Brighton Part One

Chapter 2

Chapter 2

The coaching staff watches YouTube highlights for the next opponent when the bus parks close to the locker room, and the team carries their gear and equipment. There's a gentle breeze, and the team secures the locker room before they head out to their vehicles. Those who don't jump into the back of pickup trucks and head out to Cowboy Lake near the Northwestern edge of the city. The headlights from all the cars, trucks, and SUVs never curve much during the drive since most roads are straight but riddled with potholes. Clarke has Hector in his car, but instead of sitting and yelling out the window, Hector removes the sunroof before they leave the parking lot. He's hooting and howling with his arms stretched out and other football team members honking.

"Wooh! I feel so alive!" Hector screams right before he slips back into the passenger seat, nearly gagging.

Already aware of Hector's gagging and coughing, Clarke can't help but laugh, "You swallowed a bug, didn't you?"

Nodding yes, Hector appears like he's about to vomit with his face turned completely red, and he holds his stomach, "No! Don't you dare puke in my car! Lettme pull over!" Clarke screams, locking up the brakes as they slide to a halt.

Hector barely pokes his head out of the window before the first taste of puke spews out of his mouth. He hacks and gags for a few more minutes before taking a white handkerchief from his pocket and wiping his mouth, "I think I swallowed a stink bug. Ugh, I felt the creepy, crawly little bastard stuck in the back of my throat, wait," Hector mentions, then pukes again, imagining the small gray and spotted bug crawling around the back of his throat."

"It's all good. I think I'm puked out!" he mentions, hanging over the side of the door and staring at the dust-riddled pavement.

Clarke shifts back into Drive, listening to his best friend's voice go scratchy. Hector moans and groans, but when they finish driving over the speedbumps, the light from the bond fire started at the parking lot end of the lake draws their attention as the music grows louder the closer they get.

"I'll say this much about this shithole. We do know how to throw a party after a game." Clarke mentions struggling to keep his eyes on the crowd and nearby cars.

It isn't long before they're out with the rest of the team to enjoy seeing their classmates act like idiots after ingesting too much alcohol and having a rough house in the lake. Clarke notices over by the picnic pavilion several people are dancing. The one he notices more than any other is the girl he's had a crush on since he was thirteen years old, Tracy Wilcox. She's one of the most beautiful young women at Brighton High, but she's made it well known she isn't into dating or fucking around with boys. The five-foot-nine tall beauty has a dark tan, petite, naturally curly chestnut with blond streaks of hair halfway down her back, and her beauty has been the top bet for almost every horny male under eighteen in Brighton. Tracy has always been the girl Clarke would never admit to wanting to be with since his dream is lightyears away from hers.

"Clarke! Yo, planet Earth to Clarke Harbor, go dance with her man," Hector suggests, nudging against Clarke's shoulder, "Ya can't fool me, amigo, now scat before I do something to embarrass yo'r ass, man."

Snapped back to reality, Clarke doesn't hesitate to get one up on Hector, "You mean like swallowing a stink bug or the time you tried showing off and split your shorts in front of the flag team?"

"Ah man, shut that mouth and go get ya groove on. I have it on good authority that Miss Thang over there ain't about to turn you down."

Uneasy about listening to Hector, Clarke gets a few yards away and then looks back at Hector. He's noticed that Hector's changed his appearance by sliding his cap backward and hiking up part of his running pants to below the knee to appear more gangster with how he carries himself. Clarke gets a slight snicker, then proceeds to the dance party, where he slowly works himself into a rhythm, trying to make it over to Tracy.