I Woke Up 243 by M.P. Arsent
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"I just wanted to say hi and catch up a little Den. How is it going with you and Karl since you got married?"
"We're holding up just fine. He'll be here tomorrow with a bunch of friends."
"How big a bunch?"
"No idea I didn't organize the buses but I'd guess at least 150 people maybe more even with midterms next week."
"Damn that's a bunch and half. Then again given the situation you guys have got over there I'm sure everybody is looking for a reason to get off campus."
"Yeah well they lifted the curfew last night so I'm betting the campus is prety much a ghost town today."
"I wouldn't doubt it in the least."
We sat out there in front of cafeteria for a good hour or so and then I made my way back over to my room, which I again shared with Dana.
"Sure that was a wise idea Den?"
"Mercer has been a friend for a lot of years Dana. I'm not about to push him away for one mistake."
"Yeah, well I'm betting these guys already want out heads after last year. They see you talking to him and they're liable to think he might be giving secrets away."
"Which is why he hit me up tonight instead of in front of them all tomorrow morning."
"Yeah well, I just hope he doesn't get himself beat up again."
"He told me last year that it wasn't his team mates who did it Dana. He thinks it was the guy behind the whole gambling thing that did it."
"First I've heard of that."
"Yeah well it wasn't exactly public knowledge as he couldn't actually prove it. Now I'm going to call Karl and then sack out."
Which is what I did.
"Hey lover everything quiet there so far?"
"Yeah I haven't heard of anything yet Den. You all settled in for the night?"
"Just about. Don't be surprised if Mercer finds you at some point tomorrow."
"I'm kinda surprised he is back on campus there."
"Yeah, it didn't really occur to me. Anyway see you in the morning lover."
"You know it."
With that I got into bed and shut off my light. Next thing I knew the alarm was going off and I was up and out to the showers. Dana was right behind me as were most of the other guys. We all got ourselves together and made our way downstairs to await our guides. Then it was over to the cafeteria for breakfast and then to the venue for our warm up time. Once our time was up we headed into the locker room while the home team had their warmup. I was off by myself getting my head in the game as the coach called it.
Then before I knew it it was time for us to take the floor for opening ceremonies. I did manage to spot Karl and the guys and then got my attention back on what was going on.
I was first up at the vault. I checked with the coach and he gave me a no so it was doubles thrown here today. As usual I was only keeping an eye on what was going on in front of me. The guy I was paired with seemed to me had the ability, but not the "drive". Which meant that he was doing the moves well enough but didn't have a lot of energy in them.
We went on to the pommel. I went through my routine always hearing the little voice in my head to keep my toes pointed. The other guy still seemed sluggish when he did his routine. Now, I couldn't prove it, but I started to get he feeling that we were being lulled into letting our guard down. It had happened last year with one of the meets. The thing was I really didn't have anyway to alert the other guys. At that moment I caught Dana looking at me. I took the chance he would understand and jerked my thumb up. I hoped he caught my meaning that we had to keep our perfomances up. Dana cocked his head to the side and then the light bulb went on and he nodded in the affirmative.
It was on to the high bar at this point. I didn't slack off at all and even threw the triple. When it was time for my opposite numbers performance, he fairly exploded into it. His moves were crisp and well executed. Still I kept my eyes to what was going on directly in front of me. The crowd reaction was enough to tell me that the same thing appeared to happen all around the venue. Could Prescott make up for the lackluster performances in the first two rotations? It was possible, but if our guys hadn't been lulled into this little trap I thought it unlikely.
Parallel bars was our next rotation. I went through and did my routine as crisply as I could. The guy from Prescott was damn near as crisp and clean as I had been but stumbled his landing.
It was on to the rings. I looked to coach and he again gave me a negative after carefully checking the scoreboard. I hoped to hell he was right. I went up into my swing and powered my way through the routine only throwing the double and landing it solid. My opposite went into his routine and I watched as he did a pretty good one. I thought the way he was building up to his dismount that he ws going to try and throw a triple. He did and under rotated and landed badly enough that I swore I heard a snap. When he didn't get up I was sure of it. There wasn't anything for me to do but sit there.
As you can well imagine there was a swarm of people around the guy in nothing flat. All other performances stopped.
"Damn it Davis I told you not to try that yet!"
"I thought I had it coach."
It took a while but things got back to what passed for normal. The alternate was brought in to finish the meet, which at this point for me was only the floor.
I tried to keep my head into what I was up for next and forget what had happened only minutes before. I checked with the coach and he once again checked the scoreboard before nodding in the negative. I stepped to the mat and did my opening moves up to my first tumbling run, ending with a double somersualt and a solid landing. My floor moves were worked through, once again listening to that little voice in my head. The second tumbling run again ending with a double but I had a little wobble in my landing. Forget about it and move on. More floor work and the set up to my final tumbling run and my third double somersault and I landed solid. A few more floor moves and I was done.
I took a deep breath and moved to the side. The alternate looked at me before he took the mat. If I read it right it was a rather resigned look. I just shook my head no and nodded to the mat, hoping he got the message that he should go out there and do his damnedest despite what the scoreboard said.
He squared his shoulders a bit and went and took the mat. What follwed was one of the best floor routines I had seen in a long time and executed to perfection. It wasn't enough to bring Prescott up into winning, but it was a pleasure to watch.
I could now look at the scoreboard and anybody with eyes saw that we had taken the meet and by a fair amount. Even if Prescott had been "on mark" those first two rotations I don't think they could have beaten us.
The announcement was made and our guys flooded the floor. Soon enough Karl was right there with the rest of the guys.
"Outstanding Den!"
"Thanks. Was it obvious to you guys that they were trying to sucker us in?"
"Yeah pretty much after that third rotation. None of you guys fell for it though."
"Good. I was only sure that Dana had gotten the message on that. Well let me go get ready for the awards."
I made my way to the front along with the rest of the team and Dana accepted the medal for us all. We got back to the locker room and coach was there to meet us.
"I am very glad you guys had the sense to see what was happening out there this morning. That you all gave it your all shows me that you are all comiited to the sport. Now get showered up and let's get the hell out of here."
Which is what we proceeded to do. We did grab a quick lunch here before we left and once we got back to our rooms and got things gathered and down to the bus, the Prescott team was there to see us off.
When their team captain got to me I had to ask.
"The guy I was against?"
"Broke his leg. We won't be seeing him again."
"Damn I'm really sorry to hear that."
"Appreciate that."
The team moved on and the alternate who had come in to finish was there before me.
"Hell of a floor routine."
"Thanks, but if you hadn't told me to get out there and at least try, well I don't think it would have gone as well as it did."
"Hey just remember that you never give up. Every situation calls for the absolute best you can do no matter even if the results are going to be obvious."
The guy moved on and the last person I was confronted with was their coach.
"I heard that Mr Sawyer. Something I've been trying to get through their heads all season."
"Maybe they just need to hear it from one of their own, so to speak."
"Maybe and I hope Mr Driscoll tells that story to all of them. Have a good season young man."
Then it was on to the bus and the drive home.
The drive itself was pretty uneventful, but with curfew lifted when we got back to campus , there was a welcoming committee. All of the guys were pretty much front and center. It was the usual glad handing with everybody and finally we were allowed to get on with our lives once again.
"Are we heading out for supper Den?"
"Yeah I think so, even if it is only the food court. Let me get the car home first though."
I went over an checked the car and then it was the quick drive back to the apartment. A just as quick drive out to the mall and it was the asian buffet that we hit instead of the food court. Another stop at the toy store,even with the shake of Karls head, and we were back to the apartment.
Now it was getting ready for the mid terms.