wilder days

8. better man

I know I'm probably better off on my own

Than lovin' a man who didn't know

What he had when he had it

And I see the permanent damage you did to me

Never again, I just wish I could forget when it was magic

---

I threw my bag down at the front door and kicked off my slides before plopping face first on the couch. I could hear Kasey and the neighbor kid in the backyard. Suddenly, Justine threw a basketball at my back.

"Ow." I groaned. I flipped over to see my sister with her blonde hair pulled into a ponytail wearing a grey tank top, black shorts, white basketball socks and her white basketball shoes.

"Come play defense on me." She demanded. "We don't have to leave for the football game for another hour."

"Get Kasey to do it." I mumbled, pulling a blanket over my legs and laying down again. "I'm burned. You're crazy if you think I'm going to the football game tonight, you know I don't care about football and I only did because my boyfriend played."

"And you're not broken up yet, so you're coming. It's the first game of the season. It's the red white and blue game, Sam! You love this one!" She pleaded.

"Fine. I'll go to the football game. You're on your own for basketball, though." I yawned. "I'm dead tired."

Justine walked off without another word, and immediately my head filled with a million different thoughts. I wondered what Cash was going to say to me. How late will the football game end? Too late to talk? Will the other soccer girls be there or will I just stand with my sister? Is Via hosting a post-game party? Was Sophia going to be there? What was she going to be wearing? Is she going to look hot? She always looks hot.

I couldn't even process the things I was thinking as I drifted off, finding myself subconsciously dreaming about my brunette co-captain.

---

I woke up 10 minutes before Justine and I had to leave, so I got dressed as quickly as I could and ran out the door. She started going on about some guy in her class looking at her for a little bit too long and how he definitely likes her and she's going to talk to him and blah blah blah. I was reapplying my makeup in the mirror, quickly losing interest in what she had to say.

As we walked up, I clocked a certain brunette. The sight of her made me blush slightly and I was unable to contain a smile as she stepped between my sister and I. She threw her arm around my sister's shoulder as we walked into the stands, the student section beginning to fill up.

"Sammy Sweeney!" I heard my best friend call out my name, turning many heads her way then mine. Raegan lead a group onto the bleachers, and people moved to accommodate all of us.

"You see that?" Sophia whispered in my ear. "Everyone moves for the Sweeney sisters and their friends. You've got everyone in this damn school in a chokehold."

"And I've got you wrapped around my finger." I smirked. Her face went bright red, thankfully Justine didn't notice. She was too busy talking to Lexi, who was on the other side of her.

"Damn right." Sophia whispered. Her arm brushed against mine as she turned to talk to my sister, giving me goosebumps all the way down my arm. I turned to Raegan, who was talking down the line. Next to her was Hannah, then Tatumn, Morgan, Kiera, Shannon and Lani. Another group of soccer girls were behind them on the bleachers, those being more of the freshmen and JV players.

The game started off with a touchdown on our team's first possession. Cash threw the ball 20 yards to Jonah, who ran another 20 for a touchdown. On our team's very first defensive play, Jonah was also playing on the defensive line and had a sack within seconds.