Best-Case Scenario

Chapter Twelve

Leaves of red, yellow, and brown crunch under my shoes as I walk around the soccer field. I see Finn posted near the goal waiting for the ball to come near. My stomach does a little flip at the sight of him. He doesn't see me but I take in the parts of his skin I can see, calves and arms, and actually feel my legs wobble under me.

"Admiring?" I hear.

Seth and Imari standing around the corner of the gate. Imari's eyes are focused on the field, but he lifts his hand to gently tug my ponytail.

"I was actually. What about you guys?"

Imari doesn't break his concentration but Seth kicks at the dirt. "Admiring," he says.

I stand there waiting for them to tell me more, but nothing comes. The October air is chilly and when the wind blows, I can feel it through my sweater. "I'm going to go back in the stands. My blanket is there and it's cold. Do you two want to come up?"

"Maybe after half-time," Imari says. They never show up.

I almost mention the exchange to Finn, but I'm swept up in the party after.

"I heard you cheering," Spence says. He's on his second beer and is leaning back, arms crossed and relishing in the attention after a win. "What did you think?"

Finn's arms are around me and I lean back against his chest. I look away from the fire too look at Spence. "Your goals were great. How long have you been playing?"

"Since preschool," he says. A big grin is on his face. I knew what made him tick already. "I'm getting a scholarship for the local college."

"Glad you already know," Finn says. "I have to wait until hockey season." He leans back against Spence's truck pulling me with him.

Spence snorts. "I don't know why you play. Our team sucks."

Elliot throws some dirt scooped up from the ground next to him. "Take it back, you shit face."

"You don't suck. The team sucks."

"Well, I'm on it," Elliot grunts.

The rest of the team is on their way out, waving as they get into their cars. Spence and Elliot are both still laying back in their lawn chairs, and I snuggle closer to Finn. "God, I wish I could get high," Spence says.

"Why aren't you?" I ask. He was like Seth in that regard.

"Coach threatened us," Finn says. I try to stay focused on the conversation. Finn's fingers under my sweatshirt trace the top of my jeans from hip to hip. "He says if he even smells it on us, we're kicked from the team. Last year they got busted I guess?"

"Big time," Spence says. "The seniors had to attend AA meetings. That's not even for drugs but it was the only thing coach could find."

I giggle. I heard rumors, but they didn't exactly brag about it and I never had a reason to go to a game last year.

"It's all good. I wasn't there," he says.

"You should hang out near Seth. I think the second hand high is enough," I say.

Elliot laughs. "It's true."

I give him a strange look. I didn't know they were friends. Elliot only shrugs and pushes back the dark hair tumbling over his eyes in the flame's light. "I saw Imari at a few parties this summer and he talked about it."

Imari did manage to smuggle himself into sports parties and since Seth was with whatever that guy's name is all summer, it made sense Imari would complain a bit.

I'm starting to like Spence and Elliot more and more. The rest of the team are guys I've known since kindergarten and I didn't like them even then. Kali and I both agreed that they weren't worth our time. They're the type of guys who like to brag about who they were with the weekend before and I couldn't listen to it. They also found gay jokes to still be funny. Not the type of people I wanted to spend time. Much to Finn's credit, he didn't prefer them either.

Despite Spence's worry over what his coach warned, I hear him open his truck's door and pull out a few cans. He hands me one and I take it. I hate the taste of beer but the feeling wouldn't be terrible.

"You guys coming to the Halloween party?" Spence asks.

Finn shrugs but I nod. "Kali loves Halloween. She's been talking about it since September."

"Kali goes to these things?" Finn asks.

Everyone always assumes that Kali is somehow incapable of enjoying things because of her anxiety, but Spence answers Finn before I can.

"She goes nuts for those things. I don't talk to her much but she loves to dress up. Her and Carla did a fucking weird lesbian thing last year."

"Rocky horror," I say.

"Fucking weird," Spence says again. "But she's cool at parties. Doesn't throw up on the rug."

Nobody but Spence has thrown up on the rug that I know of.

Finn and I watch and listen as Spence and Elliot move on to talk about their cars. I snuggle closer to Finn and he kisses my head, ear, and neck. "You're beautiful," he whispers, his breath warm in my ear and raising goosebumps on my neck.

The beer is making me feel a little more rebellious than usual. I kiss him back and bite his lower lip. "Thank you," I tease.

He kisses me and a cup hits him in the head. "Get a room!" I hear Spence yell and Elliot laughs.

He nods to his car and I follow him. When I'm tracing the muscles in his back, my phone buzzes. I groan and look at it. A reminder that curfew is almost up. I show Finn and he groans too. I adjust my shirt and he pats down his hair. We leave the grassy clearing honking at Spence and Elliot sitting by the fire still and go home.