I take the money and shove it in my back pocket. “Thank you for not making it awkward.”
Blaise, Luke, and Will shout Austin’s name from down the hallway.
“Same time and place on Monday?” he asks.
“As long as you can afford it,” I tease.
Austin gives me a grin and walks off toward his friends. I find JD right where he said he would be. He bends down and kisses me. A girl walking by is watching us and runs into an open classroom door but recovers quickly and dashes inside.
“How was the tutoring?”
I’m looking at the classroom the girl ducked into. “I can’t believe I’m about to say this, seeing as it was with Austin, but it went really well. Go figure.”
“If anyone from the team sees me over here, I’ll be hazed for weeks,” Knox’s friend, Devon, complains.
Devon and Knox both go to Fallen Brook High, which is the team we are playing tonight. Devon is a year younger and a grade below us and he plays for the Fallen Brook basketball team. He and Knox both stayed at the same women’s shelter in New York City. Fallon met the two of them, along with Butch and Trevaughn, when Fallon and his friend Elizabeth visited the shelter. I haven’t met Trevaughn yet as he and his mom had moved into an apartment just before I moved into the Montgomery mansion. Since Devon was going to Fallen Brook High, Fallon made sure that Knox and Trevaughn did as well. Butch is much younger, so he goes to Highland Elementary.
Somebody in the stands starts the wave and we stand up with our arms in the air when it gets to us. Devon remains seated, afraid that someone from his school will recognize him.
“You guys will have to tell me what’s going on because I am clueless when it comes to football.”
Knox is sitting between me and Devon on the bleachers. He has to raise his voice a little to talk over the already overly rambunctious football crowd. The small stadium is packed. I came to watch Cam play a few times so know how rowdy the spectators can get, especially when we’re playing our rival school.
“But you’re dating a football player,” Knox states.
Devon looks over in interest. “Which one?”
“JD. He’s the quarterback,” I reply. My stupid stomach does that tiny little somersault that seems to happen a lot whenever I talk about JD.
“No shit? Damn girl, even I know who JD is. Good for you.”
The Highland High marching band comes out to do a before-game song to warm up the crowd. It’s a pretty good drumline-heavy rendition of Queen’s “We Will Rock You.” I’m stomping my feet to the beat and clapping along with the crowd when Knox bumps my leg with his thigh.
“I meant to ask you if you wanted to come watch me race at the Fields next weekend.”
“You’re racing?”
“Yeah. My first one. I’d like the support if you can come.”
Devon grabs Knox’s arm and slinks down. “Shit! Mike is here. Hide me.”
Knox pushes his hand off, laughing. “I’m not hiding you, you pussy. What is Mike doing over on this side anyway?”
“He dates a girl at Highland. Crap. I think he just saw me.”
Sure enough, the guy Devon is trying to avoid sees him and waves him over. Devon groans.
“I’ll catch up with you guys later,” he tells us and gets up to make his way over to the next stand where Mike and his girlfriend are sitting.
Knox is shaking his head. “Sorry about him. Anyway, what do you say? Want to come?”
I mentally go through my weekly calendar. I asked Pete at the diner if it would be okay for me to cut my evenings down to just Mondays and Wednesdays, and he agreed. I try to recall if JD mentioned if he had a game or not next Friday.
“Sure, I’d love to come. I think JD has an away game, so he won’t be able to make it.”
“I wasn’t asking if JD wanted to come, hood rat.”
I feel an ominous presence next to me and look up. Blaise is standing beside me, Luke and Will behind him. They all take a seat and I move over closer to Knox.
