Chapter 4 #2
“I mean, fair.” Val shrugs. “I am a lot to handle." Her expression turns wicked. “With my sex drive, I need two dicks to keep me going.”
“And that's enough with this line of conversation.” Lexie turns to me. “You don’t have to come to the game with us if you don’t want to.”
“He should go,” Val whines. “His sister is cheering, and he should be there to support her. Plus, he keeps avoiding me. How am I going to make him our new best friend if he won’t come near me?”
“Maybe try not harassing the poor guy?” Lexie points out.
“Where's the fun in that?” Val asks, like it’s a genuine question.
Val is wild. She’s odd as hell. But, I’m not going to lie, I’m kind of intrigued. She’s very entertaining, and knowing one of her best friends is Ellie, and the fact that she’s in a poly relationship herself, I know she’s not going to judge me or my sexuality.
If anything, she seems like the kind of girl who would go ten rounds to defend you. That's the kind of friend I need. The kind I have online, but not in real life.
Would it be so bad to maybe make some friends in person?
Oh god, who am I? Have I been abducted by aliens or something? I’m willingly agreeing to be friends with the crazy lady. This can’t go well. Not at all.
Yet, I surprise myself by saying, “I’ll go. I don’t really have other plans anyway.”
“Yay!” Val claps her hands together. “Want a ride home?”
“Sure.” I sigh in defeat. If I try to argue with her, I know she’s going to push until I agree.
Normally, someone like this would piss me off. While I do find her annoying, I also kind of love how straightforward she is. With Val, you know what you’re going to get.
Val chats my ear off the whole time. At least on this ride home, her friends are with us. Lexie tries to get a word in, but there’s no use.
When they drop me off at home, they let me know that they will be back in two hours to get me.
I find myself stumped as I stand in the middle of my bedroom. I’ve never been to a football game before. What do I wear? Is my usual hoodie and jeans okay? I’m sure it would be fine.
I switch out my navy hoodie for a black one, and I’m ready to go.
I hop online to the message board I’m in and check in with my friends.
Me: Hey.
Davis: Oh my god, he’s alive!
Me: Haha, very funny. Yes, I’m alive. Just busy.
Rylee: How’s school going? Anyone giving you shit?
I chew on my lower lip, debating if I should mention the football player who was harassing me the other day. I think better of it, not wanting to bring that up right now.
Me: Things are going... I actually have plans.
Davis: Alone, or like, with people?
Me: People.
Rylee: Blake! Did you make friends? Omg that’s amazing.
Me: I wouldn’t exactly call it making friends.
There’s this girl at school named Val. She’s got this very lively personality.
She’s loud, doesn’t have a filter, and says everything on her mind.
And I mean everything. She gave me a ride home a few times and kind of just adopted me. I didn’t get much say.
David: Oh, this is amazing hahaha. I love it.
Rylee: Wait. First thing I want to know is, is she a good person? If she’s making you uncomfortable or forcing you to do something you don’t want to do, you have to stick up for yourself.
Me: No, no, it’s nothing like that. I’m sure if I really didn’t want her around, she would accept it. She would probably be like a kicked puppy, but she seems like a good person. I’ve heard about her and her friends, they’re good people.
At least, I hope so. The last thing I want to do is finally open up and give people a chance, only to be fucked over.
Rylee: Then, I’m happy for you. I think this is a good thing. You can’t hide forever. If you expect everyone you meet to be a bad guy, you’re going to miss the good ones.
I know she’s right. She’s been telling me this for a while now, and it’s the only reason why I agreed to go tonight.
Val doesn’t give off bully vibes. Her friend, Cooper, seems different from the guys on his team, but the jury is still out on that one.
I don’t know the guy well enough to really judge him.
The main reason I didn’t just slap an asshole label on him is because he hasn’t been anything but nice to me so far.
We talk for a little while longer. Davis and Rylee update me on things going on in their lives. Davis got a new job that he’s loving, and Rylee is going out on a date.
That surprised me, but I’m happy for her.
Her best friend, who moved away, came back over the summer, and they’ve been spending a lot of time together. It took Rylee a while to come to terms with the changes in their dynamic. Specifically, her emotions and mindset, and she admitted recently that she thinks she’s demisexual.
When we asked why the change, she said she’s been thinking about her friend in more than a friendly way. It’s new and confusing for her, but she wants to see where things go.
“Blake!” Mom calls. “Val is in the driveway!”
“Shit.” I look at the time, quickly jump to my feet, and head downstairs.
“Where are you going?” Mom asks, a smile on her face.
“To the football game.”
Her eyes widen. “Really?” She sounds surprised, but I can’t blame her. Even I’m surprised I’m actually going.
“Yes.” I sigh. “I gotta go.”
“Is this a date?” Mom asks hopefully.
“No, it’s not. It’s me going to a game with some friends. That's it.”
“Okay.” She laughs. “Have fun.”
Rolling my eyes, I head out to the car and climb into the backseat.
“Here.” Lexie hands me a card as we pull out of my driveway.
“What’s this?”
“It’s the number for the mechanic shop. Val said you need to get your car fixed.”
Shit. I almost forgot about that.
When we get to the stadium, I excuse myself and give the shop a call. Thankfully, they’re still open and had a cancellation, but it’s for tomorrow at eight in the morning.
I’m not happy about having to get up that early, but I agree and book the spot anyway, because I really need to get the car fixed.
Once the appointment is booked, I rejoin the girls.
I’m a little nervous as we head in to find our seats. There are a lot of people here.
During school hours, everyone is scattered around campus, and it’s big enough not to feel trapped.
Here, everyone is crammed together. I don’t like it.
But I try to ignore the negative feelings and stick close to the girls.
Once we find our seats, I feel a bit better.
“Cooper!” Val screams.
At the sound of his name, I look around for him.
He looks over and grins, waving back to Val. When his eyes drop to me, recognition flashes, and his grin widens.
He jogs over to the bleachers. “Hey, it’s Latte Boy.” He chuckles, and I groan, cheeks heating at the name.
“My name is Blake,” I mutter.
“I know.” He chuckles. “Fancy seeing you here. Here to cheer on your sister while she... cheers?” He snorts like it’s a funny joke.
“I’ve been kidnapped and held against my will.”
He grins, looking over at his friends. “Yeah, that doesn’t surprise me.”
Someone calls out to him from the field.
“Gotta go. Enjoy the game.” He waves at us before jogging back over to the team.
While Lexie and Val talk, I put my focus on the field. I have no idea how this game is played, and as the game starts and time goes on, I still have no idea.
The best I can understand is catching the football and throwing it over a line for a goal.
Halfway through, I find myself invested, even though I don’t understand much of what’s going on. The hits some of the guys take are brutal.
Why would anyone want to play this game? It looks painful. They’re willingly getting their asses beat up out there.
But as time goes on, I watch Cooper. He’s good, and fast, and he has a killer arm. That man can throw. I’m lowkey impressed.
He ends up scoring a few touchdowns, and every time he does, his whole face lights up. His smile splits across his face. I’ve never seen someone so genuinely happy. I thought it may be an act, but I guess that's just who he is.
I wonder what it would be like to live a life that’s so good that you’re just happy about everything.
SVU wins and, oddly, I find myself happy for them.
“Hey.” Cooper jogs over to us. He’s out of breath, sweat dripping from his forehead, hair a mess.
“You killed it!” Val cheers. “That was amazing. So proud of you, Coopy.”
“Coopy?” I look between the two of them as Val throws herself at him. He catches her with a chuckle and hugs her before placing her on her feet. “You’ve got a weird nickname, too?”
“Too?” He grins. “What's yours?"
“He’s my Blakey Poo. And he’s our new bestie, Coopy, so be nice.”
“When am I ever mean?” Cooper raises a brow with a chuckle.
“Well, never,” Val says. “Just don’t scare him away, okay?”
“Babe, if anyone is going to scare him away, it’s you. If you haven’t already by now, I think we’re good.”
“I’d try to get away, but I think she might end up locking me in her basement or something.”
Cooper tosses his head back and laughs. I didn’t think it was possible for him to glow with a positive light even more, but this proves me wrong.
“Smart. The best thing to do is to befriend the serial killer. Keeps you living longer.”
“So, she is a serial killer?” I turn to Val. “You lied to me.”
“Oh, he has jokes.” She rolls her eyes. “Haha.”
Cooper’s smile lingers on me before looking at his friends. “So, you girls coming to the victory party?”
“Hell yeah,” Lexie says. “Want a ride?”
“Nah, I’ll meet you there.”
“You’re coming too, right?” Val asks, giving me big puppy dog eyes.
“Ah, I don’t think so. Parties aren't really my thing.”
“Please, please pleeeeease,” Val begs.
“Leave the guy alone.” Lexie sighs.
“Val.” Cooper's voice is firmer, but softer. “If he doesn't want to go, leave it.”
Something about the way he’s sticking up for me has me blinking in shock. This is... weird.
And, for some reason, it makes me want to go to the party.
“Fine. I’ll go. But I don’t drink, so don’t even try.”
“Deal!” Val grins wide. “Yay. Okay, let's go!”
We make our way down the bleachers.
“Hey.” Cooper grabs my arm gently, pulling me to a stop. “If you don’t want to go, you don’t have to. Val will live. I can give you a ride home after I’m done showering, if you want.”
The genuine kindness in his eyes makes me uncomfortable, but not in a bad way. I don’t know how to explain it, but for the first time, my brain isn’t telling me to run.
“I’ll be okay.” I try my best for a smile, but it feels weird. I’m not used to it.
His eyes light up, noticing the small twitch of my lip, and I let it drop. He chuckles, shaking his head.
“You are a mystery, Blake,” he says. “One I’d like to figure out. See you at the party.”
He gives his head a nod and takes off, leaving me there, confused. What does that mean? Figure me out?
I don’t have time to think about it right now, because I’m headed for a party.
A fucking party. Davis and Rylee are going to love this.
Who the hell am I?