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I blinked. “Uh, yeah. How’d you know?”
“My cousin pointed you out the other day. Most Likely To: Marry a Math Book, right?” Before I had a chance to feel offended thatthat’show she knew me, she jerked her thumb at herself. “I’m Never Get a Boyfriend.”
Ava gasped a little from my other side. “Really? That’s you?”
“Yep.” Lacey shrugged, totally unbothered. “At least I wasn’t Most Likely To: End Up Alone. That’s, like, the ultimate single. But it’s all right.”
“Wait, so you’re Never Get a Boyfriend,” Rachel repeated. Her dark eyebrows were drawn together. “That means you’re Landon’s Lacey?”
“Landon’s Lacey.” She smiled a little, one corner of her red-painted lips lifting higher than the other. “I’ve never been anyone’s Lacey before. Is that weird that I like how that sounds?”
“Is he super sweet?” Ava demanded, leaning over of me this time. She was a gossip bloodhound—could sniff out anything that would make front-page social media news. “I talked to him the other day. He seems like he’d be super sweet. Shy, maybe, but sweet.”
“Once you get to know him more, he’s definitely got golden retriever energy.” Lacey tucked some hair behind her ear, shrugging again. “We’re different. But what is it that they say about opposites attract?”
I felt like I was watching a tennis match, glancing side to side at each speaker, and the atmosphere felt frostier than it had been when we sat down. “Well, good for you,” I said in a bright voice, flattening my hands along my knees. “Good for you for sticking it to the stupid list by getting a boyfriend.”
“We love love,” Rachel chimed in, giving Lacey a thumbs-up.
More people clambered up the bleachers, and someone caught Rachel’s attention, drawing her out of the conversation. Ava’s eyes had shifted to her phone, thumbs typing quickly.
The student section filled quickly, everyone seeming to come in at once, and almost at the same time, the football players took to the field to begin their warmups. Ava was right for getting here when we did. One out of five students gripped a homemade poster board, supporting any given player. However, from a quick glance around, Connor Bray was the favorite. One person even had a poster with his face printed on it.
It occurred to me then that I was completely out of my element.
I wore the Brentwood Bobcat attire like a true fan, but while everyone cheered and waved their signs, I shrank back, attempting to morph into the metal bleacher. Blending in was impossible.
It wasn’t so bad, though. Lacey didn’t rush to her feet and cheer for the team, either. Instead, she placed her palms against her ears. “Are they always so loud?”
“I wouldn’t know,” I called back to her, but I was sure the words were lost over everyone else.
A few of the football players sat on the grass and stretched to reach their toes, much like they’d been doing during their warm-ups the day I’d gone to confront Connor at the field. A few were off to the side tossing a football back and forth. Some were standing near the sidelines already, chatting with the coach.
Despite myself, I trailed over the players—more specifically, the torso of the players.
What was it that you told him?I’d asked him in the closet.Twenty-two?
It’s my jersey number.
I squinted but couldn’t spot the number.
The cheerleaders bounded their way to the grass in front of the bleachers, rustling their pom-poms with every step. For a second, just a split second, I imagined a life where things had been different. Where Maisie Matthews wasn’t stiff in the student section, wasn’t forcing herself to cheer on the football team. A life where Maisie Matthews hadn’t been rejected by the cheer squad.
What would I have looked like among them? Would I have felt comfortable wearing the mini skirt and turtleneck? Would I have enjoyed the cheers and songs? Would I have been a base or a flyer in any of the routines?
I found Jade easily, because instead of wearing a blue top like the rest of the squad, Madison and Jade wore gold tops. Signifying their co-captain status, probably. But she wasn’t with the rest of the squad, fluffing their pom-poms, ready to start the night of cheer. Instead, I found her by the water cooler for the players, and she had her arms wrapped around Connor’s neck.
“Oh! Photo op!” Ava quickly brought out her cell and pointed the camera at the couple, zooming in as far as she could. “Well, Rachel, you owe me five bucks. Looks like they’ve made up from the whole closet thing already.”
I squeezed my fingertips as I watched them. They were much too far away for me to be able to read their lips, but I couldn’t help but wonder what they were talking about. If theyhadmade up. They certainly looked like it.
We’d gone back to tutoring not long after sharing our heart-to-heart, but I hadn’t been able to fully shake off the lingering strangeness of it all. Not even focusing on my paper roses had helped. As soon as Connor closed his Algebra II book, I’d told him I was okay enough to walk back to the school to get my car. I’d needed time to clear my thoughts. It was his confession that had thrown me off, peeling back the curtain, showing his true self underneath the smoke and mirrors he used on everyone else.
And now I had a pair of his sweatpants,again.
Jade grabbed the collar of his shoulder pads and pulled him down, sharing a kiss for all to see. Ava’s phone caught it high definition. Guess they’d made up.
I forced my eyes away, trying to ignore the strange, uncomfortable twisting in my stomach.
