The Favor (BOOK 1 & BOOK 2 INCLUDED)

16. Take Me Out to the Ball Game

I looked in the car mirror one last time, checking the black smears under my eyes. My hair was up in a pony tail with a festive hair tie, and I was wearing a school jersey. Tonight was January 8th. Also the first Friday of the year, so the schools in our district go into battle through a football game to claim as the greatest school of the year.

I got out of my car and started walking towards the field. The popular people were an obvious crowd, sitting in seats with a very good view. We were playing the competing school, Emerson High. They've won three out of the four years that I've been here. I'm not expecting us to pull through, really.

"Lily!" She pats the seat next to her. She looks identical to me but just curled hair instead of putting it up.

I sit next to her, being the girl on the end. Angela was on vacation still and Ciara was busy with her job. It was just Gillian, Natalie, Iris and I. And none of the boys were there except for one, since he was injured and he couldn't play for the rest of the season.

My bruise was starting to die down. It was much smaller now, and it didn't swell as much. It was more green now than purple, and I was thankful. I got a lot more attention now that there was this huge story. Some kids got the thing on video, some kids thought I punched him first, there was an endless possibility of rumors told about it. But only I needed to know the truth. I didn't need to prove myself.

"So, have you talked him up about me?" She asks with a snide smile.

"Excuse me?"

"You're my best friend, I'd think you would have gotten the picture by now. I want you to tell Brendon great things about me, like how my boobs are real."

I look at her with a cocked eyebrow. "But that isn't even true."

"A little lie never hurt nobody."

I mentally roll my eyes.

"I'll see what I can do." and from there she didn't say a word to me.

You would think, someone like Brendon did football. But then again you can only imagine my surprise the day I saw him turn down the offer from the coach.

Coach Remmy wanted Brendon on the team because he'd proven to be very good, but Brendon just said that he was too busy with other things.

So him sitting next to me didn't really shake up my world. Only a slight decrease in my comprehension.

I'd been sort of avoiding him for a while now. He's made attempts constantly to get my attention. But I only push him away more and more, because this crush I had on him was bad news. It was going to create havoc in my world. I couldn't like him anymore, it was unacceptable.

I put a giddy smile on my face, like I was having fun. But the jokes Gillian was making about people, it made me sick. She was a terrible person. I popped some gum in my mouth to make it look like I was amused, but I wasn't at all.

The game started, and everyone got into it. Even Gillian knew the game. So did I, but only because of Uncle Henry. My mom and I lived with him until she graduated medical school and worked for about a year and was able to buy a house. He was a hardcore football fan, and I've been a Broncos fan since birth because of him.

"I think I'm going to go find some of my other friends, like Ri and Talon." I say aloud, standing up. But that was a lie, Talon was at physical therapy and Ri was at dance practice. I just wanted to get away from them.

"I'll go with you," Brendon decides, standing up as well. I give him a look that says "stay away from me" but I hope he reads somethings else because it's a little harsh.