“I’m glad we helped him, even if he is a freshman nerd. I hate guys that beat up weak kids,” said Colt.
“Can you get home okay?”
“I can make it, but I know I'm going to be hurting soon. Really hurting.”
“Later man,” said Bobby when they reached the parking lot.
“I’ll save you next time,” said Colt.
Colt grimaced and slowly pulled himself up and out of the purple VW in front of his house. The pain was more noticeable now that the adrenaline had dissipated. I must look like crap. I sure feel bad. He walked through the front door and tried to scurry by the kitchen so that he wouldn’t be seen. His condition slowed him down and it was obvious that he wasn’t himself as he dragged past his unsuspecting mother at the kitchen sink. She looked up with bright eyes knowing that her son had come home. Her smile changed when she saw the condition that Colt was in. Blood was still running from his lower lip and nose. His swollen eye was starting to turn blue and purple. Leona’s eyes glistened with tears at seeing her baby in pain.
“Oh no. Colt, what happened? Oh honey,” cried Leona.
“I just had a little scuffle, Mom. I’ll be okay.”
“You get into the bathroom right now. I'm going to clean you up.”
Colt moaned and angled toward the bathroom. He didn't feel like explaining what happened. He knew his mother would try to be brave, but that this would take an emotional toll on her.
Colt only said, “I helped a kid that was getting beat up, Mom.”
Leona smiled behind the river of tears rolling down her cheeks.
“You always did hate bullies.”
~~~
After being nursed and taking some aspirin, Colt hugged his mother and trudged to his bedroom. He opened his email to see if Bobby had sent any notes about the fight. There were 23 emails in the in-box. All of the notes were about the incident at the school. Bobby Jones sent a note with just a subject line, which said, “News travels fast.”
One email was from Mr. Sweden, who thanked him for helping a fellow program member. Colt was surprised to see how fast word got around about an incident that had happened only a few hours before. Some of the notes were from people he had never met. One was from a girl named Amy Strong. I remember Amy. She's in sports, I think. When he saw her name, he forgot about his pain and felt a tingling sensation from head to toe. There's something about that note. Why am I feeling like this? Rather than reading it, he lay down on his bed and wondered what a pretty girl might write to a boy who just got beaten up. He only allowed himself to imagine that the note contained wonderful, interesting and surprising words. When his thoughts were wrapped in a pleasant package, Colt slipped into slumber. A peaceful smile illuminated his swollen face.
Chapter 17
------Email-------
From: Strong, Amy[
[email protected]]
To: O’Brien, Colt[
[email protected]]
Subject: Hi Colt
-----------------------------------------------
HI COLT
I THINK IT’S GREAT YOU HELPING THAT BOY. YOUR SISTER TALKED TO OUR SOCCER TEAM. WE LIKE HER A LOT. I'M GOING TO THE LAN PARTY. WILL YOU BE THERE?? MAYBE WE CAN TALK OR SOMETHING. BYE
AMY STRONG
------Email-------
Amy Strong sat staring at the computer screen. Long, light brown hair was pulled back into a ponytail, making her round face stand out. The fear in her bright blue eyes was in stark contrast to her long, trim, athletic body. It was a body strengthened from year-round soccer practice and games.
Moments before, after struggling for over an hour to find the right words, she had clicked the icon that sent her note to Colt O’Brien. During that time a stormy, emotional battle had raged inside her young mind. Amy was so drawn to Colt O’Brien after he came to the aid of a helpless boy that she had leapt out of her comfort zone. Sending a note like this was not something she had ever done or even thought about doing. Similar to Bobby Jones, she had played it safe all of her life. She never got into trouble and was pointed to as an example of what a good girl should be. Colt represented much of what she had avoided all of her seventeen years of living. He was spontaneous, daring, and a little too into himself. He lived in a foreign land on the outskirts of the conventional sleepy little town where Amy resided. None of that mattered to her. She was on a bullet train that was racing toward something new, different and unknown. Beneath her fears a molten ball of excitement was growing. Amy felt more alive than ever before. Every commonsense argument that came into her mind was shot down by her desire to be with Colt. You don’t even know him. He probably has a girlfriend. You aren’t pretty enough, she thought. In the end, her inexplicable crush on someone she didn't know, except from a distance, prevailed. Now she would wait; wait to see if he would answer and what he would say. She would simmer in a twenty-question twilight zone, where the questions kept repeating over and over, and over again. Regret, frustration and doubts assaulted her. What have I done? What have I done? Why do I want him so much?
~~~
Colt was in his bedroom with phone in hand. He winced with each word that came out of his mouth.
“Hey Bobster, how are things?” he said.
“Hey man. Doin' okay. You called me. What’s up?” answered Bobby.
“What the heck is a LAN party? The little geeks are having one. We’re invited.”
“Oh, Tommy Rice told me about that. It’s a bunch of PC’s connected together to play games. He said it was great. Count me in.”
“How did I not know about this? It sounds like my kind of deal,” said Colt.
“It’s fairly new and before now not that many games worked on it. I know this is our kind of happening. This program might not be that bad after all. I can play games while you study your ass off. Works for me,” said Bobby.
“Okay dude. I’ll tell them that we’ll show. Do you know Amy Strong? She sent me a note.”
“Yeah, I know her. She’s really nice. She was going out with some wimpy guy. I think she dumped him. I thought you were staying away from chicks?”
“I'm just asking. No big deal,” said Colt.
“Sure Colt, anything you say. Whatever.”
But, Colt was curious and felt a slight pull toward this mysterious girl. It was a deep undercurrent that seemed to be growing.
~~~
Sheets of rain bolstered by high winds, were coming down on the palatial Tate home. Waves, from the normally serene Puget Sound, hit the rock wall in front of the house with a force that created sprays of white, foamy mist. The large circular driveway in front of the large two-story house was crowded with wet vehicles of all makes and models. Young teenagers and adults dressed in raingear carried bulky boxes and bags into the house. After unloading the computer equipment, the vehicles were parked on a large lawn in the rear of the edifice.
Colt and Bobby stood in a huge basement recreation room. Computers and people were starting to stack up behind them as tables, cabling and other equipment were organized by Billy Carbon, Gunnar Sweden, and a few helpers.
“Hey Billy, what has to happen here to do the setup?” asked Colt.
Billy looked over at Colt with a bit of trepidation. Although he was very competent and up to the task, he was still a freshman and Colt a senior.
“Uh, hi Colt. Not that much, really. We need to have tables for the keyboards, mice and monitors. Then, we need stuff to plug into and hubs to cable the PCs together. Oh, and we need one machine to be a game server.”
“Oh, is that all?” said Colt with a wry smile. “Can we help?”
“No need, we can do it. Probably the hard part will be getting all the different boxes to talk to one another. The software, I mean,” said Billy.
Colt watched the younger boys build a system of networked computers. He could see that there would be at least twelve to fifteen machines connected. In spite of himself, he admired the knowledge, organization, and leadership that the young te
am demonstrated. Crap, I better watch this. I've done two machines together, but not this many. After about thirty minutes of physical setup and another forty minutes of fiddling with software, the local area network was up and running. It was time for the party to start.
Mr. Sweden walked up to front of the room. Behind him a white screen was rolling down from the ceiling. Every computer station had at least one teenage boy or girl sitting and one standing. More kids stood in other parts of the large room. Colt noticed that the party was open to more than the students who belonged to the certification program. He saw kids that he knew wouldn't have an interest in doing the required work. I guess gaming can get a lot dudes and dudettes interested.
Ron Sweden smiled and spoke.
“Welcome to our first LAN party. Before we start, I want to thank Mr. and Mrs. Tate for opening their home to us. I expect everyone to behave and have fun. Mr. Tate would like to say a few things.
A small balding man with glasses stood up in the back of the room.
“I just want to say that I think this is a wonderful program you guys have put together. Our son has really benefited from being a part of it. Also, I want to welcome Colt O’Brien to our home and thank him. He came to the aid of our son, Eddie, when he really was in a bad spot. Colt, are you here?”
Colt stood straight with chest out and grinned. He raised his hand and waved it from side to side.
“Right here, Mr. Tate. Thanks.”
“No! Thank you, Colt. Eddie’s mother and I are very grateful for what you did. We know you were injured, too,” said Mr. Tate.
Colt, who was feeling heroic, felt a slight jab in his side. It irritated him until he looked into the eyes of Bobby.
“Oh, don’t forget Bobby Jones. He was there, too,” said Colt.
“Thanks to both of you, then,” said Mr. Tate as he sat down.
“Pizza will be here soon, but until then we have chips and pop. Have a great time. You guys have earned it,” said Ron Sweden.
The lights were dimmed as the large screen came alive with motion. A movie began. The hidden stereo system boomed out the sound track of the movie and smaller speakers emitted game sound effects. Colt played against ten other foes in a first-person shooter, action game. It took Colt a few minutes to get his bearings and understand the goal of the game. He found that points were earned by killing opponents using a vast array of different weapons which was nothing new to him. Eddie Tate sat next to Colt.
“Hey, Colt, you can send text after you kill a guy. You can rub it in. It’s awesome,” said Eddie.
“You know Eddie, I think I'm going to like this,” said Colt.
After a warm-up period, the players all dove into the virtual gaming world. Screams of joyful victory and good-natured threats after defeat went across the room. Many players had on-going, on-line conversations with code names and specialized words to express their gamer personalities.
“You'll go down, Ogre.”
“I'm the bringer of death.”
“All punks will die.”
“Here’s some shrapnel to eat, dogs.”
Colt loved functioning in this alternate world with weapons blasting and a wall of rock music surrounding him. He became engrossed in the game play and competition. Time was mutated in this LAN gaming world. It passed without notice as both Bobby and Colt became absorbed. After hours had been eaten up, something tugged at Colt's inner self. Crap, that girl was supposed to be here. I forgot all about it and that's why I came.
“Hey Bobierto, time for a break. You keep playing,” said Colt.
“Okay Colt,” said Bobby.
Colt decided to step outside into the blustery night. He still wondered about his reaction to Amy’s email. He didn't want to have a girlfriend now, but her short note had affected him. He was almost obsessive in his curiosity about this young girl that he had never talked to. Why can't I stop thinking about this? I don't even know her.
The wind had died down and the rain was falling as a light mist. Some of the others, from the party, were on the patio facing the water. Colt felt Amy before he saw her. It was like a wave of nervousness hit him. Well, if that's her, she's a little worried about something, thought Colt. He saw her standing with another girl and sensed it was her that he was feeling. He noticed that she was a little taller than he had envisioned, which did not please him. He approached the two girls, who giggled a little. Amy fidgeted while looking down.
“Hi, uh you're Amy right? I'm Colt. Uh, I got your note. Sorry I didn’t reply,” said Colt.
She looked up into his eyes.
“Yes, I'm Amy. Oh, that’s okay. It’s great what you did for Eddie,” said Amy.
“So, are you girls having a good time?”
“It’s fun,” said Amy.
Amy sent a knowing look to her friend, who turned and left. When they were alone Amy stared directly into Colt’s eyes and smiled. When their eyes met Colt’s world shook. His reaction was instant, overwhelming and like nothing he had ever experienced. Every part of him, body, mind and soul, was affected by her presence. He felt that an unseen force behind her eyes had filled him from head to toe. He thought of a golden sunset with distinct rays beaming into him from behind soft, billowy clouds, filling him with joy.
Whoa, this must be what love is. It has to be.
Amy was still talking, but Colt was trying to stop himself from hugging her. He didn't speak. After a time Amy started to cry, which snapped him back to the here and now.
“What’s wrong?” asked Colt.
“I knew this was a bad idea. I never should have sent that note,” sobbed Amy.
“Oh, no, don’t think that. I just have a lot on my mind and I'm beat up. Let’s go out for coffee or something."
“Do you really mean that? You’re not just being nice?”
Colt felt like grabbing her and kissing her on the lips. He stopped himself by remembering that he was in a public situation with high school freshman. Also, he had no idea if she felt as strongly about him as he did about her. This girl has affected me. I need to regroup before I do something stupid.
“I mean it. I really mean it, Amy. Let's get together.” said Colt.
When Amy realized that her desire to be with Colt was going to come true, she was overcome with happiness.
“Uh, okay. I better go now. I’m a mess.” said the girl trying to avoid crying again.
Colt felt like Amy was a huge magnet and he was a tiny nail. It took all of his willpower to resist hugging her.
“I’ll email you soon to set something up,” said Colt.
Colt and Bobby were on their way home. The rain had stopped and the fresh, crisp air was filling Colt's senses.
“You aren’t saying much,” said Bobby.
“I think I’m back into chicks,” said Colt.
Chapter 18
------Email-------
From: O’Brien, Colt[
[email protected]]
To: To: Jones, Bobby[
[email protected]]
Subject: The heat is on
---------------------------------------------------
Hey Bobberino
Crap from all sides man. College this, college that. Or, can you take a test soon? When will they let up? They even have my sister hassling me.
Colt
------Email-------
Kelly O’Brien dialed home as was her usual custom on Saturday evenings after supper. Leona answered the phone.
“Hi Mom. How's everything?"
“Hi honey. I made sure that Colt was home when you called.” answered Leona.
“Uhh, put him on, I guess,” said Kelly.
“Hi Sis,” said Colt.
“Hi Bro. How are things? Mom and Dad wanted me to give you some moral support.”
Colts eyes looked up in frustration. His body tightened as his teeth clenched.
“Uh oh. What are we talking about? Is this more of the same old crap?”
“They're worried that you won’t make it int
o college. Are you working at it? I thought you got Bs.”
“I'm working hard, but it’s a hassle. I got okay grades before but I sorta slowed down on that stuff. I just lost interest, I guess. Now, I'm trying to catch up. And, I'm trying to get a Microsoft certification.”
“Let me know if I can help, but I don’t know about computer stuff,” said Kelly.
“Just love your brother like you always have, Sis,” said Colt.
“I've been hearing that a certain soccer girl likes my little brother.”
He hesitated. Man, news travels fast. Geez, girls.
“Oh, uh, you mean Amy? We're going to meet for coffee soon. We’ll see what happens.”
“I was impressed with her. So, it's really over with Staci?”
“The Staci thing is over. Let’s not get in a hurry, though. I hardly know Amy. What's she like?”
“She's a great soccer player, a great student, and is really nice. I can’t figure out why she would be interested in my little brother.” said Kelly with a bit of sarcasm.
“I guess I’ll find out for myself soon. When I met her, she seemed okay.”
“Listen, Romeo, bear down on the schoolwork. We all want you to go to college next year. Put Mom back on so I can tell her I did the deed.”
“Okay Kel. Pep talk is over. Later,” said Colt.
“See ya,” said Kelly.
~~~
Mr. Towne sat behind his desk and smiled at his visitors. The small man had a big, optimistic presence. Colt sat facing him between his mother and father. Both Leona and Robert smiled back at the friendly principal. Colt had the dazed look of a cornered animal with no energy to run.
“The good news is that Colt has done some work toward being accepted into college next year. With the help of our best counselor he's applied to three universities and is showing up more for class. As you know I like this young man and see great potential,” said Mr. Towne.
Colt smiled as he glanced at his mother and leaned away from his father. He looked hopeful and a little confident.
“How about the bad news, Mr. Towne?” asked Robert.