Homecoming had started off much better than I had expected. I had skipped the pep rally and the parade to spare myself the torture of seeing Juice Williams prance around with someone else. While in bed sulking or taking my pre-game nap—depending on who asked—Faith had called. She'd told me how wrong I'd been, demanded I got dressed and headed to the game right away.
As it turned out, Kristen and Faith were voted Solon's first Homecoming Queens, which was why I was sitting in box seats with them. The seats were in an elevated booth behind the stands, adjacent to the game announcers. I probably would've appreciated the great view we had, if I had any interest in football outside of Juice Williams.
I was happy for Faith and Kristen, but he was the reason I didn't mind playing third wheel in the booth. I was too elated that they beat him in votes to care. It meant he hadn't been nestled up to someone who wasn't me for a parade and wouldn't be for the dance. He obviously couldn't have sat in the booth since he was playing in the game.
I shouldn't have been in the booth either. Usually the seats were reserved for parents of Homecoming royalty, but Faith's couldn't make it. Kristen's didn't show either, but not for lack of effort. Unbeknownst to Faith, the reason for their absence was simply because Kristen was cooler than I'd previously given her credit for.
That coolness didn't extend to fashion. There, she was still a cutthroat elitist. Faith was wearing a self-made rose gold dress covered with chrome sequins, rhinestones and plated patterns to create a spiraling design of what looked like broken glass. It was one of her edgier creations, but it worked out. There wasn't much she couldn't get away with.
Kristen, on the other hand, played it safe, as in straight out of the vault, safe. She was wearing a ludicrously expensive bespoke gown that was sewn in different shades of purple to contour the curves of her body. Without question, it was the better dress of the two, but it was overkill for Homecoming.
I was a peasant in comparison. I wore a slate gray, three-piece suit that Mom had bought a while back for an absolute steal. She'd been passing through a city out in Illinois while an anchor store of a mall was having a 'lights out' liquidation sale. It truly was my gain. Most clothes long enough to fit me were often too wide. This suit fit perfectly and the padding of the jacket made my shoulders look broad.
Homecoming was always the most attended game of the year. By kickoff, the stands were packed with students and parents wearing red in support of Solon. There wasn't an empty seat, not one. People were forced to watch from the area around the stands on both sides. With Juice Williams behind the ball, the Solon Spartans got off to an early lead.
The crowd was raucous from his very first snap. They were facing our rival school out of West Branch, who wore green. The game's lack of competitiveness reminded me of the last time I had taken the field with Jerri to play soccer. I could only hope this night would find its way toward a similar ending.
By halftime, there was no light left in the sky or the eyes of our foes from West Branch. The game was firmly out of reach at 42-0 and the night had grown cold—which was another reason for me to have been thankful for my booth seat—but nowhere near as cold as Juice Williams and the Solon coaching staff.
They returned to the field intent on running up the score. Juice needed footage for football scouts and he wasn't going to get it by pumping the brakes. He'd told me as much once when I suggested he make small talk while I was snake-charming. My light banter fantasy was still a work in progress. We were short on tender moments shared between us.
"Juice is pretty much out there playing by himself while Coach Ross cheer leads." Faith scoffed and leaned over me to talk to Kristen.
It was their idea for me to sit between them, so I wouldn't feel like a third wheel, but this seemed worse. At least if I'd been off to the side, I wouldn't have had to hear the conversations I wasn't a part of. While trying not to mind, I found myself paying more attention to the game than I ever would have.
We were up 63-0 going into the fourth quarter. Juice was a shoe-in for MVP, but our coach's unorthodox style had to be credited as well. Our team only kicked onside, never punted and only threw passes, except if Juice ran it himself. It seemed limiting, but West Branch couldn't figure out a way to stop it, nor could the teams before them.
The Spartans were undefeated, which likely played a role in how packed the stands were. That was probably why I hadn't seen Saylor, even though I knew he was swimming through the crowd taking photos for yearbook inclusion. The yearbook had to have at least one photo of every student outside of team and class photos.
"Holy shit, I thought this game would never end," Kristen said, "last play, time to freshen up."
She started gathering her things to leave, as did Faith. It was customary for Homecoming royalty to be 'played off' to the gym by the marching band after the game. It seemed a bit ridiculous to praise a couple merely for being popular rather than the team that sweat it out for the last two hours.
Juice Williams took the final snap and dropped back for a pass. A defender broke through right away, but he stutter stepped and sent them falling flat on their face. They bit so hard on the fake that it looked like their soul had left their body. Juice rolled out to his left because the defense was weaker there.
He was ambidextrous, so he could've went either way. He threw such a convincing pump fake that the last defender tailing him turned completely around. That left him an opening to take the ball in himself. Without question, he scored the touchdown on foot. We won 84-3. Juice threw eight touchdowns and ran three in himself.
I knew Juice had to be elated from his performance and since I had nothing better to do than watch the entire thing, I wanted him to know how amazed and attentive I was. I turned to Faith for permission to leave, which couldn't have been granted faster. I hugged her and left the box.
The stands were still full because fans follow the marching band out to the field to prevent them from storming early. The band sat in the back of the stands, not too far from the box, so I huddled up close to some girls who were in color guard and followed them down to the sidelines. We watched as the line of green uniforms slapped hands with our line of red ones.
Once the last green player stepped a foot across the sideline, a round of horns played and sticks hit drums as the band marched onto the field. I followed as closely as I could without being confused as part of the act and as soon as the first wave of fans crossed onto the field, I went off in search of Juice.
I had doubts about approaching him in a public setting, but this seemed like a natural first step toward at least becoming friends in public. It was low risk. The thick of the crowd would make it impossible for anyone to prove our meeting was anything other than coincidence. I shoved through the crowd to make up the ground I'd lost when the first wave pushed past the marching band.
The football players were center field. Coach Ross had finished their post game huddle and seemed content with letting them mingle before they hit the locker rooms. At least that was the case for everyone other than his star player. I visibly deflated when I saw Juice jogging in between coach Ross and an assistant coach, across the track that encircled the football field.
The marching band fell into two formations, parting the crowded field like a sea, for the Homecoming Queens to journey through. Despite spending the last couple hours with them, I couldn't take my eyes off them as they walked arm-in-arm toward the gymnasium where the dance was to be held.
They were both so elegant and stunning. Kristen was pure class. She sauntered across the field with grace befitting a queen. Faith wasn't as used to the limelight or as conceited, so she was fortunate to have Kristen there to keep her in step. There wasn't anything official between them yet, but I couldn't help wondering what kind of dynamic they'd have.
Before the paint party, I'd have bet on Faith dominating the relationship, but ever since she'd acquiesced to Kristen's influence, I couldn't be sure. If she could compromise that much with her as an enemy, there was no limit to how much she could as her girlfriend.
I kept shoving my way toward the channel in the crowd, but I wasn't having much luck. I had to switch tactics. I decided I'd cut them off by moving away from the crowd and running ahead. I knew where they were headed, so I chanced it. I jogged away from the field, the crowd and the marching band. I ran across the black asphalt track toward the fence that surrounded it, the one that prevented people from coming to games without paying admission.
It was dark at that section of track since it was away from the lights, but I knew of a small gap between fence posts that I could fit through. It'd ensure I caught up with Faith. She was my consolation prize since Juice was firmly out of reach. I wanted to get to her before Saylor, so he'd have to drop in on us, rather than me on them.
I saw the gap and slowed to catch my breath. Running in a suit was tiring and the cool nighttime air was heavy in my lungs. I was also in worse running shape than I cared to admit. My head started throbbing, so I came to a stop. I figured I was dehydrated. I hadn't drank anything since before the game.
My chest heaved less and less, but the burning pain in my head worsened. I heard footsteps approach from behind and turned around. Before I could make out whose they were, the left side of my face was seared with an intense pain that doubled me over. It felt like my eye and the skin around it had split like ground during an earthquake. I knuckled my eye, but a hand grabbed my wrist, stopping me.
The pain started to subside, but nowhere near fast enough to avoid blacking out.