Chapter 10
The next couple of weeks, school went on as normal. Cory continued Sunday practices with Tony Banks, and the team battled back and forth with West for first place in the league standings. Cory's form was improving, and the team was warming up to him. Yet his friendship with Gene stayed cool.
Gene still acted funny since their phone call, almost angry. Cory kept wondering what he'd said to make Gene act this way, but Gene refused to talk about it. Even lunch became uncomfortable, more time spent in silence than talking.
"Do you get our science homework?" Cory asked. "I mean, how are we supposed to describe an amplituhedron shape?"
Gene stared at Cory for a moment.
"Just google it. Duh," Gene said. "I gotta go to Mr. Blake's class and finish my science lab." Gene suddenly stood and, without another word, walked away.
Cory sat in silence, staring after Gene. What's he being a jerk for? he thought.
"Hey Towson," Tim called from another table. Tim and his buddies were sitting on a bench under a cottonwood tree. "What happened to that geeky friend of yours?"
Cory got up from his spot and walked over to Tim. He felt a twinge of loyalty towards Gene, but quickly shoved it away.
"I don't know," Cory shrugged. He figured if he avoided talking about Gene he would not have to deal with the loyalty thing.
"Who needs geeks like that anyway, right Towson?" Tim laughed loudly, looking over at one of the boys sitting next to him and punched him in the arm. The boy rubbed the bruise and laughed nervously.
"Yeah, right," Cory said.
He sat on the table top next to Tim and glanced across the quad hoping to spot Gene, but the quad was a large as a squared-off soccer field. He had a twinge of disloyalty as he scanned the sea of students, but Gene was gone.
"What you lookin' at, Towson?"
Cory jumped at being caught and quickly looked at Tim. Tim had been wrestling with the boy he punched and now walked towards Cory, brushing dust off his pants.
"Nothing," Cory answered, wishing he were somewhere else. Tim still made him nervous. He walked up and immediately put Cory in a chokehold. The pressure made Cory realize just how strong Tim was!
"You ever watch WWF?" Tim asked, tightening his grip around Cory's neck. Cory had to get off the table and stand, half bowed over to keep Tim from wrenching his neck.
"No. I haven't," he choked out.
As his air was cut off, panic welled up and Cory instinctively grabbed Tim's arm and pushed it off, over his head. Tim's arm flew off and Cory straightened up. "Dude, you're choking me!" Cory managed to say while breathing hard. Anger flashed in Tim's eyes, probably at having his grip thrown off, so Cory quickly smiled and started talking, not sure what Tim might do next.
"So, what's it like, wrestling?"
"What?" Tim said, then laughed. "You mean WWF?"
Cory nodded. Tim's mood had shifted, and Cory hoped he'd be more interested in talking about wrestling than actually doing it.
"It's awesome!" Tim shouted. His eyes lit up. "These guys slam each other into the ropes, dive off, and smash each other." Tim was acting out each move in the air. Cory noticed a couple girls walk by and shake their heads disgustedly. "Hey," Tim said, freezing in the middle of a body slam. "You should come over Sunday and watch it with me and my dad." He took a menacing step toward Cory, looking ready to wrestle.
"Sure," Cory answered quickly, putting his hands up in surrender. "I have to check with my mom, first."
"What?" Tim howled, stopping in his tracks. "Are you a mama's boy?"
He laughed with a loud cackle. Cory thought it sounded like some wicked troll, but he laughed, as well, to cover up his embarrassment. After lunch, Cory walked to his fourth-hour class depressed. What had he gotten himself into? Spending Sunday afternoon watching some sport called WWF with Tim Turner? And Tim's dad, who he didn't know. "Perfect," he mumbled under his breath as he opened the doors to the science wing. "Just perfect."
Saturday evening, Cory's mother served dinner at the kitchen table. Allen was there. Cory was not happy about it, but there was nothing he could do. He watched his mom serve their plates, something she never did on a regular basis. She had her hair pulled back, held with a beautiful hair tie of silver and turquoise. Cory remembered when she bought it. On that trip to Sunset Crater, back before the split. Just seeing the silver hair tie made him mad. And this dinner wasn't going to work. He was not going to be forced to like Allen. When she started spending more time at home, Cory secretly hoped she was over this guy. Obviously, he was wrong.
Cory picked up an ear of corn and bit into it. He focused on the floral design on the plate as he chewed, instead of looking up at Allen or his mother. His mother and Allen talked back and forth, for the moment ignoring him. Cory was relieved. It allowed him a chance to steal quick glances at Allen and then his mother and not have to talk.
"Your mom tells me you're working out with a goalkeeper coach, Cory."
Cory nearly choked on a mouthful of potatoes. He was just beginning to think he would get through dinner without having to speak. He swallowed.
"Yea, I guess so."
"What do you think?" continued Allen. "Is he helping you?"
Allen's tone was friendly, but Cory wasn't buying it. He was not going to be fooled by this guy's fake interest in soccer.
"Yeah," Cory said quietly. He concentrated on his food. "He's helping, I guess."
If Cory had looked up, he would have seen his mother briefly look at Allen, both of them seeming to share some secret knowledge.
"Hey Mom?" Cory suddenly said. "Can I go over to Tim Turner's tomorrow to watch WWF wrestling?" Mrs. Towson looked surprised. Allen had a slight grin on his face.
"Why do you want to watch W-W-F wrestling? What is WWF wrestling, anyway?" she asked, looking doubtful.
"It's professional wrestling where men dress up in funny outfits and stage bone-crunching holds on each other."
It was Allen talking. Cory looked over at him, then looked back down when Allen turned his way.
"These hulks actually hit hard. But it's all set up beforehand. It's strictly a show." Allen paused, chuckling. "It's pretty funny to watch."
Mrs. Towson looked back at Cory. "Well, I guess you can go," she said. "Leave me Tim's phone number and address." She was about to take a bite of mashed potatoes when she stopped. "Aren't you supposed to practice again tomorrow?"
Allen looked like he was about to say something, but changed his mind.
"Yeah," Cory said. "But that's in the morning."
"Oh, I see. So, where's Gene been lately?" she asked. It threw Cory off.
"I don't know," he answered vaguely. "I think he's mad at me or something." Mrs. Towson looked as if she were about to ask more, but Cory quickly got up from the table. "Thanks for dinner, mom."
He moved to the sink and rinsed his plate. He wanted to get out of there before any more questions were asked about Gene or practice with Mr. Banks, or anything else. They were trying to pry into his private business, and he didn't like it.
"I'll be in my room."
Cory smiled weakly at his mom and avoided looking at Allen, then went down the hall to his room. He knew she wanted him to like Allen, but he did not want to know this guy. And he could not fake that. So, going to his room was the easiest thing to do. At least he was away from the table now, in the privacy of his room.
Cory shut the door. Out of habit, he reached to pick up his cell phone to call Gene, then stopped and stared at it. He remembered Gene's disappearance at lunch. "Whatever," he mumbled, sitting at his desk and opening his chemistry book.