Wild Horses

Chapter 8

My alarm annoyed the hell out of me, and the scream rock station was blaring at six in the morning. Today was the first day of school, and Bryan would find out if he made the team or not. Tryouts had resulted in more neck rubbing, and sore muscles than ever. Man, was he jumpy.

"You need to eat something." I said to Bryan and threw a banana at him. He reluctantly threw it back. Man, he could be irritating.

"Not hungry." He grumbled.

"Fine, don't eat." I said and opened the banana. I took a big bite and smiled in Bryan's direction.

"Mmmmmmmmm. So good." I mocked. He got up from the table. I got up, and straightened my shorts. I didn't really dress up for the first day of school before this year, but I had on my nicest jean shorts, and tank, along with my trusty wedges, I figured I needed the height. The school was about a five-mile walk, so we took the bus.

"Where are the results going to be posted?" I asked Bryan lightly, trying to make conversation.

"The bulletin board outside Coach Braxton's office." He replied barely above a whisper.

The bus pulled into the school parking lot, and I was relieved as we stopped.

"Good luck, I'll see you at lunch. No way you didn't make the team, so quit sweating it" I said to Bryan as my parting words.

Period 1: Chemistry

Period 2: Pre-Calculus

Period 3: World History AP

Period 4: Honor's English

Period 5: Physics

Lunch

Period 6: Health

Period 7: Study

I eyed my schedule, groaned and headed down to chemistry. Mr. Nolan, taught chemistry. I sighed, and prepared to re-dig the buried rut of school. Was it lunchtime yet?

Lunch was heaven sent, or maybe I was overacting a little bit. I sat down at my usual table, with Caroline, and my other friends Ainsley, Logan,and Finn. I opened up my lunch bag and took out my salad. A couple of tables over were the football players. I caught Bryan's eye, and he beckoned me over.

"What? Is it not possible for me to enjoy my salad in peace?" He made a face, and his smirk was on.

"I made the team!" He yelled and grabbed me in a bear hug.

"That's great! Like I said," I said and hugged him back.

"Later, I can't wait to see Dad's reaction!". I headed back to my table, and Christian entered the lunch room. He caught my eye, and I walked over to him.

"Late much?" I asked him with a warm smile.

"Just trying to suck up to the teacher, besides, it's only five minutes." He said returning that award-winning smile.

"Well, obviously you have to come sit with us!" I said and he took my hand.

Everybody stared at us as we walked back to the table.

"Guys, this is Christian." I said and everybody exchanged names, except Caroline.

"Hey! You are meeting the makeup artist herself." Caroline said smugly

"Oh, thank-you, by the way." He said and smiled at me.

"No problem, anytime, just call me up and I'll have her looking better than Barbie!"

It was pretty obvious that we were going out, at least the hand-holding was a dead giveaway, and I saw at least five girls sigh as we walked by hand-in-hand. It was Monday, and even though I normally hated Monday's, Christian it them a lot better. Bryan's first football games were just under two weeks away, and he had practice Monday through Saturday.

"You have the answers for the second problem?" I asked Christian in study hall as we were doing our Pre-Calculus homework. Luckily, we had study hall last, and could do all our homework then.

"Nope, I haven't done that yet." I really still couldn't see how he liked ME out of all the girls in the school. I caught myself staring at him more than I should, but he was just so...yeah.

We worked in silence for a couple minutes. Then, he kissed me. Again. The others in the hall stared at us, wondering how we were together on the first day of school, hot new guy and all.

"How about I take you out to Bryan's game? We can get dinner; Caroline can make you over, everybody's happy."

"Sure, I'd like that."

Two Weeks Later...

"Haven! Christian's here!" Bryan yelled down the stairs. I straightened my jeans, and made sure my hair was parted right. Bryan had let me wear his other jersey for the game. Dad was going to meet Christian for the first time, and I hoped he made a good impression on dad. The three were already talking when I got downstairs.

"Dad, Bryan, this is Christian. Christian, this is my brother Bryan, and my father Jack."

"Nice to meet you Mr.Collins." He said and shook my father's hand.

"Please, call me Jack." He said.

"Well, we better be going daddy. We will see you at the game." I told him as I kissed his cheek. After that, we left and drove the short distance to the school. We made our way into the stadium and sat down. Five minutes later, the game would soon begin.

"Ladies and gentlemen! Please welcome the Indians football team!". The crowd screamed with applause, and the players rushed into sight. I noticed Bryan and cheered madly. Then the national anthem played, and the game began. Crisp air, excitement in the crowd, this was the best feeling on Earth, besides kissing Christian, of course.

When it was the fourth quarter, with one-minute left, we were down by a point and needed a field goal or touchdown to win it, everybody was on his or her feet in anticipation cheering on the team, and I was cutting off all circulation in Christian's left hand. He just smiled at me and cheered along with me. Bryan called out something I couldn't hear over the deafening roar, and the team broke down into a simple flea-flicker. Bryan got control of the ball again, threw it to the running back, who ran all the way down for a 6 point touchdown. Our kicker got the extra point, and the game was over. The Nashville High Indians had won their first game. Only 15 more to go.