Page 21 of The Love Duet
“Thanks for seeing me on such short notice, Mr.Kemper,” I replied politely.“But it was rather important.”
“I gathered as much,” he chuckled.“That’s why I made the time.I’ve been watching you play ball since you were in the eighth grade, Royce, and you’ve done nothing but get better over the years.”
When I had first met Fred Kemper, he’d been visiting Lindor City, his brother having gotten caught up in a legal mess.Allen Kemper had hired my father to represent him, and Fred had stuck around to see his brother through the unfortunate drama.
One afternoon, Fred had wanted to speak with my father, but Dad had told him that he was at one of my practices, and that if Fred wanted to talk to him, then Fred better go to him.Their conversation had ended with Fred staying for the entire practice, eyeing me and a couple of other players.After that, Fred had become a routine staple in my life, always popping up at random games.He had also immediately recruited me for USC at the beginning of this year.However, not wanting to put all my eggs in one basket, I hadn’t committed yet.The plan had been to vet all of my options before selecting a school, only that wasn’t my plan anymore.My plan was to be wherever Roxie was, so I was here to propose a win, win, win solution.
“I’m here to make a deal,” I told him, finally getting to the reason for my visit.
“What kind of deal?”
“I’ll commit to USC on one condition.”
One brow arched as he leaned forward, resting his arms on his desk.“What’s the condition?”
“I’ll only go here if my girlfriend can get in,” I told him.
This time, both his brows jumped.“What?”
“I have a girlfriend, and it’s either she follows me, or I follow her,” I divulged honestly.“While I have no problem following her, she’s not too crazy about the idea of me giving up football to do that.”
Mr.Kemper cocked his head in thought.“Why would you have to give up football to follow her?”
“She’s applied to Grandstone University, and their football program isn’t the best,” I admitted.“Hell, it’s practically non-existent.”
“I’ve never heard of Grandstone University,” he muttered as his brow furrowed
“Probably because it’s best known for its special educational programs,” I told him.“My girlfriend is deaf, and while she can read lips and speak, she can’t hear.Grandstone’s academia caters to the extra support its students need when dealing with limited understanding of the curriculum.”
Mr.Kemper dropped back into his chair.“Your girlfriend is deaf?Am I hearing that correctly?”I nodded.“And so...if we can’t accommodate her here, then you’re following her to Grandstone?”
I shook my head.“No, I don’t want you to accommodate her,” I corrected.“I’ve already checked into the programs here, and while they’re not Grandstone, they’re adequate enough to work for her.”I leaned forward, then rested my elbows on my knees.“I’m asking you to make sure that she gets accepted.”
“That’s illegal, Royce,” he replied like I’d expected him to because itwasillegal.You weren’t supposed to guaranteeanystudent’s acceptance into a college program.Society wanted people to still believe that everyone had a fair and equal chance at an educational opportunity, though we all knew the ugly truth of it all.
I stood up, looked down at him, then stretched out my arm.“Well, it was nice seeing you again, Mr.Kemper,” I said.“Again, thank you for seeing me on such short notice.”
Mr.Kemper immediately stood up.“Whoa, wait,” he quickly rushed out.“That’s it?You’re not even going to consider-”
“There’s only one thing that I’m considering these days, Mr.Kemper,” I said, cutting him off.“And that one thing is Roxanne Rafferty, my girlfriend.”I dropped my arm, then straightened to my full height.“Look, can you just listen for a second?”He nodded, though still a bit unsure.“I first saw Roxie last year when I had first transferred to Yosemite.When I had asked about her, the first thing that I’d been told was that she was deaf, and that she only hung out with her best friend because her best friend was the only person that she could really talk with.”I let out a deep breath before continuing to try to make this man understand where I was coming from.“Like a pussy, I did nothing for an entire year.When I finally realized that the feelings that I had for her weren’t going to go away, I immediately signed up for ASL classes.I’ve been taking them since June, though I still have a lot to learn.Anyway, when I finally got the balls to ask her out, she said yes, and I want you to think about that for a moment, Mr.Kemper.Do you seriously think that I would have put in so much effort to learn an entirely different language if I hadn’t been serious about her?”I made sure to hold his stare for this next part.“I love that girl with everything that I have and with everything that I am.There is no football without her because she ownsallof me.”
He didn’t comment for a bit, but then he cleared his throat before finally speaking.“So, you’re saying that you’ll commit to USC if I can guarantee that she gets accepted as well?”
“Yes,” I answered, not caring about ethics at all.“If not, I’ll apply to Grandstone and follow Roxie’s dreams, and I’ll do it happily.”
“You know that I can’t make you any promises on paper, Royce,” he replied.
I nodded.“Yes, I do.That’s why I’m going to trust your word, Mr.Kemper.”I shrugged.“If you end up not fulfilling your end of our bargain, Roxie and I can take a year off of school, then apply to Grandstone again next year.”
“You’re serious, aren’t you?”he asked, his voice conveying his surprise.“I mean, you will seriously rearrange your entire future for a girl.”
“Notagirl.Roxie.I’ll jump in front of a bullet for her,” I corrected.“So, yeah.Yeah, I’m serious.”
~
Roxanne~
Pepper’s hands were moving at the speed of light again, but it was no less than I had expected.I’d finally lost my virginity, and Pepper had so many questions that it was hard to answer even one.Just as I began answering, there she went, moving her hands again, asking another question.
