To Kiss Kate

2. the game

Katiya Carpenter-

The music in my car stopped abruptly as I turned off the car. Everyone had ditched the afternoon of school to watch the tournament, but I had stayed. So now I was parking, late, and walking to the grass field. There were a lot of people, which made me happy.

The lacrosse tournament was a Hamilton Classic, and each year they chose a charity or someone in need to donate the money to. It raised a ton of money every year, and the winning team got to decide where the money went. It was fun, and a big event in town. Due to the warm weather, it was held a little early this year, which meant kids had an excuse to skip class.

I scanned the crowd for my friends, or anyone I knew who was spectating. I recognized a lot of summer friends, who I didn't know were in town yet, but I didn't feel like chatting today. I spotted Hannah and Genny on bleachers nearby. Hendricks and Landon were playing in the game they were watching. I looked for the kid from the diner, who I now knew as Jack. He was running behind a kid I didn't recognize, probably one of the boys he brought.

"Hey." I said, as I sat down next to Hannah. She moved over a little to give me more space.

"Hey!" Genny said excitedly. "Hendricks found some new kids to play on their team. They're really good. One of them plays at Syracuse."

"And they're sexy." Hannah added, smiling wide.

"I met one of them, Jack, last night. They're from Brooklyn." I pointed to the Diner guy. Damn. He was just as good looking as I had remembered. Seeing him last night had felt the same way. Butterflies.

"He's the best looking one. Damn. Did he say how long they're staying?" Hannah asked. Genny rolled her eyes, putting her focus back on the game. Genny was secretly in love with Hendricks. She had been for years. She had barely admitted it to me last summer.

"The whole summer. His parents bought the Jefferson's old house."

"So he's rich. Package deal." I shoved her lightly and laughed. It was a joke because we both knew that most of our friends were in the upper-level income bracket. Hamilton was a tourist town, and those that weren't tourists were those who enjoyed living like them. Some were more well-off than others, and there of course were normal people too, like me. I turned to focus on the game. The boys were winning against a group of older guys. They were a few years older than us, seniors when we were in 7th grade. I knew some of them, but not much. Jack was playing well, along with the 2 other guys I assumed were his friends. They were attractive as well. Dark hair, tan skin, a little bit of a beard.

The whistle blew for water break and I couldn't take my eyes off of Jack. He lifted his pinny to wipe sweat off his forehead, exposing abs that made my heart skip another beat.

"Hey Katie baby." That's when I remembered Jason. I turned my head to find his voice. He wore a big smile as he greeted me, clearly happy to see me.

"Hi, Jason. Who's team are you on?" I asked, suddenly questioning if he had already told me.

"Your dad's, remember? I told you that last week." He said with slight aggression. Fuck. I did remember him telling me. It was his tactic of getting my dad to like him as much as he used to. I had tried to hide the cheating from my father, but word traveled fast in Hamilton. Hearing that Jason had hurt me the same way my mom had hurt him, didn't go over well.

"Oh, right. How are you guys doing?" I asked, taking my eyes off him to look for Jack.

"We're winning so far. Hendricks team looks like it's gonna be tough. Everyone's talking about the new kids." He sprayed water into his mouth from his Gatorade bottle.