Page 2 of Love Story
“Of course.” Cody sat up and shifted so he could see the boy better. “What’s on your mind?”
“Prom.” Baylor winced, as if the word had stung his lips on the way out. “People are starting to ask.” He stood and raised his hands, then he exhaled hard and let his arms fall back to his sides. “I wanna ask Macy Withers. You know Macy Withers, Coach?”
Everyone knew Macy. Cody smiled. “You think you aren’t the only one who wants to ask her.”
“Are you kidding?” He laughed, but his voice cracked in a way that sounded pinched and anxious. This was really stressing the boy out. “Like... I don’t know, six guys on the football team wanna ask her.”
“Okay, so you be first.” The conversation was pushing Andi back to the bottom of his heart. Where Cody liked to keep her. “You’re a good guy, Baylor. She’ll say yes.”
“No she won’t.” The kid paced ten yards out onto the field and spun around. “Have you seen my face? Every time I work out, I get another zit. And then there’s this...” He grabbed a handful of his hair. “This carrot top.” He shook his head, his words tumbling out faster now. “I’m the biggest nerd on the team, Coach, and I can’t bulk up to save my life. My dad jokes that if I turn sideways I disappear. No matter how many times I think it through, the facts are the same. Macy Withers will never say yes, even if I ask her first. Even if I dye my hair or my face clears up or—”
“Baylor.” Cody patted the bench beside him.
The boy stopped. He was breathing hard from the rant. “Yes, Coach?”
“Come sit down.” Cody waited.
After a few seconds the fight left Baylor. His shoulders slumped and he did as Cody asked. “It’s impossible, Coach.”
Advice rushed at Cody, but he took his time. He wanted to say the right thing. “I remember when I was your age. I knew exactly who I wanted to ask to prom.” Cody leaned back on the bench and pictured himself, a football player with a crush on one particular girl. The coach’s daughter.
Bailey Flanigan.
“Yeah, well, look at you, Coach.” Baylor slumped a little. “No girl would ever say no to you.”
“Except this one girl.” Cody looked at Baylor. “I always thought she was better than me. She seemed perfect. And me... I was just some mess-up football player.”
For the first time the kid seemed to really listen. “You were a mess-up?”
“Definitely. Really bad.” He let that sink in. “That was before I decided to follow Jesus. I’m a different guy now.”
“Got it.” Baylor nodded slowly. “So the girl? Did she talk to you... even though you were such a mess-up?”
“She did.” A lifetime of Bailey memories circled him, demanding to be recognized. He tried to stay in the moment. “She helped me understand something.” Cody put his hand on the player’s shoulder for a few seconds and then crossed his arms. He needed the boy to understand this next part. “You’re a child of God. No matter what you see when you look in the mirror. No matter what you’ve done or might do in the future. God loves you. He’s crazy about you.” Cody grinned. “There’s only one Aaron Baylor.”
Cody wasn’t sure Baylor wanted this heavy of a response. But Baylor was still watching him, still waiting. Cody continued, “See... value comes from within a person. Those who believe in God find their value in Him, what He wants for their lives.”
The kid was quiet. Then gradually he started to nod and after a while he turned to Cody. “You believe that?”
“Bailey helped me see it... a long time ago.” He lifted his eyes to the sunny California sky, those sweet yesterdays alive again. “She told me about the Bible. I began to read it and there it was in black and white. The truth about God’s love. I’ve believed it ever since. It’s what keeps drawing me back to the Lord.”
Baylor smiled and shook his head. His eyes shifted to the ground and for a long moment he rubbed the back of his neck. “Deep stuff, Coach. Real deep.”
“But true.”
He turned to Cody, his eyes marked by the beginning of hope. “So you’re saying I need to know who I am, how much God loves me. That’s why I should feel good about asking Macy Withers to the prom?”
“That’s why you’ll feel good about anything.” Cody grinned. “Playing football. Getting good grades. And yeah, even Macy Withers.”
Baylor nodded again. A breeze drifted across the football field and for a minute they were both quiet. Baylor spoke first. “You and Bailey... it didn’t work out, right?”
“It didn’t.” Cody steeled himself against the reality. “She married someone else.”
Baylor winced. “Sorry.”
“It’s okay.” Cody exhaled. “She married the guy she was supposed to marry.”
“What about the blond girl who used to come to the games?” Baylor wasn’t being rude or pushy. He seemed genuinely curious.
