t entirely a lie. I was going to study. It just wasn’t my books that I was going to be focused on.