French Fries with a Side of Guys

by Rebekah L. Purdy

  Mortified, Payton stared at the table. Fuck. This wasn’t happening. What the hell did she do to deserve this kind of day? Tears pricked at her eyes as she tried to ignore the laughing around the room.

  Just then the bell rang, and Payton rushed out of class, sprinting down the hall and head-first into her brother’s chest.

  “Hey, what’s wrong?” Marino caught hold of her arms.

  “Just leave me alone.” She jerked away from him and rushed into the girls’ bathroom.

  Outside the bathroom, she heard Marino. “Jake, what the hell’s going on?”

  “Problem A: Kibby Carlton, or B: Chance Montgomery?” he asked. Much to Payton’s embarrassment, he went on to explain what had happened.

  “I’m going to kick that kid’s ass,” she heard Marino say.

  “Oh no you don’t,” Jake’s voice carried. “Stay here. I’m going to try and get Payton to come out.”

  She sniffled. No way in hell was he going to get her to leave this room. She sat on the floor and curled her legs up to her chest. Okay, maybe not the most sanitary place to be sitting. But it was better than showing her face.

  “Payton, either you come out, or I’m coming in,” Jake hollered.

  “Just go to class.” Payton sat in the stall crying. She’d never been so miserable in her entire life. She’d love to just tackle Kibby and beat the crap out of her, show her what a real football player could do. But unfortunately, she wasn’t that kind of person.

  A moment later, true to his word, Jake pushed into the stall with her and locked the door.

  “Please don’t cry,” he begged, embracing her close to him. “You really need to come out of here, because Marino is about to spaz out on Prince Charming. Plus, as you can tell, I’m missing a few vital organs, which might suggest I’m not really a female and therefore should probably not be hanging out in here.” He stroked her hair. “Although, I must say, I do like the décor … ” He began reading the words penned on the side of the bathroom door. “Call Kibby for a good time, please bring all your friends, she gives discounts.”

  Payton snorted, trying not to laugh and cry at the same time. “I seriously don’t want to go out there. I’m so flipping done with this place.” She wiped her eyes on the backs of her hands.

  “Come on, since when did you ever let Kibby Carlton get the best of you? The Payton Carter I know would grab her by her dyed-blond hair and shove her ass into a locker.”

  Two female voices drifted into the bathroom, and Payton gestured for Jake to climb up onto the toilet so his feet wouldn’t show.

  “So Chance really asked you out?” Maria Virelli asked as a pair of shoes passed by the stall Jake and Payton were hiding in.

  “Yeah, we’re going to see that new horror flick in Lawson on Saturday,” Kelly’s familiar voice answered.

  Payton squeezed her eyes shut, her throat feeling as if something was lodged inside it. More tears streamed down her cheeks. This was total bullshit. She felt so betrayed, wondering how Kelly, of all people, could to this to her.

  But Jake caught her chin in his hand and made her look at him. Once the girls retreated, he climbed back down off the toilet, looking like a secret operative. “Make sure the coast is clear so we can get out of here,” he whispered.

  Payton peered both ways down the hall before flagging him to come out.

  Marino, Bradshaw, and Elway were all waiting for her with worried expressions on their faces.

  “Jake, is there something you’re not telling us?” Elway grinned, pointing at the girls’ bathroom.

  Jake raised his eyebrows. “Only that there are definitely no urinals in there, and if any of you are looking for a good time—Kibby’s number is written on the wall.”

  “You okay?” Brad hugged Payton as the bell rang, indicating they were all now very late for class. “If you need us to kick anyone’s butt, just say the word.”

  “How about you write us some passes to get back into class, bro, since you help out in the office this hour?” Marino suggested then wrapped a protective arm around Payton.

  “Now, kids, I can’t abuse my authority.” Brad winked. “But I suppose just this once I could help out. And perhaps I could arrange to have someone call down to Kibby Carlton’s class and have her report to the nurse for that awful wart outbreak she has on her back,” he added with a grin.

  Payton busted out laughing. “You’d do that for me?”

  “You bet. You’re my only sister. Besides, if you mess with one Carter you mess with us all—now hurry up so I can get you guys back to class.”

  The rest of the day was pretty uneventful, and it was hilarious hearing the chatter in the halls about the call Kibby had received during her third hour—a certain cheerleader with warts certainly did wonders to the gossip pool.

  Relief flooded her when she made it to her last hour of the day. She was more than ready to get this damn day over with. Payton had just sat down next to Jake when Mr. Fogg, their choir teacher, called them into his small office, where he managed to fit both his desk and a piano.

  “I wondered if you two would be interested in singing the National Anthem before the homecoming game?”

  Payton glanced at Jake. She definitely wasn’t expecting this. Normally Mr. Fogg chose seniors to sing at the games.

  “Sure, what’d you have in mind?” Jake placed an arm around her.

  “You play guitar, Mr. Baker, and I thought perhaps a nice acoustic version would be something perfect for this year. You and Ms. Carter blend well together, and I think it’d be a very touching performance before the big game.” Mr. Fogg smiled.

  “Yeah, we could do it. I mean, if Jake’s cool with it.” Payton glanced at her friend.

  “I’m in.” Jake squeezed her shoulder. Already, she could see the excitement in his eyes. He lived and breathed music.

  “Very well. When you get an arrangement figured out, come see me and I’ll listen to what you’ve got.” He dismissed them.

  After running through several songs, the final bell rang, bringing Payton to game time once more. And after the day she’d had, she was definitely ready to kick some butt on the football field.

  Payton waited in the locker room as Coach Youngman ran through some last-minute plays.

  “Even though Coral Hills is in last place, they’ve got a couple weapons out there. So don’t go getting cocky early on, understand? If you win tonight, Mr. Carter offered to let everyone come down to the restaurant for a free sundae!”

  The locker room filled with hoots and hollers telling Payton how awesome she was. The coach called them to order.

  “Okay. Team on three. One—two—three—”

  “TEAM!” they shouted before pulling on their helmets and rushing out the door.

  The field was lit up, the night air crisp and cool. The players lined up in the end zone while the cheerleaders unrolled the banner the team was to run through. The Tiger mascot did a couple cartwheels out on the field and shook his fists toward the crowd, trying to get them riled up.

  “And now, give it up for your Aller Falls Tigerrrrrs … ” The announcer came over the loudspeaker, followed by a loud roar. The team rushed through the banner, only to be met by the screams of their fans and the cheerleaders.

  Payton cast a quick glance up to the stands to locate her dad and brothers holding up the giant sheet that they’d painted “Carter” across in big, orange letters. She spotted Lily, Jake, and Craig sitting amongst her family, but no Kelly. Not that she expected to see her after all the shit she’d pulled. But she’d still been hopeful.

  “Okay, Carter, I want you and Visser to go up for the coin toss,” Coach said, trying to get everyone else to line up.

  “If you want to try that new play tonight, I’ll be ready for the pass,” Visser whispered from next to her. She met a pair of eager, chocolate-brown eyes.

  They’d been hanging out quite a bit lately. She wished all guys were as easy to talk to as Neal.

  “Are you sure you wan
t to use it now, or would you rather save it for the Lawson game?” She adjusted her shoulder pad. Visser and Atkinson had been getting together at her house to run through a few extra plays—not that they didn’t like the ones the coach gave them.

  Neal chuckled. “Okay, I suppose we should save them. Besides, I think Youngman would skin us alive if we went out there tonight and just started whipping the ball around. And we still have three more games after this one, and I don’t feel like sitting out any of the last games because we tick off the coach.”

  “If I see you open tonight, I’ll hit you as much as I can—but I’ll have to keep you and Chance pretty even, otherwise I’ll be accused of playing favorites.”

  Coral Hills won the coin toss and chose to receive first, which meant Payton wouldn’t have to go out on the field right away. Instead, she started warming up her arm on the sideline, listening to the cheers.

  “Payton—Payton, she’s the man, if she can’t do it, no one can!” Kibby led the stupid cheer.

  Visser cast the cheerleading squad a dirty look before joining Payton. “They really need to get a life. Hell, any guy, or girl for that matter, would kill to have an arm like yours.” He glanced at her.

  “You know you sure have been defending me a lot lately,” she teased—although she wasn’t complaining. After losing Kelly to the “dark side,” it was nice to have a couple replacement friends step forward. Not only that, she and Neal had some classes together and pretty much liked all the same things. Football. Astronomy. Star Wars.

  Payton watched Coral Falls go three and out. Unable to get a first down, they’d now have to punt the ball. Chesler lined up deep, waiting for the kick. A moment later, he was downing the ball on the twenty-yard line, which was where Payton and her offense would start. As usual, her stomach twisted with nerves. The first couple plays always had her wound up.

  Payton got into the huddle and glanced back at Mr. Martin, the assistant coach, who gestured for a passing play.

  “Okay, looks like we go with the good old Dallas play. Two count, boys.” She pushed her mouthpiece in before twisting her head around to make sure everyone was in place.

  “Red thirty-one, hut-hut,” she called out. She dropped back and pretended to pass left then tossed the ball to the right, where Visser was just getting into place. He caught the pass and ran toward the forty-yard line before being tackled.

  “And the Tigers move the chains forward with a twenty-yard play good enough for a first down. Visser was Carter’s receiver on that play and has been one of her favorites all season, along with Montgomery—who originally came over from Lawson as their star quarterback.” The commentator filled everyone in on the drama of the freshman football team.

  “Chesler, I want you to block for Montgomery. I’m going to do a quick flip out to him around the five-yard line. Visser, I want you to line up on the same side, but go in motion. No count.” She smiled then moved into her stance behind Atkinson.

  This time she barely got the ball off before the defense came on hard, nearly knocking her head off her shoulders. Her chest hurt where the defender’s helmet nailed her. She took a deep breath, hoping Coral Falls would get called for a late hit as she laid there on the ground trying to gather her wits about her.

  One of the guys from the opposing teams glared at her. “You’re lucky you got rid of that ball. I almost sacked your ass.” He spit near her feet while she slowly dragged herself up to see the play had moved them forward for another first down.

  “Sorry about that, Carter,” Morris apologized. “I lost my footing and couldn’t keep him from coming through.”

  “Don’t worry about it.” Although, she was sure she’d have a huge headache when this game was over. She glanced down the field, wondering if she should go big or not. But she knew she needed to get the running back into the game too and ended up calling the reverse handoff play. Payton handed the ball off to Destin, who then handed it off to Samson. She was jumping up and down as he got down to the five-yard line.

  By halftime, they were up 21-0, giving the fans something to cheer about. And by the end of the last quarter they’d managed to rack up fourteen more points, giving them the 35-0 victory.

  After everyone showered, the team headed up to the restaurant for free sundaes. Lily and Chuck served everyone while Payton helped bring the ice cream out—she figured it was the least she could do since everybody else had stayed late to make sure her team got to pig out.

  A little bit later, Bradshaw, Marino, and Craig came waltzing in, and Payton rushed over to them.

  “That was some game.” Marino messed up her still-damp hair.

  “Learned from the best.” She gave his sweatshirt a tug before catching Craig’s eye. “I hope you two haven’t been folding my laundry again,” she teased.

  “Nah—Craig invited me over to fold his mom’s instead. You should see the size of her bras.” Marino dodged the shove intended for him, while Brad and Payton laughed.

  After the players began to finish up, Payton saw that most were getting ready to leave. All but Visser, who sat sullenly looking out the window.

  “Hey, what’s wrong?” Payton sat down next to him.

  “Nothing—just tired.” He stood as if trying to avoid her.

  “Do you need a lift home? One of my brothers could drop you off,” she offered.

  “No,” he blurted out. “I mean, thanks, but Coach Youngman is taking me home on his way.” He grabbed his jacket and rushed off, leaving her gawking behind.

  She wasn’t quite sure what’d gotten into him. He was normally so calm—well, unless some opposing team’s lineman knocked her down.

  “You ready to head out?” Marino asked while picking up the last of the ice-cream dishes for Lily and putting them in the dishwasher.

  “Yeah, I’ve still got geometry homework to finish,” she groaned. “Unless one of you would like to do it for me?” Payton made pouty lips at them. Which obviously wasn’t working tonight.

  “Not a chance, one year of that crap was plenty for me.” Brad picked her up and flung her onto his back for a piggyback ride. The only vehicle left in the parking lot, besides the staff’s, was Craig’s.

  “You guys let Craig drive you over?” She raised an eyebrow. “You’re definitely asking for trouble.”

  “Hey, I resent that comment.” Craig tugged on her ponytail. “Besides, they told me since my car’s the nicest that I had to drive. They said it’d attract the chicks—and see, you’re a chick, and I can tell that you’re wanting a ride in this fabulous machine.”

  Payton rolled her eyes. God, he was so adorable. And his smile. Her heart pounded in her chest, watching him swagger across the lot. “Well, it’s either that, or I’ll have to walk.” She grabbed Brad’s hat, uncovering his short blond hair and placing it on her head instead.

  “Oh, really?” Craig said. “Why don’t you come here?”

  When she leapt off her brother’s back, Craig chased after her. He easily caught her and picked her up, carrying her over to the car. “Just for that, you’re sitting up front with me.”

  Payton’s head drooped against his shoulder, and she inhaled the yummy scent of his cologne. It made her heady. His shoulders flexed under her hands, and her fingers trembled. Okay. Just don’t freak out. It’s Craig. He’s a total flirt.

  “Hey, that’s not a punishment,” Marino said. “I’m taller than she is, I should get shotgun.”

  “Since I don’t want your brother to cry, I better have you sit in back.” He set her down, eyes lingering on her as the boys opened the car doors.

  “I’ll show you cry.” Marino stuck up his middle finger before hopping into the car.

  “See what I mean? He’s big baby.” Craig grinned then moved to the other side to get in.

  Payton slid in next to Brad, resting her head against the back of the seat. “Is Dad driving down for your game tomorrow?” She yawned, hoping she’d be able to keep her eyes open long enough for homework.

  “
Yeah, but I think Elway’s staying here to help out in the restaurant while he’s gone,” Brad said, staring out the window.

  Payton listened as the boys started talking about homecoming, which she found ironic. Normally it was the girls who were stoked about that kind of thing. Brad and Marino discussed who they were going to ask, while Craig remained quiet, just snorting on occasion when they mentioned some girl he thought was gross or overly stuck up.

  “What about you, Payton—who’re you going with?” Marino raised an eyebrow.

  “Yeah, right, you guys know me better than that. Besides, when’s the last time you remember seeing me in a dress?” Her voice dripped with sarcasm.

  “I don’t know. Some guys might find you hot in football pads and a helmet.” Brad batted his eyelashes at her. “Oh, Payton, I love you, I need you—and you throw a mean spiral … ” he teased.

  “You are freaking me out.” Payton scooted away from him. “Besides, I don’t see guys lining up to ask me. Unless you mean Mr. Fogarty—that old dude who comes into the restaurant all the time. That’s it, isn’t it? He wants to treat me to one of his ‘senior-discount meals’ then a late night of newspaper reading.”

  “Obviously my sister has wild fantasies,” Marino said with amusement.

  “Maybe if I’m real lucky Prince Charming will show up in a sports car, while my fairy godmother helps transform me from quarterback to princess—which we all know just happens in fairy tales. And since I’m in high school now, I think I’m a bit old to still believe in those.” She sighed as they pulled into the driveway. Yet, deep down, even she had high hopes that by some unforeseen miracle Chance Montgomery would see the light and realize she was the girl for him.

  Payton was just getting ready to shut her locker before seventh hour when she spotted Chance coming toward her in her mirror.

  “Hey.” He stopped, eyeing the contents of her locker, his gaze coming to rest on her football posters.

  “What do you want?” She jerked her notebook off the top shelf, raising an eyebrow at him. “Seeing as how you haven’t talked to me since I got the QB position.” Payton slammed her locker door shut and began working her way through the crowd of people to her last class of the day.