Chapter Two ---- part eight

    His first stop at the school was the counselor's office. She was stunned when he informed her he had received and was accepting an appointment to the Air Force Academy. She faxed his acceptance letter back to them and promised not to tell anyone until he said different. She would let him know when she received the conformation that his fax had been received and he was officially enrolled at the Academy with the next class. His original letter had said they would be forwarding all the paperwork he would need, since his approval was so late even before he gave them an answer. He was to simply destroy that paperwork if he had declined. There were still a few people who needed to hear about this from him directly. Next on that list would be Coach. Maybe he would understand when Andy told him where he was going. Since he had athletics first hour it was no issue for him to see Coach. Andy got there to find a few of the other guys, mostly seniors too, were already there. They wasted no time at all before teasing him when they got a look at the marks on his neck. Andy took it all in good spirits, but he worried how Pamela would take it. After a few minutes of razing, Coach shut down the teasing, he told them to get ready to go do some work at the track field. They could help him start securing training equipment for the summer since school was winding down. He wanted them to change into their workout stuff so they wouldn't get their classroom clothes dirty. Andy took the chance to follow Coach to his office and asked to talk with him. Coach invited Andy in and closed the door behind them before taking his seat.

    He motioned for Andy to sit down as he spoke. "So what is it you want to tell me?" Andy smiled as he sat down. Coach was direct when he talked to you, if nothing else. Andy leaned back and started talking. "Coach, I know you have been worried and wanted me to do something to use my abilities to help with college, but you need to know why I didn't do that. I am not going to go to a regular college. Even if I had, I didn't want to try to carry a full load of classes and do athletics too. I know you think I could do it with no real issues and maybe I could have. The thing is for me the education is more important. I mean I loved playing and competing, but for me it’s just playing. I can still do that without the pressure of competing on a team that needs to win for the school." Shaking his head Andy laughed. "I’m getting away from what I wanted to tell you. Coach, I am going to be attending the Air Force Academy. I wasn't certain I would actually go until Monday, but I am certain this is the right choice now. I hope you can understand now why I didn't want to use your connections to get looked at for athletic scholarships. I really do appreciate all you have done, and wanted to do, to help me, but I needed to do this for myself."

    Coach had been leaned back listening and watching until Andy said Air Force Academy. His chair had tipped forward then while his face had changed too. He had been very solemn, but now he seemed stunned. Andy waited after he was done, wondering what kind of reaction this was going to be. None of the others had taken it like he had expected, so why should Coach be different. Shaking his head Coach stood up and walked around to Andy. Andy stood up to meet him and took his hand when Coach extended it. They shook hands for a while, before Coach said anything at all. As they stopped shaking hands, Coach sat down on the edge of his desk and spoke. The excitement was easy to hear in his voice. "Well, that does explain a lot! I just couldn't understand why you were so reluctant to let me at least try to help you. Now it’s easy to see. I am very proud of you. There aren't many with the ability to do something like this and even fewer with the courage to try it alone. You will make a fine officer. I still think you should try to put your physical talents to use, but I do understand what you meant now about using them last night. So tell me how you managed all of this without anybody knowing about it."

    They talked for another ten minutes before a knock on the door ended things. Coach made the announcement to Andy's teammates. Most of the guys he needed to tell himself were there, so Andy didn't mind that too much. He knew it would be all over the school within minutes of class change though, so he asked to leave a little early. He still had one friend who he wanted to tell personally. He was waiting outside the classroom for Tony when the class was over. They had a few minutes between classes, so Andy would have time to talk with Tony. Tony was clearly surprised to see Andy waiting for him, but he didn't hesitate to go along when Andy motioned him towards an empty classroom. Once inside Andy wasted no time. He had to talk quickly so they would have at least a couple of minutes to spare before they had to hustle to their next classes.

    "I wanted you to hear it from me first, Tony. I’ve already told Coach and the team so it will be all over school in a few minutes. I applied to and have been accepted at the Air Force Academy." Then he waited to see what sort of response he would get from Tony. Tony just nodded as he studied Andy. Then he asked two simple questions. "Why did you apply and why the Air Force?" Andy grinned, relieved that Tony seemed to be alright with his decision. "The Air Force just felt right for me. I did consider the Army and even considered enlisting like you did, but... well I wanted something else. I want to make a real difference in things. Not that you can't by being enlisted in the Army. I just wanted to do more than I thought would be possible for me to do anywhere else."

    Tony listened and nodded his head. Then he stepped closer to Andy, still looking at him very seriously. "I can get that. I think I know exactly what you mean and how you feel. We have to do something. Everything is such a mess if we don't do something I am afraid of what may happen. It's good with me." Then he grinned. "I wish you had gone West Point though. I think I would like saluting you someday. You have always been a real trooper and looked out for your buddies. You would have been a great officer.  I considered trying, but I don't have what it takes for that. I’ll have to earn rank the hard way." Then he grinned. "Still, I guess I can understand why you decided to be a hot shot Air Force jock." Tony reached out and taking Andy by the chin turned his head so that he could see the marks on his neck better. "It does seem to come with some very interesting fringe benefits. Maybe I should have given it more thought?" Andy jerked back and gave Tony a rough shove backwards, but they were both laughing.

    Tony didn't bother shaking hands though. He just gave Andy a big bear hug and slapped his back. Then released him and stepped back shaking his head. "Lieutenant Cooper, you know it sounds right. I'm proud of you brother, proud of you. Just don't forget us guys down there doing the dirty work while you are up there soaring around the heavens. I expect you to have my back." Andy grinned and nodded his head. "You have my word. I want you to know that you are the one that helped me decide to try this. I figured if you had the guts to do the dirty work the least I could do would be to try and cover your butt." They laughed and headed towards class. Andy was almost late to his class, because of all of the people stopping him to talk about it. The rest of the day was spent mostly discussing his decision with everyone and being teased about those, 'fringe benefits.’ He was going to give Tony a good swat for starting that.

    Andy didn't get to see Pamela until late in the day. He wondered what she was going to have to say to him when he saw her walking up. Everyone else just seemed to scatter, but they were all watching closely from a distance. Pam shook her head as she looked around. Then she focused her attention back on him. All she said was, "Fringe benefits?" Andy started to turn red and stammer. Then she started to grin and he knew it was all good. Putting her arm around him, she started down the hall with him. After a few steps she spoke quietly for him alone to hear. "I guess if you can take it, I can take it too... since I am the one that 'branded you' according to all the girls! But you better swat Tony a good one for me too or I swear I will brand you again this weekend." Giving him a quick peck on the cheek she walked away, giggling almost as much as the other girls in the hallway. At least she started turning red too when the guys starting the whistling and cat calls.

   It had been a long day, but when he got home he found out it wasn't quite over after all.  His mom was waiting for him at the door when he trotted into the yard. His stomach sank for just an instant until she began to grin. Once he was inside he knew what was up. Martha was sitting at the table with a cup of coffee and a fresh baked cookie. Andy could still smell the aroma in the air. Andy dropped his pack and went to give her a hug. Once that was done he grinned at them both as he spoke. "I would ask what brings you home, but I guess I already know. I am so sorry for causing you all this trouble. I never even thought about them sending a notification to the Senator. Can you ever forgive me?" He was looking directly at Martha. He didn't want to see his mom at the moment. He would deal with her, but not yet. Martha just laughed. Then she motioned for him to sit down between her and where his mom had been sitting as she spoke. "See, I told you he would apologize to me first. I knew he would never have let it happen if he had thought about it. You should be very proud of him, Mary."

    Andy's mom sat down and smiled over at Martha before turning her eyes to Andy. "I am very proud of him. The Lord knows I won't sleep well, not when I think about what he has decided to do with his life, but I will still be very proud of my son. Well, now that all of the apologies are done, why don't we talk about all the bats I have been seeing around here lately?" Her innocent looking face as she said that made Andy's mouth fall open before he could manage an indignant, "MOM!", in reply. Martha and his mom were cackling with laughter by then. Andy spent a solid hour at that table and he knew it was definitely the longest hour of his life. He would never have believed his mom could think such things, much less talk about them so easily. At least one good thing came from it all when they finally let him go. He knew his mom might not be happy with his decision, but she was going to respect it and wouldn't try to fight it. Still, it had been a shock sitting there listening to her and Martha talk about when they were his age. Andy would never be able to look at his mom, or his dad, the same again.  He spent the next few days laughing without any apparent reason when he looked at either of them. His mom would just get a bit red and grin, but his dad was genuinely puzzled. At least for a couple of days he was. After that he would just grin and wink or something. Apparently there were no secrets anymore in this family.