Forever (Empire High Book 8)

Chapter 46

Saturday – One Week Later

Matt

I kept waiting for someone to pinch me. It felt like I was in a dream. A perfect dream where I had everything in the world I’d ever wanted. I was used to living in hell for the past 16 years.

The wind blew and I closed my eyes. The snow had melted pretty quickly and the weather was unseasonably warm. It felt like fall. And it smelled like fall. It smelled like her.

A chill ran down my spine. I opened my eyes and looked up into the stands of Empire High, expecting to be searching for a ghost.

But Brooklyn wasn’t a ghost.

She was standing there very much alive. Cheering for me in my old jersey.

I blinked and she was still there. All my friends were there too. I was still getting used to seeing them here. They’d avoided Empire High like the plague since graduation. I was the only one that refused to try to move on. And I was so glad I hadn’t.

Jacob was standing on the bleachers cheering like crazy. Even Mr. Pruitt was up there. His crisp suit looked very out of place, but he was cheering along with everyone else.

I waved up to them.

Jacob waved back and Brooklyn blew me a kiss.

I smiled and turned back to the field. I needed to get my head in the game. Because the score was tied and our defense was looking sluggish. If this went to overtime, we’d be screwed. And we hadn’t been winning all season just to lose the championship game.

It was fourth down and we were only two yards away from a touchdown.

“What do you think?” Kennedy asked. “I don’t think we’ll win if it goes to overtime. Our D is depleted.”

“Exactly what I was thinking.”

“Same,” Nigel said and handed me a champagne flute full of water.

I shook my head. Always with the glassware on the field. It was probably a hazard. But the coach across the field looked very perplexed by it. I had a feeling that Nigel was secretly just very good at psychological warfare.

“We need to blitz,” Nigel said. “And huddle. Probably a safety or two. Oh, what about a squib kick?”

I laughed. Yes, Nigel was good at psyching out the opposing team’s coach, but he still did not understand American football. “Good thinking, Nigel.” I looked at the clock and let it tick down to three seconds. And then I blew my whistle for a time out.

“We’re doing the squib kick?! Yes!”

No, we weren’t going to kick the ball away in a weird way when we were about to score. But we were going to kick it. “Sure.” I slapped his back.

“I knew it!” he yelled.

Kennedy laughed.

Everyone ran off the field toward us.

“We could run it,” Kennedy said. “They’ll be expecting a throw.”

“We could do that…” my voice trailed off as the quarterback, Smith reached us.

“I can do it,” Smith said. “And if no one’s open, I’ll just run it in.”

I shook my head.

“But, Coach…”

“We’re kicking it.” I looked over at Jefferson who was still sitting on the bench.

He hadn’t even joined the huddle. It looked like he was about to shit himself.

“Jefferson’s got this. Right?” I asked him.

“Oh. Um. I…” His cheeks puffed up like he was going to vomit. He was gripping the sides of the bench so tightly that his knuckles were turning white.

I expected Smith to argue. Or throw his helmet. What I didn’t expect was for him to nod his head.

This was his last game at Empire High. It could be the last game he ever played anywhere. I knew he wanted the glory.

“You’re right, Coach,” Smith said. “Jefferson’s got this.”

“I do?” Jefferson asked.

“Of course you do,” Kennedy said. She grabbed him by his elbow and pulled him to his feet.

Jefferson looked uneasily up at me.

I put my hands on his shoulders. “Just remember everything Coach Alcaraz has taught you.”

He slowly nodded.

I’d set out to help him fit in. He’d made most of the field goals and extra points the second half of the season. He’d been practicing late most days. He’d improved so much since the beginning of the season when he kept setting off car alarms.

And I knew he was scared. But I also knew that no matter how scared you were of something, it was always worth it to take your shot. No matter how insurmountable the thing felt. Or how hard it would be. I looked over my shoulder at Brooklyn in the stands. Yeah, it was always worth it.

The ref blew his whistle, signaling the end of our time out.

“Go Eagles on three,” I said and put my hand out.

The team threw their hands in too.

“One, two, three…Go Eagles!” we all yelled at the top of our lungs.

The team sprinted out onto the field, minus Jefferson.

Jefferson just stood there, his eyes like saucers.

“Go get ‘em,” I said.

He gulped.

“You’ve got this.”

He slowly nodded, took a deep breath, and jogged out onto the field.

I heard a few gasps from the stands.

But Jefferson had this. I knew it. I pictured Brooklyn singing to her tomato plants. All those little Henrys. She’d made them thrive. And it felt like Henry Jefferson had tied us together somehow. Through the distance and time. And I was putting all my chips on him. He had to thrive too.

“Go Henry!” Kennedy yelled from the sidelines. And then she whispered to me: “It looks like he’s going to faint.”

“He’s got this,” I said firmly.

I held my breath as the ball was snapped. Smith caught the ball and placed it on the ground for Jefferson.

Jefferson’s foot collided with the ball.

The whole crowd hushed as the ball took off from the ground. It flew over the heads of everyone on the line. Above a defender’s hand who jumped to try and block it. Up, up, and right through the center of the goal posts as the clock ticked down to zero. The buzzer sounded, signaling the end of regulation time.

For just a second, everyone in the stadium was silent.

And then the cheers erupted louder than ever before.

The whole crowd was chanting: “Jeff-er-son! Jeff-er-son! Jeff-er-son!”

“Victory is ours!” Nigel yelled.

The team lifted Jefferson up on their shoulders and joined in on the chanting.

I breathed a sigh of relief and a smile spread across my face. Fuck yes!

Coaching this team had been the only thing holding me together for the past several years. They’d needed me. They’d relied on me. And normally I’d be out on that field screaming with them.

But I knew that focusing on coaching was just my attempt at filling a void. Because all I’d ever wanted was Brooklyn. To need me. To rely on me. To love me. She was all I’d ever needed. All I’d ever wanted.

I turned to look at the stands. Brooklyn was pushing her way through the crowd that was flooding the field. But the stadium was packed. She was barely halfway down the stands.

So I started running toward her.

Game days had always been the days I missed her most. Seeing flashes of her in the stands. I used to visit her grave a lot on those days to talk to the old her. When I first realized she was alive, I’d wanted to keep talking to the old her. But I was so glad we weren’t the old us. Because I loved this version of her even more. She was finally wearing a wedding band I’d given her. She was finally Brooklyn Caldwell. She had my baby in her stomach. Yeah, I loved the new her.

I pushed through the crowd. I could just make her out in the sea of people. All I wanted was her in my arms. To celebrate with a kiss. Just the way we used to when I was the one playing.

Even though we’d gone through so much pain to get here, I knew I was lucky. Lucky to get to fall in love with her all over again. Maybe the first time wasn’t meant to last. But this time? This was forever.