“Are you nervous?” I asked, leaning my head sideways on the headrest of my seat, looking at him, and I wondered what kind of thoughts were swirling in his mind now.
“Not really. I just want to be able to beat them in an away game,” he said so casually, but I wasn’t buying it. Nero doesn’t make football his whole personality. He doesn’t prioritize it over everything like other student athletes may do. Still, I know that it would mean a lot to him if he could lead his team to beat Saint Thomas in their home field.
“Mhmm, sure. I bet you’ll win tonight, though.”
He quickly glanced at me, his eyes lighting up at my confidence in him. “Really?”
I nodded. “No doubt.”
God, I really hope they win or it will look like I’m talking out of my ass.
I was screamingat the top of my lungs, waving the cap Nero put on me earlier into the air.
Fallen Oaks has finally won a game against Saint Thomas on their home turf.
As I watched Nero’s teammates jump on him, which resulted in two men wrapping their legs around him and them all falling down to the grass, the scene made me laugh, so I reached for my phone to record a video that I could then send to the others.
Me
WE WON !!!!
I waited for Dex or Siege to start typing since my messages were immediately on ‘read’ but, to my surprise, I got a new notification of Siege’s message outside of our group chat.
I clicked on the notification, and my heart felt like it was going to burst out of my chest when I saw he had formed a new group chat with the three of us plus Nero.
Siege
Congrats bro
We’ll definitely watch you in action at the homecoming game
Dex then started typing, and it was taking so long that I was just imagining him and Siege talking about what he should send before he finally settled on two quick texts.
Dex
Woo sports
Congrats team
I laughed out loud at how he sounded so awkward, but I appreciated their efforts, nonetheless. I reacted to their messages with hearts and then tucked my phone back into my pocket to focus on the celebration happening.
Nero waved at me and Mrs. Combs, pointing to where the locker room must’ve been to signal that he was going to getchanged. We nodded, giving him a thumbs up, and for a while, my eyes followed him. A player from Saint Thomas stopped him—Gio, I believe his name was from the cheers he was getting earlier. Nero offered his hand for a friendly shake, but the guy must’ve said something off that one of Nero’s teammates separated them before Nero could come and square him up.
Men.
“Let’s go, hun.” My observation was interrupted by Mrs. Combs, who looped her arm through mine as we made our way down the bleachers, exiting the field, and heading towards the parking area where Nero’s car and Mrs. Combs’ car were parked.
I was itching to ask her if Nero’s decided on a college already, but she beat me to it, talking about the match tonight.
Was it bad that I wished we could attend the same university? I had believed that finding boyfriends before we graduated would ease the pain of separating from Nero, but it felt as though there was a sense of finality if we ended up going to different colleges.
Not just for our friendship, because then we wouldn’t even have anything to talk about anymore, but also, it would mean I was letting go of my remaining feelings for him.
It was something I’d already started doing. Having a crush on somebody else feels strange considering I am currently involved in a relationship with two different men. Even so, I believe the reason I’m struggling so much is simply because he was my first love.
“I’m so glad you two have made up, Cosette,” Mrs. Combs said as we finally reached her car.
“I, uh, wasn’t aware you knew that we even fought,” I said truthfully, a bit cautious with just how much she knows.
