"It's not fair!" Biana announced as she barged into study hall that afternoon. "It's totally not fair!"
"Miss Vacker!" Mrs. Clarette shouted, glaring daggers at Biana. "If you do not keep your voice down I'll have to give you detention!"
Biana's face turned red as she walked as fast as she could to their table. "It's still not fair," She mumbled as she plopped down in her chair.
"What happened?" Dex asked with a snicker. "Did your subscription to a makeup company get canceled?"
Biana glared at Dex before whispering, "Mrs. Oralie said she wouldn't let me cheer at the game today because she thinks I still have a concussion."
"I mean, you kind of do," Sophie said, biting her lip. "It did happen just yesterday, after all."
Biana huffed. "But I'm totally fine. I can shake my head without getting dizzy now," Biana shook her head super-fast as an example. "See?"
Both Sophie and Dex shrugged their shoulders before continuing their work. Soon, the bell rang and Maruca, Tam, Linh, Keefe and Fitz bolted out of the classroom to get ready for the big game.
"Wait," Sophie said, looking at Dex as they walked out of the classroom. "Why aren't you going?" She asked. "I thought you played in the band."
Dex laughed. "I did, but I quit. It just got really time-consuming."
Sophie nodded before turning to Biana. "Do you know if Marella's coming to the game?" Marella hadn't come to school today because she apparently had a big fight with her parents about going to the game.
Biana shrugged. "I don't know, but Linh told me that Jensi's not coming because he's sick."
Sophie bit her lip. "I hope he's okay," She said. "But I guess it'll just be us three—unless Marella shows up."
Biana nodded as the three of them walked outside to wait for their rides. "But you guys, it's imperative that we all go to the game, alright?"
Sophie and Dex shared a look before nodding, then Biana nodded back before she spotted Della's car and got in.
"You're riding home with me, right?" Sophie asked Dex as she noticed Edaline's car. They'd talked about the plan yesterday, but not in detail.
Dex nodded. "Yep—my parents can't come because they have to be at Lex and Rex's soccer game."
"Oh," Sophie nodded before the two of them got in Edaline's car and drove to Sophie's house in complete silence.
§§§
"But why was it super imperative that we came?" Sophie asked Biana as the three of them weaved their way through people to get to their seat. "I mean—we were going to come anyway, but what was with the extra text you sent us when we got home?"
Biana rolled her eyes as they sat down. "Because, this is the playoffs. It's super important for us to be here Fitz and Keefe,"
Dex smiled at Sophie as he sat next to her, holding cheesy-fries in his hand. "And the concessions are excellent,"
"Which isn't the point," Biana said, shooting a glare at Dex
"Yeah...which totally isn't the point," Dex said, looking away from Biana and hiding the fries behind his back.
"Did you ask to see if Marella was coming?" Sophie asked, turning to Biana.
Biana thought for a second. "She said she might be able to make it,"
Sophie nodded before looking out onto the football field. Sophie looked to see the other team, Exilium. They all looked pretty hardcore, so Sophie wasn't sure she could believe what Keefe and Fitz had said yesterday about them winning.
After a few minutes of talking—and sharing those cheesy fries with Dex—they were about to go back up to the concession-stand to load-up on snacks, but stopped when Biana shrieked, "You made it!"
Sophie and Dex looked over and saw Biana hugging Marella.
"Yeah," Marella said, sitting down on the other side of Biana. "I snuck out of the window; if they notice that I'm gone—"
She was cut off by a giant horn, and suddenly Mr. Forkle's voice rang throughout the stadium.
"Thank you for joining us for another night at the Foxfire stadium—I must remind you to stay off the field during the entirety of the game, and that you will be kicked out if you use profanity in any way."
"Wait," Marella said, looking at Biana. "Aren't you supposed to be cheering?" Then she turned to Dex. "And aren't you supposed to be playing an instrument?"
Dex laughed. "Nope, I quit today! I am officially not a band nerd,"
Sophie laughed before Marella nodded and turned to Biana and asked, "Well, what about you?"
Biana's cheeks got red as she explained the over exaggerated concussion she'd gotten the day before. "And I feel super bad because I wanted to cheer for the boys. They're really going to need it tonight."
Sophie smiled at Biana. "Well, you can still cheer for them in the stands,"
Biana smiled and opened her mouth to say something, but was stopped by another horn, followed by Mr. Forkle's voice: "Our Foxfire Tigers will be playing the Exilium Gremlins. Now, joining us to sing the National Anthem will be our senior line-backer, Keefe Sencen,"
A few people laughed, others cheered, and Sophie exclaimed, "What?!"
As Keefe left from his spot on the sidelines and into the middle of the field, Biana cocked her head. "Keefe didn't tell you?"
Sophie shook her head. "He told all of you?"
Marella, Dex, and Biana all nodded, and Sophie slumped her shoulders as she put her hand over her heart before turning her attention to Keefe.
He was dressed in his shoulder pads and jersey—he didn't look like he could sing the National Anthem. But when the music started and Keefe's mouth opened, Sophie felt like she was going to cry.
It was most definitely the greatest thing she'd ever head.
As the song ended with, "...and the home of the brave!" Everyone—from both sides—cheered as loud as they could, and Sophie restrained herself from running to the middle of the field and wrapping Keefe in a big hug to tell him how awesome he'd done.
When Keefe walked back to the sidelines, his eyes met with Sophie's, and Sophie made sure to give him two thumbs up. Keefe smiled, and only a few moments later the game started.
§§§
"Go, go, go!" Sophie and Biana both stood up in the stands as they watched Fitz run across the field with the ball in his hands. "Come on!"
"I can't believe they're so into this stuff," Dex said from behind them.
"I know right," Marella said. "I mean, it's just a game."
Biana whipped around. Sophie couldn't see her facial expression, but from her tone of voice, Sophie could tell she was definitely glaring at the two of them. "Just a game!? This is the playoffs, there's no such thing as 'just a game' you little stooges. Now, if you—"
"Biana!" Sophie shrieked as Fitz made a touchdown and the whole Foxfire side cheered with joy. "He did it!"
Biana's face exploded with joy as she jumped up and down. "Yes! Yes! Yes!"
"And that's the game!" Mr. Forkle said over the cheering fans as the scoreboard buzzer went off. "Twenty-nine to twenty-seven! Foxfire wins!"
The cheering got even louder as fans started trickling down to the field. "Come on!" Biana said, grabbing Sophie's hand and dragging her down the stands and onto the field.
The football players were in their huddle, but Sophie and Biana found a kneeling Keefe and Fitz right away. They were both super sweaty and their faces were flushed, but they both had goofy grins plastered on their faces.
After a ten minute speech from their coach they all yelled, "Go Tigers!" before they dispersed.
Sophie and Biana both ran up to Fitz and tackled him with a hug to the ground. "We won!" They both yelled.
"Wow," Keefe said, laughing at the three of them on the ground. "Maybe you girls should try out for the football team next year. You could take our spots."
"No way," Biana said, getting up and helping Sophie off the ground, leaving Fitz there. "I'll stick with cheer."
Sophie laughed as Fitz got up from the ground and pulled Sophie into a hug. "You did great," She told him as she looked up at him. "I'm very proud,"
"Wait," Biana said, pulling out her phone. "That's so adorable. Stay there and don't move!"
Sophie laughed as Biana took a million pictures of the two of them in that pose. But soon, Marella, Dex, Tam, Linh, and Maruca joined them and all nine of them took pictures together.
"Yep," Biana said with a grin. "These are all going on Instagram,"