You & I - 28. Chapter 28

To Max,

If this end's up being our last letter; I just want you to know, Max, you are a pretty awesome guy. I gratefully appreciate what you did at the game more than you will ever understand. In a way, tonight has restored my spirit in humanity a little more, and the students in this school. I never saw what you were doing, you completely surprised me in the best way imaginable. You know, even if you didn't talk to me the last couple of days, I now realize why. You just needed to adjust to the idea of me being in a wheelchair, and today you proved that you didn't care if we have these subtle differences. Plus, I grasp what you were trying to announce. I realize that you just got a little overwhelmed by all the information, and you perhaps did not know what to do with the knowledge you had been given.

I know you are not that type of guy. I remember sometime in the past you mentioned that you do what feels right, even if it makes you look dumb or appear like a dick. I admire that occupation. Not many people are open to those thoughts. I have heard many times from folks who are afraid to offend other people; even when they need advice or help. I reckon ego gets in the way for many people. I presume that is why pride is one of the seven deadly sins. Capitalizing on your abilities is a favorable notion, just I often find some folks lose themselves when they overindulge. Sure, you must accept and love yourself first before you can learn to help anyone else. Though there is a selfish pride and a gained pride. For at the game, you have gained every ounce of self-assurance you can muster, and I relent in saying that what you have done has made a lonely person feel, simply put, found. I can make out what you must be thinking. How can someone who is seen daily be lost? The excuse is not an example, and neither is the ignorance when self-absorbed minds do not see much further than the current moment and what beverage they will ingest for lunch.

When I turned up for the game, I just came, you know, out of respect. You also played pretty well, might I add. At first, I had some trouble trying to find out where you were among the crowd, though I asked a girl sitting next to me did she know what number you are. She gave me the number 11. Nobody picks a number without good cause, and I follow why you choose to have those numerals embodied on your football jersey. If I didn't think otherwise, some girls only turn up to watch you play, and I reached this conclusion when I overheard the same girl sitting to my right, how she thought, and her quote, "that you are sooooo cute."

I can imagine the shock on her face when you go BAM… I'm gay. Then she'll get all crabby, as inherently, I found on a thread online that most girls complain that, as they suggested. "All the gay ones are the good-looking ones."

I'm not sure, if this is true, though I will admit you are sort of intimidating to us guys who are after girls.

Therefore, after the fumble incident, I can't believe you made that signal to your coach, and he asked for a timeout. I'll admit, everyone was wondering for a second why he called for a pause in the middle of the game when everything was going okay, even though you were 6 points behind. At first, I didn't think much further than the game, and I did not foresee anything as cool as what was about to happen, and boy was I wrong. I'd have never guessed it could be so wow... it was amazeballs.

After a couple of seconds, your team gathered around and spoke for a moment. The coach met the opposing team captain on the sidelines by the referee. Suddenly everyone dispersed, and well you… You stayed on the sideline and waited until someone handed you a microphone.

Then, Max, you marched out into the middle of the field, removed your helmet, taking a second to brush your hair out of your eyes. Looking around apprehensively, before saying, "Hey everyone, I hope you are enjoying the game. Em… The reason why we've called for a timeout is that I have a very special friend in the audience tonight, and we've planned a little something for him. Em... if Isaac Miller could make his way over here, our team would like him to score our final touchdown for the game."

And like that, I froze. I wasn't sure if I was dreaming or if I had heard you correctly. Except, I couldn't bring myself to move, not an inch. I have always been in the background of people's existence, and then all of a sudden, I have Max Wilson, the most popular boy in the school asking me to come down to meet him so I can perform a touchdown for our school team.

I glanced around, observing the people surrounding me to see if they had just heard what I was hearing. Apparently, folks didn't know who I was, they just peered on ahead out at you. Where you resorted to shielding your eyes to scan up into the stands as the floodlights towering over you blinded you. When I looked to my dad, who had transported me to the event, as I wasn't allowed out this late in the evening without someone to watch over me.

I heard you called out, "Isaac… The cheeses has gone wild."

Then I smirked and began to giggle. No word of a lie, you looked stupid out there alone after saying that. So, I asked my dad to skedaddle, and I wheeled myself toward you on the field. As I rolled off the concrete, by the edge of the grass, you came to collect me. On the way over you ditched the mic, and one of the players had given you the ball. It was weird, you standing over me. Only you smiled, and that made me feel okay inside. I'm not going to lie, I was terrified, yet at the same time, I was also really excited to be on the field. I guess this was your way of saying, everybody deserves a moment in the spotlight, and you gave it to me.

Precipitation drenched your face in this sheen, and small clumps of hair glued together. I found it amusing how a cow's lick had formed at the back of your head, and I never noticed you had a beauty spot above your lip.

You sheepishly peered at me, and said, "want to score a touchdown together."

I grinned, the sensations that were running through my body then is like nothing I ever felt before. It appeared as if the world was watching us, and I didn't seem to mind that fact since for as long as I can remember, I have always enjoyed avoiding the limelight. Except, a small part of me did want to be acknowledged, just I never imagined it would be like that, on Friday night.

"Cheese gone wild it is," I chuckled.

There was a sparkle in your eye, as your face lit up. You were completely serious. Why so serious?

Then you reached out and placed the football on my lap and said, "hold it tight, okay."

I agreed; you disappeared behind me and took control of my wheelchair, guiding me out into the middle of the field. There was this weird silence from the audience, and also the players on the field. If a pin dropped, you'd be able to distinguish the particular sound. It seemed funny to me at the time that I had the most popular guy in school pushing me along, and nobody cared. So, to break the dreaded silence, I made a joke.

I said, "I'm not sure if my chair is built for speed, but we'll find out when the engine gets going."

Hearing you laugh at my snarkasm, assured me that you do care about me in more ways than I previously thought otherwise. Not long after our laugh, we stood in the center of the field and waited for the time to slip away so that we could make the play and win the game. Resulting in a tie. Although I am not attuned to sports in any fashion, I have to wonder how this worked out. Was it by chance or by complete luck that your team ended up with a tie? I vaguely remember asking you after the game if you planned the draw. Though I think you said no.

When everyone got into place, you rolled me into the middle of the line, where you usually would go, and when the time came to hike, you extracted me from the rush with the ball on my lap. The guy who I had been looking at on the other team, did try to get to me, but not with a rigorous vigor like he'd had torn into you if you had been in my place. I guess you did have a big part in seeing that I got to do this for the first time ever.

And yes, I played some catch with my dad when I was young, and tossed the ball a little. Though I never signed up for football. Sure, my dad watches the Superbowl, just I don't watch it. My mind is preoccupied working on math equations and figuring out the square root of some rock formation. Except, yesterday, when you took off, just the two of us, it felt good with the wind lashing against my face. Even my hair lost direction and disheveled itself with the speed we went. For half a second, I was nervous about the wheelchair tipping, again, I had an excellent navigator. All the players on the field flew by in an instant, and it was over. I scored my first-ever touchdown in American football.

The sentiment meant a lot, and in the end zone, I looked around noticing people in the stands beginning to clap. I don't think you even had that planned, I recall shifting in my chair and peering over my shoulder to find you quite white in the face, and your ears had gone really red. The game ended on a tie, which is cool. Though thanks for making my life just that little bit better.

I think my dad likes you, well after what you did for me, I guess he does. We walked off the field… well you walked, I wheeled, and my dad came over to meet us. My father asked me when I came home that evening who you were. He wanted to know all the in's and outs regarding our story. I told him that I was assigned a pen pal. I told him about how the two of us first spoke to each other. How we talked about not wanting to refer to one another by a number. Dad has a twisted humor, he found it humorous. Except, it was good seeing him smile for a change, he hasn't been that chirpy since mom died. My dad spends every spare moment he can watching after me, and you know it is annoying, though I know he means well. Plus, yeah, about what happened with my dad on Saturday about him not wanting me to leave with you… I'm sorry about that also. Dads' a worrier now. It probably was incredibly hard for him to have a free night to himself. Back at home, the house stayed quiet for hours. I never imagined how lonely or odd it could be for him until now. Dad has a habit of calling up the hallway to see if I am okay. It's just his thing, only, somewhere in the back of my mind I can picture him still calling out to me in my bedroom, and I'm not there.

Moving on...

Your little brother Jordon is funny… LOL… I like him… he gets my jokes. And it was kind of your mom to invite me over for Jordan's birthday party on Saturday. How she said, "Max and you can do your own thing." I think I'll go to the party.

Coren is cool by the way, I can see why he is your best friend. When we went to the diner, just you and me, I appreciate that you kept it exclusive to us. So, we could talk to each other without me having to meet lots of people all at once.

The restaurant was a nice touch. I'll agree when the two of us waited for the drinks to arrive the silence was incredibly odd. I could tell you were super nervous by the way you kept tugging at your poor ear. When you got talking, however, I must say, you acquire one hell of a stream of consciousness. How is it you do that; skip from subjects and topics? You are a master at communicating it appears, other than when you are super nervous… you turn to a bowl of Jello when confronted with a dilemma.

I don't believe I have ever talked so much, and just being in the same place to have a conversation face to face, it was… Wow. Our meeting went off without a hitch. It had gone a whole deal better than I expected it to go… Not that I was waiting for something to go wrong intentionally.

Just some observations I observed while I was talking to you… I decided you'd like to know. One… you play with your hair way too much. You do this thing that you roll a part of your fringe and keep on twisting it. You also seem to get really excitable at random. I'm also delighted to realize that when you use ketchup, you don't pour it over the food.

The waiter also must know you because she called you by name. It makes me wonder how many times you have been to the eatery.

Next, fries with a milkshake. I'll have to agree it's yum. Thanks for getting me to try it. Dad stopped by the diner yesterday, and I had him get me a milkshake and fries just so I could recreate the taste of the cuisine.

You are remarkably soft and certainly comfortable to talk with. Oh… and you smile like a lot. I saw from the expression in your eyes that it meant a great deal to have me eating with you. I know jitters when I see them. Therefore, to be respectful, even though I didn't interrupt it this way… anybody you will take out on a proper date in the future will be safe in your hands. Hence, thanks for our straight/gay get together. I really enjoyed the company, and I'd love to hang out with you some more.

You know, some girl spoke to me in school today, she said she saw me on the football field and said that it was cool to see me. I don't know what that is supposed to insinuate. Just, I'll agree with what the girl said afterward when she said that it was sweet of you to do that for me.

Friday night was the best nights of my life since the accident… Actually, it was the best night of my life. I'll remember that day for a long time… Perhaps even until I am old and grey. Words do not describe how pleased and appreciative of the time and efforts you have spent talking to me, and also the outside hours working on the surprise.

Anyhow, I need to go, I have things to get done before I leave school today. I hope you are having a nice day.

Lastly, if you want to call or message outside of school, my phone number is 202-555-0123 or my Snapchat i.d. is @apunyrocketman

Anyway, later,

Isaac