Her friends don’t seem to have noticed me, but I can feel Serena’s eyes on me, even as I pretend I haven’t noticed her.
I refuse to be bothered by the opinions of people I wouldn’t invite to dinner.
Once the mom and her son are out of view, I head back down the stairs.
And when Serena calls out, “Hi, Kayla!” I pause, turn my head slightly, and give her a “Do I know you?” look.
“Hi!” I say with a dazzling, purposefully confused smile. “Thanks for coming to the game, y’all!”
Then I keep walking, leaving her to wonder if she’s really so forgettable.
Sour Serena seeks spotlight and social status.
I reach the bottom row and cut over two sections toward Sean.
Sean’s row is nearly empty, just him and some guys. All of them are wearing backwards baseball caps with a Mullet Ridge Dirtbags logo (the local “ice football” rec league. Yes, it’s real. No, I couldn’t explain it if my life depended on it.).
I walk toward Sean and his friends without a second thought, like my feet already know what my heart needs.
Acceptance.
Friendship.
A total lack of judgmental jerk-faces.
Sean sits up straighter when he sees me. He grabs a promotional T-shirt he must have nabbed from the mascot and pulls it off the seat beside him, making space for me.
“Hey, Captain.”
His shoulders shake with laughter, and just like that, the world feels a little less terrible.
“Kayla, do you know my friends?” he says. “This is Duke Ogden and Sonny Luciano. Duke is the Carolina Waves’ star quarterback, and Sonny just retired from the NFL and runs the ‘Family Over Football’ podcast.”
I wave as Duke elbows Sean.
“Dude,” Duke says, smiling at me. “I’ve known Kayla since I was ten. She was my first crush.”
“That’s true,” I say. “He sent me a love note and everything.”
Sonny laughs. “You didn’t. Does Millie know?”
Duke rolls his eyes. “Yes, she knows.” Then he nods at me. “Hey, Kayla. The stadium looks good. Nice work.”
“Thanks. It’s a work in progress.” I settle in, putting my feet up on the chair in front of me, legs crossed at the ankle like I own the place.
Which I literally do.
Sonny looks past Duke at me. I don’t know him as well as Duke, whom I grew up seeing on my grandpa’s—now cousin’s—farm. But he just married one of my roommate’s best friends, and we all hung out together at a Lucy Jane concert several weeks ago. We’re pals. “Hey, you know that run-down field out behind the stadium. Is that yours too?”
I nod. “It’s supposed to be part of my next round of upgrades. Why?”
“I’m coaching a tee-ball team and wondered if we could practice there. But are we going to get tetanus? It looks like it’s seen better days.”
Sean shakes his head, laughing. “Watch your mouth. That place is historic.”
“Historic?” Sonny says, clearly delighted. “Did you have your first kiss out there, or something?”
“No, I played my first tee-ball game there in kindergarten. I hit a double and threw up from nerves in the same inning.”
