sister who tries and fails to make it right.
The heat from the flames causes a light sheen of sweat to cover my forehead. If I wasn’t dating Sam I think burning the Skyhawk flag would be more satisfying. I have to keep reminding myself of Jacoby’s broken leg, his jersey, my missing jersey, and our beat up locker room. Watching the evil bird go up in flames on their football field actually feels pretty good when I focus on all the shit they’ve done to us.
“Ah…it’s a beautiful thing,” Fredrickson says, taking off his Braves cap and holding it over his heart. I slug him hard in the arm for being a dink.
“All right guys,” Daniels calls from the end of the Trojan line, “time to check out.”
My brow furrows and I gesture to the flagpole up in smoke. “We aren’t gonna put it out?” Because damn, if we set the whole school on fire we’re facing a whole lot more jail time.
“Don’t worry, Koontz. They’ll find it before it spreads.”
Daniels leads the way off the field over to the girls who’ve lined the home bleachers with maple syrup. That really knots my gut because Sam sits here. And if she brought Josh, he’d sit here, too. I feel like I’m not just attacking the team anymore, but people who had nothing to do with the locker room trash.
“That’s the last bottle,” Charly says with a final squeeze of the Mrs. Butterworth’s. Erica hip-checks her, then jumps from the third row onto Fredrickson’s back. She plants a kiss on his cheek and steals his hat from his head.
“Let’s get out of here,” she says, and Fredrickson nearly topples over to get her to the parking lot, but a flash of headlights stops him halfway.
“Guys, go out the back gate!” he yells, pushing Erica off him and shoving her toward the other end. “Now, guys! Now !”
I don’t know if it’s the cops or the Skyhawks, but either way, I don’t want to find out. The guys find their girls and help them off the bleachers, and the other half of the team bolts to the fence. I’m one of the fastest runners, but my feet stop when I hear my name shouted across the field.
“Tyler!” Charly calls out from the middle row. She’s getting stuck in her own syrup mess, and I backtrack to help her out of it. We end up slipping her from her shoe, she climbs on my back, and I hop down to the field. Then we’re both on the ground running.
Woods clears the fence first, and he and Daniels help the girls up and over. Erica and Charly are the last ones, and then the team scrambles as a rush of Skyhawks flood the field.
It’s not just football players. I can tell by the size of the crowd and some stupid part of me wonders if Sam is out there. But she’s with Josh tonight, and I try to remember that as I leap up, wrap my fingers around the chain link, and hoist myself to the other side.
“Girls, you need to run!” I yell, because I know the guys are gonna wait till we’re all in the clear, but the girls need to get the hell out of here.
Fredrickson and Young are halfway up the chain link when the Skyhawks reach them. Young manages a kick to a linebacker’s face before climbing out of reach. But Fredrickson gets a hand wrapped around his ankle, and he’s tugged back into the crowd. Immediately I’m up against the fence, and I’m not the only one.
“Get the hell off him!” Daniels shouts, drowning out the obscenities I’m throwing, along with Woods and Gunderson. Erica’s screaming and crying, and I can’t even get pissed at her for not running the hell away because I’m sure Sam would’ve stayed if it was me.
The Skyhawk quarterback locks Fredrickson in an arm-bar and pulls, and we all know if he pulls anymore it’ll snap. It gets quiet on our side of the fence, and eventually the Skyhawks quiet down, too.
“Let him go,” Erica croaks. Charly puts a hand on her shoulder, but she shrugs it off. “ Please .”
“You gonna clean up that shit you just pulled?” the quarterback spits, then
The heat from the flames causes a light sheen of sweat to cover my forehead. If I wasn’t dating Sam I think burning the Skyhawk flag would be more satisfying. I have to keep reminding myself of Jacoby’s broken leg, his jersey, my missing jersey, and our beat up locker room. Watching the evil bird go up in flames on their football field actually feels pretty good when I focus on all the shit they’ve done to us.
“Ah…it’s a beautiful thing,” Fredrickson says, taking off his Braves cap and holding it over his heart. I slug him hard in the arm for being a dink.
“All right guys,” Daniels calls from the end of the Trojan line, “time to check out.”
My brow furrows and I gesture to the flagpole up in smoke. “We aren’t gonna put it out?” Because damn, if we set the whole school on fire we’re facing a whole lot more jail time.
“Don’t worry, Koontz. They’ll find it before it spreads.”
Daniels leads the way off the field over to the girls who’ve lined the home bleachers with maple syrup. That really knots my gut because Sam sits here. And if she brought Josh, he’d sit here, too. I feel like I’m not just attacking the team anymore, but people who had nothing to do with the locker room trash.
“That’s the last bottle,” Charly says with a final squeeze of the Mrs. Butterworth’s. Erica hip-checks her, then jumps from the third row onto Fredrickson’s back. She plants a kiss on his cheek and steals his hat from his head.
“Let’s get out of here,” she says, and Fredrickson nearly topples over to get her to the parking lot, but a flash of headlights stops him halfway.
“Guys, go out the back gate!” he yells, pushing Erica off him and shoving her toward the other end. “Now, guys! Now !”
I don’t know if it’s the cops or the Skyhawks, but either way, I don’t want to find out. The guys find their girls and help them off the bleachers, and the other half of the team bolts to the fence. I’m one of the fastest runners, but my feet stop when I hear my name shouted across the field.
“Tyler!” Charly calls out from the middle row. She’s getting stuck in her own syrup mess, and I backtrack to help her out of it. We end up slipping her from her shoe, she climbs on my back, and I hop down to the field. Then we’re both on the ground running.
Woods clears the fence first, and he and Daniels help the girls up and over. Erica and Charly are the last ones, and then the team scrambles as a rush of Skyhawks flood the field.
It’s not just football players. I can tell by the size of the crowd and some stupid part of me wonders if Sam is out there. But she’s with Josh tonight, and I try to remember that as I leap up, wrap my fingers around the chain link, and hoist myself to the other side.
“Girls, you need to run!” I yell, because I know the guys are gonna wait till we’re all in the clear, but the girls need to get the hell out of here.
Fredrickson and Young are halfway up the chain link when the Skyhawks reach them. Young manages a kick to a linebacker’s face before climbing out of reach. But Fredrickson gets a hand wrapped around his ankle, and he’s tugged back into the crowd. Immediately I’m up against the fence, and I’m not the only one.
“Get the hell off him!” Daniels shouts, drowning out the obscenities I’m throwing, along with Woods and Gunderson. Erica’s screaming and crying, and I can’t even get pissed at her for not running the hell away because I’m sure Sam would’ve stayed if it was me.
The Skyhawk quarterback locks Fredrickson in an arm-bar and pulls, and we all know if he pulls anymore it’ll snap. It gets quiet on our side of the fence, and eventually the Skyhawks quiet down, too.
“Let him go,” Erica croaks. Charly puts a hand on her shoulder, but she shrugs it off. “ Please .”
“You gonna clean up that shit you just pulled?” the quarterback spits, then
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