Unlike You

Eight

Football players line up on the field, hands on their hearts, along with everyone else in the stands, as an old version of The National Anthem plays through speakers. Once it's over, the player's place their helmets on their heads before running out onto the field. The large crowd sits down, waiting for the game to start. Each team huddles into a group, the quarterback yelling out the play.

"Welcome, to the long awaited game of Blue Creek High and West Trail!" a loud voice booms. The man continues to tell everyone about the snack tables and such as the football player get lined up. 

The crowd goes silent as the quarter back from our school yells out words that I can't really decipher. My eyes focus on number thirty-seven; Jared's number. Jared is the wide receiver for our school.

"Why are you here?" Lawrence asks. I glace at him, confused by his question.

"I used to go to this school, and one of my good friends is the wide receiver," I explain, my eyes watching the pass. "I could ask you the same thing."

"I go here," he states. "Why aren't you here anymore?"

"I got my GED in JDC. This place has to many unwanted memories."

"Is it your friend?" he asks. I nod not really wanting to talk about it. West Trail intercepts the throw and the whole Blue Creek population makes a chorus of groans. They run to the to the other touchdown line, easily avoiding any of our players. I roll my eyes and lean back.

I look over at Lawrence who I feel staring intently at me.

"Do you know how she died?" he asks. He raises his voice slightly since I can barely hear him over all of the cheering.

"She was stabbed. Not to mention three times. Twice in her abdomen and once through her chest," I explain. "I don't really want to talk about it. At least not here."

"You wanna go somewhere?" Lawrence offers.

My eyes shift to the scoreboard, which says, Home: 0, Visitor: 6. I look back at Lawrence and nod. He holds out his hand, but I flinch away subconsciously. His face falls, then hardens as he stands up and walks away. I quickly follow after him. I find him in the parking lot, leaning against his motorcycle. I walk up to him, my arms folded across my chest. His grey eyes never meet mine as he stares at the ground.

It's dark now, so his face casts shadows making him look mysterious.

"My parents practically forgot about me," I say. "Some woman named Mrs. Perry had to pick me up from the center to drive me home. When I walked up to the front door, there was- well is- this wooden board hanging from a nail. You wanna know what it said?"

Lawrence stays silent.

"The Hampton Family: Emily Hampton, Donovan Hampton, and Myra Hampton. Welcome to our home!" I tell him in a sarcastically happy voice. "Guess who's name isn't on there?"
Lawrence continues to stare at the ground.

"Will you please look at me?" I ask using my hand to grab his chin and make him look up at me. His grey eyes bore into mine so far, it's like he can see into me.

As if something clicks in his brain, he shoves me off of him, walking away without looking back. I groan loudly with frustration. Something is up with him, and I'm determined to find out what.

~*~

The game ends after a good three hours, our team winning of course, and Jared meets up with me. He runs up with a huge grin on his face. Sweat drips from his forehead, making the front of his jersey sopping wet. 

Still, no sight of Lawrence anywhere. I know he hasn't left because I see his motorcycle is still 

"Hey!" he smiles.

"Hey! You guys did awesome out there!"

"Thanks, you ready to go?"

"You're not going to shower or anything?" I offer.

"Nope!" He replies, draping his arm on my shoulder and pulling me towards the car.

"Jared!" I yell, laughing, "you smell terrible!" I run from him, only to have him running after me. 

We run through the dark parking lot, laughing loudly. I run around people, them cursing after me as I almost run into them. I yell each person a quick 'sorry' as I run around them. I hear the slapping of Jared's cleats on the concrete behind me. I turn and see an evil smile on his lips as he reaches out to grab me. I dodge his grab and run to his car. I realize quickly that I have nowhere to go, so when I see Jared come around the car towards me, I put my hands up in surrender.

He smiles and snatches my waist, making me squeal. My arms wrap around his neck so I don't fall. 

"Jared!" I yell through my laughter.

He spins me in circles making me dizzy. I pound on his back in attempts to make him stop, but his laughter tells me he's enjoying this to much. I instinctively wrap my legs around his waist, so I don't kick anything around me with my flailing limbs.

Jared starts to slow down, then coming to a stop and propping my back up against the car. I remove my arms from his neck and lean against the car. Jared mint green eyes sparkle, even in the dark night, his eye manage to glint and spark with happiness. I haven't seen him this happy since Amy died. I guess that's a good thing.

"Can I ask you something?" I ask quietly.

"Anything."

"After they found out... that I didn't kill Amy, did they keep looking for the person who did?" I ask, playing with the hem of his football jersey. 

"No, the whole case was shut down."

"How exactly did they know it wasn't me? I mean, I did confess to doing it," I point out.

Questions about that night swim through my mind endlessly. Questions bombard my brain left and right. That night's images pass through my thoughts making my whole body shake with fear and sadness.

"You wanna talk about it somewhere else?" he asks softly, his large hand enveloping mine. The gesture is small, but for Jared it's not - especially with me. 

"Yeah," I nod.

~*~

Jared drives for about an hour before he pulls in somewhere. He hasn't told me where we are, but I trust him nonetheless. He pulls off his jersey and chest pads leaving him in a white tank-top. I guess they are called 'wife-beaters', but I don't like how that sounds. 

"Hey, I don't mean to sound rude, but could you step out for a minute? I need to change," Jared says, his cheeks tinting red from embarrassment.

I laugh and step out of the car. As my feet hit the ground, I'm shocked by our surroundings. I close the door and look around. The fog filled night makes this old park look mysterious. The old swing set looks worn down like hundreds of kids have played on it for the past decade. The mulch is wet, sticking to the bottom of my shoes. The seesaw creeks slightly in the wind, the noise fading with it. 

It looks all around dreary and... sad. The chilly wind and thick fog don't help with that what-so-ever. I mean, couldn't they have put in like, brighter colors? Like blue and red and yellow? Instead, they have everything in cream and a green color that would make a leprechaun want to puke.

Wouldn't that be a sight? 

I hear the car door open behind me and I turn to see Jared step out of the driver's side. He rounds the front of the car so he's next to me and laces his finger through mine. I laugh at this.

"What? Should I not do that? I'm sorry. I just thought, you know, since we're both going through this together, I thought you wouldn't mind me doing that. I know I never really used to talk to me before when Amy was alive, but I always thought we were kinda close, you know. I-" I stop his rambling by doing something, I never thought I would do. Not now, not ever. 

I grab the back of his neck, crashing his lips to mine.