To Live By

Chapter 5

‘I hate arriving at the game late’ I thought as I ran through the parking lot on my way to the football grounds. The game hasn’t started but they have already announced the players and trying to find a parking spot has been almost unbearable. I finally found one on the other side of the lot.

As I get to the ticket line I groan at the amount of people waiting to get their tickets. Ok next year when they offer season tickets to all the games I am buying them. I can’t help but think this has to be the slowest line ever. I thought as I sit here 10 minutes later waiting for my turn in line. I hear them start the national anthem which means the game will be starting any minute. I let out a frustrated sigh knowing there isn’t anything else I can do but wait.

I get my tickets and finally make it through the front gate right after kickoff. We kicked off first so I at least have some time before Zack gets on the field. I run over to the snack bar for a hotdog and then head to find a seat. I find one that’s just a few rows from the front of the stands.

I start eating my hotdog and watching the game when suddenly I saw David out of the corner of my eye. It looked like he was walking through the stands stopping and talking to a few parents. To an average person he would look like a person just interested in getting to know the parents of his students but if I was a betting person I would say that he is just working his way to talk with me and didn’t want to make it look obvious, or maybe I just have an overactive imagination. I noticed he stopped and sat next to a couple and I breathed out a sigh of relief. I decided to go back to focusing on the game and leave David to do his own thing.

It was time for Zack to take the field and as always I was on my feet cheering. They got all the way to the other end of the field but had to kick a field goal making the score 3 to 0 with the Ravenwood High School Knights in the lead. The first quarter went slow with not much scoring. We were going into the second quarter when a shadow stops in front of me. I look up and gasp as I come face to face with David. “Hello” he says with a smile. “Hi” I smiled back at him. “I was on my way over to say hi but kept getting stopped by the parents. I always try to talk with the parents while the games are going on.” He said with a satisfied smile. “Oh really...I don’t remember seeing you at any of the games last year.” I said with a smirk. “It’s something I thought I would start this year.” he said with a mimicking smirk.

“Are you enjoying the game?” he asked.

“Honestly, I have always looked forward to watching the games. Last year I made it to all the games and I hope to do the same this year. It’s just something about high school football that makes you want to get into school spirit. It also helps that Zack is the starting quarterback this year so he plays a lot more.” I said with a huge proud smile.

“Zack is doing well. I talked with the coach the other day about him. He said all good things. We are looking forward to great things from him this year.” he said as he sat down next to me.

“I am glad and Zack seems to have a lot of respect for Coach Johnson. Zack liked him last year as a defensive coach and was ecstatic that he became the head coach this year. We expect great thing from all of our boys out there.” I smiled looking at Zack sitting on the bench.

“Tell me...” David started to say but one of our boys intercepted the ball and the crowd went wild. I couldn’t hear anything if he did finish the sentence because I was up on my feet cheering as well. With the interception now it was time for Zack to play. I watched and he led his team down the field towards the end zone. All of the sudden I watched as Zack launched the ball into the end zone. I felt like I was in one of those movies where everything was happening in slow motion. I watched as the ball dropped into the hands of our receiver resulting in a touchdown. I was so excited I jumped into David's arms hugging him as we both jumped up and down. Once I realized what I did I stepped away. “Sorry I get carried away when it comes to these games.” I said a little embarrassed. “You can jump into my arms anytime.” he said with a wink. If possible I blushed a little more. A few minutes later David said his goodbye so he could continue meeting the parents and playing the part of an involved principal. The game continued with every bit of excitement.