A Month To Live - Extras

The Away Game

1 year before A Month to Live

I really hated how the cheerleaders forced us to wear face paint. I mean, I didn’t care if they put it on us after the game, but before was just plain stupid. As soon as we started playing and sweating even a little, the paint ran into our eyes. I’d complained a lot about this before but they ignored my grumblings and here I was looking like a moronic red-faced football player. Actually, that was exactly what I was.

‘Stop scowling like that,’ George said, turning around in his seat and attempting to mess up my hair. ‘You’ll get no female attention if you walk around with a moody face all the time.’

‘I don’t want female attention,’ I growled back. ‘And who the hell thinks looking like Carrie on prom night is hot anyway?’

‘No one gives a shit what you look like, football players always get ladies,’ George shrugged.

‘You are aware that we’re playing an away game, right? No girl here will touch you with a ten foot pole. That’s like... betraying their own school.’

‘Our rivalry is stupid anyway,’ George sighed. ‘People from Northbrooke suck ass. Richmond is clearly superior.’

‘People like you are literally the reason the rivalry exists,’ I snorted.

‘Bradley... I’m just trying to show some town pride or whatever. Richmond’s a pretty great place.’

‘That’s a biased opinion you have,’ I pointed out. ‘We’ve never lived anywhere else!’

I glanced out the bus window with a frown. We were close now. Northbrooke was only a couple of towns over and we were almost at the school already. I’d been there once before – not to play a game but because mom had wanted us to enrol at the best high school around. She was pretty invested in our education to say the least. For a long time, she’d even considered moving us out of Richmond and to Northbrooke instead but... well no talk of moving was ever mentioned again after she died last year. We just moved to a different house in Richmond and that was the end of that conversation. I wasn’t opposed to his decision. Losing mom and then moving away from everyone we knew wouldn’t have been in our best interests.

‘Why do you suddenly look very much like you don’t want to be here?’ George asked.

‘I do,’ I said, trying to shake it off. ‘I’m good.’

He opened his mouth to say something else but was cut off at a loud laugh from one of the cheerleaders who was attempting to paint Jacob's face but was low on anymore red. Damnit, why couldn’t they have run out of paint before they got to my face? I’d offered to go first just to get it out of the way. Man I was stupid sometimes.

‘I know Remi was pissed that she didn’t get on the cheerleading squad but shit I think that’s a good thing,’ George said in an undertone. ‘I’m just imagining you now scowling at every guy that so much as looks at her.’

‘Yeah, well, she’s not exactly the best decision maker recently,’ I muttered, stretching my legs out under George’s seat with a sigh.

‘She still off the rails?’ George asked. He went on without waiting for a reply. ‘I get it. It’s been a shit year. She has realised the fragility of life. Too deep?’ he added at my raised eyebrow. ‘She’ll calm down eventually. Anyway, I prefer her being a little wild than you being a moody hermit.’

‘I’m not a hermit. I’m socialising right now,’ I pointed out.

‘At an organised school event,’ George snorted. ‘Just saying, maybe you need to live a little like Remi.’