“Third place goes to Jason Reiner.”
My stomach sinks. Lily said he was doing bad this morning. I was thinking third place would be a miracle. And then Mr. Williams says, “And in second place is Leo Perez.”
There are a few mumbles and groans, but they’re drowned out by the cheering. And most of the cheering for him is from the other players. Well, Sophie and I are doing our part as we scream and jump up and down.
Part of me wonders if Leo could have held on to first place if he hadn’t had to deal with all the drama last night and this morning, but by the look on his face, he’s ecstatic. He takes the trophy from Mr. Williams, then leans in to say something to him. Mr. Williams pats him on the shoulder and Leo heads back to his friends.
“Oh, there’s Aunt Maggie Mae,” Sophie whispers. Sure enough, she’s here, along with Uncle Marcus.
Mr. Williams awards the first-place winner, but we’ve tuned him out.
Now the parents are converging on the players, congratulating the winners on their game.
“Do you want to go say hi to him?” Sophie asks.
I shake my head. “No. Let him enjoy this. I’m just so relieved he finished well.”
There’s a man in a purple golf shirt with the LSU logo walking up to him. They greet each other and shake hands. Leo is grinning big when the man hands him an LSU cap. Leo takes off the random hat he’s wearing, replacing it with the one for his new team. I can’t help but touch the brim of the blue hat he gave me a few days ago.
I start walking to the car with Sophie reluctantly following me.
“Are you sure you don’t want to at least wave from a distance? He won’t even know you were here.”
Not looking back, I say, “I’m sure.”
We pull away while we can still hear the sounds of the players celebrating.
Phone Duty:Charlie
Wes and I crash Bianca’s party right as it’s starting.
The party is at a local bakery and the girls are set up at stations in the large kitchen. The chef welcomes everyone from the front of the room.
“Hey,” I call out, waving to Bianca.
She jumps up from her stool and makes her way to us. “What are y’all doing here?”
“Olivia is checking out the results of a golf tournament her friend is playing in and hated that she was going to miss your party. So we’re here in her place!”
“Well, can’t say I mind you showing up. Let me get y’all some aprons,” she says, clapping her hands together.
Within minutes, Wes and I are in pink ruffled aprons, mine monogrammed with Olivia’s name and Wes wearing one monogrammed with the nameSusie. Susie, we discover, is Bianca’s cousin who woke up not feeling well this morning.
The chef, a guy named Blake, is at the front of the room, holding up items and telling us what they’re for.
“Oh, we’re totally going to kill this,” Wes says. He’s a pretty good cook, which has worked out well for me over the years, since I’m always hungry.
Wes and I follow the directions Blake gives us and our cupcakes are baking before anyone else’s.
We high-five and do a victory dance near the ovens.
“Seriously, Charlie, you’ve been to more parties this week than Olivia has,” Mary Jo says.
I saw the Evil Joes were set up on the other side of the room when we first got here and was hoping I could avoid them. No such luck.
“Why is Olivia at the golf course? Who does she know out there playing?” Jo Lynn asks.
Wes grins and replies, “Leo Perez.”
