Reaching Emma

10.

After football practice, David and I decided to go to the girl's first soccer match. We sat down on the top row of the bleachers and watched the girls finish warming up.

"You know..." I sighed and waited for David to continue, "I've never seen you at a soccer game before," he said smirking at me.

"What? Of course I've gone to soccer games..." I said, racking my brain for the last time I came to watch Anna play soccer. Shoot, maybe I haven't been to one in a long time, but I wasn't about to admit that to David, so instead I just said,  "Whatever, man."

He just laughed at my response, before nudging my arm again and whispering, "Hey, isn't that Emma's friend?"

I looked over to our left where David motioned and sure enough it was Emma's friend who drove her home. He was sporting a familiar baseball hat and sunglasses.

"Yeah, I think that is him..." I replied.

"Should we say something?" David asked, still looking at him.

"No way, Emma hasn't introduced us, that would be weird. We don't even know his name" I replied.

The game started a minute later and I was grateful that David didn't make us go say an awkward hello to someone we didn't know. Anna and Emma were both playing really well, the whole team was. We ended up staying for the entire game and were ecstatic when they won.

David and I waited by the field to congratulate the girls on their victory. Anna and Emma jogged over to us after their team meeting. They were both pretty giddy after their first win.

After we congratulated them, David said, "Oh Emma, we saw your friend here. I'm not sure where he went though."

"Ooh, your secret boyfriend is back! Can we meet him?" Anna asked, wiggling her eyebrows at Emma.

"He's not my boyfriend, Anna." Emma sighed and looked around, spotting him a few feet away, standing by the bleachers. He looked up from his phone and gave her a slight wave. Emma waved at him, but looked back at Anna and bit her lip, looking unsure. "Um, sure" she replied to Anna's previous question.

"Really? YAY!" Anna exclaimed, sounding genuinely surprised that Emma had said obliged. We followed Emma over the bleachers where her friend was standing.

"Good game! You were awesome!" He engulfed Emma in a big hug. We trailed a few feet behind Emma, standing awkwardly and waiting to be introduced. He looked confused when he noticed us standing behind Emma. He glanced down at her looking confused.

"Should I go...?" he asked her quietly.

"No, it's alright. Just-" her voice was stern, giving him a warning look, "just be nice" she whispered to him.

Then Emma turned to us, "Guys, this is my friend Noah. And Noah, these are my friends, Luke, David, and Anna." He took off his sunglasses and shook our hands; I almost winced in pain as he gripped mine tightly, giving me a forced, tight-lipped smile. He put his arm around Emma's waist and pulled her closer to his side.

"Anna, you were awesome out there. Your last goal was incredible!" Noah complimented, making Anna beam with delight.

"Well, we should head out. I'm starving." Emma said, cutting our interaction with Noah short.

"Okay, it was nice to finally meet you guys. See you later!" Noah said. They gave us a final wave and started walking towards the parking lot, Noah's arm still nestled around Emma's waist.

I could hear him compliment Emma as they walked away from us. "You were awesome out there!"

Were they dating? Emma assured us that they weren't but they seem pretty close...

"You okay?" David nudged my shoulder, I must have zoned out watching them walk away.

"Yeah," I shook my head to clear my thoughts, "I'm fine."