Quad Squad

by R. Barri Flowers

  Taco Trucks

  It wasn’t fucking fair and Maya could tell that Andrea knew it. Obviously Rachel was into Jerry and in fact he had actually been flirting with her and running to class together or whatever the hell they had been doing, Maya had totally seen it, and then Jerry had just straight up sat down right next to Andrea, which okay was one of his seats but whatever, that didn’t mean that Andrea had to then go and basically crush Rachel’s little dreams.

  Maya was over it. Like, Andrea was cool and her best friend supposedly and everything? But you don’t do that to a friend. Like, not to be rude, but it wasn’t like a million guys were into Rachel. When guys think that you’re the smart girl then basically it’s all kind of over, and in Maya’s opinion that was pathetic that the world worked like that, but it was also like Rachel wasn’t doing herself any favors with being kind of super geeky sometimes and with what she wore and she was still kind of in that awkward phase? But that shouldn’t even have mattered because she was so chill, basically everyone knew that, and if Andrea couldn’t keep herself off of him that was straight up bullshit.

  Maya watched the whole class basically getting more and more pissed and trying to decide if she should say something to Rachel or to Andrea or what.

  They were in the hall after the bell and Maya had stopped at her locker when Andrea just walked up to her.

  “What up, byotch?” Andrea asked.

  “Okay, don’t call me that?” Maya said.

  “What?” Andrea squinted at Maya. “What’s your deal?”

  “No deal.”

  Andrea said, “Then--”

  “Whatever,” Maya said, feeling a little weird being that mean. “Hang on a second, let me put this in.” She grabbed money out of her backpack and put it away in the locker. When they were in second grade, she and Andrea used to do monkey bars all the time, every day.

  Andrea looked off into the distance for a minute even though there wasn’t anything to see and it wasn’t really actual distance anyway in a hallway, which made her feel stupid, which then made her madder. She said, “Nobody’s doing anything for lunch, you want to hang?”

  “Oh, well, if nobody else is available, then I guess I’m here,” Maya said, sort of slamming the locker shut.

  “Okay, what the fuck?” Andrea demanded.

  “Nothing, I’ll go to lunch, what do you want?”

  “Taco truck,” Andrea said, as they started to walk.

  “Taco trucks on every corner,” Maya said. It was a meme or something, she thought she remembered it from somewhere. Anyway for a little while it was a thing everyone said.

  But then Andrea said, “Right? Taking over the country.”

  And Maya was like, oh my God, she did not just say that, but it was like, how do you say that to a friend?

  “What?” Andrea said. “Oh, my God, don’t look so fucking serious, I’m just joking.”

  “It’s not that funny,” Maya said.

  “I don’t hate Mexicans,” Andrea said.

  Maya didn’t say anything for a few seconds and it got super awkward.

  “I didn’t say you did,” Maya finally said.

  “You’re pissed at me,” Andrea said.

  Maya inhaled, exhaled, thought, and then said, “I mean, not pissed exactly?”

  “Well, what already?”

  They got to the taco truck and there was a line and it was super awkward to talk about it so they got their tacos and sat over in the tiny little park that was basically a bench and two trees that the city planted, and ate their food. Maya was trying to figure out how to start.

  Andrea thought, I am not apologizing to her for drinking at the volleyball party, she can kiss my ass.

  “It’s just,” Maya started. “Like, it’s not necessarily my business?”

  “What, already?” Andrea asked, peeling open her taco from the aluminum foil they wrapped it in.

  “It’s just,” Maya repeated, “Like, you know Rachel is kind of into Jerry, right?”

  “Oh, my God, did she ask you to talk to me about that stupid journal assignment? I so don’t give a shit about that, you have no idea. I was just, basically, like, how can I get an easy A on this shit?”

  “It’s not that,” Maya said, growing frustrated, mostly more with herself actually than with Andrea. “It’s just that you and Jerry were flirting? And not to be mean but Rachel isn’t exactly --”

  “I know,” Andrea said, “But I wasn’t.”

  “You kind of were, though?”

  “Oh, my God,” Andrea said. “A guy and a girl can talk and it doesn’t mean they’re going to bone.”

  “I know, but you weren’t. I mean, just talking. Like, you have to like do a better job, I think, of figuring out what signals you’re sending.”

  Andrea had a big mouthful of disgusting taco that was making her sick. She chewed it down and drank about half of her Diet Coke to get rid of that taste and to think of what the fuck Maya was trying to say.

  “Signals?” she asked.

  “It’s not just Jerry,” Maya said. “Like, that guy Miles?”

  “Oh, my God, you did not just go there. I’m not in control of whose name some guy remembers.”

  “I’m not saying it’s your fault!” Maya said.

  “Oh, aren’t you?”

  “It’s totally his fault!” Maya said. “He just can’t keep --”

  “It’s just what? I’m just this skank who probably does it with every guy at school? Isn’t that kind of your department?”

  There was a long minute of silence.

  “Whatever,” Maya said.

  “No, you can’t just say that,” Andrea said. “No, no way. You can’t just say whatever when --”

  “That was different, okay?” Maya felt herself nearly shouting. “I actually like him!” Suddenly she was crying, completely surprising herself.

  “I didn’t say--”

  “You don’t have to say anything!” Maya said.

  “I’m not --” Andrea began, and then stopped herself. She took another big bite of the taco, chewed hard, then remembered how gross it was and had to drown it in Diet Coke again.

  She said, “You’re still pissed because he said my name at the mall or whatever?”

  “Oh, my God, no! God, don’t you get it?” Maya said, but all of a sudden she didn’t get it herself. Like, it kind of was about Miles not even knowing who Maya was if she was being honest? And she totally would never have a chance with him, she knew that, but he actually obviously was into Andrea and if she was being totally honest, that really, really hurt.

  “I don’t know what I get,” Andrea said. “Like, basically everything I do you think is wrong. A guy --”

  “No, I didn’t say --”

  “Just let me finish, okay? A guy talks to me at the mall and you’re pissed at me. Then a guy makes out with you, you’re the one who was doing that, not me, you, and you get pissed at me for talking about it wrong. Then, today, I fucking talk to Jerry, I didn’t, like, reach down his pants or anything and you make it like my fault if I’m just being normal!”

  “I’m not saying--”

  “I’m sorry if Rachel doesn’t know how to talk to a boy, but that’s not my fault and I’m so sick of you judging me!”

  “Really? Really?”

  “What?” Andrea demanded.

  “I’m judging you? Like none of that happened? Like you don’t know Jerry -- just tell me this, did you or did you not know that Rachel is into Jerry.”

  “Well, yeah, but --”

  “And did you or did you not see them walk across the quad like whatever before class today, like something was going on?”

  “What is this, am in court or something, are you my lawyer?”

  “I’m not your lawyer.”

  “Yeah, you’re the judge.”

  “You didn’t even answer the question.”

  Andrea didn’t say anything.

  “So whatever,” Maya said. “I
can’t make you be --”

  “I’m not put on Earth to answer your questions,” Andrea said.

  “No, I guess you’re not.”

  There was a long silence, then they both threw their trash in the can and avoided eye contact.

  “Cool,” Andrea said, starting to head back.

  “Cool,” Maya agreed.

  Homecoming

  “What even the fuck is homecoming?” Cole asked.

  “Dude, it’s fucking homecoming,” Tim said.

  “How do you not know what homecoming is?” Jerry asked.

  They were dodging traffic heading toward the school before the game and trying to locate and Mike and Malik and those guys. The night was surprisingly warm and Tim found himself kind of sweating in his stupid Packers sweatshirt. He used to like the Packers but now that seemed like a million years ago, he had just grabbed it because it seemed like he should wear something if he was going to be out for a few hours at a football game. He thought for a second that maybe he could take it off and wear it around his waist but that looked so stupid, that was for, like, fourth graders playing tetherball, wearing shit around your waist. Anyways underneath he had a tank top only and he was definitely not going to take off his sweatshirt and be seen in that, he only usually wore that in the house.

  “Watch out, this guy is anti-American,” Jerry said to Mike, nodding at Cole.

  “Go back to Russia,” Tim said.

  “Wait, why?” Mike asked. They had found them on the corner and now they were all in line to buy tickets. It was a long line, looked like it was going to be a crowded game.

  “Because I don’t know what homecoming is,” Cole said. He added loudly so that everyone in line could practically hear him, “Who fucking gives a shit what homecoming is?”

  Tim and Jerry cracked up at this. Cole was like that, always saying shit in public that kind of embarrassed you but at the same time it was pretty fucking funny how it pissed people off and now some mom was staring back at him and the guys were trying not to crack up too much, but then Malik showed up and said, “Hey, come here, get out of line,” and everyone was like, “What? Why?” But he gave them a, like, look, and they all went after him. He led them around the back where the stoners got high during the day around the back side of the field and then Latrell was there and he said that he had a way to get in without paying.

  “I’m down,” Cole said, “What is it?”

  “Hole in the fence,” Latrell said.

  “Don’t let him see it, he shouldn’t even go to homecoming,” Tim said.

  Latrell looked confused, so Tim said, “Cole said he doesn’t even know what homecoming is.”

  Latrell stared him down in a kind of funny but kind of hostile way. “Fucking un-American.”

  “Exactly my point,” Tim said. “Exactly!”

  “None of you assholes actually has any idea what homecoming is, in other words,” Cole said.

  “Is it dangerous?” Jerry asked.

  “It’s homecoming,” Mike said. “How dangerous could it be?” He was finally getting himself out there tonight, after a time who knows how long of avoiding Maya. He had a little bit gotten over the whole thing but he wasn’t at all sure what he would do if he saw her.

  “No, asshole, the fence,” Tim said.

  “I knew that,” Mike said. “Joke.”

  “He didn’t know,” Cole said.

  “Worst thing, security catches you, bounces you out, you get right back in line,” Latrell said.

  “Ten bucks for a football game,” Tim said, shaking his head.

  “Packers suck,” Malik said, but Tim didn’t take the bait.

  “Whiteboy team,” Latrell agreed.

  “What are you, Carolina?” Tim asked.

  “Raider Nation,” Malik said.

  “Commitment to Excellence,” Latrell said.

  “Fuck yeah,” Malik said, fist-bumping Latrell.

  “Commitment to excrement, more like,” Cole said, and everyone cracked up at that while Malik kind of half tackled Cole and they wrestled for a while as they all headed for the spot until Latrell said, “O.K., shh, fucking chill.”

  They were partially hidden in the tree line. Between them and the fence there was the narrow service road. On the other side of the fence was the back of the visitor bleachers. They could see now what he meant, a space in the fence, sort of separated at the bottom. It didn’t look very big.

  “You go first,” Cole said.

  “Fuck that, I found it. You go first,” Latrell said.

  “This is crazy,” Jerry said. “That hole is tiny. Nothing could fit through that. A little -- a little, like, a little --”

  “Hamster,” Cole said.

  “A hamster couldn’t fit through that,” Jerry finished.

  “Your mama couldn’t fit through that,” Malik said, but no one really laughed because it didn’t really make sense. Mike thought, if a hamster couldn’t fit, then obviously --

  Tim said, “I’ll go.”

  Malik said, “Timothy! Steppin’ up.”

  “Only because you guys are such a bunch of pussies,” he said, and then raced across the road, ducked down and separated the fence further, then slid under it. It was kind of like the obstacle courses from basic training videos from Young Guns that he had been watching, which made it sick. He was mostly through when his Packers sweatshirt caught on it. “Fuck!” He called out. He could see asses of people above him in the bleachers. He pulled at the fence but he couldn’t reach the spot where his sweatshirt was caught.

  Cole said, “We fucked,” but he didn’t seem too upset.

  Jerry was near panic. It wasn’t that big a hole. His thoughts raced. If Tim was stuck it that meant that Jerry would get stuck. Tim was obviously a lot skinnier than him and maybe he should have said from the beginning that they should just pay like everybody else in line, like it wouldn’t have necessarily been that bad to get stuck if it was just him and Tim, that wouldn’t be great but at least the damage would be contained, but with all these guys there was no way that they wouldn’t make fun of him and the odds of the whole school knowing that he had gotten stuck and probably a picture of it, too. Shit.

  “Go,” Malik said. There was no doubt in anyone else’s mind who was supposed to go after Tim. That was just obvious.

  “Is this legal or --”

  “Fucking go already!” Cole said.

  Jerry wanted to ask, why don’t you go? But that would make it more obvious that he was avoiding it and then they would ask why he wasn’t going and he would probably get made fun of and get stuck, so fuck it.

  He ran up and grabbed at Tim’s sweatshirt, his fingers clumsy, both of them cursing, and then suddenly Tim was free and on the other side. He turned around quickly and held the space open, the chain link hurting his hands. Jerry gave him a quick look and Tim knew without anybody saying anything, and pulled hard on the fence. For three seconds as he crawled Jerry could feel the fence pushing down on his back and on his butt, but he got through okay. They gave each other a quick grin and a look that was like, fuck those guys for not helping, we should just close it now and go in the two of us, but they didn’t.

  The other four raced over, with Cole going, “Come on, come on, I saw security,” the whole time, but then they were all through and Tim didn’t see any security. They all walked quickly but casually past the snack shack and now they were in, slamming into each other with excited shoulder jump-bumps and getting psyched that they all had an extra ten bucks now and heading over to the home side to see what girls were there. The cheerleaders were out but they were boring. Like, with their little miniskirts you could see a lot, but they weren’t hot like cheerleaders in the movies, they were mostly kind of pathetic.

  Tim saw Maria near the far end of the cheerleader squad shouting out something and he couldn’t not stare at her tits for a long second, and with his head turned he almost tripping on Cole, who cursed him out. The guys decided to hea
d up to the top of the bleachers to scope out the territory. They were all talking about something and he was on the far end and had to lean forward to hear everyone else but then someone else would lean too far forward because they couldn’t hear, and everyone kept leaning in and back and grabbing each other on the shoulders and pulling back and leaning forward.

  Tim said to Cole, “Hey, Bin Laden, national anthem coming up, you’d best be standing.”

  Cole said, “Imma pull a Kaepernick.”

  “Black lives matter,” Jerry said.

  “If you say so,” Malik said, and Latrell thought that was hilarious. The two of them laughed in a private kind of way and everyone was completely aware for a long moment that the two of them were not just different, but kind of on the inside on this one.

  “Check out Andrea,” Mike said, more to break the weird ice that had developed than because he thought she was that hot. She was, actually, he had to admit, but it was just that she was out of his league and he liked someone else. Anyway they couldn’t really see much from up there, she was sitting and talking to friends, all you could really see was her hair. Plus it was a good distraction strat for Mike so that none of them would know who he was really scanning for.

  “That girl is fine,” Malik said.

  “No shit,” Latrell said.

  “Your mama’s fine,” Cole said.

  “Oh, no,” Malik said, “You did not just.”

  “He did not just,” Latrell agreed.

  “I might have,” Cole said.

  “Fuck you up,” Malik said.

  Mike said, “Andrea? I was in science with her and I heard her talking and she’s going with some senior to the prom.”

  Everyone stared at him for a second.

  “Man, what the fuck are you talking about?” Malik demanded. “Prom isn’t for like a year.”

  “Who gives a shit who she goes to prom with?” Jerry asked, because he very much cared.

  “What senior,” Cole said dismissively. “Ain’t no senior.”

  They all shook their heads and scanned the crowd some more. Mike’s heart gave a sudden kind of sickening leap and he thought, well, of course, there she is.

  Then the band came out on the field to play the national anthem and somebody came on the P.A. to ask everyone to stand and the guys all looked at Cole. He got down on one knee for a second and crossed himself, which cracked the guys up, then he and Tim stared each other down for a second. Then Cole decided fuck it and stood up, but quickly flipped Tim off.

  When it was over Jerry said, “God, we have the worst band.”

  “They look so stupid,” Mike said.

  “You couldn’t make me wear that shit,” Malik said. “With a gun.”

  “Bunch of geeks,” Tim said.

  “Band geeks,” Mike agreed.

  Cole said, “None of those people even like actual good music, you can tell.”

  “Most of the guys in band are gay,” Tim said. “I’m not saying that’s bad, just that it’s, like, not for me.”

  Jerry thought that this was a dubious stat, but he was being extra careful to have Tim’s back, so he said, “No cute girls, either.”

  “What about that chick with the big tuba thing?” Mike pointed.

  “Nappy af,” Malik said.

  “I think that was supposed to be The Star Spangled Banner,” Latrell said. “I think.”

  “Sounded more like the Shit-Spangled Banner,” Cole said, and that cracked everyone up, except that a dad looked back at them all angry and they had to chill out.

  It was so weird for Rachel how she and Maya and Sabrina had all come together but Andrea had come separate and was over hanging with Diana Newton. Like, since when were those two friends at all, but they were sitting and laughing all over each other like they had known each other forever, when in fact the only one that Andrea had known forever was Maya. But something had gone down between Maya and Andrea, that was obvious, even though neither one had been willing to tell her anything about it. Which wasn’t exactly fair, she always told them stuff, but okay, they had their secrets.

  “Anybody want a snack or something?” Sabrina asked. They had just passed the snack shack on their way up so that meant, Rachel figured, that Sabrina wanted to go off on her own, maybe just to think or maybe do something she wasn’t supposed to. Rachel and Maya just said no thanks, because with Sabrina if you offered to go that was actually being ruder because she had times like this, when she just couldn’t be around that many people that much.

  She walked across the metal bleachers as the game started. The band was playing and the teams were doing whatever football teams do. It was kind of stupid, Rachel thought, a lot of hitting each other and getting concussions. Her brother Warren was in med school now and was forever talking about how lucky he was that he didn’t get concussions when he played.

  Usually guys in football uniforms were fun to look at in their white, like, leggings and everything but the game was happening kind of at the far end right now and Rachel and Maya mostly were looking at each other’s phones and trying not to turn around and look up to the top of the bleachers too much.

  “He’s kind of looking at you I think?” Rachel said. “Don’t turn around.”

  “What?” Maya said. “What’s he doing?”

  “Just looking, I guess?”

  “I don’t even know,” Maya said. “He’s been so--”

  “I know--”

  “Since that bonfire thing.”

  “Guys are so weird,” Rachel confirmed.

  “Jerry’s there, too,” Maya said.

  “I know,” Rachel said, pretending they were just compiling a list. “We’ve got in the top row Ben and Jerry plus Cole and Mike and Latrell and Malik.”

  “Would you go out with any of them?” Maya asked, because she knew if she didn’t, they would basically never get to it because Rachel was too shy to talk about it.

  “I mean, 9th grade guys?” Rachel said, at first seriously, but then a dumb smile broke out.

  “Right?” Maya said. “But I mean--”

  “Yeah, I know,” Rachel said, laughing. “Like I’m so above that.”

  “You’ve got seniors and shit bothering you.”

  “All day long. Pestering! I can’t even keep up.”

  Maya laughed, but then she caught a glimpse of Andrea heading over to what looked like Eli and those 10th grade guys, no way, was she going to talk to Miles Turgeon after everything?

  “Look,” she nudged Rachel.

  “I know,” Rachel said. “It’s like she --”

  “I’m not gonna say,” Maya said. “I already said too much.”

  “It’s so weird,” Rachel said. “You guys are like--”

  “I know, I know,” Maya said, suddenly getting almost teary. “It’s just right now. Me and her will figure it out. Eventually.”

  Rachel thought about asking more, but sighed instead. She pretended to watch the game. “What the hell does homecoming mean?” she asked.

  “I know!” Maya agreed. “Where are they coming home from? Didn’t your brother?”

  “Yeah, Warren was a lineman. Whatever that is. Not the quarterback, I know that. Wait, where’s Sabrina at? She’s been gone a while.”

  Maya scanned near the snack shack area. “Let’s give her a few minutes.”

  “Yeah, totally,” Rachel said.

  They watched the action for a minute.

  “I would rather drink bleach than be in cheerleading,” Maya said.

  “Those sweaters?”

  “Plus you’re like this wimp cheering on the big men. It’s like, do your own sport and stop rooting for other people.”

  “I know,” Rachel said, “What kind of person goes out on a Friday night and watches somebody else play a sport?”

  “Oh, come on,” Maya said. “Nobody’s here to watch Kennedy high school football.”

  “Then what are we here for?” Rachel asked.

  “No way
,” Maya said. “If he’s not going to do anything, I’m not going to. He’s the one who’s being all weird. There’s Sabrina. I’ll bet she -- I don’t know. Her business, I guess.”

  Whatever, Andrea thought. If he wants to be weird he can be weird, I literally don’t care. She had been sitting with Diana but then she decided she was being weak and just dared herself to get up and did it, climbing out her row and into the aisle and down over to where Miles and those guys were sitting, but he wasn’t even looking at her, like pretending she didn’t exist or something? It was like, let’s just get this issue over already, but he was kind of being a pussy and ignoring her, he had been since the party, if he had just manned up and apologized then it would have been whatever, but he was acting like she didn’t exist, and what the fuck was that?

  She kind of stomped the last few steps in the aisle on the metal bleachers a little extra loud and Eli noticed and looked over and said, “Oh, hey,” and Andrea said, “Hey, Eli,” kind of loud, and the thing was, she should have been the one ignoring Miles, not the other way around, after what had happened, it was so rude, so she said, “You guys huge football fans or what?” And that kind of made Miles turn his head, basically he had to, because she had said you guys really loud and that obviously included him, and he said, “Oh, hey.”

  Andrea said, “What’s up, Miles?”

  He said, “What’s up,” which wasn’t really an answer, but it also wasn’t really a question, and she stood there like an idiot kind of waiting for him to say more, but on the other side that asshole Cameron that no one liked said something really fast that Andrea didn’t understand and showed Miles his phone and Miles started checking it out, and Andrea ran her hand through her hair and Eli yelled out, “Holding!” and then more quietly added, “How is that not holding?” to Miles and Cameron, but they weren’t listening, not to him and not to Andrea, and she decided, fuck it, and went back over to sit with Diana and learn more about what the fuck her problem was.

  “God we suck,” Cole said.

  “We need a running game is all,” Tim said.

  “We need a running and a passing game and special teams,” Latrell said.

  “You should go out if you care so much,” Tim said. “You wouldn’t make water boy.”

  “What are you, defender of Kennedy’s honor?” Latrell asked.

  Tim said, “Somebody’s gotta.”

  They watched the offense actually get two first downs in a row and everyone got a little into it and Tim yelled, “Kennedy!” and no one joined him. Then the offense blew a third down screen and the punting team come on again, and everyone went back to watching the girls again.

  Cole said to Mike, “Dude, quit being such a pussy.”

  Mike said, “Shut up, Cole.”

  “Get your ass down there,” Malik said.

  “They were totally fucking at the beach and now he’s all acting like a pussy about it,” Cole said.

  “Dude,” Jerry said. “Let him do whatever he wants.”

  “But she’s into you,” Tim said. “Still.”

  “How do you know?” Mike asked.

  “Oh, come on, obvious,” Jerry, Cole and Malik all said at once, their words all bunching together. “Seriously,” Latrell said. “You need an invitation or what?”

  Mike said, “Wait, what, why does everybody think that she’s--”

  “Wait, what, why,” Cole mocked.

  “Wait, wait, wait,” Latrell said.

  “Why, why, why,” Jerry said, although he regretted it immediately. They were kind of picking on Mike too much. He wasn’t New Mike any more, though, so that was cool.

  Malik said, “Quit being a fucking faggot and get down there.”

  There was a moment’s hesitation, then Tim said, “Bruh, not cool.”

  “Yeah,” Jerry said.

  “Oh, come on, not like that,” Malik said.

  “Still not cool,” Latrell agreed.

  “Be an upstander not a bystander,” Cole said, but it was obvious he was just trying to annoy Malik.

  Malik tsked hard and said, “No, like, ‘a faggot,’ like a guy who gets all butthurt about shit, being stupid about shit. Not like anti-gay.”

  “Microagression,” Cole said. “We need some anti-bullying education at this school.”

  “Dude,” Malik said, shaking his head, mostly frustrated at being way outnumbered, “You’re like, talking? You’re like a fucking walking microagression every time you open your mouth.”

  “Still shouldn’t say it,” Tim said.

  “Agreed,” Jerry said.

  Tim couldn’t help but notice that Jerry was basically repeating everything that Tim was saying. It was like he was all proud for having his back, but it wasn’t the same to have your back in just some stupid argument and not when it was really going down. Still, it was cool.

  “Fuck it,” Mike said, and stood on the bleacher bench, then walked across to the aisle.

  The other guys cheered, and he gave them an angry look, but everyone was cheering for an interception for Kennedy, offense coming on again, so he headed down the aisle.

  “Oh, God, oh, God, what do I do, what do I do?” Maya said.

  “Just act normal, God, stop freaking out, you’re freaking me out!” Sabrina said. It was making her high a little paranoid, but this was also fun, just being with the girls and being a normal chick who went to football games and wore a Kennedy scarf and gossiped about boys.

  Rachel said, “Wait for him to talk first, then just say whatever fits.”

  “Shh, shh,” Sabrina said.

  Andrea sat with Diana Newton and pretended to be interested in her stupid ideas for improving spirit at Kennedy, like anyone cares about spirit. God. And: fuck Miles Turgeon.

  Halftime was coming up and that was going to be kind of the hardest part? Because the last time which was also the first time that she had gone to a football game she and Rachel and Maya and Sabrina had hung out and everything had somehow been fucking hilarious and now she wasn’t going over there, no way, not after the way Maya was treating her, it was ridiculous how Maya was pretending that everything was Andrea’s fault and everything would be normal if Andrea would just come over and apologize or something. Yeah right, that was gonna happen. She would just have to -- oh, wait, that guy Mike was coming down to talk to Maya. This was interesting. Shit, now Andrea was definitely wishing she could be over there, but no way could she go over there right this second, that would be totally obvious that she was going over there to eavesdrop, shit, what was he saying?

  Malik said, “Oh, yeah, get in there, boy.”

  Jerry said, “He’s a plaaayya.”

  Cole said, “He’s probably just asking her if she knows the score.”

  “Oh, she knows the score,” Latrell said, and everyone cracked up, even though they weren’t actually sure what that meant.

  They watched for a few seconds. It just looked like an ordinary conversation. Jerry said to the others in a fake low voice, “Hey, babe, come here often?”

  Cole said in a high, falsetto voice, “Oh, Mike, you know II only come when you do,” which also cracked everyone up.

  Tim said, “Be weird to be Rachel and Sabrina,” and right at that moment both of those girls got up and walked away from Mike and Maya.

  “Nice,” Malik said to Tim, and they bumped fists.

  Jerry said in his fake low voice, “Now that they’re gone, I can tell you how I really feel.”

  “Oh, my,” Cole said. “How do you really feel? Here, sit down with your big dick and tell me.”

  “Well, yes, um,” Jerry said, “It seems to me that clearly, um, Kennedy high school football rules.”

  “Oh, yes, yes,” Cole panted.

  “The weather’s nice,”

  “Oh, God, oh, God, yes,” Cole moaned, making the dad in front of him turn around once again, but this time turn back pretty quickly.

  “And, uh, the band is really good,” Jerry said. <
br />
  “That’s like music to my ears,” Cole said.

  “Lame,” Tim said.

  “I don’t think she’s into it,” Latrell said in an observational voice.

  “Snack shack at halftime?” Jerry asked in his own voice.

  “Something,” Malik said. “This game sucks. Imma go talk to Andrea and them maybe.”

  Jerry’s voice stuck in his throat for a moment, then he said, “Cool.”

  Tim glanced at his phone and said, “I’m supposed to find Dylan.”

  “Dylan’s a douche,” Cole said.

  “I know,” Tim said, forlornly.

  “Something’s up,” Jerry said.

  They watched as Mike walked away from Maya, down the row, but didn’t head up back to the guys.

  “What’s his deal?” Cole asked, but no one answered. Mike headed down the aisle, out in front of the bleachers, and as the halftime whistle blew and everyone got up, he disappeared into the sudden mob of the crowd.

  When he had first come down, Maya hadn’t been able to think straight. The main question was, should they talk about it or not? If they didn’t, it would always be this awkward thing between them and they would never have a normal conversation like two normal people ever again, but if they did it would be even more awkward because how do you talk about something like that, like, how do you start, do you say, I was uncomfortable when you put my hand on your you-know-what, but it wasn’t that big a deal that you have to ignore me for weeks, but don’t do it again? Or seriously, what do you say? Because she had obsessed about this question for hours at a time and not asked anyone and she still didn’t know and now he was coming.

  Mike was thinking, just say something. It’s lame to just ignore her and always pretend that you don’t even know her.

  There were too many people in the row and he had to scooch past some fat people and knees and stuff and when he got there before he could think what to say, Rachel, who was closest to him, said, “Hey, Mike!”

  And he said, “Hey, what’s up,” and nodded to her and then leaned forward a little. Sabrina was in the middle and Maya on the far side, so Rachel and Sabrina both kind of leaned back so that the Mike-to-Maya angle was clear for direct conversation, but not too far so it wouldn’t be too obvious, and Rachel scooched some room on the bench, so he sat down and added, “Hey, Sabrina. Maya.”

  “Hi, Mike,” Sabrina said.

  Maya said, “Hey,” thinking, is it so hard to come around the other side?

  Sabrina, feeling distinctly uncomfortable in the middle, said, “Were you hanging out with those guys up there?” Even though all four of them, and probably a hundred other people there knew the answer.

  He said, “Yeah. Just chillin’, watching the game. I guess Kennedy football kind of sucks?”

  “I guess,” Sabrina, said, although she had no idea who was winning or even what a team was supposed to do to win points.

  Mike said, “Hey, can I tell you guys something?”

  Uh-oh, Maya thought.

  We should get out of here right now, Sabrina didn’t say, but she leaned into Rachel just a micro little bit and they both knew that’s what she meant.

  “Um, yeah?” Rachel said.

  “Not that big a deal, but you can’t tell anyone,” Mike said.

  What already? Maya thought. And: Oh, God.

  Mike leaned in to be quieter, but it was weird to talk to Maya across two people, and it was weird to just talk to Rachel right next to him, so he ended up looking at Sabrina and telling her, “We snuck in, for free.”

  “Oh,” Sabrina said, after a long moment. “Is that -- can you get in -- how?”

  “Hole in the fence,” Mike explained.

  “Sick,” Rachel said, although she thought: how lame, just pay the ten bucks and support your school.

  “Yeah, I could show you where,” he said.

  “Cool, yeah,” Rachel said. “But maybe in a bit. We were just going to the bathroom, then after maybe, or after the game?”

  Mike didn’t say anything, because for a long second he was trying to decide if he was supposed to say yes, and then actually have to show them, or whether he should say no so they didn’t know where it was so they couldn’t get in trouble, or whether she even actually meant that he should show them or was just making conversation. That.

  Rachel glanced quickly at Maya, who looked a little stricken, but alive. Rachel and Sabrina got up to not go to the bathroom and when they were gone, Mike scooched over a little bit, because sitting way far away from her was being weird, but not too close, because that would seem aggressive and the last thing he wanted to seem was that after you-know-what had happened, and the fact that it took him a few seconds to calculate the correct distance made it much more awkward when he finally slid over a little bit but not too much.

  The two of them stared straight ahead and watched Kennedy fumble the ball and the other team recover.

  Mike finally said, “So how’s it going, Maya?”

  “I’m good, Mike,” she said. “You?”

  “Yeah, chill,” he said.

  She said, “Yeah, that’s cool.”

  They watched the defense run onto the field.

  “Are you into sports?” Maya asked.

  “Oh, not that much. I mean -- are you?”

  “I play volleyball.”

  “Oh, that’s cool.”

  “Yeah, it’s chill.”

  Maya watched the teams do another play and when the crowd cheered she looked over at Mike. He was watching the game, too, but then he looked over at her, just when she was looking back at the game.

  “Are you guys good?” Mike asked.

  “What?”

  “Oh, I mean, the volleyball. Did you say on a team?”

  “Oh! Oh, yeah, no. I mean, actually, no, we’re not,” she said with a fake laugh. “We’re kind of terrible, I guess?”

  “Oh, that sucks,” he said.

  She said, “Suzette, that girl who had that birthday party, she’s on the team. A lot of the people at that thing were from there.”

  “Oh,” Mike said. “I didn’t realize.”

  “Yeah,” Maya said.

  “It was a chill party,” Mike said.

  “Yeah,” Maya said.

  Mike thought, shit, what now?

  Maya waited. And waited. And waited.

  God, they’re flailing, Andrea thought. Diana had just laid out her plan for how to do spirit week in a way that would actually be spirited this year and people would be into it, because she had heard that in past years nobody had participated and she thought that this year -- Jesus, shut the fuck up about spirit fucking week, Andrea kept thinking. Suddenly she stood up.

  “Back in a sec,” she said to Diana, even though they both instantly recognized that as a lie.

  She could just about hear what was going on even though it was on the other side of the bleachers. Basically Mike, who was a decent guy, wanted to apologize for going all feral on Maya at the bonfire, but he was too much of a pussy to come out and say it, and Maya was never going to go first and say anything, so they were stuck together with nothing to say and when there’s something major then small talk sucks, major, and the whole conversation was probably going to make things worse and ruin the chance of them ever getting back to normal and, like, get to know each other again and maybe Maya could have something cool.

  The thing was, all they needed was a little help. Andrea scooted over there pretty quick, pretending to look at the game and waving to a few people who waved to her along the way but pretty much on a mission.

  She got to their row and scooted past fat people and knees and said, “Hey Mike, Maya, what up?”

  “Hey Andrea,” Mike said, a little intimidated now. Andrea was super popular and the guys never stopped talking about her and it was hard enough figuring out how to talk to Maya, and now it was two on one.

  Maya thought, oh, my God, fuck you, Andrea, but said, “Hey, And
rea.”

  “Did you guys hear that McDonnell is gonna get fired?”

  “What? Really? The AP?” Mike asked, trying to keep up.

  “Yeah, the dude who busts everyone?” Andrea said.

  “What about him?” Maya asked, trying to sound bored but not exactly succeeding because she was so nervous.

  “That’s the thing!” Andrea said. She leaned in closer because she didn’t want to share with the whole, like, football stadium. She said, quieter, “He was found with a bunch of, like, porno on his computer.”

  “What?” Mike said. “Really? That’s crazy!” Although, when he thought about it, it wasn’t that crazy.

  Maya thought, oh, my God, just go away! She said, “I didn’t know that. What’s your source of information?”

  “My -- oh, I can’t tell you, I swore I wouldn’t,” Andrea said, which she felt good about thinking of, because the whole McDonnell thing was made up just to break the ice and shit, and she hadn’t thought out ahead about stuff like defending how did she know.

  “I guess we get a new Assistant Principal?” Mike said.

  “Yeah,” Andrea said. Shit, she could feel it, the conversation was stuck again. They all pretended to watch the cheerleaders for a moment.

  “Hey, did you know Maya’s in volleyball?” she asked Mike.

  “Um, yeah, she was just telling me.”

  God, I am not going to let her make me look like an idiot in front of him, Maya thought, but it was hard to think of a way of stopping Andrea without seeming like a bitch herself.

  From the top row, Cole said, “Why is Andrea on top of Mike?”

  “She’s not on top of him,” Jerry said quickly. “They’re just talking.”

  “Got her hand on his knee,” Cole observed.

  “Bullshit,” Tim said.

  “Bullshit,” Jerry agreed.

  “You need see it from my angle,” Cole said.

  “He just wants you to go sit on his lap,” Latrell said.

  “Man, suck my dick,” Cole said.

  “Shut the fuck up,” Latrell said, and they kept watching the game and the conversation below.

  “I mean, it’s not that fun?” Maya said. “But there are some cool girls in volleyball.”

  “Yeah, no, that sounds cool,” Mike said.

  Borrringg, Andrea worried.

  She said, “Hey, Mike, you’re not from around here?”

  “East Washington,” he said, which was mostly enough answer for most people, he had learned.

  “There any cute girls there?” Andrea asked.

  Mike laughed.

  “Not like here, is that what that means?” Andrea asked.

  Oh, my God, go away, Maya thought. She looked at her phone, purely out of needing something to do. Rachel had texted dont hurry but were getting food come down when ur ready.

  Maya looked at Mike, looked at Rachel, looked back at her phone, and made a decision. It was time to do something already. Mike obviously wasn’t going to do anything tonight, especially not if Andrea was going to hang out.

  Maya stood up. “I’m going to go talk to some friends.”

  “Oh,” Mike said. “Cool.”

  Andrea looked at her like, really? And Maya looked back with: really.

  “Wait, what the hell?” Cole said.

  “Three straight runs when you’re down 14?” Tim demanded, shaking his head.

  “No, look,” Cole pointed. Mike was now sitting alone with Andrea.

  “That dude,” Latrell said, shaking his head.

  “They don’t even know each other,” Jerry complained.

  “You jealous,” Malik said.

  “Shut the fuck up,” Jerry said, because it was true.

  “You’re jealous,” Tim said to Malik, still watching the game.

  “Fuck yeah,” Malik said, laughing. “Everybody wants a piece of that.”

  “Goddamn right,” Latrell said.

  “Don’t be rude to the ladies, motherfuckers,” Cole said.

  “Man, shut the fuck up,” Malik said.

  “Dude just wants a piece like everybody else,” Latrell said.

  Cole said, “Me? No, I’m good. She’s too …”

  Everyone turned to him.

  “Too what?” Latrell demanded.

  “Yeah, too what?” Malik said. “Too fine?”

  “Is that a thing?” Tim wondered, then shouted, “Interference!” then added quietly, “Fucking refs.”

  “Not my type,” Cole said.

  “Not your type?” Malik repeated, sounding astonished.

  Jerry thought, well, one less is less competition, but had to ask, “What’s your type? Who’s your type?”

  Cole said, “Hm. Well, do you guys know …”

  Everyone waited. Cole said, “Or, there’s also…”

  “Man,” Latrell said.

  “Don’t forget that fine girl, what’s her name?” Cole added.

  “Shut him up, will you?” Jerry said.

  “Dude’s gay,” Malik said. “Not that anybody up here has a problem with that, it’s cool, Cole. Heh. Cool, Cole.”

  Cole rolled his eyes, but he was also still watching Andrea, who looked fucking hot.

  Andrea said, “You okay?”

  Mike said, “Yeah, I’m good.”

  Andrea nodded.

  “It’s just,” Mike said.

  “Yeah?”

  He glanced back up at the guys. They were all watching him, and Malik made a gesture, Mike couldn’t tell what, probably obscene. Mike turned back quickly, frowning.

  “Those guys are being dicks.”

  Andrea glanced back up, too. Everyone was pretending to watch the game.

  She said, “Yeah, those guys? I wouldn’t take them too seriously. Those guys are fucking children.”

  “Yeah!” Mike said.

  “I mean, they’re my homies and all,” Andrea said.

  “But they can be so immature,” Mike said.

  “Fucking tell me about it,” Andrea said. She waited a second, then added, “You mad Maya took off?”

  Mike got a little shock of surprise from the question, so he quickly said, “What? No. I don’t care. I don’t -- it’s like…”

  Andrea waited.

  Mike said, “I mean, we’re not, like, going out or anything.”

  “No, I know,” Andrea said.

  “I mean, I barely know her?”

  “Right,” Andrea said. “So are you supposed to be, like, obligated to her?”

  “Exactly!” Mike said, although when he thought about it for a second longer, that wasn’t what he had come over to Maya feeling. He felt confused now.

  Andrea said, “Eight seconds left in the half.”

  Mike said, “I’ll go hang with those guys, I guess.”

  “No, stay a second,” Andrea said.

  “Oh,” Mike said. Just her saying it made his whole body flush.

  “Truth is?” Andrea said. “Nobody’s fucking talking to me, I think.”

  “Oh! What, really? Why?” Mike asked.

  “I don’t know,” Andrea said, which was basically true. Like, she knew? But it didn’t make sense, nothing made sense, so it was pretty much true that she didn’t know.

  “Sucks,” Mike said.

  “Tell me about it. People at this school are so drama.”

  “I know!”

  “You know what else?” Andrea asked.

  The half ended and people got up all around them.

  “Are you?” Mike asked.

  “Let’s get out of here,” Andrea said. “I’m fucking sick of Kennedy people.”

  “I feel that,” Mike said.

  “Cool,” Andrea said, making her way over bleachers at a diagonal angle that was opposite what everybody else was doing. They hopped up the benches and down into the walkways and up onto the benches and down, talking as they went. Andrea said, “You smoke?”

  “Yeah,” Mike said, soun
ding confident, although the actual score was: once with his cousin Greg who was 19 and now that Mike thought about it, probably shouldn’t have let Mike smoke in 7th; twice in 8th with Mackenzie at his old school who then suddenly got busted and Mike was afraid for a month that he would get caught somehow, too, and twice with Cole, which had been fucking hilarious, but also kind of scary? Because he had definitely smoked a lot more or something more potent with Cole.

  “Cool,” Andrea said. “There’s a park, over from the Taco Bell?”

  “Where? Oh, yeah, I think?”

  “I’ll show you,” Andrea said. She paused in her walking and said quietly, “Nobody else here showing me they’re worth two fat me-rolled spliffs.”

  “I -- I’ll do my best?” Mike said.

  “Let’s kick it,” Andrea said.