She sighed. “I only saw the two of you together for, like, a few minutes so I can’t confirm or deny, but from what Ididsee, he didn’t seem repulsed by you. And he was pretty insistent that you come to his game.”
We slammed our doors at the same time and Olivia waited for me as I made my way around the car. Then we fell into step with each other aswe headed to the ticket booth.
“From my experience, guys don’t just invite random girls places. So I’d take it as a good sign that he wants to see more of you.”
I stared at the ground as we walked across the parking lot. On one hand, I didn’t want my best friend to lie to me. But on the other hand…I desperately wished she’d lie to me. I wanted her to tell me a big old whopper about how it’d been so crazy obvious that he was into me. One second in the same room and she’d been overwhelmed by all the sexual tension.
But Olivia didn’t lie, and I was left trying to figure out if the phrase ‘he didn’t seem repulsed by you’ was something to cheer about. “So, I should think he at least tolerates me?” I peeked over at Olivia.
“He probably more than tolerates you, but I can’t say for sure. Not when you’d pretty much kept thishuge part of your life a secret from your best friend.”
She sort of yelled that last part and I shot her an apologetic look. She just laughed. “It’s okay. I already told you, I forgive you.”
We were standing at the window now. An older woman wearing a shirt that said “Football Mom: This Beauty raised her Beast.” She had a green and silver hat on complete with black streaks across her cheeks.
I raised my eyebrows, trying to imagine my mother doing something similar in support of me, but couldn't picture it. The woman behind the counter didn’t seem tonotice that I was staring. Instead, she handed me two tickets and I handed her a twenty.
“Man, I wish our parents were this supportive about dancing,” Olivia said as I handed her the second ticket and we fell into line to enter the stadium.
“I was just thinking that. You’d think for artsy people, they could at least come with a sign or something.” I nodded toward the group of giggling girls that were holding a sign that said “Run, run, number twenty one.”
“Yeah. You’d think,” Olivia said.
We handed our tickets to the guard. He took them, ripped them, and then waved us through.
Once we got through the gates, the chaos didn’t end. Parents, siblings, and other Oakwood students were all running and weaving through each other as they either stood in line for concessions or tried to push through to get seats.
Olivia and I got a container of nachos to split and two waters. Then we started up the stadium stairs to find a seat. It was crowded but we found two empty seats between a group of teen guys and a family. Lucky me, I got stuck sitting next to one of the too-loud boys who’d never learned the meaning of ‘personal space.’
As soon as I got situated, my phone chimed. I handed my water to Olivia to hold and pulled my phonefrom my hoodie pocket.
Ethan
My heart pounded as I swiped my phone on and read his text.
Ethan:I think I see you. You’re the only person crazy enough to wear a hoodie in seventy degree weather.
My cheeks heated as I glanced around. When I didn’t see him, I furrowed my brow.
Me:Where are you?
“Who are you texting?” Olivia asked as she craned her neck to look at my screen.
I tipped my phone toward my chest and shook my head. “No one,” I lied, knowing full well that my reaction to his text was most likely giving me away.
Olivia rolled her eyes. “Yeah, okay.” Then she nudged me with her shoulder. “Please tell him that I expect him to introduce me to some eligible guy.” She dipped a chip into the cheese and then stuck the whole thing in her mouth.
My phone chimed again. Thankfully Olivia was engrossed with eating so I took what time I had to look at his message.
Ethan:I have eyes everywhere
Me:Okay now that’s just creepy
I got a clown face emoji in response. Laughing under my breath, I started to type more but he beat me to it.
Ethan: Hey, did you know you’re wearing our rival’s colors? Try not to get into any fights up there.
I looked down at the sidelines but it was packed with marching band members and cheerleaders. I spotted some jerseys too, but not Ethan’s dark hair or familiar build.
