Chapter 5

                                    

                                          
I stayed in my car until the last possible moment, meaning two minutes before the game started. When I knew Graham was going to hunt me down in the crowd before taking the field, I trudged out of the car and to the stadium where I knew my friend group would be. 
                          
I squeezed through the annoying buzzing freshmen who were laughing at the middle schoolers, the too-cool-for-school sophomores, and finally down to the part of the stands reserved for juniors. I took a deep breath before plastering on a smile. 
                          
"Hey Mac," I smiled. 
                          
McKenzie turned around and her face lit up. "You came!"
                          
"Yeah well it was one of those ikindadidnthaveachoice so yeah, here I am."
                          
McKenzie looked at me like I had written CRAZY in bright red lipstick on my forehead. "Well okay then. Do you wanna sit below me? I'll do your hair."
                          
"I'll sit below you, but mostly because I wanna lean back. I'm tired."
                          
McKenzie shrugged. "Okay."
                          
I took the seat below her and did exactly that. I watched as the guys took the field. As Seth walked to the middle as a captain, I know he saw me, and he nodded his head. When Graham found his place on the sidelines, he turned around and looked for me. Our eyes connected, and we smiled, and suddenly we were all good again. 
                          
I didn't know how long our truce would last, but I was glad we had come to it. I hated having guilt on my chest. Especially when it had to do with Fraham because he was right. We had been best friends since middle school and survived the transition to high school. We couldn't just end. 
                          
After the first quarter, and having to listen to McKenzie tear up about that bimbo at the theaters, my eyes began to droop. Suddenly, my romantic advice and input went from TV show worthy to just nodding along to anything and everything they said. 
                          
I don't even remember the second quarter or halftime. 
                          
But every time my eyes peeked open as I drifted in and out of sleep, I saw that Brentwood had scored. They looked fired up. As for us, we looked miserable. Just like me having to sit in the stands. 
                          
I began to wonder as I fell back to sleep: what were the terms that went so wrong between our two schools? It seemed like this game was going to go in Brentwood's favor. It must be something bad by the defeated look on Seth's face. 
                          
It was the final buzzer signaling that the game was over that jolted me awake from my doze. I climbed out of McKenzie's lap and stretched. Then, because of the growing pit of dread in my stomach, I looked over at the scoreboard and saw that Brentwood had handed our tails to us. 
                          
Poor Seth. 
                          
Because Connor, Alex, and Graham were all on the football team, all three of us went down to the stands where the football team was emerging from their scolding. They all look dejected. 
                          
McKenzie and Maddie tried to console Alex and Connor when they came up while I just rolled my eyes. Their attempts at trying to cheer them up were futile because they had neither watched the game nor understood it. 
                          
As Graham was coming out of the huddle in deep conversation with Seth, something caught my eye way back in the cheering crowds of Brentwood. Or more accurately, someone. 
                          
Because all of my friends were distracted, I bravely walked over to the parking lot where the victorious football team was joining the animated crowd. None seemed to notice my arrival. 
                          
"I believe that we just won! I believe that we just won!"
                          
The crowd jumped up and down in celebration. But I was searching for the person that had looked so eerily familiar. I stood on my tiptoes to try and peer in, but when someone climbed on top of a car to better address the crowd, I stopped. I could see him, and he could see me.