No matter how much I tried, I couldn’t avoid looking for Tyler. As usual, he was in front of the pack, leading the charge like the alpha he claimed to be. He was number sixteen. I looked at his hand to see if he still got someone to paint his nails red and pink. He’d asked me to do that for him every game. Lizzy probably did it for him this time. I scoffed at how he held up his helmet to the crowd like he was some gladiator in the ring. God, I hoped we beat him today.
When Westbrooke came on the field, the cheering was louder - which was to be expected considering it was a home game. My eyes found Dakota almost instantly and my shoulders relaxed when he looked normal. As their warm-up began, I watched him, only noticing a slight change in how he interacted with the other guys.
He was only talking to David and Kevin. Usually, those three were in a world of their own, but today was different. All three wore looks of annoyance like being on the field today was a major inconvenience.
“What did I miss?” Mom asked as she reappeared with our drinks and a box of nachos.
“Nothing. They’re just getting started,” I assured with trepidation coating my words.
Chapter 34
Thegamestartednormalenough and stayed that way until the last minute of the first half. We were too far from the end zone to see who shoved who first, but we knew something was going on when the ref blew his whistle. Once the fight broke out, everyone in the crowd reacted by shouting encouragement for their team of choice and pulling out their phones to record.
I stood on my toes, trying to make sense of who was involved. Dakota’s number, eleven, flashed in the mix. He had Tyler by the collar, yanking him close so he couldn’t get away. Tyler, never one to back down, punched Dakota in the stomach. The hit opened the floor for all hell to break loose. The refs threw flags while coaches and other players from the sidelines hurried on the field to help or further complicate the situation.
“Good grief,” Mom sighed, resting her hand on my shoulder when she saw how wide my eyes were. “Is your…?”
I nodded, unsure if I should have told the truth or not. I didn’t want Mom to get the wrong impression. Because this wasn’t the Dakota I knew. He didn’t ignore me. He didn’t start fights. And he sure as hell didn’t get kicked off the field. Yet, there it was, the final flag, thrown to him and the other players involved.
It took a while for the coaches to finally separate the fighting players. Once they did, the ones in question were forced to head inside the tunnel, back to the changing rooms. I watched Dad huddle up with the new Amber U coaches and the ref. As they spoke, trying to work things out, the crowd buzzed with conversation on what could have happened to set the players off.
There’d been more Westbrooke guys than Amber U guys in on the fight, so fingers seemed to be pointing at them. My gaze went to the sidelines where I saw Silas scanning the crowd like he was looking for someone. When he finally found me, he pointed to the tunnel. I nodded understanding and stood.
“I’ll be right back,” I said to Mom.
“Emelia,” she warned.
“It’ll be fine,” I promised. “It’s not going to be like last time. I want to help.”
Mom didn’t seem convinced, but there was nothing she could do. I hurried down the steps of the stadium and made a beeline for the locker area.
There were four ways to get inside the locker rooms: have a reporter pass, be a medic, be a coach, or be a player. So, when I neared the entrance, security stopped me with a stern look.
“You have a pass?” A short, bulky man wearing a stern look studied me up and down. He barely reached my shoulder, and his security vest hung loosely around his middle.
“No, but I’m—”
“I can’t let you in without a pass,” he said with finality in his tone.
I sighed and stepped back to think of a way to get in. Kyle rushed by me with a medic bag over his shoulder.
“Emmy?” he looked like he was in a rush but paused to take me in. “What are you doing here?”
“I need to get in,” I said. “You saw what happen, right?”
“Of course.” Kyle flashed his badge at the guard. “She’s with me.”
“She still needs a badge,” the guard told him in a gruff voice.
“I’m allowed to have guests. She’s my assistant, and I need all the help I can get. Or would you like to tell the school their star players weren’t able to get their care because a guard wouldn’t let a medic through?” Kyle raised a brow. His lie made the guard’s Adam’s apple bob as he swallowed.
“Fine,” he said through gritted teeth.
I could tell he had an inkling that Kyle was lying. But the chances of him getting in serious trouble if it wasn’t seemed to be too great of a risk.
“Are the injuries that serious?” I asked as I hurried to keep up with Kyle. We entered the doors, jogging down the darkened hallways. The walls were gray concrete and people rushed around in as much of a hurry as we were.
“No.” Kyle shook his head. “Besides, even if they were, I’m not the only medic on the team. It’d take a lot for these guys not to get the proper care.”
