by Carrie Secor
Andy was going anyway, without an invitation. He had decided that, since he had gone to a post-game party before and his attendance had been well-received by Amanda, he did not need any further invitations. He found out through the rumor mill that the party would be at Amanda’s, and he decided this would be the perfect chance to try to ask her out. Because this was the plan, he chose to not let Melody know that he was going—he thought it would be rude to go with her while focusing on another girl.
Shane was going because he was a football player and they were expected to make appearances at these things. Also, Will had mentioned in passing that Stacy had convinced Cadie to go with her. He would have gone anyway, but he thought Cadie’s presence might make this party much more bearable—especially because it was going to be at Amanda’s house, and apparently he and Amanda were on rocky ground, though he was only aware of this because other people had told him.
Elliot was going because she had promised Lauren and wanted to try to make other friends, but she was not looking forward to it. She tried to persuade Felicia to go with her, several times, but Felicia had a tendency to avoid all gatherings where she might be forced to interact with her brother in a public setting.
Susan was going because she was a cheerleader and they were expected to make appearances at these things. She was under the assumption that if she did not go, her presence would be missed. This was not the case.
Every year their school’s football team played their biggest rivals, a school ten miles and two interstate exits away. Since the schools were in such close proximity to one another, the game was known as the Backyard Brawl. It was a big deal because the two schools were competitive in every single sport, but it was usually a guarantee that the football team could at least defeat theirs, despite rumors circulating that they kept trying to steal the team’s playbook. Even members of the band argued that the other band kept stealing their ideas for drill.
Cadie went to the game with her parents again, under the guise of going to watch Melody and the band’s performance, but in reality to watch Shane play. Because she and Melody were going to the party afterwards, she had driven separately. In her car she had left a backpack containing her outfit for the evening’s festivities, since she considered it not appropriate football game attire. Currently, though, she was just wearing slouchy jeans and a hooded sweatshirt. Although it was almost October, the autumn chill had not quite settled in yet.
After the band performed for pre-game, Cadie offered to grab her parents something from the concession stand, but they declined; they both had thermoses of hot chocolate. Although she herself was not hungry or thirsty, she wanted to be down on ground level when the football team ran out through that stupid giant banner the cheerleaders made for them every week. She wondered how much time went into making a big banner that was just going to be ripped in half by a cavalcade of big, beefy guys in jerseys. She made a mental note to ask Stacy that night.
Cadie took her time walking toward the concession stand. The cheerleaders were forming lines on either side of the gates nearest to the locker room, their giant banner in tow. Stacy caught Cadie’s eye and gave her a wave, which Cadie returned. She figured her cover was already blown, so she might as well stop and watch the team run onto the field instead of proceeding to the concession stand and pretending to labor over whether to buy nachos or cheese fries. Cadie walked up to the chain link fence and leaned her arms against it, waiting.
The team was announced and they jogged out of the locker room to the roars of the crowd. Cadie craned her neck, scaling the gaggle of blue-clad guys for the gold number 87 that would indicate Shane’s presence. She saw him right after they broke through the giant banner and started heading towards the other side of the field. He was already wearing his helmet, which made it impossible to see his face, but for a second she was almost certain their eyes locked by the fluttering sensation in her chest.
Immediately she turned and pretended to be incredibly enthralled with looking for the concession stand, as if it had somehow managed to escape her vision. As she glanced over the crowd, she saw a familiar flash of black hair.
Felicia was actually at a football game, and not with her parents. Elliot was next to her in line. Although her back was turned, Cadie could tell it was Elliot from the long blonde hair. They were talking so animatedly that Cadie almost did not recognize Felicia. It was completely unlike her to be so enthused about anything, let alone at a football game where she might accidentally be identified as Shane’s sister.
Elliot reached the counter and leaned way off to her left to grab a few napkins from the dispenser that sat on the other side. As she did, Cadie watched as Felicia’s eyes never left Elliot. She looked uncertain. She bit her lip and looked away.
Cadie thought after six years of friendship, she might have finally figured out Felicia’s tell.
“This is a stellar night,” Elliot remarked as she and Felicia headed back to the home side of the stadium. She was carrying a cardboard container of cheese fries; Felicia had slice of pizza. “Not only do you completely break out of your norm and invite me to a football game with you and your parents, I get free cheese fries. And you’re coming to that party with me.”
“Ah, ah, ah.” Felicia wagged her finger at Elliot. “I never agreed to go to that party with you, and you know it.”
Elliot grinned. “It was worth a shot.” She glanced over at the field and nodded in the direction of the football team, who had clustered on the opposite side of the stadium. “What’s Shane’s number?”
“87.”
“What position does he play?”
“Wide receiver.” Felicia daubed at her slice of pizza with a napkin in an effort to absorb some of the grease.
Elliot nodded again as she shoved a couple of fries in her mouth. “I can see that,” she said, her voice muffled. “He looks fast.”
“Please don’t talk with your mouth full,” Felicia said tiredly. Elliot held up her hand placatingly as she finished chewing and swallowing her fries. “Anyway, yes, he’s fast. You should try chasing him down when he steals your piggy bank and climbs a tree with it.”
“Was it your piggy bank or your swear jar? Because if it was the swear jar, I can’t say I blame him.”
Felicia turned to Elliot and rolled her eyes. “You have cheese on your face.”
“Oops.” Elliot wiped at her face, but missed. Felicia reached up, lightly swiping the side of Elliot’s mouth with her fingertips.
For a brief second, the only sound Felicia could hear in the stadium was that of her own heartbeat in her ears. She had closed the distance between the two of them without conscious thought, and now they were standing perilously close together. Her hand had fallen back and was resting awkwardly on her own collar, though for a second she thought she might reach to touch Elliot’s face again. Her skin had been satiny soft to the touch, a sharp contrast to the rough stubble she remembered from touching Brian’s face.
She took a deep breath and stepped back. A whistle blew on the field. She instantly became aware of her surroundings again. “Shall we get back?” she asked brightly, then cringed inwardly. Her chipper tone and use of the word “shall” would probably clue Elliot that something was amiss.
“Sure,” Elliot responded with a smile, giving no sign that she had noticed anything abnormal, even though Felicia knew she had.
After halftime, Melody did not do her usual visual sweep of the bleachers to locate Andy and see what he wanted to do. Instead, she turned and her eyes immediately found the low brass section, or, more specifically, Lucas. Their gazes locked and she realized he had been looking for her too. She ducked her head, suppressing a smile, as the two of them climbed down the bleachers and met at the bottom of the steps.
“Do you want to grab something to eat?” he asked her.
“Yeah,” she responded.
They started the trek over to the concession stand in silence. When Lucas sidestepped someone coming along the path in the opp
osite direction, the backs of their hands brushed for a moment. Melody held her breath, waiting, but after they had passed the obstruction in their path, they resumed walking at a comfortable distance apart. Melody released her breath slowly.
“So, what are you doing tonight?” Lucas asked her as they neared the concession stand and hooked on to the back of the queue.
“I’m going to the party at Amanda’s house.”
Lucas furrowed his brow. “Why?”
Melody laughed. “Because Cadie invited me.”
He looked at the ground and kicked absently at a pebble, scuffing his shiny black shoes. “So… you’re going with Andy then?”
Melody shook her head. “I didn’t invite Andy.”
“Oh.”
There was a pause. “Did you want to go?” Melody asked him finally.
He shook his head, smiling slightly. “I don’t really fit in with that crowd,” he replied.
“Oh.”
“You don’t really fit in with that crowd, either,” he said. “And I mean that in a good way.”
Their conversation was interrupted by a scuffle about ten yards away. They turned and saw Kristy storming off towards the bleachers, leaving a dejected-looking Neil behind.
Sixteen
Cadie, feeling the party that night was an important event, had enlisted both Stacy and Melody’s help in coming up with an appropriate outfit. They had finally settled on a peach halter top with a white knit skirt and Gladiator sandals. Cadie unearthed a pair of silver zigzag earrings that complemented the criss-cross pattern of the sandals.
Melody had also packed clothes in her backpack to change into after the football game. She wore a teal and white patterned blouse, skinny jeans, and teal flats. Her white pearl earrings and matching necklace went well with the ensemble. Cadie thought they both looked exceptionally good tonight.
They entered the party together and Stacy flagged them down immediately. She was still sober. “Hey, why don’t you girls get yourselves a beer and join us in the den,” she said.
“Why? What’s going on in the den?” Cadie wanted to know.
“We’re about to start a rousing game of Never Have I Ever.”
“Oh, joy.” Cadie looked at her sister. “Well, what do you say, Mel? Shall we go embarrass ourselves in front of a bunch of people?”
Melody, however, was not paying too much attention to the conversation. Her eyes were trained across the living room. “Andy’s here,” she said tonelessly.
Cadie and Stacy followed her stare. “Oh. Yeah. So?” Cadie asked.
“So, he came without me,” Melody answered.
“So?” Cadie said again. “You came without him.”
“Yeah, but…” She trailed off.
Stacy shifted her weight. “So, we’re heading for the keg, right? I’ll show you where it is.”
“You go ahead,” Melody said distractedly.
Cadie reached out and grabbed her arm. “Are you okay?”
Melody turned and smiled at her, though it was obviously forced. “I’m fine. I just think it’d be rude for me to not say hi to Andy.”
Cadie had a feeling that “hi” was not what Melody was planning on saying to Andy, but she did not pursue the topic any further. Stacy was waiting impatiently, and Stacy was the reason she had come to this party in the first place. Allegedly. “Okay, well, I’ll see you later then.” Cadie allowed herself to be led into the kitchen, where they found a big silver keg gleaming in a plastic tub of ice.
“So, Never Have I Ever, huh?” Cadie asked conversationally as Stacy began pouring two beers for them both.
“I know, I think it’s a stupid game, too,” Stacy remarked, “but Shane is in there.”
Cadie’s ears perked up, but she tried to appear nonchalant. “That’s nice,” she said casually.
“He looks good,” Stacy commented, her eyes flashing, as she handed a beer to Cadie.
“He always does,” Cadie muttered bitterly.
“No, I mean, he looks like he tried to look good,” Stacy explained. “All the other guys look like they just came off the field—you know, still wearing jerseys and everything—and he definitely changed. He looks like he brushed his hair, too.”
“Shane owns a brush?”
“I never would have guessed, either. Come on. Let’s go play the game.”
“Uh,” said Cadie, following Stacy somewhat reluctantly, “I’m not sure I’m ready to play this in front of a people I don’t know very well. I’m going to be thoroughly embarrassed.”
“Why? Take off your jacket,” she commanded.
Cadie did, obediently, then continued, “Well, I just don’t know anybody very well and I don’t want to be too—revealing—with people I don’t know.”
“Oh.” Stacy nodded knowingly. “I hear you. It’s kind of like your first date with Shane and you have to be kind of modest.”
“It is not!” Cadie protested. “That’s not—”
“I’ll take care of it,” Stacy interrupted, grabbing Cadie’s hand and dragging her into the den.
There were a lot of people in there, gathered around a coffee table, evidently ready for the game to begin, unless it already had. Shane was in there, as Stacy had already said, along with Will and a couple other football players that Cadie recognized—Tyson Claar, Adam Benson, and Kevin Bauer. The girls were all cheerleaders, she noted—Amanda Teller, Meredith Wachniki, and Erica Young. Cadie was perturbed to see that Shane was sitting next to Amanda on the couch.
“What are we playing?” Stacy asked.
Will rolled his eyes. “I told you we were going to play Never Have I Ever.”
“I don’t want to play that game,” Stacy protested. “It’s stupid.”
Erica threw up her hands. “Thank you. I said that game was stupid.”
During the exchange, Cadie stood in the doorway, trying not to look at Shane. He was irritatingly good-looking. He was wearing a green polo shirt with a collar that was, thankfully, not popped. He was slouched back on the couch, his right thumb hooked casually through his belt loop and his left hand holding a red Solo cup, along with everybody else in the room.
Cadie was so busy not looking at Shane that she had barely noticed an argument had broken out among the group of people around the coffee table over whether or not to play Never Have I Ever. Finally, the argument was ended with Stacy’s declaration of, “It’s my birthday and I don’t want to play Never Have I Ever!”
“So what do you want to play, charming birthday girl?” Will snapped.
Stacy paused and thought a moment. “Kings,” she announced.
This was met with cheering. Apparently nobody had a problem with playing Kings. Stacy grabbed Cadie’s wrist and pulled her to the other side of the couch near Shane. She immediately sat on the floor next to Will. Cadie stood awkwardly for a moment, wondering if she should try to sit on the floor or possibly the arm rest of the couch.
This decision was solved when Stacy narrowed her eyes at Shane and said, “Move over for Cadie.”
He did. Amanda had gotten up, and he took her original spot on the couch beside Erica. Cadie sat down next to him, taking the spot that was still warm from his body heat. Once Amanda returned, with a deck of cards and an empty Solo cup, she sat down on Erica’s left, causing the four of them to be pressed tightly together on the couch. Cadie was definitely too close to Shane for comfort. Their legs and shoulders were pressed together and he smelled way too good.
Stacy began spreading the deck of cards face down in a circle formation on the coffee table, and she put the empty cup in the center.
Cadie turned to Shane. “What’s Kings?” she asked him.
Andy was drunk. Melody was sure of it. She was not sure how he managed to get drunk so quickly, because he could not have gotten there much sooner than she had. She had no idea how much he had had to drink. All she knew was that he was noticeably drunk, and she wished she could just walk away and ignore him, but she knew in her heart that she could n
ot.
He was leaning against the side of the fireplace when she saw him, a beer in his hand. She took it as a good sign that he was still standing, but this was obviously difficult for him. He saw her coming toward him and watched her approach with a blank expression.
“Hey,” he said when she was near enough.
“Oh, good, you recognized me,” Melody answered dryly.
“Yeah.” He gave no indication as to whether or not he heard her condescending tone. He took a long sip of his beer. “What are you doing here?” he asked, turning his bleary stare toward her.
“I came with Cadie,” replied Melody. “What are you doing here?”
He burst out laughing, though Melody could see nothing amusing about her inquiry. “That is a great question,” he announced. “What am I doing here? Damned if I know. I’m getting drunk, I guess. I guess that’s what I’m doing here.”
Melody took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “Well, why don’t you slow down?” she suggested carefully, not wanting another explosion like the one she had just caused by asking a simple question. “It’s still early.”
“It doesn’t matter,” he muttered bitterly. “Nothing I do matters.”
“Why do you say that?” She had the strange experience of feeling two very conflicting emotions toward him. The first was sympathy, because he was obviously very upset about something. The second was annoyance, because she did not come to this party to baby-sit him and his drunkenness; she had come to spend some time with her sister and try to have some fun without him. She had not even wanted to see him tonight.
“I came here because she said it was good talking to me,” Andy slurred. “She said that she was glad I came when I was at the last one. Now she’s in there with him and I may as well not be here.”
Melody felt a sinking feeling in her stomach.
It had never occurred to her that there might be a different reason that Andy had gone with her to that party in the first place. He had not gone to spend time with her. He had gone to see another girl. Melody had been putting in time with him for years, being his friend, making efforts, and at the first opportunity, he shunted her aside for another girl. Not only that, but he had apparently spent time with her at the last party, the one that he and Melody had gone to together. She could not take it in.