Chasing Jacob (Jacob Whitesides Fanfiction)

Breakdown

*Message about updates at the end*

Three weeks later it was finally starting to get cooler out. Evan and I were at a Friday night football game sharing a blanket in the stands as we watched his cousin play. Corey was the quarterback for the team across town. He and Evan were close, so when his team and ours were set to play against each other, Evan felt as if we had no choice but to come, even though I knew absolutely nothing about football.

Our relationship had been solid from the day he'd asked me out. We were approaching our one month anniversary and I wasn't even sure that he remembered it was coming. I wouldn't mind if he didn't take me on a date or something. I just wanted to have some sort of reassurance that it was on his mind. So far he'd been nothing but caring and I had no reason to believe that he would forget our one month together.

I was unbelievably bored at the football game though. Evan was so engrossed in the action and rooting for both teams. We were sitting on the home side with the rest of Evan's family in the row ahead of us, but Evan was not only cheering for Corey, but his own school as well. We got a lot of strange looks from the people around us. I couldn't even express how relieved I was when I saw Lucas and Carrie walking up the bleachers in our direction. Carrie went straight to her mom.

I never saw her and her mom together. Evan's parents were divorced and even though they seemed civil when they were together, I suspected that it was mostly for Evan's benefit. The first time I'd met Carrie it had been their dad's weekend with Evan. This weekend he was with his mom. Lucas gave their mom a kiss on the cheek before finding a spot on the crowded bleachers next to me.

"Hey Cassie," he said as he pulled me into a one armed hug. He reached around me and patted Evan on the shoulder. "Hey Evan. How's the game going?"

Evan turned his attention away from the field and focused on Lucas. "It's been epic. They're so close! Corey keeps making amazing passes, but our defense is so killer. They can barely get through. I can't believe you guys missed the first quarter!"

Lucas smiled. "We were caught in traffic coming down from campus. It's not our fault. How have you been Cassie? You like the game?"

I sighed. "I don't know anything about football. At all."

Lucas laughed. "I feel the same way, but I end up here every year. All I've learned is that the quarterback is the one that throws the ball."

"That's what Corey does!" I said with excitement. That was the extent of my football knowledge as well.

Lucas paused as Evan and most of the family jumped out of their seats in excitement at Corey's amazing play. We looked awkwardly at each other and laughed. "So how is school going and stuff?" he asked.

The last time we were together at the lake it was brought up that I was struggling with my grades a little bit. Evan reached over and took my hand as I formulated my response. "It's getting better, but I think I really hurt myself by slacking off so bad for the first few weeks. I don't think I'll make it back on the honor roll."

Lucas shook his head. "Sure you can. Your grades can't possibly be that bad if you were an honors student last year."

I shook my head. "You would be surprised then because they're actually terrible. My highest grade is the 84 I have in math."

Lucas winced. "That is rough if that's the highest."

I nodded and looked back out to the field to try and figure out what was happening. "I'm passing all of my classes now though. That's a good thing."

Lucas patted my knee. "Just keep trying to get your grades up. They'll get a lot better if you stay focused for the rest of the year."

It was kind of nice that he automatically assumed that I was struggling because of focus, not because I was dumb. All of my teachers had asked for me to stay back after class to talk to me about my grades and nearly all of them just assumed it was because I was dumb. No one took my concussion or anything else into account. Granted no one else knew about Jacob and my self harm, but it was comforting that Lucas honestly believed in me.