Monday seemed different for Cody Carlyle. The previous Friday he'd been just another new kid at school, albeit one with dreams of playing big-time college football but a new kid nonetheless. He had found himself self conscious of his Oklahoma twang in his new West Coast setting, and the old pickup truck he drove to school only helped him feel out of place.
What a difference a weekend made-Cody was no longer an anonymous transfer student, he wasn't even "the big guy from Oklahoma" anymore. He'd emerged into a household name amongst the halls of Mission Vista High School, suddenly saddled with a reputation of being the next big thing to come out of Orange County. His performance on Friday night had made him a star, someone people wanted to know.
At lunch the attention came to a head. As he walked out to his truck to leave off-campus, he heard a feminine voice calling out. Cody wasn't entirely sure if he was the intended recipient, so he continued walking only to hear her shouts continue. He paused long enough to see a pretty red-haired girl now approaching him at a brisk jog, books in hand and backpack cinched on her back. Cody recognized her almost immediately, from the sidelines at Friday's game and from the morning pep rally the day of the game. Her name was Jacqueline, and she was head cheerleader. The towering young man stopped, his attention turned to the attractive girl as her jog slowed to a walk as it became apparent that Cody had acknowledged her.
"Hey there!" the young redhead said to him cheerfully. "How you doing?"
"Pretty good," Cody responded briefly, back to being self conscious of his accent.
"Oh I'm sorry," Jacqueline continued, acting as if she was embarrassed of her manners but clearly not. "My name's Jacqueline, and I just wanted to let you know that you were awesome on Friday night!"
"Why thanks," Cody answered, curious as to where this conversation was going. "I saw ya cheering a bit on Friday too...you're pretty great too."
"You mean you actually paid attention to us cheering," the redhead said, her response again veiled in false astonishment. "I didn't think anyone actually watched us!"
Jacqueline then took Cody's hand in hers, encouraging his massive palm to engulf her slender features and walked with him.
"So Cody, I was wondering if you could do me a favor," Jacqueline propositioned.
"Well, I should have known you weren't just being nice," Cody responded cynically, almost set to dismiss the cheerleader right then.
"Oh no it's nothing like that, in fact I think you'll really like what I have in mind," Jacqueline said, doing her best to reason with him. "You see, here at Mission Vista us cheerleaders have a tradition...we pick one senior football player each year and show them how much we appreciate what they do for our school. As head cheerleader I get to pick who this year's senior is, and I was hoping you'd give us the honor of being our man for the year."
This seemed to put Cody at ease; the cheerleaders had always done stuff back in Oklahoma to show their appreciation for the football players, usually baked them desserts, decorated their lockers, or helped out at the annual preseason and postseason banquets. It seemed slightly odd to him that such was offered to only one senior, but he figured it was just a California thing.
"Well Jacqueline, I definitely think that's something I could do for ya guys," Cody answered. "In fact I'd be honored."
"Awesome! I'm glad to hear that!" the perky redhead said, looking up at Cody with her blue eyes. "Does that mean I can be the first to show my appreciation?"
"What did ya have in mind?"
