“Claire, I will literally name my first child after you for that ticket” Davis screams.
“I’ll do your homework for a month” Blair chimes in.
Davis scoffs, “that issonot better than naming a child after her.”
They all break into a full on fight, and I’m talking pushing each other, followed by violent threats, kind of fighting. Claire and I stare at them a moment before looking at one another and bursting into laughter. She falls to the floor, and I keel over from how badly my abs hurt.
“They actually believed you” I say between loud laughs.
She wipes a tear from her eye , “I didn’t think they were this gullible.”
The boys stare at us like we’ve officially lost it, and I don’t really blame them. Just a couple of hours ago I was ready to start a war with this girl, and now we’re both maniacally laughing at them.
“I have enough tickets for all of you,” she says, pulling the rest of the tickets from her back pocket and handing it to them, “I just wanted to mess with you a bit.”
They look at the passes she just handed them like it’s the key to the damn universe, holding them so delicately, like they might disintegrate in their hands at any moment.
August looks back up at her, confusion laid across his face, “these aren’t just box tickets, these are in the friends and family section.”
My eyes widen in shock, I rip the pass out of Blair’s hand and inspect it. August’s right, I didn’t even notice the section they’re in, I was too excited that we even had tickets.
I turn to Claire, her face is flat, but the look in her eyes is telling me everything I need to know… she’s trying to figure out what she’s going to say to explain this. “Claire…” I start hesitantly, “how did you get your hands on family and friends box seats?”
She chews on the inside of her cheek, “my brother knows a guy.”
I can tell there’s more to the story, but I really don’t care, as long as these tickets are real, I’m happy.
Miller runs over to her and pulls her into a tight hug, yanking her off the ground and spinning her in the air. Giggles escape her lips as she begs for him to put her down.
I’m slowly realizing that I’ve never heard her laugh before, and I’m not just talking about at the house. I’ve seen her a couple of times walking around campus, and she’s always got this straight face on.
The sound of her laugh is creating this internal battle, part of me wants to hear that sound over and over again, and the other part is screaming at me to snap out of it.
I amnotstarting to like her. No way.
* * *
We’re all piled into August's truck, Claire offered to drive so that we could drink at the game, and while that seemed like a good idea at the time… we’re all starting to regret it now. August is in the passenger seat watching her like a hawk, this truck is his baby, and the only reason why he let us all pile in here is because it’s the only car big enough for us to fit. Davis, Miller and I are sitting on the seat in the back, while Blair is stretched out across our laps complaining about how uncomfortable we are.
“Will you shut up?” Claire snaps. “We could have taken two separate cars but you all wanted to drink, so deal with it cause I’m trying to focus.” She stares at us like we’re children and it kind of works cause we all shrink back in our seats and stop talking.
When she finally looks back towards the road, I keep my eyes on her, trying to get a fucking read on her cause it’s weird as hell for someone to drop hundreds —if notthousands— of dollars on five guys they barely know.
“Stop staring at her, you look creepy” Blair whispers.
I push my knee into his shoulder blades, making him grunt in pain as I sarcastically smile down at him. He really needs to learn when to shut the fuck up.
Claire pulls into the parking lot, but instead of the general parking for attendees, she swings us around back to a private entrance. The guard steps out of his booth and she rolls down her window, “heya Claire, how are you?” he asks.
“I’m good Chuck, how are you today? Anyone giving you a hard time?” she responds, a massive smile filling her face.
Chuck looks as though he’s in his mid to late seventies, and not equipped to handle the crazy hockey crowd at all. His eyes are bright and filled with life, but the tired look on the rest of his face reveals just how long he’s been kicking.
“Eh, you know, just the usual” he shrugs, “are these boys with you? And why on god's green earth is one of them not in a seat?”
She shrugs, “they wanted to drink so I offered to drive but we had to pile into the car. I know we aren’t supposed to do this but it’s their first time in the family and friends section, I want them to have fun.”
He gives her a disapproving look, clearly unhappy with her choices, “I’ll let it slide this time, just don’t let your brother catch you doing this.”
