The Life I'm Running From

10\ Flirting and Football

It was finally Saturday, the night of the big game. The cheerleaders had been practicing every lunch, something they could be heard complaining about in the hallways. Purple and white clothing was donned by students ready to show school spirit. The football players were practically celebrities, and were stopped so many times by students wishing them luck that they were late to almost every class. I thought this all was a bit much for one measly football game. But what did I know about high school sports?

"Everyone is way too excited about this game," Charlie had said the day before at lunch. "Does anyone here actually have a life?"

Adriana had agreed. "I think it's all a bit much for a football."

Skylar was silent. I assumed that was because she disagreed. She wasn't going to the game though—her parents were taking her and her brother out to dinner.

"I however, had been ecstatic for the game. This was my first school sports event I was attending. Hello normalcy. I didn't say anything to them though, because of Adriana's advice to not tell them about Harley's invitation. The rest of the day I had kept my excitement quiet, but now as I was getting ready to leave, a buzz filled my veins.

"Danny, have you seen my purple hoodie?" I called down the hallway of our apartment.

"It's probably at the bottom of your closest," she said back, her voice just an inch above a normal speaking tone. She didn't like to yell.

I opened up my closet and rooted through the discarded clothing on the floor. Sure enough, my purple hoodie was in heap on the ground, underneath a pair of shorts. I pulled it on over my t-shirt and surveyed my appearance. Decent. Today I was going to leave my hair down, but just in case I slipped an elastic around my wrist.

I headed for the living room, but stopped when through the open bathroom door I saw Danny applying mascara. She was wearing a red maxi dress, and dangling from her ears were large gold hoops. Danny never dressed like that.

"Where are you going?" I asked, leaning against the doorframe. "Prom?"

Danny closed the mascara tube. "I'm just going out."

I frowned. Her phone lit up with a notification, so I picked it up. The banner was a text message, with no contact name. All it said was: I'm on my way.

"Who's on their way?" I wondered aloud.
               
Danny turned red, something she generally didn't do. "Someone."
               
"Is—" My eyes widened. "Are you going out on a date?"
               
When she didn't respond I got my answer. She pulled out a compact and started to dust her cheeks with blush. I folded my arms. "I need to know everything about him, to see if he's good enough for you."
               
"McKinnley!" Danny patted her curls down nervously. "It's just our first date. We met two days ago, at Roberta's."
               
I raised an eyebrow. "Flirting on the job? Shame on you Danny."
               
"I was on my break." Danny blushed. "And I was just leaving the restaurant to go eat, and he stopped me. He said he had been watching me—"
               
"Creepy," I muttered.
               
"—and he said I was beautiful," she said, ignoring my comment. "Then he asked for my number, and asked me out."
               
I narrowed my eyes. "Name and age?"
               
"Mark." Danny surveyed her makeup in the mirror. "I'm pretty sure he's twenty-two, but I don't know. He's definitely twenties though."
               
"Older then." I set her phone back down on the counter. "I don't trust him."
               
Danny rolled her eyes. "I'm twenty-one. And besides, he was super sweet and nervous when he asked me out. Do I look okay?"
               
I sighed and looked over her outfit. "Just as pretty as always. I don't understand why you have to dress so fancy for a date."
               
"You'll understand when you fall in love, McKinnley. It's a need to impress. So how are you getting to the football game? Walking?"
               
I left the doorway of the bathroom and grabbed my phone from where it was charging in the hallway. "No. Adriana said she'd pick me up." I opened the door of our apartment, then paused. "Tell Mark that I'm very capable of killing him and not getting caught."
               
"Only if it comes up in the conversation. Have fun," Danny called, and I left the apartment. I took the stairs, and exited the building. I leaned against the brick wall, waiting.
               
Danny was going on a date? That was definitely something I hadn't expected. Sure, Danny had been in relationships before at Camp Half-Blood, but they were few and far between. She didn't do well around boys. Hopefully this worked out for her. Or else, Mark might just be next on my hit list. (Just kidding, I don't have a hit list. But I could start one.)
               
In no time at all, a car pulled up to the sidewalk and Adriana got out of the passenger side. She waved me in, and I got into the backseat. The driver was a middle-aged woman with Adriana's skin tone. This woman's hair was much curlier than Adriana's, and probably had twenty times the volume of mine.
               
Adriana leaned around her seat to talk to me. "McKinnley, this is my mom. Mom, this is my friend McKinnley."
               
"Hi," I said awkwardly. Mrs. Ortega only nodded at me.
               
Adriana buckled up her seatbelt. "I don't have my driver's license, because I don't feel like getting one. That's why my mom's driving us."
               
"I don't have my license either," I said, looking out at the window as the car pulled away from the sidewalk. I didn't think I'd ever get my license. Dyslexia was more than a bit of a barrier, and honestly, I'd probably end up racing some idiot down a remote highway to prove a point.
               
The drive was short to J. M. Michaels, and Adriana's mother dropped us off outside the gates. We were one car out of many that were lined up at the curb, depositing crowds of teenagers all ready for a football game.
               
Out of the three weeks I had been at J. M. Michaels, I had never once been in the back of the school grounds. So I was really surprised when I saw the full track, along with a huge football field. Adriana and I followed the crowd to the stands looking out over the field. Football players were warming up, our team outfitted in purple and white uniforms and clunky helmets.
               
"I haven't been to a football game since sophomore year," Adriana murmured, her eyes flicking over the scene.
               
The atmosphere of a football game was completely unlike any other situation I had ever been in. The population was almost completely teens, with a few parents sprinkled here and there. The smell of popcorn and candy filled the chilly night air. The sun was long gone, and the moon was obscured the clouds. Giant lights shone down on the field, illuminating the football being passed back and forth between players. There was a tension of competition between crowd members, and the football players almost seemed to be in a different world all the way down there. I tried to pick out which one was Harley, but it was just too far away.
               
The metal benches were cold, and I was glad I had worn a hoodie. Adriana scrolled through social media on her phone as we waited for the game to start. And soon it did, with the referee blowing his whistle. On the edge of the football field, cheerleaders chanted and ran through their routines. Those girls were probably frozen in their uniforms.
               
Suddenly, Adriana nudged me. "Look. It's him."
               
I followed her gaze to Ryan Hue. He was sitting two rows in front of us, a beanie covering his brown hair. I only recognized him because he was turned to face the girl beside him.
               
"Why don't you go talk to him?" I prompted, bumping her shoulder. "Didn't you say that was the best way to get a guy to like you?"
               
"Adriana nervously ran a hand through her wavy hair. "I don't know. Do you think I should?"
               
"Definitely." I watched him talk with the other girl. "There's no way he wouldn't—" The words died on my tongue as I watched Ryan put an arm around the girl beside him. She leaned into his side.
               
Adriana saw it too. She swallowed and quickly looked away from the scene. Well, so much for that.
               
I didn't understand anything that was going on in the game, but that didn't matter to me. I watched as the football jumped from one set of hands to others, and as players were tackled to the ground. The only thing that made sense to me was when one player ran across the line he gained a point. There was no clear winner in the first half of the game—the score was almost even, with the opposing team leading. The marching band came out and did some halftime show, and then the cheerleaders did a chant to pump up the crowd. I felt the buzz of everyone else's excitement fill me. I had to release some of my energy into my stress ball from all the sitting around.
               
"I hope our team wins." Adriana squinted at the field. The game had started up again, and someone on our team had the ball. "It would be disappointing if they didn't."
               
I watched as someone threw the ball down the field, and another player caught it. He was immediately crowded by the opposing team, but managed to pass the football before he was tackled. I wondered if that was Harley. Wide Receiver had to mean he was receiving the ball from a wide distance, right?
               
It was late and really cold by the time the game ended. I didn't realize it was over until the whole crowd around me started screaming with excitement. I joined in, joyous over our team's victory. Too bad this was the last game of the season. I really wanted to go to more of these.
              
"We should wait," Adriana said, as the people around us started to leave. "Wait until the crowd's thinned."
               
It took awhile, but eventually there wasn't a huge pileup at the stairs. We climbed down the stands. When we reached the ground, I paused to look out at the field. The football players were all still cheering, and many had taken off their helmets. It only took me seconds to notice Harley. His curly hair was flattened and damp with sweat, and a blond guy had an arm slung over his shoulders.
               
"Are you going to go talk to him?" Adriana asked. "Or can we leave?"
               
I shrugged and turned away. "Probably not. He's busy."
               
Adriana's eyes followed something moving behind me. "Not too busy for you."
               
"What?" Looking back out to the field, I spotted Harley. He was jogging straight towards me. I only had ten seconds to gather my thoughts before he reached me.
               
"Hey," Harley said, running his hand through his hair. With his shoulder pads, it made it seem like he had a much larger stature than me. I already knew he was taller and had broad shoulders, but still. It was weird.
               
I smiled at him. "Congratulations."
               
"Thanks." He was breathing heavily—still out of breath from the game and the win. "Is this your friend?"
               
He was looking at Adriana. I nodded. "This is Adriana."
               
She smiled, but it didn't reach her eyes. Adriana was surveying him head to toe. I wanted to nudge her to stop staring, but I didn't want to make it obvious to Harley.
               
His gaze didn't stay on her long though. Harley looked back at me and smiled. "Are you glad you came?"
               
"Yeah. This was my first time at a football game, but it was really fun." I brushed a piece of hair from my face. "Too bad the seasons over."
               
He smirked. "If you want to watch me play that badly, you can always just come over to my place."
               
I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction of my embarrassment. "How do I know you won't end up hitting me with another football?" I teased.
               
"For the record, that football never actually hit you."
               
"Yeah, 'cause I ducked."
               
Harley leaned against the wall of the stands. "Scratch the football idea then. Why don't you come sit with me and my friends one day at lunch?"
               
Adriana snorted, speaking for the first time since Harley had shown up. "The pretty and the popular kids table?"
               
"Exactly." Harley didn't take his eyes off of me. "McKinnley would fit right in."
               
I raised one eyebrow. "And what would my incentive be for hanging out with you?"
               
"You'd be hanging out with the best football player in our school." He grinned, and stretched out his arms before flexing.
               
I smirked. "The most modest too." I glanced at Adriana. "Anyways, I've got to go. I'll see you around, Harley."
               
"I plan to," he said. "See ya."
               
Adriana and I left Harley, and headed towards the front of the school. Most people had already left, and Adriana's mom's car was one of three at the front curb. As we were walking the path to the school gates, Adriana suddenly stopped.
               
"What was that?" She didn't seem angry, just baffled.
               
I frowned. "What?"
               
She gave me an incredulous look. "You! Harley! You two were totally flirting."
               
"Not really. I was just countering his statements."
               
"In a flirty way." Adriana raised an eyebrow. "I'm starting to think you don't like Peter."
               
I looked out at the night sky. It was too polluted to see the stars. "I don't."

"What?"
               
"I never have."
               
"Why did you say you did then? I'm really confused McKinnley." At the front, Adriana's car honked. She ignored it.
               
Realizing that this was probably going to take awhile, I sat down at one of the nearby picnic tables. "I didn't mean to say Peter's name. I didn't really have a crush, so I just said the first name that popped into my head."
               
Adriana sat down next to me. "Why didn't you say Harley? Because you clearly like him."
               
"Eh. He almost hit me with a football the first day of school. And he's kinda cocky." I fiddled with the strings of my hoodie, focusing my eyes one the withering grass.
               
Adriana stared at me. "But you literally just flirted with him. And I mean, he clearly likes you."
               
"Does he?"
               
"You can't seriously not realize that." Adriana let out a short burst of laughter. "He's head over heels for you."
               
I furrowed my brow. "How do you know?"
               
"He called you were pretty and wanted you to meet his friends! McKinnley, if you wanted a date with him, all you'd have to do is hold his hand and he'd be yours. He's literally that into you."
               
I guess he had called me pretty. But it was all just banter, wasn't it? Gosh I was bad with this dating thing. Harley couldn't really like me, could he?
               
"It doesn't matter." I stood up. "If Harley likes me, he'll ask me out. Don't tell Charlie or Skylar about Peter though."
               
Adriana nodded. "Don't worry. If I did, we'd have to explain this whole Harley thing. I mean eventually we'll have to tell Skylar, but for now, let's leave it."
               
Mrs. Ortega honked the car horn again, and we started to walk down the path again. I felt lighter somehow, now that someone knew about the Peter and Harley situation. If it even could be called that.
               
"So you're still going to let Peter tutor you?" Adriana asked, as we passed through the gates. "Even though you don't actually like him?"
               
I shrugged. "Why would I? He's still nice, and he can actually explain Physics to me."
               
We opened the car doors and got into the heated vehicle. Mrs. Ortega frowned at Adriana. "What took you so long? It wasn't a boy, was it?"
               
I smiled, but hid it with my hand. Adriana rolled her eyes, lying effortlessly to her mother. "No, mom."
               
When had my love life gotten so weird?

Author's Note:
What are some of your favourite Avengers or Percy Jackson fan fictions online? I'm looking for some good ones. Any suggestions?
Also, Harley was flirting with McKinnley! What did you think? Are you mad? Happy? Confused? All three? What are your opinions on McKinnleyxHarley?
XOXO Miss Music Jem XOXO