Chapter 26
Who made the unfortunate choice of a toad as your mascot?” Gabriel asked as they weaved through the crowd clustered outside the bleachers, everything a blur of green and white.
“I think Thistle High has always been the Toads.” Miles dodged a kid with a ketchup-slathered hotdog, getting his toes trampled for his trouble. “Whoever founded the school must’ve wanted us to stand out among all the tigers and eagles.”
“You certainly do that.” Gabriel grimaced at a person dressed in one of those disturbing green morph suits. “Do I dare ask why everyone is wearing frog-themed outfits? Has the public education system failed you all to the point that no one knows frogs and toads are entirely different species?”
Miles cracked up, grabbing Gabriel’s elbow to guide him up the bleacher stairs. “Are you bothered by the lack of warts? People like frogs, so frog merch is easier to find. They’re objectively cuter.”
The bleachers were packed, unoccupied spots saved by sweaters and blankets. Miles didn’t see any open ones for him and Gabriel to squeeze into, unless they wanted to seriously invade someone’s personal space.
“Miles! Gabriel!” Emily’s holler cut through the crowd as she stood on her bleacher to wave them down. “I saved you seats!”
“You okay with that?” Miles could tell Gabriel liked Emily despite his protests, but sitting beside someone so chatty for hours could easily shift into overwhelming him.
Dinner had gone well—Miles hadn’t thought to warn his mom that Gabriel didn’t really do casual touching, so he’d been subjected to one of her hugs on their way out the door, and a flurry of future invites—but it had been a lot to take in.
Miles was used to it, and even he’d started to feel overstimulated halfway through.
But Gabriel started up the stairs. “I need an explanation of what’s happening on the field.”
Miles didn’t know the first thing about what made seats good or not, but theirs seemed decent—halfway up on the second tier of bleachers and smack dab in the middle of a row.
Emily was sitting with a few vaguely familiar girls, all decked out in Thistle High’s colors.
She was similarly dressed, her soccer jersey layered over a dark sweatshirt, a clearly handmade green and white tutu over her jeans.
Her hair was in twin braids, glittery green ribbon woven between the dark strands, and tied off with little fuzzy frog heads.
Gold glitter covered her eyelids and she had a green, bug-eyed frog painted on one cheek.
“Miles and Gabriel are here,” she announced to her friends, beaming in excitement.
Miles’s heart did a funny flip. It was the first time he’d heard their names said together so easily, so naturally, like they were a pair.
“You barely made it!” she told them as they joined her. “The game’s about to start. But you missed the marching band. And I can’t believe you guys didn’t dress up.”
Gabriel sat down, giving her and her friends a scrutinizing scan. “What’s the point of the costumes?”
“Has this week taught you nothing about school spirit?” Miles teased.
“Yeah, it’s basically the main reason anyone comes to these.
” Emily fluffed her tutu with a grin. “Well, that and it’s the perfect place to hang out with your crush outside of class.
It’s cold so you can huddle together or share a blanket, and it’s loud so you have to lean in close to talk. What more could you ask for?”
She all but wiggled her eyebrows.
Gabriel didn’t so much as blink. “Comfortable seats and eighty percent less people would be preferable. And Miles promised me popcorn.”
“Try and hide it all you want,” Emily singsonged, “but I know you’re a romantic at heart.”
Miles and Gabriel both intently looked anywhere but at each other.
“Do football games always put you in such a good mood?” Miles asked her, hastily changing the subject.
“I get to hang out with friends, scream my heart out, and not be around my mom for a few hours. What else could I ask for?”
Yikes. Her mom must still be getting on her about dropping soccer, then.
“I’ve heard that your mother’s trying to marry you off,” Gabriel commented.
If Miles thought Emily wouldn’t notice, he’d step on Gabriel’s toes. They needed to have a serious conversation about tact.
She waved his words off. “No surprise there, she’s not exactly discreet.
Except now, she’s decided it needs to be my entire life.
Every time I see her, she brings up soccer and how it’s a waste of my time and does nothing to make me more desirable as a wife.
” She yanked on one of her braids. “I can’t escape it. ”
Judging by the way Gabriel was scrutinizing her, he could relate to being crushed beneath the expectations of a pushy mom. “If this… sport is important to you, it’s worth fighting about.”
He probably detested anything that involved running simply on principle, but it was so unexpectedly supportive of him that Miles gave him a sneaky thumbs up. Gabriel wrinkled his nose, but Emily’s face bloomed into a smile.
A loud horn blared, making Miles jump. The cheerleaders were doing all kinds of leaping and kicking, shaking their green and white pom-poms frantically.
The marching band came to life, their music drowned out by the screams and whoops as the football team ran onto the field.
Gabriel looked alarmed as Emily grabbed his arm and pulled him to his feet, trying to get him to join in with the stomping and cheering.
He clapped tentatively, gazing around the stadium in disbelief.
“We can leave anytime,” Miles all but yelled, “if it gets too much.”
Gabriel nodded.
The game began—Emily patiently explaining that it started with a kickoff, the Toads playing defense since they were the ones kicking, while the other team, the Spudders, was on offense—and the crowds settled down around them to watch.
“I bet you feel bad making fun of the Toads now.” Miles pointed across the field to the Spudders’ lumpy mascot. “It could’ve been so much worse.”
Gabriel’s nose scrunched. “Is that an angry potato?”
“I think it’s trying to look intimidating. Or having an existential crisis.”
Another group squeezed in at the end of their bench, everyone cramming together to make room until Miles was pressed against Gabriel from knee to shoulder. They were so close, he could feel Gabriel breathing.
“This okay?” Heat crawled up his neck. “We can ask Emily’s friends to scoot down, or move somewhere less crowded.”
Gabriel didn’t look bothered. “It’s fine. Now I don’t have to worry about getting cold.”
Miles blinked. On Gabriel’s other side, Emily grinned.
She kept them informed as the game progressed, answering Gabriel’s questions and beaming like a proud mom when he started calling out what was happening on the field. There was genuine interest in the way he leaned forward to watch, his gaze following the ball.
The Toads made a touchdown—not a goal, as Emily had to remind them more than once—and the stands exploded into screams. Emily stomped and hollered, throwing her arm around Gabriel and shaking him.
He went stiff as a statue, but when she released him to swing her striped scarf around in the air like a lasso, he leaned into Miles’s shoulder and let out a huffing laugh against Miles’s neck.
There was a smear of neon green on his cheek, Emily’s frog smudged from where she’d smushed their faces together.
Miles had to bite his lip. “You’ve got—I think Emily frogged you.”
Gabriel went hilariously cross-eyed for a second trying to see. “Do I even want to know?”
Rubbing his thumb over the paint, Miles tried to wipe it off, but mostly smeared it around more. Gabriel looked like he’d been smooched on the cheek by an overly friendly leprechaun.
“I made it worse,” he admitted.
Gabriel’s face reddened beneath Miles’s fingers. “It’s fine, you can leave it.”
“That was six points.” Emily leaned in, radiating excitement. “That means we’re winning!”
Miles honestly couldn’t care less about who was winning or losing or what was happening on the field at all. He just wanted to sit here all night.
The Toads scored two more touchdowns, and the Spudders got one—which caused the crowd around them to erupt into enthusiastic booing—before the halftime buzzer went off.
Miles didn’t want to leave, irrationally worried they’d make room while he was gone so he didn’t have an excuse to squish up to Gabriel, but he’d promised popcorn.
“I’m running to the concession stand. You good staying here?”
Emily slung her arm around Gabriel’s shoulder. “Don’t worry, I’ll take care of him.”
“I don’t appreciate being made to feel like a child in need of babysitting,” Gabriel grumbled, but he didn’t duck away.
“If you behave, I’ll bring you back a goodie.” Miles patted him on the head like he would one of his little sisters, snickering when Gabriel swatted at his hand with a thunderous scowl.
Everyone was taking advantage of halftime to stretch their legs, grab a snack, and use the bathroom. The student-run concession stand was packed, and Miles had to wiggle through a dense crowd to find the end of the line.
“Can I get a popcorn?” After an eternity of waiting, a frazzled girl took his order at the register. Thistle High merch was spread across the front counter, one thing in particular catching his attention. “And one of those, please,” he added, pointing with a grin.
Gabriel was going to kill him.
He made it back to his seat right before halftime ended, the marching band and cheerleaders filing off the field as the horn blared. Emily was chatting animatedly to Gabriel, gesturing at the field.
“Your popcorn has been acquired,” he told Gabriel, presenting the bag to him with a dramatic flourish.
Gabriel popped a few pieces into his mouth with a crunch and nestled back up against Miles’s side. “I hope you’re going to eat at least half of this.”