Chapter 1
2 Years and 11 Months Later
The air was warm with a chilly breeze blowing through. It smelled like fresh cut grass and french fries. And for me, there was no better way to spend my Friday night. I've been doing this for years, every game since kindergarten, only ever missing two. One time when I had the flu, and I don't like to speak about the other time, so I'm not going too. Anyways, Mel and I had just gotten here and I took my usual seat: front right corner. I've been sitting in this spot for 13 years and I never plan on getting a new seat. There's a staircase right next to it that leads right through the fence onto the field. The only other entrance is on the end of the field behind the goal post. So, it has the fastest access to the players and the coaches. Basically, it's the perfect seat for me.
“Do you think they'll win?” Mel asked me pulling me away from my train of thought.
“We've been undefeated all season. I'm gonna go with yes.”
We made small talk for the next couple minutes. That was something I've loved about Mel since she moved here freshman year. She was great at making small talk and always knew how to fill the awkward silence, which if not for her, we would have a lot of. Don't get me wrong, Mel is a great friend and she can be a lot of fun, but she can also be super catty and gossipy and just really annoying. Plus, she's always switching from boyfriend to boyfriend. She never sticks with a guy. Ever. And when she is with a guy you never see her. She spends all her time with him. Except for football games, like tonight. She's dating Scotty Mildro right now, but she told him to find someone else to sit with because she was sitting with me and didn't want me to feel like a third wheel. She does this every friday. I try to talk her out of it, but she never listens to me and it's ended multiple relationships so far. Not that she really cares, she'll just get a new guy before school starts the next week.
“Pop” At the sound of an incoming text, we both pulled out our phones.
“Wasn't me”
“It was me.” Just as I expected it was Xander texting me to get ready. The guys would be out in just a minute. A couple minutes later Shawn, his assistant coaches, and the team made their way on field and to their bench. “I'll be back” I told Mel as I got out of my seat. I walked down the short distance to the bench and ran straight to Xander. We had this tradition, before every game, I gave him a pep talk. It was mostly just a whole bunch of shouting and singing to get him excited for the game. I ran up to him and jumped right on his back. He started running around in circles, and we sang “Hall of Fame” by The Script and Will.I.Am. We've been singing that song for years. I don't know when or how it started, but that didn't matter, I just knew that the tradition would live on right up to the last game of football he ever played.
“JONES! ARE YOU READY?!?” I screamed at him as he stopped running around in circles.
“Girrrrl! I was born ready!” Xander assured me in his sassy girl voice.
“Then go run all of them stingray people to the ground!” I was referring to the opposing team. Their mascot was the stingrays, kinda like from Zoey 101.
“I could like, take away their water.”
“Yea. Do that. Take away their water. Whatever gets you a win. NOW GO KILL EM!!!!”
“ALRIGHT!”
I jumped off his back and ran around to the front of him then pulled him into a hug. “Good luck and please be careful.”
“Of course I will. Love you.”
“Love you too. I'll see you later” Then I was pulled out of his arms. I was spun around within seconds.
“Young lady. Shouldn't you be in the stands? No one's allowed on the field except players and cheerleaders.”
“Pft. That rule has never applied to me. No one tells me where I can and can't be round here.”
“Well then at least wish me good luck. With players like Xander here we're gonna need it.” Shawn laughed because anyone would know he was kidding. Xander was a good player. A very good player. Scouts have been after him since freshman year. There was no chance he wouldn't get a scholarship for college.
“Good luck Shawn. Keep these boys in line! They're like wild animals!” With that I went back up to my seat. As much as I loved being down there and messing around with them, they had a game to play, and they needed their head coach and star player.
“You make me feel very lonely” Mel randomly blurted out sometime during the first quarter.
“I do?”
“Yea. Like, just watching you two makes me wish I had a boyfriend. It makes everyone wish they had a boyfriend. Even better, a Xander.”
“He's not even my boyfriend.”
“Exactly. That boy is so in love with you, and you're not even technically a couple.”
“He's not in love with me.”
“Stop being so naive. He would do anything for you.”
“That doesn't mean he's in love with me!”
“He tells you he loves you all the time. Like multiple times a day.”
“We're best friends. All best friends do that. Mel, we do that.”
“But it means so much more when he says it to you. And the way he looks at you. It's so obvious.”
“You are a hopeless romantic. That's all there is to it. You're a hopeless romantic that is now spotting fake relationships. I'm calling a shrink.”
“I don't need a shrink. You need glasses though. Or a seeing eye dog and a cane.”
“What are you even talking about?”
“I'm talking about you and Xander. You're going to get married and you can't even see it.”
“Okay, stop. He's like my brother. It's not happening. End of discussion.”
Xander and I would never be in a romantic relationship. He's my brother, and my best friend. That's it. Mel however, has always thought that we should end up together. Ever since she moved here she's been bugging me about it. She actually thought he was my boyfriend for a few months when she first got here. I quickly corrected her on that.
We won the game. 56-0. The stingrays were terrible. I knew Xander would be upset about the game. Of course, he would be happy he won. But he likes competition. He would rather win 16-15 and say that they barely won, then win 56-0 and say they smoked them. I always liked to know that I demolished the opponents but he was never like that. He was always more laid back when it came to sports. Yea, he was a sports fanatic and sometimes I needed headphones at super bowl parties, but when he played he was super modest about it. He never doubted his skills, but he would also never dwell on them. I always loved that about him, he had a good balance of being competitive and being laid back.
After the game, I went and got the 2 hot chocolates sitting at the concession stand that were always waiting for us. At first I chatted with the lingering parents and students but eventually I got bored, and then sat down back in my seat and read a book on Wattpad while I waited for Xander to come back from getting his shower and changing. I congratulated Shawn right after the game because he left, but I'd always wait until everybody left the stadium and sit at our seats until Xander came out. I was rereading my favorite parts in “My Life With the Walter Boys” when I heard him coming.
He sat down next to me in silence as I put my phone away. I gave him his hot chocolate and laid my head on his shoulder. We stayed like that for a while. Just sitting there, my head on his shoulder and his arm around me. I guess I could see why some people might assume we're a couple but really, we're just comfortable around each other.
After about ten minutes I decided to say something. “You did really awesome.”
“I guess so.”
“You did.”
“It was just too easy. I felt like I was showing off.”
“There's nothing wrong with excelling at something and strutting your stuff sometimes.”
“But the other team was crushed. Did you know they were undefeated? They just had an off night.”
“But you guys are undefeated too.”
“And I'd rather me be upset than them.”
“That's your problem.”
“What is?”
“You're too good of a person.”
“Maybe.”
Then we went back to silence. We stayed for a while until the janitors kicked us out. Xander drove me home. He was my ride everywhere. Every morning I knew to expect that old red pickup truck in my driveway. Although normally, he wasn't in it. He always had breakfast with my mom. They used to invite me, but I was always too lazy to get up early enough. So now on the rare occasions when I am up, my mom doesn't let me join. She says it's her bonding time with her only son. I try to tell her she doesn't have a son, just a daughter, but everyone knows Xander has been a son to her since the day he was born. I'm not jealous or anything. Because his parents are my parents, the same way my mom is his.