It's half time and we're down by 12.
The school we're playing may be from the middle of nowhere but they're huge. A perfect example of country rednecks at their finest.
It's not that we were playing bad, they're just playing better.
The band begins their routine and the squad disperses for a break. I go through the crowd looking for the twins.
At games Saffron stays on the sidelines with me, wearing a little cheer uniform and bossing us around. The twins get to go run and play with the other kids as long as we check in after every quarter.
Ella takes Saffron to the bathroom while I go on the twin hunt, annoyed that they didn't find me.
I pass though jumbles of middle schoolers trying to look cool, taking selfies, and getting involved in pointless drama. Laughing at the thought that this used to be me, I spot Sterling and Sam throwing a football with a few other guys, unaware that it's halftime. As I get closer I notice Silver's nowhere in sight.
Sterling spots me and I see a flash of panic in his face before he replaces it with a smile. A forced and very fake smile.
"Where's your brother?" I ask, giving both of them a hug.
"In the locker room, probably getting his ass chewed right now." He offers.
Smartass
"I meant your other brother." I deadpan.
False surprise lights up his face. "Oh that one. He's in the-"
"Bathroom." Sam finishes for him hurriedly.
I raise a brow at them, neither one willing to met my eye. "Ok, I'm gonna go look for him."
Their eyes bulge out of their heads.
"Why would you do that?" Sterling asks, trying to step in front of me.
I step around him, "Because it's a privilege for you two to be allowed to roam at these games and if I don't see both of you after every quarter then you'll lose that's privilege. Now stay here while I walk around."
He tries to go after me again but Sam holds him back, a pained expression on his face. I walk towards the bathroom with a new purpose. What is up with those three and their secrets? Never before have they tried to hide something from me. I make a mental note to talk to Sage about it later.
As I near the bathroom movement catches my eye from underneath the bleachers. I look to find what appears to be Silver sitting next to another person deep in conversation. The pair close together to keep others from hearing.
"Silver Sea, is that you?" I demand, walking towards the figures. Yes, I brought out the middle name.
They stop moving and my brother looks back at me, I can hear his shocked gasp from here. "Hey, Scarlett."
He walks towards me, his hair slightly messed up. The other kid stands up and I recognize him to be Wilson, the same kid Sterling swears hit Silver on purpose.
"What are you doing here?" I ask him. Taking note of how he chews on his thumb, something he only does when he's nervous.
"I went to the bathroom and then Wilson and I just got to... talking." He says, sounding a little confused with his own statement. Wilson only offers me a smile.
I honestly have no idea what to think about this. The stories matched up but they could've texted or done the freaky twin thingy.
"Well you missed check in and I got worried." I inform him, not letting it show that I think something's off. "You know the deal, you and Sterling are supposed to stay together."
I'm starting to sound like my mother. I'm 90% sure she had a conversation with Sage and I just like this a few years ago.
Silver walks up and gives me a hug, I sniff him to make sure he doesn't smell like anything he shouldn't. He's clean. "Of course sis, I just got sidetracked."
I eye the pair one last time before before leading Silver back to his brother, no way I'm leaving him alone. There's only a few minutes left in halftime and the players are stretching on the field.
I don't voice my concern to Stella, who's waiting by the fence. She'll just mention something to her parents about Sam being involved. I love the Hollins but her mom's Korean and she does not mess around. Especially when it comes to her kids misbehaving. I'm scared of her and she's not even in charge of me.
We watch the team get warmed back up, thankfully there seems to be a new found spark in their step. I can only imagine the ass chewing they got in the locker room. We need a strong two quarters to makeup for lost time.
I notice Sage, sporting the number 15, his rally jog going as he runs to the back of the line. He's one of the only Sophomores who dresses varsity, let alone plays.
Next to him is Ashton, wearing number 25 with a terrifying glare in place. It seems someone's not a good loser. He catches my eye and I prepare for the glare to deepen or for the bird to be sent my way. Instead he winks at me, a small smirk replacing the glare.
I shake my pom-poms and roll my eyes, ignoring the flustered flutter of my stomach. I hate to admit it but he's not that bad of a player, he had one small error but I think it was nerves.
"And to think, you're oblivious." Stella mutters, tightening her ponytail.
I frown at her. "Shouldn't you be happy? After all, you would love to date him."
She shrugs, "That was before I saw how intensely he was into you. Besides, I'm interested in someone else." She sighs, watching James run down the field wearing number 29.
I blink at her statement, wondering how someone so smart could be so stupid. "It won't last Stel, eventually he'll move on." Stating out loud the thought I've been thinking ever since the locker room Monday afternoon. And as for the other person she's interested in, unless a miracle happens, she'll still be single.
The feud between Avery and Stella officially happened over a t-shirt but Avery knew about her interest in James. My cousin doesn't like competition, hence her entire hatred for me.
She clicks her tongue as the buzzer rings, sounding the end of half time. "He'll only get away if you let him Scar, and even then I don't think it will be enough."
Madison begins herding us back into our spots, cutting us off from any further debate. Why does every person seem convinced that I'm wrong? I've lived this life for two years, I know exactly how people react when they find out.
*****
In the last ten seconds of the game, we have the ball and have a lead of three points. One wrong move and we could lose everything.
Ashton makes the perfect throw to Sage. Who runs down the field, darting past and jumping over piles of already tackled players. He moves with such grace and poise, almost like a dance that should be impossible for someone his height.
The buzzer rings. We won the game. Holy shit.
We all scream and rush onto the field. I try to find one of the boys, pushing past the walls of jumping teenagers. Eventually I find Sage and give him a huge hug.
"I'm so proud of you." I whisper-shout in his ear.
He played amazing. He had more tackles in the last half of the game then the rest of the team combined.
Ella and Stella find us and I release my brother just in time for Ella to fling herself onto him. I gag a little on pure instinct. Before I can make a smart comment or pry them off each other someone wraps me up in a hug.
The smell of mint fills my nose as I hug Ashton back. "Not too bad Asshole." Even after a game he still manages to smell amazing. I'm pretty sure I smell like garbage at this point.
"You weren't too shabby yourself, Sweetheart." He admits, keeping an arm around me as he releases the hug. I chuckle as I push him, not that he moves much.
For the next 15 minutes I allow myself to enjoy the experience, something I haven't done in a while. Ashton keeps his arm around me the entire time, feeling almost natural.
I scold myself, we aren't a couple. If anything, we're far from it.
I remove his arm from around me and head to find Saffron. He follows but thankfully doesn't try to touch me again. I find her on the sideline bench, sitting patiently with a playbook in her hand.
I smile at the confused scrunch in her brow as she scans through the pages.
"Hey, Squirt, you ready?" I call, getting her attention.
She hops off the bench and runs towards us, a big smile on her face. "You did play 22." She informs Ashton as she jumps into my arms.
He blinks his eyes in surprise, "Yes, we did little miss." I know for a fact that was the final play they ran. It's Sage's favorite.
Saffron smiles to herself, proud for noticing such details. How she was able to recognize that from a book with X's and O's at her age, I have no idea. It took me years to understand playbooks and I had dads help.
We're joined by the rest of our crew and Saffron climbs onto Sages shoulders as we all walk to the cars, not bothered by his sweaty hair.
"Hey, Stella!" James calls, running up to us. We all stare awkwardly at him, Avery nowhere in sight. "There's a party being held at Gabe Kline's house, you're all welcome to come." He says with a warm smile on his face before walking away.
"How is he dating that evil queen?" Sage asks, using the nickname Saffron gave Avery a while ago. She was very into Snow White at the time.
"Who knows." I say, not wanting to talk about Avery. "More importantly, what's he doing singling you out, dear Stella?"
I wiggle my eyebrows and she blushes. Stella rarely blushes, for a while we thought she wasn't human. "Nothing, we just got to talking during the pep rally. He's funny."
I chuckle, knowing she's mentally freaking out. Still doesn't defeat the fact that he currently has a girlfriend but I let it slide.
"Let's go." Ella says, taking us off guard. She never volunteers to go to parties.
"I'm down." Stella confirms, her eyes darting back to James retreating figure.
Everyone stops and looks at me. It's already 11:30, I didn't realized the game ran that late. I look up at Saffron to see her starting to doze off on Sage's shoulders. Sterling bouncing his leg, a tell that he's ready to crash. I can't leave them alone tonight.
"I don't think so, the kids are tired and it's almost midnight." Not to mention the fact that going to a party with a bunch of people I don't like sounds like torture. "I think we're just gonna head home."
I take Saffron from Sage and go put her in her car seat while everyone says goodbye.
"Are you sure you can't just drop them off then go?" Ashton asks, leaning up against the car door, watching as I buckle Saffron in.
I sigh, ignoring his close proximity. "I'm sure, we have a curfew and I'm pretty tired." His face falls and I feel bad for lying. "Who knew cheering for your sorry butt could be such hard work?" I wink, trying to change his mood and divert any more questions.
"Last I heard, you thought my butt was in pretty good shape." He says, referring to our texts this morning.
I close the door and signal to my brothers that it's time to go. "You shouldn't believe everything you hear Mister McClain." I chastise, nudging him with my elbow. Although, not gonna lie, Ashton definitely has a nice butt.
We stay silent for a few moments and I realize I have to go, now everyone's waiting on me. "Have fun at the party." I tell him, "Maybe I'll catch the next one."
Another lie. I've haven't been to a party since freshman year and I don't plan on going now.
"Goodnight Sweetheart." Ashton says pulling me into a quick hug before he walks off to his own car, whistling as he goes. Honestly, I have no idea what just happened but I'm glad Stella and Ella weren't here to see it. I'd never hear the end of their taunting.
By the time we get on the main road Saffron and Sterling are asleep and Silvers not too far behind. I wish I could sleep as easily as they do. Instead I watch as the streetlights pass over their faces, making them seem angelic in the night.
*****
As I get ready for bed I wonder how the party's going. Maybe it was a mistake to skip out. Stella texts me.
Stella
Ash is here but he seems bored.
I stop myself from further wondering. Never in the past two years have I regretted skipping out on a party. No boy, no matter how cute or annoying he may be, can suddenly change my mind.
Scar
Is he talking to anyone?
Stella
Not really, a few girls have walked up to him. He doesn't keep them around long.
Weird. Ashton loves two things, talking and flirting. A party is the perfect place for him to flourish. After I turn my lights out my phone gets a text.
Stella
Ash just left.
*****
Where did Ashton go? Go read Life in Search to find out. Plus read the interesting conversation he shares with James to learn more about #Jella
Also, pay attention to Gabe kids because I promise he'll become the love of your life!!
I hope you guys like this chapter.
XO-Mo