Homecoming - Chapter 33
Saturday
Matt
“Where are you going?” I asked as Tanner walked through the dining room whistling. “The game is today, aren’t you coming with us?”
“I’ll be taking a second carriage today.”
“Carriage?”
“It’s a common term for a vehicle, old chap.”
I just stared at him.
Tanner laughed. “I’m joking. What kind of weirdo would call a car a carriage?”
“Not Master Tanner,” Nigel said. “Because he’s a modern day boy.”
Right.
And then they both started whistling.
“Seriously you guys, what’s going on?”
“Nothing,” they both said at the same time and then looked at each other.
“Then why aren’t you riding with me and Kennedy to the game?” I asked.
“Because I don’t wish to see Kennedy right now,” Tanner said. “I talked to Felix last night and the two of them still haven’t had sex and I’m very upset with her.”
“She hasn’t had sex with him because she’s dating me.”
“ Was dating. Past tense. I should be off. Nigel, keep an eye on things for me, yes?”
“I have eyes on the target,” Nigel said and stared right at me.
“What the hell am I the target for?” I asked.
“Nothing,” they both said at the same time.
“Oh.” Tanner turned back around. “I have a better answer to your previous question. I’m taking a second car because you and your water boy will have to stay late to clean up and I have things I must do later.”
“You can’t just change your answer. You were already rude about Kennedy. Again .”
Nigel nodded. “You were rude to Kennedy. And that wasn’t nice.”
Tanner stared back at Nigel. “Are you seriously doubting me on this right now? We’re already pretty deep into this.”
Nigel shrugged.
“Let’s just see how it plays out, shall we? It’s already all arranged.”
“Very well,” Nigel said. “Let’s proceed as planned.”
They’d had an entire very weird conversation right in front of me and I still had no idea what was happening. “Seriously, what the fuck are you two up to?”
“Nothing,” they both said at the same time again. Even though they’d literally just talked about a plan right in front of me like I was invisible.
“Is this about the room with the red yarn connecting pictures?”
“That is not a room that exists,” Tanner said. “On another note, Nigel please check all the locks on the doors before departing for the homecoming game.”
“Yes, Master,” Nigel said and pulled out a huge keyring from his lederhosen. It had to have at least 50 keys on it. Where the hell did all those keys lead?
“I’ll see you both there,” Tanner said. And with that, he was gone. And so was Nigel with his ginormous keychain.
***
Kennedy was quiet on the way to the game. And she kept texting someone on her phone.
Each time she did it, I gripped the steering wheel a little tighter. I had a feeling I knew who she was talking to. Fucking Felix.
I looked in my rearview mirror at the back seat.
Mrs. Alcaraz was awfully quiet too. But she seemed a little scared of Nigel back there.
And I couldn’t blame her. It wasn’t every day someone wore bright orange lederhosen with nothing underneath and a blue hat.
He insisted he wanted to dress in Empire High’s colors.
But he refused to wear the t-shirt I’d given him.
Apparently the tag bothered him. Which was odd.
Because I would have thought painted leather wouldn’t feel comfortable either.
Kennedy checked her phone for the twentieth time.
I cleared my throat. “What’s up?” I asked her.
“Hmm?” She immediately flipped her phone over.
“Have you heard from Felix again? I sent over the ticket for him.”
“No, I haven’t heard from him,” she said.
She was either lying right to my face or she was texting someone else. But she looked so guilty. My stomach churned. I shouldn’t have sat outside for so long at the restaurant. I’d basically let this happen. And now I regretted it. I wasn’t going to step aside without a fight.
“Oh,” I said, trying to sound as nonchalant as possible. “I know you guys are friends. And he’s only in town for a bit.”
“Right,” Kennedy said. “Which is why he’s coming to the game today. Eyes on the road, buddy.”
I hadn’t realized I was just staring at her. And I’d almost missed the turn into the school.
I didn’t mention Felix again as we climbed out of the car. I went to grab the equipment bag, but Nigel was already carrying it. I swear it was almost as big as him, but he didn’t seem phased at all.
“Can we talk for a second?” I whispered to Kennedy.
“Yeah, what’s up?”
“In private.”
She pressed her lips together. I thought she was going to say no. But she turned to her mom. “We’ll catch up with you in a minute, Mama.”
I watched as Mrs. Alcaraz kept her distance from Nigel on the way to the stadium.
Kennedy tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. “We don’t want to be late,” she said.
She was doing that thing again. Pulling away from me. So instead I stepped behind the car and pulled her to me.
“You look beautiful today,” I said.
She laughed. “So you decided to hide me behind a car?”
“No, I pulled you back here to do this.” I leaned down to kiss her, but her phone buzzed in her pocket.
She grabbed it and read the text instead of kissing me. And then she sighed.
“Everything alright?” I tried to ask as calmly as possible. Seriously, who the fuck was she texting? It had to be Felix. It just had to be.
“Yeah, I just…I’m waiting to hear from someone. But they’re not texting me back.”
“Is everything okay?”
“Mhm,” she said. But I could tell that it wasn’t. “We should really get into the stadium. The boys are counting on you, Coach.”
“And you.”
She smiled up at me. “I am a pretty kickass assistant coach, aren’t I?”
“The best in the business. I actually have something for you.”
“We’re going to be late,” she said.
I opened the trunk and pulled out an Empire High jersey with my old number on it. “I thought you might want to wear it.”
She didn’t take it. She just stared at the fabric. “You want me to wear your number?”
I thought she’d be excited. But by the look on her face, I’d played this all wrong.
“Sorry, it was dumb. We’re not in high school anymore.
I think I was feeling weirdly nostalgic about homecoming…
” my voice trailed off. I could hear Tanner’s voice in the back of my head: “Can you really imagine marrying her when your heart still belongs to someone else?”
I looked over at the school. Homecoming reminded me of Brooklyn, not Kennedy.
What the hell was I doing? This was a really fucking dumb idea.
I didn’t know what I’d been thinking. And clearly she was thinking the same thing.
That this was crossing some kind of line.
My heart started racing. Would I always be tiptoeing around my past?
Would I ever be able to make this feel right to Kennedy? Because it all felt right to me.
I cleared my throat. “Forget it. I really like the shirt you already have on.” She was wearing a long-sleeved t-shirt that looked like it was from her days at Empire High.
It was way more her. And I liked her exactly the way she was.
I went to toss the jersey back in the trunk, but she grabbed my arm.
“No, I want it.”
“Yeah?”
“Yeah, I was just surprised.”
“Why would it surprise you that I wanted you to wear my number?”
“Because it’s…” her voice trailed off. “It seems very official.”
“Not as official as proposing to you…which I would have already done if you hadn’t told me not to yet.”
“I know, I just…” she pressed her lips together instead of saying anything else.
“Kennedy, seriously, what’s going on?”
“I want it. I really want it.”
“Okay.” I handed her the jersey and she pulled it on. She couldn’t even try to hide her smile now. She looked back up at me. “I need to tell you something. After the game.”
“Or you could just tell me now.”
She shook her head. “After.”
“Or now.”
She laughed. “I know I’ve been acting weird this past week. And I…I need to tell you something. Because I really like you. But I’m not supposed to tell you. I’ve been put in an impossible situation and I keep waiting. And I…I just need to tell you. After the game.”
“Seriously? Just tell me now.”
“After.”
“You’re going to be the death of me,” I said and put my arm around her shoulders.
She melted into my side. It didn’t matter what she told me. As long as it wasn’t about her being in love with Felix, we’d be good.
But I had a nagging feeling that Felix wasn’t the only thing from our past that could ruin us.
I knew better than anyone that young love didn’t just fade away.
I looked up into the stands like I always did when I entered the stadium.
Like I was searching for Brooklyn in the crowd.
A reflex that I needed to stop if I ever wanted to move forward.
Thinking about her would do nothing but get me in trouble.