Finally Found

9. Staying Away

The rest of the week went by quickly, I wasn't sure if it was because of the homecoming hype, the pep rally, free lunches and other events, or just that I was looking forward to the weekend.

Sarah picked me up after school on Friday night for the football game and we picked up Michelle on the way back to school. Matt had told me that Andrew was giving him a ride later. I was sure that I'd see him there, especially since I think Matt was going with Sarah's boyfriend, Jack. 

The stadium was already packed when we arrived. We maneuvered our way through the crowd and I followed Sarah up the bleachers where she somehow found a row of empty seats.

"Okay, the guys are, of course, late. So we need to spread out and save some seats," Sarah told Michelle and I. 

I laughed, although I had only known them for a little while I somehow wasn't surprised that they were late. It was still very warm outside, so none of us wore jackets that we could use to save seats. Instead, we just sat further apart and took up more room.

We watched the team warm-up, casually watching the bleachers filling up and saying hello as other students filled the bleachers. 

Thankfully the boys weren't too late, they showed up about twenty minutes after we arrived, but the game hadn't started just yet. Matt, Ryan, Andrew and Jack shuffled into the bleachers, taking up the empty seats between Michelle, Sarah and I. 

I found myself squished between my brother and Ryan as the game started and quickly realized that I didn't know much about football. Growing up, my parents or friends didn't watch a lot of sports. Unfortunately, the game wasn't as simple or straightforward to understand as I anticipated. I didn't want to seem naive so I didn't ask and just cheered when everyone around me did.

After the first quarter, Matt left to go to the bathroom and Ryan turned to me, "You don't watch a lot of football, do you?"

I looked at him with my mouth open. I hadn't asked a single question about the game and had cheered and clapped when everyone else did. How did he know that?

"How- how did you know?" I sputtered, completely caught off guard. Maybe I hadn't been hiding my confusion very well after all.

He shrugged. "I don't know, I can just tell. Maybe I'm just good at reading you," he said, throwing a smirk in my direction. I playfully rolled my eyes in response.

"Well, you're right. I have no idea what's going on. I've never really watched football and thought I'd be easier to pick-up on, but I have so many questions," I admitted.

"Okay, let's hear them. I can help," he suggested. I bit my lip and thought about where to even start. 

"Um, just all of it?" I said, laughing at myself. Ryan explained the basics of the game and I think I had a better idea of what to look for in the second quarter.

I felt Sarah bump my hip and I turned towards her, "Scoot" she instructed me. 

I shifted closer to Ryan on the bench and looked down our row to see why we were moving. Apparently Matt had moved to sit by the aisle next to Andrew instead of shuffling across through the bleachers. 

The game started back up and I tried to remember the rules that Ryan explained to me just minutes ago.

The crowd cheered and Ryan nudged my shoulder, "Okay, did you see that?" he said, pointing to the field and explained, "We just intercepted their pass so we get the ball now."