Shepherd's Crook - 7. Chapter 7

Amanda tried to corner Tanner several times the next day, but she was unsuccessful. He ignored her icy glares in all of their mutual classes and then he intentionally walked faster in the hallway so she couldn’t keep up in the growing crowd. When he continued past the cafeteria, when everyone else was filing in for lunch, she followed him up the stairs to the school library.

Most of the kids used the state-of-the-art media center in the main student area, but Tanner headed towards the older library full of dusty stacks of books. He kept his head down as he walked, unaware that he was being followed.

Just as he reached for the door handle, Tanner was shoved from behind. The unexpected force slammed him into the brick wall. Ready to defend himself, Tanner dropped his backpack and whirled around, ready for a fight.

“What the hell’s wrong with you?” Tanner demanded, lowering his fists to his sides once he saw Amanda standing behind him.

She stood there glaring at him. “What’s wrong with me? What’s wrong with you? Huh?” She started poking her skinny finger into his chest. “We’re all in this together, Tanner. Just because you grew a conscience over the summer doesn’t get you off the hook. If one of us goes down for cheating,” Amanda leaned in until he could feel her breath on his face, “we all go down.”

“Get a room, you two!” The sound of Mike’s booming voice, followed by his high-pitched distinctive laughter had Tanner and Amanda both shouting at him together. Their angry glares were locked on each other, never letting their eyes glance over at their friend interrupting their argument.

“Go the fuck away, Mike!”

“Shit, not now, Mike!”

“Jeez,” Mike let out a huff as he stomped down the hallway, “I was just kidding. You guys don’t have to bite my head off. What, are you both on the rag?”

Amanda never took her eyes off Tanner as he nervously squirmed to get away from her. With his back pressed against the wall and her body between him and the hallway, Tanner twisted to the side and pulled the heavy wooden door open and slipped into the library.

It was a temporary retreat since Amanda quickly followed him inside.

The dim room was lit by a large oval skylight in the center of the ceiling. The overcast sky let in the diffused light, but it still wasn’t enough to read by. Each table had a brass lamp with an emerald green shade, tilted down to illuminate the wooden tabletops.

As Amanda stalked behind Tanner, she never noticed Gibby sitting in the back of the room. His eyes glanced up when he heard them come in to the library. The book in his hands was suddenly forgotten as he watched their argument unfold.

“Look, Tanner,” Amanda hissed his name, “I’m not telling you again. If someone decided to rat us out, you are just as guilty as the rest of us.” Her voice rose as she continued to rant, drawing the attention of the librarian.

“Ahemmm,” the old lady cleared her throat trying to get their attention. When neither teenager acknowledged her, the woman spoke in a stern whisper. “Miss Grady, please keep your voice down.”

“Shut up you old cow!” Amanda hurled the insult over her shoulder without breaking eye contact with Tanner.

“Oh my god, Mandy, do you really hear yourself?” Tanner stepped into a row of books only to have her step right behind him.

“I’m looking out for the group--”

“And I’m looking out for me!” He cut her off.

Running his fingers through his blond hair disheveled the silky strands, making them stand out in every direction. “Can’t you see that? This has nothing to do with you or the twins or even Ethan. It has to do with me going to college next year. I’m not going to have you there to give me the answers to all of the tests anymore. I’m going to have to make it on my own.”

“Well, let’s just say that this is our insurance policy that everyone involved holds up their end of the deal.” Amanda held up a tiny slip of paper between her perfectly polished fingers. “Ms. Stein is planning a pop quiz next week and I really don’t care if you use it or not…just don’t try to act like you’re innocent.”

Amanda tucked the paper in Tanner’s shirt pocket and patted the front of his chest. He gasped at the touch and turned his face away from hers, noticing Gibby sitting in the back of the library. Gibby tried to glance back at the book in his lap, but Tanner had caught him watching them.

***

As Ethan walked through the hallway, the bell rang overhead, signaling the end of lunchtime. Mike and Mark chased him down as he made his way along the emptying hallway. Students darted into the classrooms lining both sides of the hallway, ready to start the afternoon sessions.

“Where did everyone go?” Ethan asked the twins once they were walking side by side. “You guys notice that the cafeteria was almost empty today?”

Mark shrugged his shoulders, but Mike chuckled, low in his throat. “C’mon, man, you know how it is when you got places to go and people to do!”

Ethan stopped and glared at him. It was nothing new for Mike to make inappropriate comments, but if something was going on in school, somehow Mike was always the first to know about it. “Is there something you’re not telling me?”

“Me? Nope, I don’t know anything, but you might want to ask your buddy Tanner what’s going on.”

“Tanner,” Ethan stepped closer to Mike, while Mark was suddenly interested in what his brother was saying too. “What’s Tanner have to do with this?”

A mischievous gleam sparkled in Mike’s dark eyes as he shrugged his shoulder and danced a few steps out of Ethan’s reach before he continued, “Man, maybe I got it all wrong, but our boy Tanner was looking pretty cozy with your girlfriend in the library at lunchtime.”

The color drained out of Ethan’s tan cheeks. Before either boy could stop him, Ethan shoved past them heading straight for the library.

***

“Are you going to the football game tonight?” Jonathan asked Gibby as he watched his son pick the mushrooms off his slice of pizza.

Gibby glanced up at his dad wearing a pair of blue scrubs with a long-sleeved navy t-shirt underneath. “Do you have to work tonight?”

Jonathan usually only wore scrubs at the hospital, so Gibby hardly ever saw him in them at home.

“I’m assigned to work with the paramedics at the game tonight.” Jonathan picked up his stethoscope and wrapped it around his neck. If you want, you can hitch a ride with us in the ambulance.”

Gibby’s instant smile split his face. He always loved watching the flashing lights and sirens as the ambulances would come and go at the hospital back home.

“Sure,” Gibby said before glancing down at his shorts and t-shirt. The evenings were getting shorter and a crisp breeze cut through the valley as soon as the sun passed over the mountain tops every evening. “Give me five minutes to change and I’ll be ready.”

Watching Gibby dash upstairs, Jonathan’s face beamed. He hadn’t seen his son so excited in a long time. Careful not to look too happy, Jonathan secretly hoped it was a change for the better.

Gibby was disappointed that they couldn’t turn the sirens on in the ambulance, but the flashing strobes were still cool as they drove right up to the side gate and were waved on through by security. Stepping out of the back, Gibby was glad that he had changed into warmer clothes, shoving his hands into the front pocket of his hoodie. The night was brisk as fans quickly packed into the bleachers.

“I’m going to walk around,” Gibby told his dad.

“Check back every once in a while.” Jonathan said and gave him a quick thumbs up before turning his attention back to the two-man paramedic staff, checking their supplies in the ambulance.

Walking along with the flow of the crowd, Gibby made his way to the concessions stand and ordered a soda before looking for an empty spot in the bleachers. Shelby sat in the top row with a group of kids that looked much younger than her. She waved at Gibby as he got closer, but the there was no room on the upper levels of the tightly packed stadium.

Gibby smiled at the girl as he pointed to an open spot closer to the bottom before sitting down on the cold steel bleachers alone. People continued to fill the spaces until the home and visitor’s stadiums were both packed.

The cheerleaders practiced warming up the crowd.

Sunshine smiled when she noticed Gibby climbing the bleachers. Bethany caught her staring at the new boy and giggled. “Fubwedu!” She teased Sunshine until Amanda glared at both of them, stopping their laughter immediately.

“I thought you said he wouldn’t show up tonight?” Bethany questioned Amanda.

Amanda rolled her eyes. “Oh please,” suddenly an evil smirk slithered across her face as she shouted louder than necessary for her friends to hear her over the crowd, “It’s only a party until Gibby shows up…now, it’s a barbecue!”

Students in the stands started laughing, cheering Amanda on. “Does anyone smell…” her button nose sniffed at the night air, “…burnt meat?”

Gibby slouched down in his seat. Jonathan was out of earshot and the rest of Shepherd’s Crook’s residents looked confused by the teenager girl’s taunts.

Sunshine frowned at her. “Mandy, that’s really mean.”

Amanda glared at her fellow cheerleaders, “Like I care?”

Using the fans’ laughter to her advantage, Amanda stepped in front of the crowd and started cheering. “Yell for our boys, we can’t be beat! Watch out Mt. Jackson, we’ll knock you off your feet!”

The rest of the cheerleaders slowly joined in. They jumped and shouted, getting the fans to stomp their feet and chant after them. Pom-poms shook as the crowd repeated each chant after the group of pretty girls.

Their short gray skirts held most of the men’s attention, but all eyes turned toward the field once the announcer started to introduce the night’s players.

Watching Tanner enter the field, Gibby felt a stirring in the pit of his stomach. Amanda and her hateful words were forgotten as soon as he watched Tanner glide across the field.

Mt. Jackson was a fierce opponent. Several of their players were bigger than Shepherd’s Crook’s guys. Gibby smiled, watching the game. He wasn’t a huge football fan, but there was no harm watching a field full of toned bodies in super tight pants running up and down the field for entertainment.

The game was still tied after half-time. It was easy to keep track of the teams. Mt. Jackson’s jerseys were bright green with gold pants; however, Gibby preferred the dark gray and gold jerseys of the home team with their formfitting white pants.

When Tanner glanced into the crowd, for a moment, he and Gibby locked eyes. Gibby shook his head. With this many people, and under the blinding lights shining across the field, there was no way that Tanner would have been able to pick him out in a sea of gray and gold. Still, he couldn’t help but grin at the thought.

The corner of Tanner’s mouth pulled into a smile for just a second before he placed his mouth guard between his teeth and clapped his hands with the rest of his teammates as they fell out of their huddle and back onto the field.

Ethan called out cryptic commands from the center of the field. Once he had the ball, the rest of the players quickly found their places and set the game in motion. Mt. Jackson was all over Mark as he tried to make his way down the field towards the end zone. Mark tried to shake them, but they anticipated all of Ethan’s movements.

Tanner watched as Ethan was sacked before he could release the ball. Making his way back up the field, Tanner saw Mike helping Ethan to his feet. “I was open!” Tanner shouted at the quarterback.

Ethan turned his back on Tanner and started yelling at the rest of the team. “Dude, you’ve gotta shake them next time. Mt. Jackson was all over your ass.” Ethan growled at Mark as he joined them in the huddle.

“Ethan, I was wide open, why didn’t you throw me the ball?” Noticing the glares from his teammates, Tanner’s hands started to tremble, unsure of what was going on.

“Alright guys, the score is tied, so we can still win this one.” Ethan gave them his usual pep talk, but as they broke into formation, Tanner still had a feeling that something was terribly wrong. None of his teammates looked him in the eyes.

In the fourth quarter, Mt. Jackson got control of the ball and used a bunch of throwaway plays to run down the clock. They were just toying with Shepherd’s Crook. The visiting team saw their disjointed players and used their own weakness against them. Once their opponents were confident that the home team wouldn’t be able to recover, Mt. Jackson blitzed them for a touchdown.

The crowd exploded in a mixture of rage and disbelief as Mt. Jackson won the game. Mt. Jackson was an equal match for Shepherd’s Crook, but the hometown boys had practically handed them the win.

“What the hell was that?” Coach shouted as the buzzer sounded, signaling the end of the game.

Fans cheered from the green and gold bleachers as their players greeted their loved ones rushing onto the field.

Gibby scanned the field for Tanner. He was in the middle of a confrontation with Ethan. One of the twins held back the star quarterback while the other one held his arms open keeping Tanner several feet back.

“What the fuck is wrong with you?” Tanner yelled at Ethan. Their raised voices drew a crowd.

Ethan glared at his best friend. “Do you want me to turn around so you have a better view of my back?”

Tanner stumbled back from his teammates, “W-w-what?” He stuttered.

“I never thought you would stab me in the back, Tanner!” Ethan growled.

“What are you talking about?” Tanner glanced from Ethan, back to the twins.

“Just because you don’t have a girlfriend, you try to steal mine?”

Tanner noticed their teammates gathering around them. “Ethan,” he hissed at his friend, “I swear man, it’s not what you think.”

“Really, then what is it?”

There was no way that Tanner could explain to him, not here in front of a growing crowd. Feeling cornered and trapped, Tanner backed away from his friends and stormed to the locker room alone.

Well, the secrets are starting to come out.  What do you think? I would love to hear from you.  Let me know what you like or what you don't.  Thanks so much for reading.
KC