November gales picked up on the lakeshore and snow began falling the first weekend of the month. The town was experiencing a premature and hasty onset of the season as the cold chill of winter was anxiously underway. This weekend the high school was celebrating the close of the football season with the team’s anticipated win at state finals. A pep rally launched the weekend’s activities on Friday afternoon.
Caitlyn was in a haze over the past month. She attended school events and carried on with her regular classes and activities, but her heart wasn’t into it. She was just existing; just going through the motions. She felt so sad and alone for such a long time now. Her thoughts were miles away in the depths of the lake waters searching for Steven; searching for some clue; some type of closure to this terrible tragedy, loss and disappearance.
As Caitlyn led the cheerleaders to the center court of the gymnasium for the pep rally; she was surprisingly caught off guard to see Jason smiling at her out of the corner of her eye. Once in position to start the cheer and rally cry, she looked over at him again. This time with a slight smile and kind glance. She remembered back to better days last spring when she first got to know Jason. He was very kind and nice to her. Now, looking at him, standing there with the football team, he wasn’t so much the football hero any longer; but just another saddened friend overtaken by the terrible events of that fateful homecoming weekend night. Everything seemed to be warped in time and emotional turmoil for all of those involved. What should have been seemingly important, such as the team going to state finals, only seemed a mere task to her and Jason now. She could see the sadness in his eyes. He had also lost something that night. Perhaps we all lost a bit of the childlike beam that used to glow brightly in our eyes out there on the pier in the darkness of the light.
The pep rally brought a nice arousal of joy and camaraderie to the students, community and Caitlyn’s friends. It was much needed to lift the spirits around town. She was happy to see everyone eagerly involved and supportive. This game weekend was the first thing she was actually looking for to in a long time. The onset of the holidays and loom of Christmas weighed heavily on her mind. She couldn’t help but think about how she and Steven anticipated a Christmas reunion when he returned from his three months of service out east on the water. Sometimes it was easier for her to think that maybe he was on duty. Maybe he would return to her someday. It was a fairy tale, but it helped her get through the most difficult days.
Following the pep rally Jason hurried down to the gymnasium floor to greet Caitlyn, “Hey Cait, it’s been a long time now. How are you?” He was short with his words and questions, but truly needed to reach out to someone. The silence he was experiencing was weighing terribly on him creating nightmares. It was clear that he, as well as Adam, still held crushes for Caitlyn. They were always enamored by her. But, this was different. He needed a friend to talk to, and he needed to talk to her! Caitlyn nodded and reflected a half-smile, but didn’t say anything back to Jason’s inquiries. Jason followed up with another question, “You thinking about going to the dance tomorrow night after the game?”“Probably not Jason, but thank you for asking.” Caitlyn politely replied. She wasn’t planning on attending any parties, dances or extra social activities. She felt that she was not up to participate in those events yet.
Jason replied, “Cait, I’ve been thinking, it would probably be good for all of us to get out. I know that you, just as I, have been harboring a lot of thoughts and emotions and haven’t talked about what happened. I know the dance isn’t the place to do that, but it might be good to just get out and do something normal again. Please, just give it a thought? No strings attached, just friends? Okay?”
Caitlyn answered, “Well, I wasn’t planning to go, but you are right. It probably would be nice to get out after the game for a little social celebrating with our friends and classmates. I’ll think about it Jason. Thank you.” She nodded and shifted her glance to the ground again and began to walk away.
“Wait, Cait, a small group of us are heading over to Kirby Grille for some food before the dance. Will you join us for that? A girl has to eat sometime?” Jason was trying to engage Caitlyn somehow into connecting with him in some way. “Come on,” he looked at her like a lost puppy dog, “You’ll enjoy yourself. Something tells me you could use a little fun conversation and mingling, am I right? Just dinner, no dancing necessary.”
Caitlyn responded, “Yeah, you’re probably right. I have been cooped up in my house for a long time now.”
“Great!” Jason thought to himself. He wasn’t going to risk her backing out now and blurted out, “I’ll swing by and pick you up at 7:00 pm. See you then Cait!” He waived and ran off toward the boys locker room.
When Jason entered the locker room he walked in to find Adam sitting on a bench with his head cradled into his hands. He was hunched over and appeared to be in bad spirits. Steven had not talked to him since the fateful events on homecoming weekend. They were both still being questioned by local authorities regarding the outcome of that evening and Steven’s disappearance. Jason walked past him to his locker, packed up his gear in his duffle bag and slammed the locker door shut in frustration, startling Adam. Adam looked up in a panic, and caught Jason’s piercing glare as Jason walked past him and exited the locker room. There was a great deal of tension between them. They were less than team mates; just rivals now. There was a hard bitterness between them and neither one trusted the other. Their only commonality was their goal to win state football finals. Beyond that they were no longer considered friends. As Steven left the locker room, Adam pulled a flask from his jacket and drank down another swig. He was completely addicted to pain killers and alcohol now. He was harboring this secret. Their close group of friends became completely despondent with each other. The tragedies from that night on the pier created a ripple effect that remained persistent and tormented each of them individually. Come November; change was in the air, sending chills through their once close-knit circle of friends, just as the forceful circling tides impacting the shoreline.
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