Between You and Me

~~10~~

"Girl, you need a boyfriend." Abbie smiles at me as we all sit down at a table in the town's coffee shop.
"Where exactly is this coming from?" I look up from my simple coffee with cream and frown at Abbie and Shilo's smiling faces.
Shilo gulps from her iced macchiato and replies, "Come on, Sage. You're smart, sarcastic, dedicated."
"Not to mention a knock-out!" Abbie winks from across the table.
"We just want you to be happy.  You seem to be down on yourself right now." Shilo smiles sadly.

I roll my eyes.  It's so typical of these two to be messing around in my personal life.  I finally have things in a more relaxed state here.  At least, the most relaxed that a senior in all university classes could possibly be.  The last thing I need right now is boy drama.  I've been spending the majority of my time at home or in the library doing homework and working at the bar.  I haven't seen much of Shilo, Abbie or even Oliver. 

Not that I miss him or anything.

"You both need to mind your own social lives and leave me alone." I scold my friends.
"What about Max from your AP Biology? He wants to be a doctor.  Live rich, right?" Shilo continues to talk with Abbie, ignoring my annoyance.
I rub my hands down my face while Abbie replies, "Oh yea, he's cute, real sweet, too."
"Or Daniel, from your French class." Shilo continues.
"Yes!-"
"Oh my god, stop it!" I scream at the two of them, ignoring the stares I get from other customers around me.

My chair screeches as I stand up suddenly, heading off to the exit and disappearing around the corner.  I don't dare look back, knowing my two friends are smirking at me.  But I have no idea why.

I speed walk in the direction of my house, leaving more stress than I need behind me.  I obviously am not paying attention, though.  I run into someone on the sidewalk just across from our building.

"Sage?"

I look up at the familiar voice of the person I ran into.  I see none other than the town's Quarterback. 

"Oliver?"
"Hey. Where are you going to in such a rush?" He smiles down at me.
"Home.  My so called friends are annoying the shit out of me." I roll my eyes.
"You went for coffee with them?" He gestures to my coffee, "Let me guess... No sugar, two creams."
"You're right.  I'll see you later."

I move to go around Oliver, but he steps into my way again.  I huff, obviously annoyed.  I've had enough human interaction today.  My meter is about to explode.

Oliver rubs the back of his neck with his hand nervously, "Um.  The next football game is at home."
"So what?" I narrow my eyes at him impatiently.
"I was uh..." His cheeks start to burn slightly and my mood lightens with them.

It's nice to see that even the cocky Quarterback can be human sometimes.  He's like a little puppy, nervous that he did something wrong while his owner was away.  It's cute.

"Yes?" I urge.
"Would you come watch? I know you're super busy what with school and I know you work a lot to pay for wherever next year is taking you, but it's the Pair Game and there's only one every year and I've never done it before and-"
"Whoa, whoa." I hold my hand up, "It's the what game?"
"The Pair Game." He repeats, "Every player asks someone, a friend or something, to wear their practise jersey."
"Why?" I'm so confused why this is a thing in this small town.
"I'm not sure.  It's a really old tradition here." He rubs his neck again.

I look down at the ground in thought.  Obviously this is a big deal for him to be asking.  What's the harm in accepting? I haven't been to a single game this year, even though I enjoy football.  Why not make my first game the Pair Game?

"Okay." I nod once, my mind made up.
"Really?" Oliver blows out a breath.
"Sure," I shrug my shoulders, "I haven't been to a game and I've been meaning to watch if you can actually throw a football better than what I saw at Dan's."

He smiles at me again and my chest starts to warm up, like his puppy cheeks did.  I cough once or twice to collect myself.  Must be the sun going down behind me.

"You said you've never done the Pair thing before?" I ask.
"No, I always thought it was kinda dumb." He chuckles.
"So why me?" I lean against the brick wall of the quaint bookstore beside me.
Oliver's eyes get wide, but he quickly returns to normal, "I guess its senior year and I want to at least experience everything once that I missed out on."
"Okay, text me when to grab that jersey. Just don't make me wear a sweaty practice shirt, okay?" I smile lightly.
"Deal.  I'll grab you a coffee too."
"Now that that's settled, I'm about to eat a bunch of my mom's baking in the apartment." I shiver at a slight breeze across my legs, oddly enough still in shorts in the cooler weather, "Wanna come with?"

Oliver nods and gestures for me to take the lead.  On the way in he quickly passes me to open the door.  I nod before looking to the tiles floor.  I can feel my chest heat up again.

And this time I know it's not from the sun, or the warmth of the building. 

I might be developing a slight crush on Oliver Barnett.

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