Second Chances Chapter 23 La Vie en Rose
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Second Chances - Chapter 18 - Face Off free porn video
I am sitting on my couch watching American Idol with my roommate. I
remember living here. But I don't anymore. My roommate doesn't live with
me anymore. I think she moved. She says something to me about the last
singer. I can't remember what. I smile at her. I wish we weren't
roommates. I'd totally try to date her if she wasn't my roommate. Maybe
if I flirt just a little more.
My cellphone rings. I look at the caller ID. It's Ron. I flip open the
phone and answer it.
"Hey man," I said. "What's new?"
"Hey, Do you remember my friend Chase?" he said.
"Yeah sure," I said. "He was your best man at your wedding last year."
"He-" Ron says something. I can't hear him. It's muffled. I hear a
buzzing in the background. It's getting louder. And louder.
Tuesday, September 30, 1997
I wake up in a cold sweat to my alarm clock buzzing. I reached out and
turned it off. What was with that dream? Actually it was more like a
memory resurfacing. Now that I think about it, I don't think I really
remember the moment Ron told me Chase died. I brushed those thoughts away
and refocus.
It's been exactly one week since I've been Christina. This also means I
have one week to figure out my purpose here in 1997. But first, I need to
do something about Amber.
I got out of bed. My legs felt sore from all of that running I did
yesterday.
I looked in my closet. I decided to go with another new dress today. This
time it's a blue dress. School appropriate sleeves. Knee length.
Maybe I'll rock the heels today. I assembled my outfit on the bed and
continued to get ready.
When I was cleaned, dressed and all made-up, I sat down with my dad in
the kitchen and read some of the newspaper. The front page had updates on
some of yesterday's stories. I tried reading another section.
The sports page was talking about the Giant's next opponent, the Dallas
Cowboys. I remembered how this season ended. My marching band will be
invited to perform the halftime show for the the Giants lone playoff game
this coming December. It was against the Minnesota Vikings I believe. The
Giants blew a large lead and lost. I remember listening to the game on
the radio on the bus ride home as the Vikings completed a very improbable
come from behind victory. I was so upset and dejected. Knowing that game
is only 3 months in the future made me not as interested to finishing
reading this article.
I tried to read other articles, but I had a hard time connecting to them.
Politics. Sports. Business. All of it just seemed irrelevant when I know
how it all turns out.
Let me at least check out the weather. At least that is somewhat relevant
to the present. Cloudy. Highs in the lows 70's. I guess I better bring a
sweater to my date with Chase tonight.
Chase. That dream. Focus Chris. Happy thoughts. I don't want to relive
that moment again.
* * *
My ride to school with Ron was uneventful. I withheld talking about
yesteday afternoon again. I highly doubt Ron want's to hear about my time
with Jessica. When I arrived at my locker, I did my normal morning
exchange of books.
Julie stopped by almost like clock-work. "Good Morning Demarco. How are
you feeling today?"
"My legs are actually sore," I answered.
"Awesome! That means it's working!" she said. "Any thoughts on tomorrow?"
I guess she was wondering about that double date they wanted to do.
"So, I have a date tonight," I said. "Maybe he's homecoming potential."
"Oh really?" Julie's face lit up. "Tell me more! Is this that handsome
friend of Ron's who showed up Friday night looking for you?"
I chuckled. "Yeah. That's him. He took me back here so I could pick up my
car the next morning. Then he asked me out."
"Nice. He had your undivided attention. Was that a motorcycle I saw him
riding?"
"Yes. Yes it was."
"That's so cool."
Ug. "It's not as cool as you think it is," I responded. "Besides, he's my
last option before I decide to go solo. All of my other options are-" I
paused a second to think about my original choice, Fay. And then my
closet-mate, Jess. "Unavailable."
"If this dude doesn't work out, you should still come out tomorrow with
us."
"I typically don't like being a third wheel."
"It's not like its a real date. We're just getting to know each other
before homecoming."
"I'll think about it," I said smiling, shutting my locker door.
* * *
At homeroom, Fay smiled at me as she sat down. "Good Morning" she said.
"Thanks for the mix-tape," I said. "I only just started it, but it's
really cool."
"You're welcome" she said.
During morning announcements, Jess turned and leaned towards me and
whispered. "What are you doing this afternoon?"
"I have plans tonight," I replied in a whisper.
"That's too bad," she said looking at me and licking her lips. She sat
back in her desk turned back around.
Wow. Part of me was thinking I should go call Chase right now and take a
rain check. The other part of me was trying to rein in my raging
hormones.
* * *
In Comp-Sci, Val came up to me before class started.
"Hey Christina."
"Hey Val."
"I heard you're having problems with Powder Puff."
"Yeah," I replied. "The head cheerleader forbid the cheerleaders from
playing. I need to talk to her today."
"Do you know why she pulled her support?" Val asked.
"I'm pretty sure she has it out for me. But don't worry. I have it under
control."
Val smiled. "Christina Demarco. On top of it! I knew you were the right
person!"
I smiled at Val. I'm glad she was so confident. What she doesn't realize
was this problem was created by me being the organizer. I bet if someone
else was in charge they'd all be playing. Amber too.
Wait a second. Is that it? Is that why Amber is upset? She wants to play
too. Maybe she's too prideful to come up to me and have a civil
conversation with me. One where she has to be nice and ask me something.
I guess I could just offer her to play too. I now had a plan.
"Oh," Val added. "Do you have an e-mail address I can send some of the
details about my parents coffee shop?"
"Oh sure," I said. "It's-" Crap. What is my email address in 1997?
"warpcore1980 at compuserve.com," I said. I think that's it. It sounded
right.
"Great. I'll send something over to you tonight!" Val said.
"Awesome," I said smiling. I wonder if I'll have time to work on that
tonight.
* * *
When gym class started, Amber was no where to be seen again. I ran up to
Brittany to see what's up.
"Is Amber still out today?" I asked her.
"Yeah," she replied. "He doctor's note covers her for today too. She'll
be back in class tomorrow."
"Crap," I said. "I really need to resolve this powder puff thing. I need
to resolve this today."
"There's always after school," she suggested.
"At cheer practice? The lion's den?"
"You asked."
I grimaced. This wasn't helpful. Since I have Brittany alone for a
minute, I wonder what information I could get from her.
"Hey Brittany," I said. "You're Amber's best friend right?"
"Yeah," she said. "Since we were 10."
"Was she always so-" I started but paused.
"I don't know what she has against you," she said. "She's not like that
to me. Yeah she's bossy at cheer practice. But, you both are not the
villains you think each other are."
"Oh," I said. "Have you told her that too?"
"Yes. In fact I have. I stuck my neck out for you and it got ripped off."
"Oh. Well, I appreciate you standing up for me. Is there maybe a home
issue or something."
"She's a private person. Even I don't know what's going on there. Even
so, that would be none of your business."
"So there is something," I said.
"I think I said too much already."
I sighed.
She looked at me. "Listen, I know you mean well, Christina. But I can't
really talk about this with you."
"Well, how about just as head cheerleader," I said. "Was she always this
hard on the squad?"
"She's always pushed the girls to do their best. That started when we
were underclassmen. We managed to win regionals with her mentoring
everyone. That's how she became the captain. She's really just trying to
push us so we can go to nationals."
"But why is she intervening in everyone's lives?"
"She's just really trying to instill loyalty to each other. Team-first."
"That part makes sense," I said. "But her dictating your free time?"
"Yeah. I guess," she said. "But she's asked for our trust. She's never
lead us wrong."
"Thank you Brittany," I said. "I feel like I have a little more insight."
Some of that confirms what I already knew or had assumed. But I still
don't understand why she considers me a threat.
* * *
I changed into my gym clothes for track practice.
As I was about to leave the locker room,I was stopped by Coach Shannon.
She held a stack of clothes. "Here's your uniform for track meets, and a
track suit for warm-ups. The team also wears the track suits on Fridays
for spirit day."
"Thanks, coach," I said taking the stack of clothes. Well there goes me
looking cute on spirit days. I turned back to my locker and put my new
track outfits into my locker.
I marched out to the practice field with determination.
I saw the teams in their usual locations. I headed towards the
cheerleaders in the south end-zone. As I got closer, the cheerleaders who
were casually socializing with each other stopped talking and just looked
at me walking to them.
I saw Cindy whisper to me. "What are you doing here?"
I said nothing and smiled. I kept walking. Cindy, Brittany, Jessica, and
all of the other cheerleaders just watched in silence as I approached
Amber.
I really didn't want an audience for this. But Amber's absence during gym
class forced me to do this here. In front of her squad.
Amber hadn't noticed me yet. But she noticed the silence. She turned to
me and was taken by surprise as she backed up a few steps.
Amber and I stood there for seconds in silence staring at each other. On
the positive side, I could tell the swelling in Amber's nose was going
down.
"You have a lot of nerve showing up to cheer practice," Amber spoke
first. "This is my house!"
"Which is why I came to apologize," I said. "Here. In front of your
friends."
"OK," she said. "Let's hear it."
My strategy was to stoke her ego. I believe, that she believes, that
she's the victim.
"I was wrong to hit you. I'm so sorry, Amber."
"And?"
She wants more? "I'm sorry I've been getting in your way in gym class."
"And?"
And what? What more does she want me to say. OK, I'm going to bullshit
here. "You're right. I'm a fake. A phony. You saw right through me."
She was caught off guard by that. Maybe as if she herself didn't actually
believe her own accusations.
"OK, So what do you want?" she asked.
I broke through her wall. I'm doing a fist pump in my head. "I would like
your blessing for those who want to play powder puff to play."
"Um, We're trying to practice for Friday game and for regionals next
month. I need the girls focused."
I swallowed my pride. "I want you to be the Powder Puff Senior Team
Captain."
Amber was caught off guard again. "Me?"
"Yes," I stated. "I saw you in your element on Friday. You understand
football. You understood the situations," I motioned to our audience.
"You are a leader to these ladies and I think you could be a leader for
our team." Oh God. Barf.
"I uh," she stammered.
"Please," I said. Let's lay it on thicker. "It would mean such much to
the other girls. They keep telling me how much they wished you'd join us.
I see your competitive nature during gym class. I know you'd be a HUGE
addition to our team" Ew. I think I just tasted some bile there.
"OK," she said. "You convinced me. It's for a fundraiser right?"
"Right," I said.
She nodded. I could tell her demeanor changed. She wasn't nearly as
defensive. I could ALMOST see a smile behind that grimace.
"Thank you," I said. "Maybe we could work together and set up a practice
after school this week?"
"Yes," she said. "Absolutely."
"Thank you," I said backing away.
"Oh and Demarco," she said.
I stopped.
"This doesn't mean I forgive you. Or that we're even."
I nodded. Fair enough. But I got what I needed. I turned around and
jogged over to the track team. I let out a huge sigh of relief. I
considered that a victory. So is this the part of the Quantum Leap
episode that Sam leaps away to his next assignment? No such luck.
* * *
After another brutal track practice, Ron was waiting for me. We both got
into the car. As he started the car, Stone Temple Pilots started blaring
from the speakers.
"How was track?" he asked.
"I ran a lot," I said.
"Isn't that the point of track?" he laughed.
"Yeah," I said laughing with him. "Coach is pushing me further than I've
ever pushed myself. What about you? How was the band room?"
"I just spend time practicing for my next gig with the ska band. It's
nicer than practicing at home. And homework. Nothing exciting."
"Cool," I acknowledged.
Half way home, Ron lowered the volume on the music.
"Good Afternoon Tony!" the guardian angel said.
"I haven't seen you since Saturday," I replied. "I was starting to worry
that you forgot about me."
"Liar," he said. "You've been having too much fun that YOU forgot about
ME."
"So am I done?" I said. "I made amends with Amber. She gets to be Powder
Puff Captain. Is that was I was supposed to do?"
"You don't really believe that was your mission do you?"
"A girl can dream I suppose," I said.
"It was impressive though. I didn't know you had it in you."
I audibly sighed. "I was hoping that was it."
"Not at all. Remember, you, Christina, created your issues with Amber.
Without you, Amber wouldn't have found a rival to fight with. She
would've been part of that fundraiser anyway. All you did was fix what
you broke."
"Yeah Yeah I know. I'm at least happy I got that thorn out of my side. So
outside of Amber, I've gotten closer to people. But I'm no closer than I
was a week ago."
"As we discussed on Saturday, You are much closer than you were a week
ago. You're even closer than you were Saturday."
I didn't know what to say to that. I'm seriously getting annoyed at how
vague the guardian angel can be.
"So it looks like you've been busy," he said. "I've enjoyed watching you
blossom and really explore who you are."
I let that slide. I didn't want to talk about my sex life with an
omniscient entity. "So, there's something that I've casually been
thinking about," I said. "I've worked very hard over the past week. My
life is now so much better than it was originally. Now that Amber and I
are on speaking terms, it's even better than it was an hour ago. What if
I don't want to leave?"
He smiled. "I've been waiting for you to ask a variation of that
question. So I'm going to fire a question back at you. Will be able to
live with yourself by failing the mission."
I was silent for a moment. "I guess it depends on what the mission
actually is. You haven't told me. For all I know you want me to eat
Friday's lunch at Taco Bell instead of Burger King. So failing is a
choice? You've been teaching me to fail all week. Is that what you want?"
"Whoa Whoa," he said. "I've been teaching you to LEARN from failure. Not
seek it out. I don't want you to fail. If you fail this mission. I fail
too."
That sucks. It didn't occur to me that the guardian angel has a vested
interest in this as well.
"But to answer your question," he continued. "Yes. You can choose to
ignore the mission. I told you a week ago that it will be your choice.
That hasn't changed. But there will be consequences. Not from me. But
from the actual events if you choose to abstain."
"Great. So my choice will be - go to Taco Bell so I can go home to Tony
and 2018, or - go to Burger King and stay here as Christina in 1997, but
live with the consequences of eating Burger King?"
"Yes. But, the cosmos don't care about your lunch."
"Wow! I finally got a yes out of you!" I smiled briefly. I let that sink
in for a second and let out a disappointed sigh. "But following that
logic, that means whatever it is you want me to do must be big enough for
me to throw away a chance at reliving 20 years of my youth. The friends
I've made. More time with my family. The things I've accomplished. The
things I can accomplish with the knowledge I have."
He nodded. "This is certainly bigger than your lunch choice. I think you
have good grasp of what's at stake. It's time for me go."
I had nothing else to ask.
He turned the music back up and we continued riding home.
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