Saturday Morning Quarterback

"Now that you've won the Super Bowl, Austin Rusk, what are you going to do?" the disembodied voice asked the exhausted but grinning quarterback.

"I'm going to Disney World!" Austin replied, fulfilling a lifelong dream. Once the camera switched off, he turned to the leggy, blonde sidelong reporter --the one that was on that dancing show--and asked, "You wanna come with and have the time of your life?"

While the blonde giggled, her competition from another network, a busty brunette --the one who's leaked pictures stirred up many a locker room--gave Austin a pout. "What about me?"

"Shit, you can come too, babe. Ain't no fun without a Disney threesome." Both hot sideline reporters laughed, shivering with anticipation. "Yep, life is--"

THUD

Austin's eyelids flickered several times. Eyes still heavy with sleep, he strained to make out where he was, but finally, he realized his head lay on a pillow damp from his drool. As his foggy brain cleared, Austin recalled that he was at Whitney's cabin.

"Ah, man, I woke up again before the threesome."

Across the room, up on the top bunk, Newt looked up from his tablet. Once his brain processed the words his ex-bully muttered, he shuddered at the image of Austin having a threesome. Focusing his attention back onto the screen, he sought to banish the quarterback's dream from his memory.

Rolling over, Austin sat on the edge of the bunk with his head in his hands. I must have drank too much again last night. Damn, that's two, no, three nights in a row of heavy drinking. Maybe I should take it easy tonight. Gotta save some strength for New Year's Eve!

Something seemed off to Austin. Glancing around, the quarterback realized that he was on the wrong side of the bunkroom. Wait, why am I in a different bed? Oh, right, I must have let him use my bunk.

A few images of last night slowly came back to him. Looking around, he noticed that geek, Newt, was the only other person in the room. That's funny. I thought he would wait around for me to get up. He's probably in the bathroom.

Standing up, Austin stretched his body, making loud groans that interrupted Newt's concentration. Noticing he still wore the same clothes from yesterday, Austin walked across the room and reached into his bag to grab a pair of warmup pants and a sweatshirt. He figured that would work for a breakfast outfit. Turning to the only other person in the room, Austin stared at Newt with a questioning look on his face until the other teen gave in and took his eyes off his tablet screen.

"Hey, Denton, did you see where Marcus went?"

"What?"

"Is he in the shower or getting breakfast? I can't see him leaving without saying something to me."

"Who? What are you talking about?" Newt responded, looking at Austin like he had grown an extra head. The teen couldn't believe that Sean's joke seemed to still be working.

"Shit, you know Marcus; Marcus Withrow. One of my closest friends. Plays football."

"Yeah, I know who he is, but I haven't seen him." Newt watched as Austin appeared annoyed at his answer. Never in his life had Newt held in a laugh this hard.

The quarterback moved over to pull out his phone. He knew reception could be spotty, but Denton seemed to be using it for his tablet. There were no new messages from Marcus.

"Guess I'll go see if he's in the cabin having breakfast," Austin said out loud, more to himself than to Newt.

"Uh, I'm going to take a shower then," Newt informed him. As Austin walked toward the door, he added, "Maybe you shouldn't drink so much alcohol.

Austin considered making a smartass comment back, but he felt too tired to think up one.

Washing down the first donut with a long drink of milk, Austin sat at the end of the dining room table. His eyes darted around the room, taking stock of who was where and what they were doing.

Lacey's mom was in the kitchen, helping Mrs. Tarver glaze and sprinkle some more donuts. That's two hot moms I would love to motorboat. That totally-a-stripper, Skye, seemed upset about something. Finn, Peyton, and Ellie both were trying to cheer her up. At the other end of his table, Jared, his father, and RJ talked some dumb shit about the Locketts' hometown and a ski lodge. Austin did notice that RJ's little sister, Robin, kept glancing over at him with a grin. Aw shit, I don't need a sophomore crushing on me. I mean, she's got a great pair of tits, but she's too young. Still, it could be something to use in a few years when I come back home from college.

There was no sign of Marcus at all. Also, no one had said a word to him about his friend. That's not good. Everyone must be pissed at me. I don't know why? I didn't invite him; he just showed up. Fuck, I must have been really drunk last night. I don't even remember him showing up. He was just there at one point.

Starting in on his second donut, this one with powdered sugar, Austin wondered if Lacey was up yet. He thought about asking Mrs. Stratton where she was, but Mr. Stratton walked into the room and over by his wife before he could. The older man shot a disappointed look at Austin. I don't know what his problem is with me. He should be proud that his daughter is dating a guy every girl in school wants. If I didn't like Lacey so much, I could have my choice of anyone. Hell, I bet even Whitney would be all over me. She is the captain of the cheer squad, and I am the star quarterback. That's how things usually work. But, no, I chose Lacey, and Mr. Stratton should be bragging not shooting me dirty looks.

At that moment, a tired-looking Ramsey made her way over to the kitchen/dining room. She flashed Austin a small smile before going to the refrigerator. He heard her turn down an offer of waffles or donuts. Instead, Rammy grabbed one of those biscuits that Mr. Diamond made the other day and a glass of water. Oh, yeah, I need to make sure to hydrate myself before we leave for this dumb ice skating trip.

"Morning, Austin," the redhead politely greeted, sitting down next to him.

"Hey, Rammy, you look pretty wiped out."

"I feel wiped out. This is exactly why I never drink and don't plan to again for a long time," she noted, appearing embarrassed. Austin noticed that she glanced down the table several times towards Jared.

"Hey, is Lace up yet?" inquired Austin.

"Oh, where is she? She's been up for a little while, at least. I thought she would be out here."

"I haven't seen her, but I only got here about ten minutes ago," Austin said with a frown. Maybe she's downstairs. Ah, that might be where Marcus is at. You dummy, Rusk. Should have checked there too. Still, it wouldn't hurt to ask. Leaning over, he whispered the question into the redhead's ear.

"Marcus? I didn't even know he was here. Did he come after I went to bed? I hope so; I think I embarrassed myself enough as it is," Rammy admitted, blushing again in the direction of Jared. "Uh, was Whitney upset? She said under no circumstance could she invite more friends up here for this trip. She wanted to invite a lot more people, but her dad said no."

"Yeah, I think Marcus pissed her off. My memory is kind of fuzzy."

Nodding at her friend's boyfriend, Ramsey finally couldn't take it any longer. She slid down a couple of chairs, politely interrupting the Locketts' conversation. Austin could hear her apologizing for her behavior and thanking Jared for carrying her to bed.

Over by the stairs, JoJo and Whitney finished climbing up; the shy brunette walked towards the kitchen with the cabin hostess peeling off in the other direction. Figuring he better get it over with, Austin jumped up. Speed walking, he got close enough to call out her name, stopping her in frustration near the foyer.

"Now what?" Whitney asked the air above her as she flew her arms out.

"Hey, uh, can I talk to you for a minute?"

"I guess; I seem to be quite popular this morning for little chats," she begrudgingly agreed. She followed him down into the foyer.

"Yeah, so, about last night. I just wanna apologize--"

"I would think so. That was a pretty, piss poor performance. Lacey claims you're better sober, but if that's all you got--"

"What are you talking about?"

"About how shitty you were at fucking your girlfriend last night," Whitney stated before she shot him a menacing look. "Why? Did you do something else that I don't know about?"

"I wanted to apologize for Marcus' behavior."

"Marcus?"

"Yeah, I don't know if he apologized already, but I swear I didn't invite him up here," Austin saw the look of disbelief on her face and hurriedly continued. "I swear I didn't. He just showed up."

"You're saying sorry for Marcus showing up here last night?" Whitney repeated, bemused at the conversation. "And what did he do that warrants an apology?"

"Shit, I didn't think he would get so drunk...and you know." The look of amusement on Whitney's face certainly put Austin on edge. He didn't want one of her legendary tongue-lashings at the moment, as Lacey already seemed annoyed with his behavior toward Tarver and Lockett.

"No, I want to hear you say it."

"I'm sorry that Marcus copped a feel of your ass."

"My ass? Are you sure he didn't cop a feel of these too?" Whitney challenged him, cupping her breasts over her robe.

"Aw, damn, he did that? I'm really sorry, Whitney," Austin apologized again, although he looked at the wall over her shoulder as he did. "I-I'll make sure to talk with him. Maybe he needs some help or something."

"I would think he does need help. Being invisible doesn't seem at all healthy," Whitney remarked, struggling to maintain a serious facade. But the laughter churning inside of her finally couldn't be held back any longer, resulting in a howl of laughter.

Austin watched as the blonde bent over, laughing and laughing. It seemed to go on for minutes. Tears formed in her eyes as she struggled to catch her breath. Did she say invisible?

"Th-thanks, Au-Austin," Whitney wheezed out. "I haven't had that good a laugh in years."

"Why are you laughing?"

"Gawd, Lace absolutely needs to get a new boyfriend. You can't fuck worth a shit, and you see people that aren't there," Whitney declared.

"Ah, there you are, my dear," Vance greeted, stopping at the end of the foyer. "Alas, it's that time unfortunately. My family and I have to depart. Thank you again for such an enjoyable night."

"Don't mention it. Seriously, don't mention it," Whitney hissed the last part softly as she walked past Vance, ignoring his effort at a hug. Turning the corner, the blonde disappeared for a second before popping back into Austin's sightline. "Oh, Austin, do you see ghosts too?"

Invisible? Ghosts? What the hell? So Marcus wasn't here last night? I could've sworn he helped me back to the bun--Tarver!

"Ghosts? Do you have a sixth sense, Rusk?" Vance inquired, smirking.

"Fuck off, Vandermeer!" Austin spat, giving the blond playboy a hard shoulder as he stormed past.

THUD

The door to the bunkroom slammed against the wall, bouncing back into Austin, but in his anger, he hardly felt it. Instead, his eyes scanned the room and the bunks.

"Tarver!"

Sean stopped talking to Newt when he heard the door hit the wall and Austin shout out his name. Confused as to what was up the quarterback's butt now, Sean watched as the other teenager stormed over to him.

"You--you asshole!" Austin fought the urge to shove his longtime foe. "You fucking tricked me!"

"Tricked you?"

"Don't give me that innocent act. Lace might fall for it, but I know better."

Shit! Did he find out what I did with Lacey while we watched her parents the other night? Sean knew better than to admit anything until he found out what Austin knew. Even in his concern, he doubted that Austin found out. If he had, then the angry boyfriend would've already punched him.

"I don't know what you're talking about."

"I'm talking about making me think Marcus was here!"

"Marcus was here?" Sean questioned with a slight grin. Moving his head, he scanned the room. "Huh, I don't see him now."

"Don't...just don't! I'm this close to smacking that grin off your face," Austin threatened, clenching his fists in anger.

"Maybe you dreamed Marcus was here as part of your threesome?" Newt suggested, earning a bewildering look from Sean and a snarl from Austin.

"Shut the fuck up, Denton. That was about two hot reporters!"

"You should count yourself lucky, Rusk. I could have left you in a snowbank," Sean pointed out. "You could have gotten frostbite on those golden hands of yours. Instead, I helped you get back here and to bed. Honestly, you should be thanking me."

"Thanking you? I'll fucking thank you." Austin cocked his arm behind him. When he went to bring it forward, another hand grabbed his forearm. "Who the fuck?!"

"That's enough, Austin," Finn said softly, holding onto his arm. "You hit Sean, and you're gone."

"Let go of me, Singer." Austin had no idea where he came from. Finn had still been in the kitchen when he stomped past.

"I will, but first, think about how Lacey will react. Not only will you be punching a friend of her family, but you will also get sent home," Finn explained. "I don't care if you get sent home, but I do care about her feelings. Also, ask yourself how much more will she put up with."

Realizing that Lacey might be highly upset and embarrassed caused Austin to lower his arm. Would she break up with me? She did get pretty made the other night, and I thought she had for a second.

"Aw, you should have let him hit Sean," Newt complained from his top bunk.

"Newt!"

"Well, he would have been sent home, Sean."

"What's going on here?" Jared asked from the doorway before turning his attention toward Sean. "Did he hit you?"

"Fuck this, fuck all of you!" Austin whipped around, storming off toward the door. "I'm taking a damn shower."