The Bad Boy's Snowflake

Chapter 30: The Stupid Ryan Dude

"Go, Sadie, go!" I yell from the sidelines. It's the game that decides whether or not we go to State, and it's tied 0-0 with about sixty seconds left. Sadie has just gotten the ball in the middle of the field, and she's dribbling up the middle. She passes it to Macy out wide. 43 seconds left. Macy carries it to the corner. 36 seconds left. She crosses it and a midfielder heads it toward the goal, but the goalie bats it away. Only 22 seconds left. One of our wings snags it before it goes out and crosses it to the middle. 3 seconds. Sadie volleys it toward the corner. It goes in right as the buzzer goes off.

Everybody on the team cheers and runs to crowd Sadie. I walk over at a slower pace. Yep, you heard me right. Walked. I have a boot without crutches now, and next week I get to go back to the doctor and get it off. It'll be just in time for the State finals.

The girls lift Sadie on their shoulders and chant her name. "Sa-die! Sa-die! Sa-die!"

I finally make it over to the crowd, and Sadie is put down. Sadie rushes toward me and hugs me tightly. 

"We're going to State, Catherine!"

She laughs a little hysterically, and Macy joins our hug. Then the rest of the team joins in. Then our fans from the crowd, a.k.a. Tommy, Mark, and Tyler, join in, too.

We eventually disperse and head back to the bus. The bus is full of excited chatter and girls acting stupidly funny. This ride is the most fun one I think I've ever been on. Everyone is dancing and singing along to the music and cracking jokes. I'm actually a little sad to get off the bus, but I do when we get back to school.

Tommy drives me home, and when he drops me off he stops me before I can get out of the car.

"Catherine?"

"Yeah? What's up?"

He fidgets in his seat and casts his eyes downward. I become extremely nervous and very self-conscious. "Will you go out with me?"

I cock my head to the side. "What do you mean?"

He opens his mouth to answer, but sighs instead. Then he tries again. "I mean, you're my girlfriend, right?" I nod. "But we haven't been on an actual date since Homecoming, which was almost three weeks ago. We've just been too busy. So I was wondering if you wanted to go out. With me. On a date."

I smile at his nervousness. "I'd love to. How about tomorrow?"

He breaks into a grin. "Saturday. Perfect. I'll see pick you up around seven."

"Sounds perfect." I get out of the car and shut the door. Tommy backs out of the driveway, and I wave goodbye until he's out of sight. I turn and head for my door.

"Mom! I'm home!" I yell when I step into the entryway. Mom steps out around the corner from the kitchen with an apron on and her brown hair in a ponytail.

"Did you win?"

I break into a grin.

She rushes over to give me a hug. "Yes! Congratulations! Will you be able to play?"

My mom releases me from the hug and puts her arm around my shoulder. We start for the kitchen. Our relationship has gotten a lot better since she decided to start being an actual mother. I actually really like having her around. 

"Yeah, I'll have mt boot off, so as long as-" I stop when we enter the kitchen. There is a table cloth on the table and nice place mats at each seat. Every seat also has nice plates, silverware, and cups. "What the hell?"

"It's food, Catherine. Have you never seen food before?" Mom asks sarcastically. I roll my eyes and glare at her. She smiles. "Ryan's coming over for dinner tonight. I told you this Monday."