The Bench Warmer (Book 1)

Chapter 5: Lunch

I looked over at my friend, as I was a bit surprised as to what it was that he had said in the first place. It was very good, and also very quick thinking done by him, as I knew that he was a very good friend not to snitch on me like that, as I then nodded to him, which I knew that he had seen me do as such a thing from the corner of his eye at the exact same time as well, so I was not all too worried about the fact that he did not have his eyes on me at all at this very moment in time.
His eyes of course needed to be on Kimberly right now, as she was the one that had asked the question in the very first place as well. It was a wise move as to what it was that Ray had said, as he was not lying at all as to what it was that he had just said, though it was a bit of a white lie. I usually did not like those types of lies at all, but this was the one instance where I was okay with it, as I for sure did not want to ruin the surprise to Kimberly at all, as I dipped my head a bit low to the ground all of the sudden.
I let out a bit of a soft sigh at the exact same time too, as I was not all too sure as to what else it was that I should say, or if I should add any thing on to any of it, as it kind of felt like this was one of those instances where it was just best for me to stay quiet, and to not say a single thing about any of it, as I was glad that my friend had came to my aid and saved me, as I knew for a fact, for sure now, at this point, that Ray was in fact a fairly good friend.
I stared at Ray for a few moments longer, as I saw that he a bit of a blank look on his face, as it was clear that he did not want to say any thing else to Kimberly at all, luckily enough for me, as I nodded a bit to my self at the exact same time too, as it seemed like Kimberly was content with what it was that he had just said in the very first place any ways, as she then nodded back to him, which I could see from the corner of my eye, as she was just right behind me, as she then all of the sudden sat down beside me at the table, now having a big smile on her face.
I did not share that same smile at all how ever, as I was in fact quite a bit worried about all of this, the more and more that I began to think on it, as I let out quite a bit of a rough sigh this time, and I stared down at the table for just a little while longer, at the exact same time as well, as I was not all too sure as to what else it was that I should do at this very moment in time, as I gulped quite a bit all of the sudden, as I did my best to stay strong, and to look strong for my girl.
I knew that if I was going to ask her to marry me, I was going to have to go with the advice that my father had said for me to do, which was to stand on one knee, and to have a big smile on my face, as if I knew that she was going to say yes to me no matter what, even if I was not quite sure that she was. I knew that every one was telling me that she was going to say yes, but I still had a bit of some fear that it was not going to be the case at all, and I was going to be rejected in the middle of the cafeteria in front of the whole school.
I shivered, as I had not ever had quite as much stress as the amount that I was pulling in right now, as it was in fact kind of freaking me out a bit, if I was not going to lie to my self, as I tried to get my self to stay strong, though it was in fact quite a bit hard, due to the fact that this felt like a time where it was nearly impossible to stay strong. What was going on with me right now? I knew that I was strong, and I knew that I was clutch.
I had to keep my head held up high, as I knew that this was going to be a great year for me, not just due to the fact that I knew that Kimberly was in fact going to say yes to me, but also the fact that I knew that I was going to get my self some scholarships to some big named schools, hopefully in the PAC 12, as there was also a bit of some hope that we might be able to win state this year, which I was not all too sure if that was possible at all for me, just due to the fact that we did not have the best coach for one thing, and also we were playing against some stacked competition, as there was not all too much that I could do as a receiver if we were playing 4 and 5 star QBs.
I sighed, as I knew that I just needed to hope that we had some transfer students, or some players to show up on the JV team that might make some noise to be the starting QB on the Varsity team. I shook off all of those thoughts all at the exact same time too, as I felt some one grab their hand on my shoulder, as it scared me quite a bit, as I turned my head over to see as to who it was that had done such a thing in the very first place any ways, as I saw that to no surprise at all, it was simply Kimberly.
She had a bit of a smile on her face, but at the exact same time too, I saw that she had a bit of a worried look on her face at the exact same time too, as if she was going to be the one that was the person that had to purpose to me, rather than it being the other way around, which was of course the case right now. I saw from the corner of my eye, that Ray was shaking his head at me, as it was clear that he was trying to tell me that I needed to shut up right now, and not spill the beans.
I was good at that though, as I knew that there was nothing that I needed to worry about in that aspect. I also knew at the exact same time as well, that Kimberly had a bit of a worried look in her eyes for me, which only made me feel like even more now, that she was going to say yes to me, as I felt like I should not be as freaked out as I was right now, as I then saw her nod to me at the exact same time as well, to let me know that she was about to speak to me at the exact same time too.
I blinked my eyes a few times, as I then nodded right back over to her, to let her know that I was listening as to what it was that she had to say to me in the very first place any ways, even as much as she might not think that it was the case at all. I nodded a bit to my self, all at the exact same time too, as I then let out a bit of a rough sigh once again, as I then began to hear Kimberly start to speak to me, and I did in fact listen as to what it was that she had to say to me in the very first place any ways.
"Relax Grant... You are going to be fine out there... You are one of the best athletes in the nation of course, so you should not be freaked out about all of that... You just need to go out there and show them how fast, and how agile that you are..." She said to me, as I blinked my eyes a few times at the exact same time as well. It still did amaze me to this day, as to how much it was that she knew about football, as it was not all that normal for a girl to know all too much about football in the very first place any ways, as I was quite a bit shocked by it, even if I knew that I should used to it at this point. I knew that she had not been the biggest fan of football, come freshman year, but when we had started dating, she had changed her mind about all of it. It proved more and more at the exact same time, as to how much she loved me. I really was not all too much worried about the scouts at all, besides the fact that I was a bit worn out right now, so that was not the case at all, as I was tempted to tell her that was not what I was worried about, but I knew then she would question as to what it was, and I knew that I could not answer that. I just keep my mouth shut, as I looked over at her, and I then nodded to her at the exact same time too, as Kimberly was not at all bothered by the fact that I had not responded on what it was that she had just said in the first place any ways, as it was clear to me that she had her focus on some thing else by now, which did not surprise me, as I knew that she had a very short attention span, as well as the fact that she had a very talkative personality at the same time too, which was nothing to complain about at all, though often times it did annoy me, as I knew that I had to keep my focus on some thing else. I still loved her, as I knew that she was the love of my life, as it was the reason that I was about to do as to what it was that I was going to do not all too long from now, in the very first place any ways, as I then let out a bit of another soft sigh, as I then began to hear Kimberly start to speak up to me once again, and I did in fact listen as to what it was that she had to say, at the exact same time too. "Also, you forgot to send me the schedule like I asked you too... I want to see if we got lucky this year, and we have some classes together..."
I blinked my eyes a few times, as I was glad at the exact same time too, that it had got my focus off of what it was that I was doing in the very first place any ways, which was of course the fact that I had my mind on the thoughts of what it was that I was going to do come lunch time. I still was a little bit lost still, if I was not going to lie to my self, as I knew that I had to wake my self up a bit, as I let out a bit of a rough, as well as a bit of a soft sigh once again, as I then nodded to her at the exact same time too, and I then dropped my book back on top of the table.
I was not all too sure as to where it was that I had put it in the first place, if I was not going to lie to my self either, as I knew that my father had bought me quite a big booknbag for this upcoming year, as I knew that one side of the book bag was for football, and the other side of the book bag, was for me to put all of my school stuff in, which was where most of my stuff was going to be put in, as I knew that the classes that I was going to be having this year, were in fact going to be quite a bit hard on me never the less.
I let out a bit of a soft sigh once again, as I did my best to stay strong, as I knew that it was the last thing that I should be worried about right at this very moment in time any ways, as I then nodded to my self, and I then began to unzip my book bag, as I was fairly certain that there was only one place that I could have put my schedule, as I knew that it was on the front of one of my binders, so that I knew as to where it was that I needed to go after every single class, as I knew that it was a very big school that I was in.
I nodded to my self all at once, as I gulped at the same time too, as I then pulled out my binder, only to see that it was of course the one that I had needed to grab, as I let out a bit of a sigh of relief all at the exact same time too, as I was glad for it never the less, as I then began to hand it over to Kimberly, for her to go and check the schedule, as I saw her staring through it for just a few seconds, with her eyes squinted, as I saw her scrolling all the way down to the bottom of it, as it was clear that we did not have any classes with one another at all.
I was a little bit disappointed in it at the same time too, though I also knew that I did not needed to be distracted by my girl if I had a class with her, such as I had a class with her last year, which I had got nearly a B in that class, if it had not been for me getting an insanely good grade on the finals. I nodded a bit to my self, as I then saw Kimberly turn her head over to me, as I saw that she had a bit of a disappointed look on her face at the exact same time too, which I could not help but to feel bad about.
I saw Ray grab the binder that had my classes on it from not all too far away, but my focus was not on him at all, at this very moment in time, as it was instead on Kimberly, as I felt a bit bad that she was hurt by the fact that we were not going to be having any sort of classes with one another. I wanted to hold on to her, as I knew that she loved me even more now, and I knew as to why it was that she would be hurt by the fact that we did not have any sort of classes together.
I could not help but to feel a little bit bad for it at the exact same time too, even though I knew that none of it was my fault, and I was not the one that made the classes for all of the students. I dipped my head a bit low to the ground, as I still felt like I could not help but to feel a little bit bad about all of it how ever, as I felt like I should say some thing to her about all of it, but before I got the chance to do as such a thing, I then heard the voice of Ray begin to speak, which then all of the sudden got my attention on him.
I blinked my eyes just a few times, as I was a little bit lost, as I felt like I was having a bit of a sad moment with my girl, but I got my focus off of all of those sad and depressing thoughts all at the exact same time as well, as I then stared at Ray right in to his eyes, as the look that he had on his own face was a lot different then the look that was on the face of Kimberly right at this very moment in time, as I saw that he had a big smile on his face for some reason, which did in fact confuse me quite a bit at the same time too, as it felt like there was a bit of a dim mood in the air right now.
I tilted my head at him, to let him know that I was in fact a little bit lost by what it was that was going on in the very first place any ways, as I saw that he had 3 binders in his hand, at this very moment in time, as it was clear that he had all 3 of our binders. I was still a little bit lost by it, but I shook off all of those thoughts all at once, as I just kept my focus on Ray, as I then did in fact begin to listen as to what it was that he had to say in the very first place any ways as well.
"We have 3rd period together! Damn... That shit is cool, and dude... You are graduating a year early! Did you not see that?" He said to me, as I was a little bit lost by what it was that he had said to me in the very first place any ways, I saw that his finger was pointing to some thing on the piece of paper, which I was a little bit lost as to what it was that it might say in the first place any ways. I really had not paid all that much attention to the schedule, as I felt like I would focus in on it once I got to all of it, but now that I saw the look on the face of Ray, I felt like he was not lying to me, not that he was really ever a friend to lie to me in the very first place any ways, as I then shook off all of those thoughts, all at the exact same time as well, as I instead got my focus on what it was that he had just said to me in the very first place any ways.
It was starting to make sense as to what it was that he was saying now how ever though, as I had not even asked to graduate a year early, as I knew that I would have to be a red shirt freshman in college, due to the fact that I was not of the age, which was 18 of course, to be able to play a college football game. It also meant that I was going to have to be moved up in class, which meant that I was going to be unranked. I was not all too sure how I had missed that, as I was fairly certain that I was going to have to go and talk to the principal about that as soon as possible, if that was the case.
I began to get a little bit freaked out, as I felt like I was having a bit of a panic attack at the exact same time too. I saw that my girl was not all too happy right now, which I hoped that she was not upset at all with me, as I was not the one that had made the schedule, though I suppose I had failed to notice that fact that I was going to graduate this year, meaning that she was going to have to do Senior year with out me, which I knew for a fact she was not going to put up with, nor was she going to handle it at all, even if I was able to finish high school a little bit early, which I really did not want to do.
My father had told me time and time again, that I needed to enjoy my high schools years whilst I still had them, and I knew for a fact that I did not want to have to go to college whilst I was still considered a kid. I let out a bit of a rough sigh all at the exact same time as well, as I really was not all too sure as to what it was that I should even do right now, as I gulped just a bit to my self, and I then got my focus in on what it was that was going on at this very moment in time any ways.
I let out quite a bit of a rough sigh, as I stared at Kimberly right in to her eyes all at the exact same time too, as I then nodded to her all of the sudden, as I could tell that she was a bit down, due to the fact that she had heard the news at the same time too, as to just what it was that the school board had in plan for me, which I knew for a fact was going to screw me over. I knew that I was going to have to get my self in to a college before I then lost all of my scholarships now due to the fact that I was unranked.
I did my best to try to not get all too worried about all of that how ever, as I felt like there was a completely different solution to all of this, as I also knew that if the school board had made it to where I was going to be graduating this year, than it meant that it was going to be a very busy, and a very rough year for me, which meant that I would not have all that much time to put any sort of my focus in on football at all, which I for sure was not going to have that get taken away from me.
I gulped just a few times, as I shook off all of those thoughts all at the exact same time too, as I got my focus back on my girl, who I saw had her head quite a bit low to the ground, as I could tell that she was quite a bit hurt by all that was going on. I hoped that she did not think that it was my fault at all, as I really had not planned on all of this happening at all, nor had I paid all that much attention to it either, as I had my focus on so many different things that I had some how failed to notice all of that.
I still could not help but feel a bit bad for it, but I was sure there was some thing that I could do to get all of this changed, as I then lifted my girls head up, all at the exact same time as well, so that I was able to make her feel a little bit better, as I saw she had a bit of a sad smile on her face. I was a bit lost by it, if I was not going to lie to my self, but I did in fact shake off all of those thoughts all at the exact same time too how ever, as I then began to all of the sudden speak up to her.
"I will go to the principal or the guidance counselor and get all of this changed... I am sorry, I did not intend for this to happen..." I said to her, as I still could not help but to feel a bit bad for all of this, as I did feel like a bit of this was in fact my fault, as I had some how not managed to notice the fact that I was going to be graduating this year, as I had not even shown my father the schedule, due to the fact that I was still a bit embarrassed as to the fact that I did not want to go in to a college level class with him, just due to the fact that he was my father.
I still had it in AG, which was the reason that i now noticed that I had a class with Ray. I knew that he too was a smart guy, maybe not as smart as me and Kimberly, but he was smart on the fact that he did not want to take the college classes, due to the fact that he did want to have to go through all of the stress of all of the school work that I knew for a fact, first hand, that you got when you were in those types of classes never the less, as I knew that they kind of drowned you in that shit.
I shook my head, as I felt like it still was a good idea to have a class with a good friend, but I knew at the same time too, that I did not want to graduate from this school early, as there was a lot of different reasons due to that fact, as I knew for one thing, I did not want to lose any of my scholarships, and also the other thing was I did not want to be a red shirt freshman either, as I let out a bit of a rough and soft sigh, as I stared down at the table for just a little while longer.
There were a lot of reasons as to why I did not want to graduate early, as the thought of it, and the idea of it did in fact feel quite a bit enticing to me, but at the exact same time too, I also knew that I did not want to leave my girl behind, especially with what it was that I was about to do. I knew for a fact that it might change her mind if she did not think that I was going to be with her next year. This all seemed to be going a bit wrong for me, but I feel like I should not be all too worried about it at all how ever, as I knew that I could get all of this easily fixed.
I nodded just a bit to my self, as I then let out a bit of some breath of fresh air, if you wanted to say that this stinky area that I was in right now was fresh air at all, as it did not seem like some of these people had showered in months, just by the smell of it. I shook my head how ever, as I did my best to shake off all of those thoughts from my head, all at the exact same time as well, as I then smiled a bit to my self, all at the exact same time too, as much as it did not feel real at all to me, I then nodded to my girl all of the sudden.
I saw a bit of a look on her face, as if she was not all too sure if she wanted to nod back over to me, but in the end how ever, she did do such a thing, as it did in fact make me feel a bit better, as it then came back to me all of the sudden, as to what it was that I had planned on saying to her in the very first place any ways, as I then all of the sudden nodded a bit to my self at the exact same time too, before I then did in fact begin to speak to her all of the sudden.
"I am sorry... I didn't notice all of that... I will get it fixed when I go and talk to the principal later I suppose... Sorry, my mind has just been locked up on a lot of different things... Like scouts for example, which I do not want to lose interest in for sure, if I am going to be graduating early..." I said to her, as I felt like I had not phrased that good enough at all at the exact same time as well, as I felt like a bit of an idiot, for the words that I had used, as it felt like I had made it seem a bit like I still was going to go and graduate, which was not the case at all how ever.
I still felt quite a bit bad about all of this at the exact same time as well, as I was not all too sure as to the fact that I had not noticed as to how I had so many core classes this year, as I then looked at the schedule once again, noticing that now all of the sudden, as I felt like I bit of an idiot some times, as to how it was that I did not see simple things such as that, as I then dipped my head a bit low to the ground at the exact same time too, as I was not all too sure as to what it was that I should say to her besides all of that.
I saw that Ray was nodding to me from not all too far away, which did in fact confuse me quite a bit, as to what it was that he was doing in the very first place any ways, as I tilted my head at him, as he had a bit of a smile on his face, as if there was some thing that he thought was good in what it was that I had said, which I was not all too sure as to just what it was that could be good, as I felt like a bit of an idiot as to what it was that I had said back to Kimberly in the first place any ways.
Kimberly for sure did not seem to be all too amused about all of this, which was a lot of the reason that I still felt quite a bit bad by all of this, as I breathed in quite a bit heavily, as I was not all too sure as to what it was that I should be doing right now. Perhaps I should go and talk to the principal right now, but I knew that I could not, as he could not get my classes changed in time for me to go and tell all of my teachers that I was going to have, that there was going to be a change in all of it, as I gulped all at the exact same time too, knowing all of that.
I let out quite a rough sigh, as I then at the exact same time as well, lifted my head up to Kimberly, as I saw that she did not seem to be nearly as hurt, nor upset about all of this now, after what it was that I had just said, which did in fact surprise me a bit, as perhaps I had phrased it correctly, and I was just over thinking all of it. I let out a bit of a soft sigh of relief, all at the exact same time as well, as I then nodded to my self, at the exact same time too, before I then noticed at the exact same time too, as to the reason as to why it was that I had seen Ray nod to me from the corner of my eye.
It hit me, as it was the reason as to what it was that I had planned, not do long from now, when it came to lunch time, as I remembered that I was going to ask her to marry me. I had stumbled and messed it up a bit as it was so far, but at the same time too, I had said some good words to use, for me to make it seem like there was nothing suspicious going on, when I had once again brought up the scouts, as I smiled just a bit to my self, at the exact same time too.
Some times, I often forgot just how smart I was in the very first place any ways, as I did my best to at least try to stay a little bit humble at the very least, and not brag or boast to my self, as I knew that was for sure not going to get me any where. I shook off all of those thoughts from my head all of the sudden, as I then heard the voice of Kimberly, as I then noticed that she had all of the sudden started to speak to me, and I had just about missed as to what it was that she was saying in the very first place any ways.
I blinked my eyes a few times, as I shook off all of those stupid thoughts from my head at the exact same time too, as I then began to breath in quite a bit heavy for some reason. There was not all too much that I really needed to be so worried about now, so I was not all too sure what was going on with me. Either way, I felt like none of it mattered at all to me right now, as I remembered that Kimberly was speaking to me right now, as I then began to listen as to what it was that she had the say none the less.
"Well... It is alright... At least we still have lunch together..."