Chapter Thirty:
Muppet Girl
"Everyone, please rise for our national anthem." Addison did as the principal said, glancing over at Robin in the stands and giving her a thumbs up, she mouthed you did so good to her, causing Robin to break into a grin. "Singing for us today, all the way from Nashville, our very own... Tammy Thompson!"
Addison giggled, swatting at Steve who stood beside her. Robin turned to look at them, clearly trying to hold back her laughter as the crowd erupted in cheers for the freshly graduated girl. "Steve! Steve! Muppet girl."
Steve nodded, turning his head towards Robin so he could whisper something to his friend. "Told you. Muppet."
"Okay! She does sound like a muppet." Robin mouthed back. Addison cracked a smile, watching as Robin's nerves grew as she talked to Vickey, a girl she was in band with that she had a massive crush on.
Robin and Addison were similar, both didn't know how or when to stop talking when they were around someone they liked. Addison remembered how nervous Max made her when they first met, and now they were together. Coming up on two years in just a few months. The thought of Max brought a smile to her face and warmth to her heart. Almost two years, it didn't seem possible.
It was crazy how things change, Addison thought.
"Wow.." Steve's date cooed, her hand pressed against her heart. "She sounds amazing, doesn't she?"
"Sure does!" Addison agreed over enthusiastically, "Never heard better!"
"I know! You know, Tammy and I were in three classes together!" The girl continued. "Spanish, Geometry, and Biology."
"No way!" Addison gasped, "Three? Wow! How does it feel to know a star?"
Steve choked back a laugh, covering it up to clear his throat as he raised his hand to cover his mouth. "Wow, and I thought I was lucky with just one class with her."
As the song came to an end, and Tammy left the court, Lucas looked behind him in the crowd. His heart sinking when he saw no one there for him. Not even Addison? But she'd promised..
His worries were quickly slashed when he heard her cheers, from the other side of the stands. His heart swelled and a grin grew on his face as he saw his best friend standing there, next to Steve, who gave him a small wave when he noticed his stare.
"Lucas! Lucas! Lucas!" Addison cheered, waving her hands enthusiastically. "That's my best friend!"
~~
"I wish I understood basketball.." Addison mumbled to herself, her eyes following as the boys on the opposing team tossed the ball to one another.
"Wait- Woah, woah, haven't you been to every game?" Steve questioned, taking his eyes off the game. He leaned the bag of popcorn over to Addison, watching as she dug some out of the bag. "Even the away ones?"
"Well, yeah." Addison shrugged, "Doesn't mean I get it... Oh, shit!"
Addison grimaced, watching as one of the players limped off the court, with the help of his fellow teammates. She cringed, looking at his twisted ankle. "Yeeesh, that's gotta hurt. You know, one time, on my birthday actually, I was turning nine, not that that's important or anything. Anyway, I was at the creek and- and I tripped over a tree root and my ankle got stuck. Anyway, I ended up breaking it. It hurt really bad and sometimes on cold days it still aches a lot. Or really rainy days, but the cold rainy days are the worst."
Steve nodded along with her, swallowing the popcorn he had been chewing. "My wrist does that, broke it freshman year. Right there on that court, actually. Had to relearn how to write with my other hand."
"I've never broken a bone." His date, Addison didn't know her name, though she had told her when she'd gotten to the stands earlier, said. "I guess I'm just luc-"
"Lucas!"Addison screamed as she watched him jog onto the court. He waved at her, shaking his head and shoving the boy as his teammate whispered something to him. "You got this!"
Addison's heart pounded against her chest, the sound of the crowd became drowned out as the sound of her own heartbeat grew louder and louder.
"Shoot it!" Steve shouted, standing and pulling Addison up with him. "Come on, Shoot it!"
"Ye-yeah!" Addison cheered along with him, jumping so she could see the excitement. Addison felt like she would have a heart attack as the timer reached one second just as the ball left Lucas' hands.
The world felt like it was in slow motion. "Come on!"
A scream left her lips as the ball dropped through the net, officially raising their score to be higher than the opposing team. "Lucas!"
A large grin spread across her face as the team, along with the cheerleaders, chanted his name. "Lucas! Lucas! Lucas!"
~~
"Lucas!" Addison shouted, dropping the popcorn bag she held in her hand, Steve picked it up, muttering to himself as she ran up to him.
"Addison!" Lucas laughed, stumbling back as the weight of her body crashed into his arms. He lifted her from the ground, spinning her around as she lifted her feet up. A grin spread on his face as she pressed a quick kiss on his cheek before he set her back on the ground.
"I can't believe you did it!" She laughed, gently shoving his shoulder. "Well, I always knew you could. But you did it! I'm so, so, so, so proud of you!"
Lucas laughed, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck. "Yeah- Yeah, yeah.. I did it! Thank you so much, you know.. for coming tonight."
Addison scoffed, rolling her eyes. "Did you actually think I would miss it?"
"Well.." Lucas trailed off, his smile falling as his eyes landed on Mike and Dustin who had come out of the building, having finishing up their campaign. "No one else came."
"It was important to you," Addison frowned, glancing over at her friends. She gave them a small wave before looking back at Lucas. "There will be other campaigns, but this was the championship game, and you're my best friend. So, yeah. It wouldn't miss it, and I meant it."
"Hey, man." Jason said, jogging up to him. "Party at Benny's tonight, you comin'?"
Lucas' words caught in his throat, only a low uhhh escaping his lips. Jason looked in between the two of them, only now seeming to notice Addison standing there, His face flushed in embarrassment. "Oh, i'm sorry, I didn't see you. Is this your girlfriend?"
"No, no. No, man. No way. This is Addison, my best friend." Lucas shrugged, resting his hand on her shoulder and squeezing it. Addison smiled without teeth, nodding her head in agreement, as well as a greeting to him.
"Oh!" Jason laughed, shaking his head, "My bad. I'm Jason, I've heard a lot about you, Addison."
Lucas shot him a look, "Dude. Don't say it like that. You've heard a lot about Max, El, and Will too."
Addison laughed nervously, shifting her feet. "Good things, I hope."
"Oh, only the best things." Jason replied, looking back to Lucas. "So, you up for it?"
Lucas glanced at Addison, almost asking for her approval. "Go, Steve's gonna drop me off at Max's. She asked me to stay with her tonight, something about sleep problems, headaches too."
"Tell her I said hi, okay?" Lucas said stepping back towards his group of friends.
"Will do!" Addison said cheerfully, waving at him as she backed away to turn towards Steve. "Don't die tonight!"
~~
'"Hi, baby." Addison grinned, pressing a short kiss to Max's lips. "I missed you."
"Hi," Max smiled softly, pulling her into another kiss. Her radio played faintly in the background, nearly being drowned out by a dog's loud barking. Addison had seen him when Steve dropped her off, telling her to stay safe. "How was the game?"
"It was good," Addison replied, taking a seat next to her and smiling as Max rested her head on Addison's shoulder. "Lucas shot the winning ball."
"I heard." Max mumbled tiredly, yawn passing through her lips, gesturing towards the radio. "Was it close?"
"We won by one point." Addison replied, interlocking their fingers. "He says hi, by the way. Lucas does. I also saw Mike and Dustin. Not at the game, I was there with Steve and his date, anyway, their campaign was tonight. D&D, I think they won. I should've said hi to them, and Eddie."
Max's eyes fluttered shut, her breathing becoming more and more even as Addison's scent, though mixed with cheap popcorn and sweat, engulfed her. Max tried to ignore the sounds of the outside world and focus on Addison as she talked about the game, she couldn't focus as the dog's barking seem to grow louder and louder with each second.
"Ugh," Max groaned, her hands going up to rub her temples. "That dog won't stop barking. He's been at it all day, it's been shitty on my headache."
"Maybe he's hungry?" Addison suggested, "We could go feed him."
Max nodded with a sigh, "I just wanna sit here with you, though.. listen to your day.. It's nice, the only good part of mine.."
"We can do that in silence if we feed the dog." Addison pointed out, "So.."
Max stayed silent, begrudgingly lifting herself from the bed. "Let's see what we have in the fridge."
Addison followed Max quietly throughout the house, the sound of the movie that her mom had fallen asleep during was the only sound heard throughout the house.
"Thanks.." Max mumbled from the kitchen, pulling a plate from the fridge as Addison gently pulled a blanket over the woman. Addison hummed in acknowledgment, walking towards the door and holding it open for Max. She closed it quietly behind her, following her girlfriend as they walked towards the dog.
"Alright, alright," Max shushed, "I'm coming. Okay?"
"He's so cute," Addison cooed, sticking her finger through one of the links in the fence and scratching his chin. "I miss my dog, we had to get rid of him because he bit my sister... and me... and my dad.. We thought he had rabies, kind of like Cujo? He didn't! Obviously, because we would all be dead. Did you know there's no cure? For rabies? In humans, or in animals. There's just, like, shots. Sorry am I talking too much?"
"No," Max answered, carefully picking up a piece of food and feeding it to the dog. "I like to listen to you talk."
Addison blushed, sheepishly looking down at the ground. The familiar sound of Eddie's van coming to a stop pulled Addison's attention away from the dog and onto the trailer across the street.
"Welcome to my castle.." His voice echoed throughout the trailer park, Addison's brows furrowed in confusion. who was he with?
Max mumbled to the dog as she fed him, "That's a good boy, yeah, is that enough? Good boy."
"Is that Chrissy Cunningham?" Addison muttered, glancing over at her girlfriend as she fed the dog carefully. "I talked to her boyfriend tonight, seems alright, I guess."
Max hummed, glancing over at the two as she stood up. "Yeah, it is.. that's weird.."
Max brushed herself off, extending her hand for Addison to take. "Can we go back inside now?"
"Ye-" Addison tore her eyes away from the trailer as the door shut behind Chrissy and Eddie. "Yeah, of course. Yeah."
~~
a/n; guys i love laddison's friendship