I Loved You First

Chapter 22: Eloise

OCTOBER

The pep band starts up their usual fight song and I watch as Will takes his helmet off at the water cooler on the sidelines.

"Can you believe this is the last game we'll watch here?" Gemma says over the band.

Dang her. I wish she hadn't said it.

The team had a rough last half of the season and didn't make it into the playoffs. Will was frustrated, but not surprised since they never do. Which makes this the last game of the season, the last home game, and senior night all in one.

I've been purposely trying not to think about it, but at the reminder I can't help but flashback to his first game, freshman year.

How are we here? We wished for this day to come as quickly as possible, but now that it's here all I want to do is stretch it out for as long as I can. Especially now that we know we won't be going to the same college.

I feel a tear dangerously close to forming in my eye and as if he knows it, Will looks up, finding me in the stands. I wave at him before tucking my hair behind my ear and he smiles that heart palpitating smile of his, giving me another one of those quick hot boy air kisses before he slides his helmet back on.

I feel half of the student section's eyes shift over to me, including Meredith and Gemma, but I stay locked on his every move.

"He's going to do it, isn't he?" A guy behind us asks.

Meredith looks back over her shoulder. "Do what?"

"Get us to 5-5! Five wins, five losses. That's better than Wembley has done in over a decade!" he enthusiastically mansplains.

"He is." I smile confidently, pulling my cable knit cardigan around me a little tighter at the end of October chill in the air.

"Will seems way more relaxed than usual," Meredith points out.

"He definitely is. He usually won't look anywhere other than the field." I let out a little laugh knowing that it's not really that he's relaxed. It's that he's relieved.

We stayed up way too late last night whispering through the phone about the relief he feels knowing this is the last time he'll ever wear a Wembley football uniform and how he can finally put all of the frustration, embarrassment, and disappointment that he's felt on this field in the rearview mirror.

You often hear of players holding onto their high school glory days, but I've already watched Will shed them, eager to make room for his next chapter. A chapter that I pray to heaven I'm a part of.

Well into the second quarter, the crowd erupts into the Rho-des chant as Will runs for his second touchdown.

"Eloise!" I hear Mrs. Rhodes call over the crowd from the track below. "Hi hon! Do you mind taking some pictures for us at half time? The parents are supposed to meet under the stadium soon."

I smile, reaching for her camera. "Of course!"

"If you can, try to snap some before I start to cry," she jokes, but we all know it's not a joke. She, most definitely, will cry.

Meredith and I walk down to grab a spot along the fence before the seniors get honored at halftime.

"I think I want to go to UT," Meredith blurts out.

"Really?! Well, actually, that's not surprising. I don't think anyone owns as much orange as you," I tease. "But really Mer, that's great. Tennessee is like the perfect place for you." I raise the camera as the seniors begin to line up with their parents. "Does Carter know where he's going? I don't think I've ever heard him talk about college."