The "Girl Next Door" is Cliche for a Reason

Chapter 14: And the Winners for Homecoming Court Are...

Lexi arrived at the game in a long sleeve lace dress that hugged her curves and a leather jacket. Many girls and guys had dressed nicer for this game since the dance would be after. All of her friends had commented on the fact that she had even done her makeup and must really like the guy. She heard them all whisper as she hugged Nick and even more as he took a spot next to her with his friends. Lexi had faintly met most of them and excitedly watched the game with the boys who paid more attention than her friends did. When Lexi looked around the stadium after the national anthem, she couldn't find a single empty spot in the bleachers.

Their team started as defense, so Ethan, Cole and Andrew were first on the field and started the game strong. The other team hadn't expected Lexi's school to start the game with so much force. On the third down, Andrew intercepted the ball and sprinted down the field, tackled at the forty-yard line. Nate was on the field with Lucas, high-fiving Andrew on his way off the field. Nate was playing his best on the field, passing far balls accurately, his teammates perfectly catching the ball and making a touchdown within five minutes.

"So, I'm assuming you have a date to the dance tonight?" Nick asked into her ear, to be heard over the noisy stadium.

"I do, did you find any cute girls to say yes to you?" She replied, leaning into him to be heard, shoving him playfully.

"I sadly did not," Nick answered, "but I'll just find a cute girl who's sitting alone in the corner to dance with me and win her over that way."

"Always such the sweetheart," Lexi stated laughing. "It's fine, you don't need a date."

At half-time, Lexi went down to the snack bar, with Nick after his insistence, and said hi to all the boys that went to the stand for their half-time snacks. Her boys were sweaty, but hugged her anyways, all of them coming to the snack bar to talk to her excitedly.

"I wouldn't have hugged you when I'm this sweaty except for the fact that I just wanted to let you know how gorgeous you look," Nate whispered into her ear and she tried not to make a face so that his friends wouldn't notice.

Nate was next in line and ordered himself a bag of peanut m&m's. Lexi got herself nachos before wishing the boys good luck and heading back to the bleachers with Nick. Lexi caught the last of the cheerleaders' performance and saw that they had tried some riskier moves, but that it had paid off for homecoming. The other cheerleaders performed but weren't as good as theirs. Nate started with the ball during the third quarter, every toss hitting the mark and gaining at least ten yards every pass.

"I think this is the best game I've been to in the last three years," Emma told Lexi.

"Nate is on fire," Jess commented.

"Does he have a date to homecoming?" Mary asked.

"You're a bit too late," Lexi answered laughing, "he told me he asked someone last week."

"Since when have you been interested in Nate?" Jess asked laughing.

"He's hot, starting quarterback, and smart," Mary stated. "And Lexi turned him down."

"If this is the best game that y'all have ever seen, then why don't we pay attention to it," Lexi suggested with a smile before giving her full attention to it.

Lucas made the next touchdown, the crowd leaping to their feet cheering. He had been in the running for homecoming prince, whom they would announce just before the dance and after the game. Nate was also up for homecoming prince, but he played it off as if he could care less, especially around Lexi. He did however try to bring up the fact that Lexi was nominated every time his nomination was brought up making her laugh since she knew she would never win. Jess was nominated as well, and Lexi had hoped that she would win over Tori. Their team was up by one touchdown in the last minute and had the ball. Lexi watched as Nate seemed to be having an argument with his coach before getting onto the field. When they got into formation, Lucas was in the position as quarterback and Nate was in the position of running back just as he was freshman year. Most of the stadium was on their feet as they waited for the play to start to see why the star quarterback wasn't playing his normal role. A few of the guys went far, but most of them were blocking the other team while Lucas waited for the perfect moment to pass the ball. The other team was expecting the move, but the linemen blocked their man well then Lexi watched as Nate got the ball and sprinted as fast as he could, slamming into anyone that got into the way. Despite everyone that attempted to tackle Nate, he got to the end zone successfully, the stadium bursting into cheers and the clock buzzing.