Stuck Between The Pages

Chapter Nine

CHAPTER NINE: QUARTERBACK

Give a nerd enough time and a door he can close and he can figure out pretty much anything.
-Lev Grossman

Robin's

Of course I knew how busy football games would be, especially one where our team played at our school instead of having to drive to another one, and normally I don't really care.

Crowds don't bother me that much.

Which is the opposite of Nell, who glared and scowled at everything and I had to stop her from cursing out a group of ten year old boys who tripped her. It's times like this I'm grateful I'm a extrovert.

So yeah, I knew what football games were like.

But before now, I never had to stop and think about how the football players and the cheerleaders mingled at half time. How the head cheerleader and the quarterback always talked to each other about one thing or that.

Keagan even told me he told January- -January Smoak to be exact, who I consider probably the most popular, nicest, beautiful girl in the entire school- -what cheers he wants to hear, what ones he thinks will boost the guy's morals.

He didn't talk about her a lot, didn't even say her name just that one cheerleader who acts like she's in charge. It's like he didn't care at all.

I don't understand how he can do that -selectively choose who to care about.

Choose when to smirk, when to act all cocky and smug and like the typical jock I'm half sure he still in, in some ways. 

It's unmistakable in the rough was him and Nell wrestle and argue whenever they're left alone for too long, or how he smacks the boys I only know as 'the real Kurt and Ram' around whenever they get too close to him or try to talk to him in the halls.

But then there's also moments where Keagan's also soft, like when he talks to my little brother or wants his cuddles. When he's smiling while doing math or just listening to me and Nell talk when we're in the library, like he couldn't be bothered to pitch in but still content.

He's just confusing.

And got so, so excited just at the simple act of me and Nell coming to one of his games.

Keagan's just a big, bilingual puppy who's been ignored for too long.

Which is a little sad to me, given even I judged him based off the school rumors of him and his best friend, of assumptions everyone made about him I blindly agreed with.

Given that, it doesn't make sense to me when I want the stupid cheerleader to go back to ignoring Keagan. I don't like it.

Able to tell that, Nell's currently laughing at me but I can't tell her to fuck off, since she's the one telling me what's going on and if Keagan's actually winning or not.

"She's not even being annoying." My best friend snickers out, elbowing me lightly in the arm. "You really need to get your shit together, you're so emotionally constipated that it's laughable."

I huff, crossing my arms over my chest. "I'm not emotionally constipated, and I am figuring everything out. It's just...confusing."

"Because of the poet." Sounding more than sour, Nell rolls her eyes at me.

"Why are you so salty?" Poking her side, I raise an eyebrow at her. "You've always liked him."

Nell shrugs. "I do like him. He's just making things difficult."