The Walk On (43 page)

Alex thought about how the team was likely to react. “No, I agree,” he said.

“Christine, are you willing to keep Jake’s name out of print?” Matt asked.

They looked at one another. “Can’t use his name if no
one goes on the record,” Christine finally said. “I’m guessing no one here’s going to go on the record with that part of the story?”

Jake was shaking his head. “I don’t deserve this,” he said.

“Shut up, Jakey. You’ll suffer plenty—I guarantee it,” Matt said, now clearly in charge again.

“After I tell Mr. White what happened, I’m going to tell the whole school at the pep rally,” Matt said. “I don’t want there to be any doubt that Goldie was completely innocent. I’ll take my lumps and try to move on.”

“You don’t have to do that,” Alex said.

“I’d
rather
do that. I’d rather everyone hears it from me firsthand than people hear about it secondhand. What is it you told me, Christine, back when my dad wasn’t letting anyone talk? ‘It’s always better to get your version on the record.’ ”

“You know that once you tell Mr. White, he’s going to have to fire your dad,” Mr. Hillier said.

Matt was clear-eyed now. “I know,” he said. “He deserves it.”

By the time the pep rally began, the word was all over the school. Something big was going on, but no one knew exactly what it was. The rally was supposed to start at two-thirty, as soon as seventh period was over, but it was almost quarter to three before Mr. White—looking grim—walked onto the stage.

There were no announcements—nothing about how to buy tickets for the bus ride to Pittsburgh and for the game. There was no cheerleading, no promises of victory on Friday. Instead, Mr. White said simply, “Ladies and gentlemen
of Chester Heights, I have an announcement. At two o’clock this afternoon, I accepted the resignation of football coach Matthew Gordon. I would now like to introduce to you our acting football coach, Tom Hillier.”

That sent a loud buzz through the entire audience as Coach Hillier walked onstage. He waited a second, then said, “The sooner we get quiet, the sooner you’ll know what’s going on.”

That worked. Coach Hillier continued, “Will all of you please welcome the members of the Chester Heights football team that will be representing you this Friday night in Pittsburgh in the state championship game.”

There were no exclamation points in his tone. The side door opened and, one by one, the players walked in. Quietly they lined up behind Coach Hillier. The applause was—if possible—confused. No one knew what to do: Clap? Roar? Stand and cheer? Clearly, something was going on.

Once the players were all assembled, standing shoulder to shoulder behind Coach Hillier, he leaned into the microphone again.

“And now, Matt Gordon has requested to speak to his fellow students.”

The applause for him was louder, because he was Matt Gordon and because they were thinking he was going to clear up all the confusion. He walked to the microphone and gestured for quiet.

“What I’m about to tell you is exactly what I told my teammates a few minutes ago. The most important thing you need to know is that Alex Myers did not test positive for steroid use—I did.”

Gasps broke out all over the room. Matt plowed on. He told everyone what he had told Alex, Christine, Jonas, and Jake in the lunchroom. He made a point of saying that there wasn’t a single excuse for his behavior—or for his father’s. He didn’t mention Jake, saying only that his father had “arranged” for the samples to be switched. Finally he turned to Alex and said, “I’m so sorry for this, Alex. No one will be cheering you on louder than I will on Friday night. You’re a great quarterback and a better person. I’m proud to call you a friend.”

He turned and walked in Alex’s direction. Alex stepped forward and Matt wrapped him in a bear hug, tears streaming down his face.

Someone in the audience started to clap as they embraced. Then someone else. And then, in an instant, everyone in the room was on their feet, clapping and cheering for the two quarterbacks. The rest of the team joined in.

Finally Matt walked back to the podium, his arm still around Alex.

“I hope, someday, I can earn your forgiveness for this,” he said. “For now, I plan to be in the stands on Friday, leading the cheers for Goldie and this great team.”

He turned to the back of the stage and put his arm up in the air. The entire team moved in to surround him and Alex. “On three—state champs,” Matt said.

They put their hands in the air and leaned into the circle, pushing against one another to get as close as they possibly could.

Gerry Detwiler said, “One, two, three …”

And the whole school roared, “STATE CHAMPS!”

The next few hours were a blur for Alex.

Once the pep rally was over, the team headed straight for the locker room to get ready for practice. While Buddy Thomas was taping Alex’s ankles, Coach Hillier—back in his coaching gear—asked him to come into his office for a moment.

When Alex walked into the small office, Coach Hillier was in there along with Gerry Detwiler and Mr. White.

“Mr. Myers, I haven’t had a chance to see you yet,” Mr. White said, shaking Alex’s hand. “I’m glad you were cleared. I’m sorry for doubting you. And I’m very sorry this happened.”

“There was no way for you to know, Mr. White,” Alex said.

Coach Hillier jumped in before an extended silence could turn awkward.

“Alex, we’ve been discussing how to handle the publicity. Obviously, what’s happened is all over social media. We think we should hold some kind of press conference after practice, with you and Gerry speaking for the players, me speaking as the acting coach, and Mr. White speaking on behalf of the school.”

Alex nodded, looking at Gerry, who he guessed had been briefed already.

“Okay?” Alex said, as they seemed to want an answer.

“The thing is, we all have to be careful about what we say about Coach Gordon,” Mr. White said. “He’s apparently refusing all media requests and isn’t going to admit any wrongdoing publicly.…”

“He covered up for his son,” Detwiler said. “Matt’s already said it publicly.”

“Still,” Mr. White said, “if you are asked about the things Matt said about his father at the pep rally, just say the person to talk to about that is Matt. We’ve asked Matt to steer clear of any media until after the game. Then he can say anything he wants.”

Alex nodded. “Got it,” he said.

“Anything else?” Mr. White said.

“Yeah,” Detwiler said. “Any way we can play this game tomorrow instead? This is going to be a long three days.”

The press conference was a zoo. The soap opera nature of the story had attracted national attention, and Alex saw cameras from both CNN and ESPN in the audience along with all the local ones. Reporters were asked to identify themselves
before asking questions. One stood up and said he was from the
Washington Post
. Another was from the
New York Times
. Alex recognized the teen reporter Stevie Thomas sitting next to Christine in the third row.

Alex and Gerry let Coach Hillier and Mr. White take any questions about Coach Gordon. Gerry nicely described how the team felt, Alex thought.

“We miss Matt already,” he said. “I’m the captain for now, but he’s our leader. He’s the guy we look to for a pickup when we’re down. But once we get on the field, we all have faith in Alex. Every time we’ve needed him this season, he’s come through. I have no doubt he’ll do it again Friday.”

A little shudder went through Alex as Gerry spoke. He had started two games earlier in the season, but they had been against second-tier opponents. Now he would be starting the state championship game against another undefeated team.

And Matt would be in the stands. He wouldn’t even have his counsel on the sideline. Jake would be his backup. Coach Hillier had agreed Jake should stay on the team—at least through Friday’s game. At that moment a reporter stood up and asked Alex how he felt about being
the
quarterback under these circumstances.

“How do I feel? I’m beyond happy to have been proven innocent,” Alex said. “This last week has been brutal. I hope the guys who did the telecast of the semifinal game will announce my innocence as loudly as they did my supposed guilt.…

“But worse than that was feeling cut off from my team. There’s no place I’d rather be than on the field with them
on
any
Friday night. So I feel excited to have the chance to play.

“And I also feel … sad. Because I’ll miss Matt Gordon.”

Alex had a long talk on the phone with his father on Wednesday and felt better than he had in months. Dave Myers not only said that he’d be at the game on Friday night but also that he was going to get to Philadelphia much more often.

“Those are empty words until it actually happens,” he told Alex. “But I’m going to make them real.”

He told Alex how proud he was of the way he’d handled himself and asked him if he ever thought he could look Jake Bilney in the eye again.

“Matt, I can understand,” his dad said. “He didn’t set out to sabotage you. Bilney did.”

Alex sighed. He’d thought about that a lot since Tuesday.

“I hear you, Dad,” he said. “But I think Coach Gordon knew just what button to press to get him to cooperate. And I honestly believe he’s sorry he did it. Sometimes guys are sorry they got caught. I really think Jake is sorry for what he did.”

“Well, you’re a lot more forgiving than I am,” his dad said.

Alex smiled for a moment even though his father couldn’t see him. “I guess,” he said, “that’s a good thing for you too, Dad.”

“Touché, young man,” his father said. “I’ll see you Friday in Pittsburgh.”