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“Yeah, I’ll go,” I answer with no hesitation at all.
She stands up straight and narrows her eyes. “Really? I thought I was going to have to get down on my knees to get you to go.”
I close my locker and lean my side against it so I’m facing her. “It’s not that big of a deal.”
“What’s not that big of a deal?” Ashley asks as she walks over to us, holding hands with Marcus.
“She’s going to the game tonight,” Susie states.
“Really?” Ashley jumps for joy.
“Of course she’s going,” Marcus pipes in. “The entire town will be there. We’re ready to shut this game down tonight. With me, Ben, Dalton, and Eli”—he rubs his chest with a cocky grin—“we’re unstoppable.”
“You talking about me over here?” Dalton says as he approaches behind Marcus.
Marcus turns, and they slap hands. “I was just telling them it’s going to be on tonight.”
“It’s going to be good competition for sure,” Dalton replies. “Natalie knows what that’s all about.” He gives me his own cocky grin, then hits Marcus’s shoulder. “You comin’?”
“Yeah, one sec.” Marcus turns to Ashley and places his finger under her chin. “I’ll be looking for you in the stands tonight.”
“I’ll be the one wearing your number,” Ashley says, all dreamy-eyed before they kiss.
It’s moments like this when I used to roll my eyes, but something feels different now, and when I glance at Dalton, I swear I catch him looking at me, but he turns suddenly, trying to play it off like he wasn’t.
They finally break away from their kiss and say their goodbyes as Marcus leaves to join Dalton, who’s already a few steps ahead of him.
Susie practically jumps on me, catching me completely off guard. “Okay, what was that?”
“What was what?” I ask, confused.
“Dalton. He was totally looking at you when they were kissing. And that comment? Natalie knows all about what?”
I try to blow her off even though the fact that she noticed it, too, does weird things to my insides. “No, he wasn’t.”
“Um, yes, he totally was.” She nudges me with her arm. “Maybe he’s seeing another side of you with this project you guys have been doing.”
“Believe me, he hates that side just as much as he hates the other side he already knew.” I step forward to end this conversation and head home for the day.
“Well, I saw what I saw,” she singsongs, swaying the books she’s carrying against her chest side to side.
Ashley, Susie, and I all arrive at the game together—them wearing all the Leighton High gear, and, yes, I even allowed them to paint our school colors of blue and yellow on my face in cute little paw prints to represent our mascot the Wild Cats.
We find some seats in the student section just as the team is busting through the big paper that the cheerleaders painted for them. The crowd roars to life as every player races onto the field.
Fire bursts into the air from flame machines as loud music blares around us, hyping up the boys and the stands.
Once everyone takes their place in a line across the field, we hear the announcer say, “Please rise for our national anthem.”
We do so as I search for two of my FFA members, who will be riding their horses through the field, carryingthe American flag. As they appear, the crowd cheers, and I scream right along with them, loving the way they look, racing across the field with the flag flowing in the wind behind them. At the end of the song, every player raises their helmets as applause erupts once more.
The players go through their warm-up routine as the opening ceremony festivities are cleaned up.
Before kickoff, I look out onto the field and see Dalton standing on the sideline, looking even bigger in his football uniform with the number 81 written across his back.
“There’s Marcus.” Ashley points to where he is on the field. “Number 24.”
From this distance, the difference between him and Dalton is almost comical, as I’ve never realized Marcus was that much smaller than him, but I guess that’s what makes him so fast. Everyone has their role on the football field—and in life.
