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I cleared my throat. “I always go with my Mom,” I said, and to totally put him off, added, “And Dad. They like to watch all the games.”
Red obviously didn’t seem to see that as a rejection. “Well, after we win you might ride back with us,” he said, his eyebrows raising flirtatiously. “I’ll save you a seat.”
I directed my eyes back to the gym floor, specifically Emma, cringing at the situation I was in. Red was nice and cute with his copper colored hair and splattering of freckles across his cheeks, and his muscles and his amazing eyes, but sitting this close was awkward. He could flirt all he wanted, but I was not interested in him...or any boys. My life was too busy, I had study and friends and football and soccer and there was no time to date.
As the four girls who made up the Covington Prep Twirl Team stepped forward, the crowd cheered. Well, everyone except me. Quite apart from the fact that the girls were twirling batons in an awe-inspiring way in the air, I was drawn to movement across in the opposite stands—the group of seniors hurrying into the front row, the cheerleaders Siri, Leylah and Phoebe with Cullen and Tennessee between them. Laughing, they sat down, Cullen next to Siri who leaned toward him, covering her mouth as she whispered in his ear. The stab of jealousy was like a dagger to the heart and when he responded with more laughter, it was as if it had been violently twisted.
Tennessee leaned across then, poking Cullen’s leg from two seats away. My gaze floated, trying to locate Millie. Further back, she was sitting next to Taylor, not in the least bit worried that her boyfriend was sandwiched between the cheerleaders.
I was snapped out of my trance when Red nudged me. “Do you play an instrument?” he asked.
“Huh?”
“Do you play?” He gestured to the band. “Anything?”
“Oh no,” I said. “I’m not musical at all. I tried the piano when I was younger, but I was hopeless.”
Red smiled. “I doubt that.”
I took another bite of my sandwich, Sawyer’s words ringing loudly in my ear about how I gave Red so much attention. Had I somehow sent him the wrong signal? Surely he knew that hydration was my only motivation. Like Millie had said, a winning team was a hydrated team. Or was it a hydrated team was a winning team. Whatever, I didn’t want Red to have the wrong idea.
Taking advantage of a break in the music, I called along the row to the girls. “Hey, I have to catch up with Millie. I’ll see you in algebra.” I waved as I stood up, clutching my lunch bag.
“You’re going?” Red asked, his mouth full of bread.
“Yeah,” I said, “gotta go.”
“See you at training,” Red said.
“Yeah. I will,” I said. “See you later.”
“Sure thing.” Red’s wink made me jog down the steps. Gah, had he misconstrued my casual farewell as meaning something more personal.See you later.They were three simple words.
I made my way to the other side of the gym, trying not to look at the group of seniors huddling and talking together. Well, it was all to build school spirit so it made sense that the football players and cheerleaders were together. Though that didn’t explain Red’s presence. Had to be a senior/junior thing then. The seniors were naturally the top of the hierarchy at school—that went without saying. Us lowly juniors bowed to them, and we all remembered being newbie freshmen at the bottom of the pile.
I scuttled through the stands to where Millie and Taylor were sitting.
“Hi,” I greeted them brightly. Millie had never treated me differently for being a junior.
“Hi, Sierra,” Millie said while Taylor smiled at me. Taylor was the new tennis star at Covington Prep. I didn’t know her, but she and Millie were best friends.
“I have a favor to ask,” I said in a low voice as I plonked myself next to Millie.
“If you need me to help with the water bottles, I’m in,” she said.
“Oh—,” I started, but stopped suddenly. I was about to say that I was fine, but this might be the perfect way to help Cullen without having to expose his situation. “Oh, uh, yeah, it would be great for some extra hands. But, what about your interviews and stuff?” Millie had started an online blog recording the Chargers’ daily trainings. It was creating a lot of interest. “Won’t you be interviewing Cullen after training?”
“Cullen?” Millie asked, making me wonder if I’d been less than subtle.
“Aren’t you interviewing him for the blog?” I could feel my cheeks reddening, my voice getting higher. “You know, I was thinking you should do a captain’s comment. You could set it up like a newsroom or something.” I went on to give ideas of an interview section that I was making up on the spot.
“Hey, that actually sounds great,” she said.
“And maybe Sawyer could join in. I think he’s feeling left out. I can arrange it if you like.”
Millie’s eyes narrowed suspiciously, but that was okay. If it looked like I was trying to do Sawyer a favor, Cullen’s secret would be safe. Sawyer would never turn down the chance to give his opinion or be in front of a camera. “Sure, Sierra. I can do interviews after training.”
“Cool! That’s perfect,” I said a little too enthusiastically, which made Taylor look up. I was definitely not an aspiring actress.
