Elite - Chapter 22
Saturday
I could feel the stands rumbling as Kennedy, Miller, and I searched for three seats together.
Music blared through the speakers, pumping up the crowd for the upcoming game.
The stadium was a blur of Empire High blue and orange, except for a small section of the stands where our rivals Bernstein Prep were sitting.
“Go ahead and grab those seats,” Miller said and gestured toward a section of the bleachers where he most definitely wouldn’t fit.
Maybe I’d misunderstood. I could barely hear him over the music. “Aren’t you going to sit with us?” I asked.
He tilted his head to the side and I followed the direction with my eyes.
Mr. and Mrs. Pruitt were seated across the aisle a few rows ahead.
They were here to see Isabella cheer I guessed.
I didn’t know whether or not either of them were alumni of Empire High.
But they were sitting with a group of other adults, right next to Mr. and Mrs. Caldwell.
I quickly turned away. Matt had said he’d told his mother about me.
Did he tell her we broke up too? Did she know everything?
I swallowed hard and turned back to Miller. “Well, this sucks.”
“It’s fine. I’ll just be a few rows back keeping an eye on you. Grab the seats before someone else does.”
Kennedy grabbed my hand and pulled me past a few familiar faces from school.
Familiar as in I’d seen them, not that they’d ever spoken to me.
Kennedy and I sat huddled together, bracing ourselves from the chilly fall breeze.
For just a second I let myself think how nice it would be if I could have worn Matt’s varsity jacket.
“Go Eagles!” Kennedy shouted at the top of her lungs and jumped to her feet with the rest of the crowd.
What the hell? I didn’t realize she was so school spirited. And why was everyone standing? There were perfectly good bleachers to sit on.
She pulled me to my feet. “They’re coming out!” she screamed over the cheers.
I turned in the direction she was pointing just in time to see the football team burst through a homecoming sign that the cheerleaders were holding.
I wanted to think it was corny. The kind of scene you’d see in slow motion in a movie.
But I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t cheering along too.
It was easy to get swept up in the excitement.
The stands shook even more as people stomped their feet and cheered.
I tried my best not to stare at Matt as he jogged onto the field in his football gear.
God, how did he look even better in that than he did in a suit?
Stop it. I’d been avoiding looking over at the cheerleaders, but my eyes wandered in their direction.
Isabella was bopping around, waving her pompoms in the air.
I wasn’t sure if it was just the angle I was sitting at, but I swore her skirt was significantly shorter than the other cheerleaders.
“Let’s go, Eagles!” Kennedy yelled again as part of some cheer I didn’t know that the cheerleaders were chanting.
How did she know it? She worked weekends just like I did.
She must have gone to a few games last year.
But I didn’t even question her, because she was jumping up and down with a smile on her face.
I hadn’t seen her smile in a week. It was like I finally had my friend back.
It had been so hard seeing her walk around like a shadow of her former self.
“You’re in a good mood again,” I shouted to her over the crowd.
“That’s because I got revenge,” she said.
“Revenge? What do you mean?” I was yelling at the top of my lungs so she could hear me.
“I started a rumor that Cupcake has a little dick!”
I didn’t know when it happened, but the crowd had definitely hushed right before she said, “Cupcake has a little dick.” A gasp fell out of my mouth. I couldn’t even help it.
A few students turned their heads to look at us.
“Joe Dickson has a small dick!” she yelled, just in case someone in the stadium hadn’t heard. “It’s the size of a peanut!”
“Kennedy!” I grabbed her arm to pull her back down to her seat as we both exploded in a fit of giggles. A few other kids snickered. “Oh my God, that was amazing.”
Her smile grew even wider. “If he’s going to tell the whole school I was an easy lay, I can at least prevent him from doing it to someone else with that tidbit of information.”
I wanted to ask her if it was true. If Cupcake really did have a mini-dick.
But I didn’t want her smile to disappear.
If she’d wanted to tell me any more details, she would have.
And it made me sick to my stomach to know that she might not remember any more details.
Because that asshole had drugged her. He deserved this.
Hopefully no one at this school would ever fall for his games now.
I pulled her into my side, keeping us both warm. “You’re amazing,” I said.
“I know. Let’s hope our team is as good as they were last year. Because I seriously hate Bernstein Prep.”
I didn’t mind the change of subject. This was my first homecoming game. My first high school football game ever, actually. And it didn’t matter that I was in love with one of the players. Used to be in love. I was going to try to enjoy this. If Kennedy was smiling, I could smile too.
Besides, this was the first time where I was able to stare at Matt without Isabella giving me shit.
Or someone else being suspicious. I could stare at two of the Untouchables unabashedly.
And they were both freaking amazing, totally lost in their element.
It seemed like every pass Mason made went straight into Matt’s arms.
“Go Matt!” I yelled and jumped to my feet as he rushed toward the endzone.
His head turned like he could hear me. And maybe he had, because I swore for just a second we locked eyes. Right before some asshole from Bernstein Prep completely decked him. I threw my hand over my mouth.
“Stop distracting them,” Kennedy said and pulled me back down into my seat.
“Is he okay?” I wanted to run down there and make sure. But a piece of me hated myself for it. He’d never run after me in public.
“Of course. He’s used to being tackled. See.”
Matt was already standing up, straightening his jersey over his pads. He looked back up at me in the stands and my heart started racing. He ran his index finger across the tip of his nose. My heart melted. Our secret signal.
But then he turned his head as if he was looking for someone else. My heart started beating faster. Who else was he looking for? Was I even allowed to be jealous? I’d spent every night the past week in Miller’s arms. But I still found myself following Matt’s gaze, my heart beating faster.
My eyes landed on his mother. Mrs. Caldwell was staring right at me, a smile on her face.
I quickly looked away. I didn’t know what that meant.
Matt said she’d seen me at my uncle’s funeral.
Did she recognize me now? Did she know I was responsible for breaking her son’s heart? And if so, why was she smiling?
“I really hope they go for a two-point conversion if they score,” Kennedy said. “Prescott is shitty at converting the PAT.”
“How do you know so much about football?” I asked. I needed her to distract me from Mrs. Caldwell’s prying eyes. But when I looked at Matt’s mom out of the corner of my eye, her attention was back on the field.
“I used to watch it with my Dad every Sunday.”
I pressed my lips together. Neither one of us talked much about what we’d lost. But whenever she did share something about her father, I felt that much closer to her.
I’d gotten close to Matt, Miller, and Felix.
But only Kennedy knew what it was like to lose a parent.
Matt lost his aunt. Stop. I couldn’t think about that.
I didn’t know if anything he said to me was true.
Ever. He was a liar. He was just playing me.
Like I played Felix? God, my head was going to explode.
Kennedy jumped to her feet and starting cheering like crazy when we scored. And I cheered right along with her. Mostly because it just felt good to scream at the top of my lungs. And maybe a little bit because it was easy to get caught up in the excitement.
By halftime we were up 19 to 7. It should have been 21, but Kennedy was right. Prescott was shitty at kicking the PAT. He’d missed two. The stands started emptying out.
“Where is everyone going?” I asked.
“Probably to grab something from the concession stand. Or to use the bathroom.”
I felt silly. I thought there was some weird homecoming congregation or something. But food and using the toilet was the logical conclusion. “Are you hungry?”
“No. You?”
I shook my head.
“So what’s going on with you and Miller?” Kennedy asked.
I was glad it had quieted down enough for us to not have to yell. “Is it that obvious?”
She smiled. “No. I was kinda joking because it’s literally his job to stare at you.” She turned around and waved at him. “But now I know it’s more than that.”
I grabbed her arm to make her face forward again. “He’s the only one at the Pruitts’ apartment that isn’t a monster.”
“I thought you were getting along better with Satan?” Satan was Kennedy’s new affectionate term for Mr. Pruitt.
“I don’t know. Sometimes he’s nice. Sometimes he’s rude. I don’t know if he means to be. But I don’t fit in with any of them.”
“And you fit in with Miller?”
“Yes.” It came out as more of a question than a statement.
Kennedy laughed and adjusted her thin fall jacket. I made a mental note to give her one of my new ones. “Doesn’t he remind you of someone?” she asked.
“What?”
“Brooklyn, he’s just an older-looking version of Matt.”
“He is not.”
“Um…yes he is. Matt a few years in the future with brown hair.”