Greyhound [Marcus Rashford]

10

Our trip to Oz Park started pretty uneventful because the band never showed up. Instead, Marcus decided he would take it upon himself to entertain the kids in the small crowd that came by playing the "Beer & Wings" Spotify playlist over a small speaker he had in his backpack. A group of 5 kids starting dancing to a Foo Fighters' song that was definitely older than all of them.

"You know that none of them have ever heard any of these songs," I comment to Marcus as we sit on a bench and watch the kids dance along the music. We both burst out laughing as one of them starts to shoot.

"That doesn't seem to stop them," he says before going and dancing with the kids. They all took turns dancing on his shoes and dabbing with him. As cringy as some of the moves Marcus did, I couldn't help but find the fact that he's so good with kids as extremely attractive. I took a bunch of videos while he wasn't looking.

After about an hour, the kids had to leave, so we did too. We looked around some little shops, but didn't feel like buying anything. Then we went to a small sandwich shop for lunch that Marcus had picked out.

"Thank you," I tell Marcus as we sit down.

"For what? We haven't even eaten yet," he asks.

"For spending your last day with me instead of touring around with the other guys on your team. You really don't have to spend all day with me," I tell him. Although I am enjoying our company, I don't want him to feel obligated to be spending all of his freetime with me. I always try to do my best not to be the clingy, needy type.

"Are you kidding me? If I get the option between spending my day with some smelly guys or the most beautiful girl around, I'm choosing you everyday. You deserve a guy that puts you on top of his list, and nothing less, Peyton," he explains to me while holding my hand across the table and looking straight into my eyes. It surprises me how quick Marcus can turn from goofy to serious.

"Duly noted, you're the best."

We spend lunch chatting about our childhoods and school. As a kid, school was everything to me. While I love Indianapolis, I knew that if I wanted to experience diversity, I had to leave. I'd spent my early years as the only black kid in my class, and I always felt out of place. Education was my path to more people like me. I had always gotten straight A's, and put all of my attention into scoring high enough on the ACT to get into a good college. Marcu, on the other hand, put school at the bottom of his list. He worked just as hard as I did, but on football instead of school. His dream was his, and mine was mine. Luckily, those two different dreams brought us together. I am forever thankful for the day that I met him at Soldier Field.

After eating at the little restaurant, we head over to Navy Pier. I'd been here countless amounts of time as a kid, but I knew Marcus was really excited to go. It's always refreshing to take someone to a place you've already been, and to see the look on their face when you show them all of your favorite things.

"Let's go on the Ferris Wheel!" Marcus says excitedly. He runs off towards the big wheel, and I attempt to keep up with him. By the time I get there, he's already standing there with a handful of tickets.

"I may or may not have boughten us each like 10 rides in a row. I got kind of carried away," he says sheepishly.

"Marcus! You're insane!" It's not the cheapest thing in Chicago to do, so I find it rather extreme to have boughten so many just for the two of us. That's where we differ in philosophy. I'm a saver, but Marcus is a big time spender.

"Maybe, but let's hurry before there's a line. I'm just really excited!"

We get on for our first run around, and it spins us up to the top before it stops. The top of the wheel is quite possibly one of the best views around. You can see the entire skyline of the city clear as day. Marcus presses his body as close to the edge as he can, with wide eyes.

"It's amazing!" He says with wonder. He then looks over at me, "I'm so glad I get to be here with you. I can't imagine what the next few weeks are going to be like."

"It's not like I'm going silent on you, we can still talk everyday," I tell him, grabbing his hand.

"But I can't hold your hand," he says squeezing it, "or you," he says wrapping his arms around me, "or kiss you." His eyes locked with mine, and we did what we felt like doing all day.

You think we kissed? Wrong.

We cried.

I put my head in the nape of his neck and cried into his shirt as he cried into my hair. Who'd thought we'd be this kind of couple already. We kept getting teary and talking about how much we'll miss each other for a few revolutions, until our seat stopped at the bottom. The workers ushered us off, but Marcus threw the rest of our tickets at them. They rolled their eyes, but let us go for the rest of our turns uninterrupted. Eventually we stopped crying when we realized how ridiculous we must've looked to everyone around us.

"Hey lovebirds, get a grip and come down!" we hear a british accent yell from below us.

"That'd be Jesse," Marcus groans,"I forgot I told him to meet us here before dinner. I'm sorry he had to interrupt whatever sappy, depressing moment we're having right now."

"It's okay," I laugh, "He's right. We should probably compose ourselves eventually. No offense, but you're an uglier cryer than I am."

My little joke seemed to lighten the mood a little. "Just picture this crying face on HD after we lose a big match. It's awful," he tells me with a small chuckle. We hug it out, and meet Jesse at the bottom.

"I'm sorry your first impression of me is a girl that is an emotional wreck, I'm Peyton" I greet Jesse.

"Hey, I'm just glad Rashy here got himself some new emotional support. Now I don't have to hold his hand anymore. It's nice to meet you," he greets me. I'm glad he has a sense of humor about the situation. I stick my hand out for a shake, but he slaps it away. "No, no, no. The Lingard clan hugs." He then pulls me into a friendly hug. "Now nothing can help console you guys like some steaming hot wings. Let's go meet the guys." I think I'm really going to like Marcus's friends.