Page 48 of Lavender and Linebackers

Alice: The need to give back.

If she needs to give back, then something or someone did something for her. I wish I knew what it was. Yes, there have been years of no communication, and that was ultimately my decision, but it feels weird that things happened to her and I don’t know what they are. She had a life without me.

Ryder: Why did you make the butterfly on the logo teal and not orange? I thought Monarch butterflies were all orange.

Alice: They are orange, but the emoji is teal. I wanted the branding of the butterfly to match what’s available. This next generation shuns all texts and is emoji heavy.

Ryder: Next generation. You say that like they’re so much younger than you.

Alice: Some are. Our youngest group is 8-10. That’s fourteen years.

Ryder: You always did love cheerleading and teaching.

Alice: Yes. I ended up majoring in elementary education, but I also studied psychology with a focus on clinical and developmental psychology.

Something about this doesn’t sit right in my stomach. Her need to give back, combined with clinical and developmental psychology, makes an ache settle under my rib cage.

Ryder: That’s great. It fits you.

Alice: What about you?

Ryder: Civil Engineering.

Alice: That tracks.

Ryder: I do like to build things.

Alice: Thanks for reaching out. Good luck at your game tomorrow.

She’s ending this. Not that I blame her. Other than playing catch-up or going down memory lane, we have nothing to talk about. And I’m certainly not going to tell her that I miss her. That wouldn’t be good for either one of us and is likely to get me throat punched the next time I see her. This will have to do . . .

Ryder: Thanks.

You’ve Been Caught

Coming out of the film, we’re stopped by another, “You’ve been caught.” I will say, for the most part, I find these hilarious. It’s a great way for viewers to get to know us a little bit more, without invading our private space too much. Today, written on the black-framed whiteboard is, “What’s your favorite food to cook?”

“Oh, this is an easy one.” Tyler grins. “Fish.”

“Bro, fish is not easy,” Dylan says as he sidles up next to the few of us who have stopped.

“Sure it is. Especially fresh fish,” he says proudly, while smiling from ear to ear. Tyler loves to go fishing. If he’s not playing football, he’s on his boat, and we all know it.

“I will say, he’s cleaned plenty of fish at my house, and it doesn’t look that hard. We’ve grilled it, baked it, pan-fried it, deep-fried it, and made patties out of it. You name it, we’ve cooked it. Vivi loves it,” Jonah tells Ross, who’s holding the camera.

“It’s not surprising you’re going to be on his side. He brings you free food,” Dylan argues.

“Damn straight.” Jonah grins. “But I’m a good cook too.”

Jonah’s a quiet one. He hasn’t been with the team that long, and everyone loves his little niece Vivi, who he has custody of. She steals the show no matter where we are.

“Oh, this is a fun one,” Sully says, coming up behind the group.

“Boy, you better keep your mouth shut. You don’t cook. You mooch off other people.” Rico laughs, and a few of the other guys chuckle.

Sully blushes as he looks around the group and finally at Danica. “That’s not true, I can cook.”

She doesn’t say anything. She just presses her lips together to keep from smiling too.