I make my way through the crowd, over to my seats where I sit next to my parents. As usual, they are decked out. Blue and yellow all over their faces, arms, and even legs. My father has a large foam finger and my mother is wearing a light-up hat. There is no way they won't be seen miles across the stadium.
Across the row, I see Teddy and my sister. I can see the painful look on his face and the eagerness. Since his whole fight at Parker's house in the valley, he's been suspended for the entirety of the season, which means no championships.
I talked on the phone with Bridget last night, she told me about the guilt she felt and wished she could change history. She blames herself. I know Teddy wouldn't want her to think like that, after all, he was defending my sister. You can't put a ban on chivalry.
Right next to them are Carlee and Doug, who are wearing matching Berkeley t-shirts. Jill and Daniel are below us; they weren't able to get seats near us. I can see Jill's head moving a lot, which means she's talking Daniel's ears off. Connie and Cross are next to them.
Jace is sitting on the football bleachers that are directly in front of the field. Monica volunteered to sit with him, but he told her no and to give him some space. Ever since his accident of getting hit on the field, she's been obsessing over him. Thinking that something even worse is going to happen to him. She's standing right next to me, wringing her hands.
"Hey, are you alright?" I lean in closer to her so she could hear me over the loud cheering and noise. We're surrounded by people, I hope I don't have to use the bathroom, that's going to be a bitch.
Her eyes tear away from Jace, "Yeah, I'm fine. Why wouldn't I be fine?"
"Because you look like you're going to vomit," I comment.
She rolls her eyes, "I'm just worried about Jace, that's all. I know that he wants to get onto that field, this is the championships, something he's been waiting for. Now, it was ripped from him by a stupid football player."
I pat her hand, "There's always next year, right?"
She shrugs her shoulder, "Maybe. The way his arm broke, it may not heal properly. He's quarterback, he needs his throwing arm. When they come back from injury, most football players are never the same. I just worry about him, he's my baby you know." She bites on her pink acrylic nail.
We look back on the field, listening to the announcers as they mention each player from the Stanford team. I hear James's name mentioned, but I can't see his face since his helmet is on. He's tall like Andreas, a peak of blonde hair shows out his helmet and he's strong looking. I wonder where Jessie is, she has to be here. Andreas never told me the story of why she cheated on him, I wonder why she did it.
Andreas is a great guy, super funny, and very caring. The way he kisses is so soft and gentle, his hands are rough, but feel good against my head when he massages it. And his hugs make you let go of all the anxiety and anger of the world; you just feel so content.
I hope she knows how much she hurt him, and I hope he knows I would never do that to him. He means too much to me.
I hear the announcers calling for the UC Berkeley team. All the boys come out, clad in the school's blue and gold. They look amazing. My eyes search for one particular player, then I see him. His face is contorted like he's thinking about something, his lips are formed into a thin line and his hand is clutched around his helmet. He doesn't run out like the other players; he just walks fast paced over to the bench.
He and Jace spark up a conversation, from the way his lips were moving and shoulders tensed, he was angry. Then, his eyes search the crowd and land on me. I wave a shy smile. He doesn't smile back but waves his hand.
"What's wrong?" I mouth to him.
"Nothing." He mouths back. He slips on his helmet, daps up Jace, and runs out towards the field. Ready to play the biggest game of the season.
I wonder what happened when I left him.
Andreas P.O.V-
Minutes before the game.....
"So, you and Elizabeth huh?" I hear Jace ask, as I slip on my football jersey.
"Yep."
"When did you guys make it official?"
"About two days ago."
"I'm happy for you, man," Teddy says, congratulating me.
I'm happy for me too. I didn't tell him about how her parents walked in on me licking their daughter's nipples. It wasn't one of my finest moments, but what can you do? I'm glad that her parents know how much I love her, and I wouldn't dream of hurting her, again.
She's my life, she's my world. She saved me from utter loneliness and changed the way that I look at women and love. I thought I was just going to fuck her a few times and call it a day, never thought I would fall for the girl.
When I told her parents we were dating, I thought she would scream at me, and tell her parents that we weren't, but she didn't. She agreed with me. It makes sense that we started dating, all the anger and lingering problems floating in the ether were taken care of.
To hear the way her mother was talking about me just fucking her daughter, made Elizabeth look cheap and loose. That's not what she was, to people on the outside, yes, but to me, she was more than that. And honestly, I saw her beyond that, more than a good fuck. Someone that I could have late-night talks with, walk in botanical gardens with and make love to.
"Thank you, guys. I've never been happier."
"Dude, make us proud and win the championships, at all costs," said Jace, no hint of amusement in his eyes.
"Yeah, it would be shit to have to stand in the stadium and watch my boys lose, we've worked too hard for this." chimed in Teddy.
I will win this game, not only for me but for them too. It's weird to be playing without my two best friends, but with them in the stands, cheering me on, what could go wrong?
Teddy and Jace end up leaving the locker room. Teddy for the stadium and Jace for the field. I wanted both of them to be sitting down there, but Teddy couldn't handle it. Also, it would be better for him to be near someone who could relax him and that's Bridget.
I'm sure she's heard from her parents that I'm dating her sister. She hasn't said anything to me since leaving last night. All she did was nod her head, hug me, and walked back upstairs to her room.
Coach gave us a short speech, made us do a team cheer, and run out of the locker room to the hall that would lead us to the field. It was dark down here; you could barely see anything. One thing I didn't need to see was James's voice. The Stanford team was standing right next to us, shoulder to shoulder practically.
He smelled the same, attractive and betraying.
"Long time no see." He spoke.
"Yeah, same thing."
"Who would have thought we would be going head-to-head."
"Not me." I keep my words short and clipped, not wanting to engage in full conversation with him.
"Jessie told me how you came to Stanford and talked to her."
I lift a brow, "Oh yeah."
"Mhm. She wouldn't tell me what you two talked about, but I could only assume it was about you guys' past relationship."
I relish in the thought of her not telling him what we spoke about, James for once is on the sidelines. "What we talked about was personal. If she didn't tell you, then maybe you don't need to know."
"Look, man. I know you're mad at me for taking Jessie from you, personally, I don't give a crap. What you two had was years ago, let that shit go. If I hear that you were trying to get her back, I'll hurt you where it hurts."
I chuckle, deep-rooted anger was laced in it, "And where would that be?"
"Your pretty little girlfriend with the nice ass. I was able to take Jessie from you, nothing stopping me from taking her too." I don't have enough time to respond since he's already gone. I hear the announcers call his name.
The game hasn't even started and I'm already tensed. I let Jessie slip from my fingers without noticing, he's not doing that to Elizabeth. She's all mine.
We get called out onto the field, I run behind my teammates. While they all smile and wave to the audience, I tighten my fist, wanting to keep my anger at bay. You don't say to another guy that you're going to take his girl. It's unacceptable. I wish I could have punched him in the face, where it hurts. He's always been a pretty boy.
I run over to the bench, going to talk to Jace.
"What's wrong?" He asked, sensing my anger.
"James." Wall all I said.
His nose flares, "Where?"
I point to number 25 on the field, who's currently stretching.
"What did he say to you?"
"He told me he was going to take Elizabeth away from me like he did Jessie." I could barely get the words out, they burned in my mouth, on my tongue.
"That fucker."
"Exactly." I look into the audience for Elizabeth, I could tell when my eyes met hers that she knew something was wrong with me. She waves and smiles, it warms me inside. I wave back, but can't manage a smile.
She mouths, "What's wrong?"
I want to tell her, but it's too much and I don't know how good her lip-reading skills are. So, I say, "Nothing." I put on my helmet, dab up Jace and run onto the field.
One thing was on my mind: Win this game so I can wipe that cocky grin off James Logan's face.
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