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Ashley screams out, “Go, Marcus!”
He must have heard her because both Marcus and Dalton turn at the same time, and Marcus spots Ashley waving like a lunatic right away. She blows him a kiss, and he blows one back.
My eyes meet with Dalton’s just as the announcer comes over the loudspeaker again. “Leighton River High is glad you decided to spend your night with us. Now, let’s stand for the kickoff as we take on our rival school, Mason Creek!”
Everyone cheers as some of the players run out to get in position for the kickoff.
The game is a battle, back and forth, but for the first time ever, I’m actually really into it and I feel bad I haven’t really supported my brother before this.
With ten seconds left in the game, Eli throws the ball to Dalton, and I literally grab Susie’s arm in anticipation. When he catches it and stiff-arms the opponent, running it in for a touchdown to take the lead, I lose my freaking mind, jumping up and screaming at the top of my lungs with the rest of the crowd.
They kick the extra point, and Mason Creek gets the ball back with seconds to spare. They try for a Hail Mary play, but don’t come anywhere near being able to make a touchdown as the time expires, and everyone jumps to their feet again, cheering on our hometown boys.
As we all come back to our senses and start gathering our things to leave the stadium, Susie nudges me with her shoulder. “Since when do you like watching football? I swear I thought you were going to dig your nails into my arm for a second there at the end.”
I laugh and shrug. “I guess I never realized just how intense it could get.”
She tilts her head to the side. “That wouldn’t have anything to do with a certain player on the field, would it?”
“Please. You know I’m never going there.”
She grins as she grabs her water bottle and purse, and we all make our way down to the field, where everyone gets to hang out with the players after the game.
I go straight to my brother. “Great job tonight.”
He nods his head. “Thanks for coming.” A friend of his calls out his name. He acknowledges them then turns back to me. “See you at home.”
I nod then head back to my friends who are trying to find Marcus as the crowd starts to thin out.
Once we spot him, Ashley takes us straight to her new boyfriend, who, of course, is standing there with Ben, Eli, and Dalton. She runs up and jumps into his arms, and he spins her around.
They’re off in their own little world, leaving the rest of us standing in an awkward silence for a few seconds until Maya joins us and jumps on Ben’s back, who catches her with ease, like they’ve done it a thousand times before.
“Are we all going to Ben’s?” she asks the group, but looks right at Susie and me, almost to make sure we know we’re invited too.
She’s always been that way, trying to include everyone even though I know she hates me, just like the rest of the TimeLand crew. It’s something that actually annoyed me before, but right now, I’m not too bothered by it.
I look to Ashley, who’s still wrapped up with Marcus, then to Susie and shrug. “You want to go?”
Susie laughs. “Normally, I’m the one begging you to go out, and now, you’re asking me if I want to go?”
I chuckle to myself, realizing she’s right, then meet eyes with Dalton, who’s looking at me intensely. I pause for a minute too long, then look back to Maya. “Yeah, we’ll go.”
Maya jumps down off of Ben’s back. “Great.” She smacks Ben’s arm. “Now, hurry up and go shower so we can get going.”
Ben flings his sweaty head on her as she pushes him away. “Gross!”
The guys all head to the locker room while Ashley, Susie, and I walk toward our car.
“Maya”—Ashley turns back around to where Maya is picking up her bag with no one else around her—“do you want to just ride with us, so you don’t have to wait?”
I guess I’ve never really thought about Maya and who she hangs out with. I know she has friends—shoot, she has the entire cheerleading crew—but I realize now that I’ve only ever seen her really hang out with the TimeLand guys.
She mulls it over in her head, then shrugs. “Sure. I’ll just text Ben and let him know.”
I lean in to whisper to Ashley, “Are she and Ben a thing?”
She chuckles under her breath in response. “I wondered the exact same thing until I saw Ben hooking up with someone else the other night, so I’m going to guess that’s a no.”
