“Oh, jeez. You don’t have to come.”
“Are you kidding? I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”
“Thank you. That means a lot.”
“You’re welcome. I’ll see you tomorrow at school. Get some rest.” I wish I could reach through the phone and give Hannah a kiss goodnight.
“I’ll see you tomorrow. I love you.”
My heart flip-flops in my chest. “I love you.”
The first volleyball game is half over when football practice finishes. Coach Richland made me ice my arm since I spent all of practice throwing. After he has it all wrapped up, I jump off the bench.
“Where do you think you’re going?” he asks.
“My girl is cheering for the volleyball game, and I want to watch her.”
His eyes widen with surprise. “You still have a girlfriend?” Did Coach Anderson and the rest of the coaching staff think I would roll over and do what they said without question? I’m committed to the team and giving my all. I can do that without having to compromise everything else in my life. They underestimate what I’m capable of. Besides, I’ve brought my A game ever since Coach Anderson’s lecture, and the fact that Coach Richland didn’t think I had a girlfriend proves it. “Yeah, I set a timer on my phone. I’m just going to be in the gym.”
“Fine,” Coach grumbles. “Just stay close.”
“Yes, sir.” I nod.
“Yo, Cross, where are you headed?” Tyler asks, pulling his shirt over his head.
“I’m going to sit on the bleachers and watch the game while I ice my shoulder.”
T. smirks. “You mean you’re going to watch Clark?”
“Isn’t that what I said?” I laugh. I walk up, sitting in the middle of the bleachers but staying close to the locker room door. Icing my shoulder helps, but it’s not the most pleasant thing to experience. A couple of the news outlets swing their cameras my way, but I ignore them. I should have put a hoodie on and hidden my face. Hannah looks so good standing on the sidelines, cheering. She hasn’t noticed me yet. I know because she hasn’t looked over here, and her cheeks haven’t turned that cute rosy color it gets when she’s embarrassed, or she knows someone is watching her.
“What’s the score?”
“Huh?” I glance up at Jack, who has a stupid smirk.
“I asked what the score of the volleyball game is.”
I just shrug. “I have no idea.” He sits down next to me. “Are you going to stick around?”
“Yeah, why not? You’re not the only one who likes volleyball.”
I shake my head and laugh. “Did Ty take off?”
“No, he said he’d stick around and hang out. He had to run to his locker.”
I eye Jack. “His locker? Is that what he said?”
“That’s what he told me.” Jack shrugs. “But…I think June stays late for musical theater.”
“That sounds more like T.”
The timer on my phone goes off, and I head back to the locker room. By the time Coach Richland finishes helping me with my shoulder. The second volleyball game is underway. “I’m starving,” Ty complains when I rejoin my friends.
“Let’s get some food. I think they have hotdogs at the concessions,” I say. The three of us load up on soda (even though we shouldn’t), two enormous bags of popcorn, a couple of licorice ropes, and a hotdog a piece. “Let’s sit in the student section.”
For some reason, we let Ty lead the way, and he sits us on the second row directly in front of the cheerleaders. There’s nothing like being obvious, but I want to sit here, where I have a front-row view of Hannah. Both Aubrey and Leah elbow Hannah as we sit down. She glances at me, giving me a little wave. Her cheeks bloom with color and damn if that doesn’t turn me on. I catch Leah giving a shy little wave to Jack. I glance at him, and he arches an eyebrow at me and shrugs. Good for him. He deserves someone nice and sweet like Leah Hunt after the fiasco he had with Alison. I look around the gym, and there are not a lot of students who come out to support the volleyball team. It’s mainly just parents and friends of the volleyball players. The first set ends, and there’s a short break. I make eye contact with Hannah and nod for her to come over. She sits backward on the first bleacher facing me. “Hey,” she smiles, snagging a handful of my popcorn. “How was practice?”
“It was good. I threw a fifty-two-yard pass.”
