Homecoming, PR, Music and Chapter 12 Excerpt

Today is homecoming for Owen County High School! I'm not planning to go to the football game like we have in the past couple of years (it's too cold and supposed to rain tonight), but we are participating in the homecoming parade. As coaches for the Owen County Youth Soccer League, Jim and I were informed that the teams are expected to participate on one of the floats. So, we got our team members to sign up and they (along with me) will be riding a float and throwing candy out to the crowds of people who come out for the annual event. Tiana, Jimmy, and I will all be on the soccer float, but Scarlett will be at the head of the parade with the band, marching and playing the pep band songs they play for the football games.

What is odd to me is that I grew up in Grant County which is right next to Owen County and we never did anything like this for homecoming. Granted, we had a fairly new football team and they were terrible, but the school spirit was never there for the football homecoming like it was for basketball. In Owen County, everyone turns out for the football games (usually us included) and cheer like crazy for a team that isn't all that terrific, but they are part of the community and the community rallies around them.

Due to the parade and everything going on today, I'm not getting any writing done today. However, I am working on designing flyers for the book signing to drop off to the middle school and high school for the libraries and English teachers to share with students. I also need to make phone calls to some of the schools nearby and the libraries and see if I can get them to order my book in as well. I need to do some PR stuff to get my book out there more and plan to do that some today before I run out of time and have to go to the parade.

Today, I'm again listening to the iTunes "Mel's Music" playlist and the music of the moment is "Gives You Hell" by The All-American Rejects. If you've ever taken the time to check out my "Writing" playlist on playlist.com you will see that I happen to really love this band and listen to a lot of their songs. I just happen to like them a lot, although this song is not related to any of my books.

The excerpt of the day is set at the football game prior to the bonfire. This is getting to the last of the excerpts and I highly recommend you go purchase the book now so you can read it in its entirety and find out how it all ends! Check it out on Amazon.com!

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We entertained ourselves by talking about the various moves the cheerleaders were doing and pointing out how many of them were seniors and would be gone the next year. The band started warming up and we listened to them for a while. The stands were filling up as most of our small school and the parents of the players showed up for the game. Then the other team showed up and their fans filed into the stands too.

I spotted Evander’s parents, Thomas and Gloria, and motioned for them to sit by me. Soon after, Amie waved over Nate’s parents, Adam and Jennifer. The six of us sat together making amiable conversation. It felt awkward to me that Thomas, Gloria, Amie, and I knew what was possibly to come later in the night while Adam and Jennifer were clueless to the danger their son may face.

Finally, it was seven o’clock and our team ran out onto the field amidst much cheering and carrying on among the fans. We were all on our feet cheering for them as they made their way over to the sidelines.

Most of what happened from that point until halftime was a blur to someone like me who understood minimal football rules and regulations. Thomas kept trying to decipher what was going on, but most of it was not sticking with me. I was distracted by seeing Jackson on the field and worrying about what was going to happen later. I did know that Evander and Nate each scored touchdowns in the first half and we were winning by seven points when the marching band made their way onto the field.

There was much talk in the stands about how well the new offensive guard played and I knew they were speaking about Jackson. I felt a twinge of frustration that I couldn’t lash out and tell them what a complete jerk and menace to society he truly was. Gloria could apparently read my reaction and patted my shoulder in a motherly manner, trying to help calm me.

Soon halftime was over and it was back to the part that I was having trouble following. Honestly, I knew I had never really paid much attention before I started dating Evander or else I would have known more about it by then. I recognized that Kyle, as the quarterback, often handed the ball or made a short pass to Evander who then ran as fast as he could trying to make it to the end zone. I cringed every time he was tackled, expecting broken bones or bleeding from the sounds of it. Sometimes Kyle made a long pass to Nate, and I noticed Amie cringe just as badly when he got tackled too, so I didn’t feel as bad for being a wimp about it.

After what seemed like an eternity, the game was over and we had won, amazingly. I knew everyone would be pumped up at the bonfire. Evander had made three more touchdowns and Nate had made one more. We won by twenty-one points which was bound to make the whole team feel good. It was the best win of the few we had ever had as a school. The offensive coach, Coach Streck, looked ecstatic as the team passed by the stands heading back to the field house locker room.