Most, if not all, of the school would be there.
Our usual halftime routine was going to be bigger and better than ever. That was the plan anyway. As the time for the game drew closer, I prayed that I wouldn’t choke again like at the pep rally.
I definitely wasn’t eager for another gigantic embarrassing moment in front of the entire school. So I pushed away all the crappy feelings around Mom and Ben and just pasted a big smile on.
Just before the game, the squad and I got ready in the girls’ locker room, putting finishing touches on make-up and hair.
I focused on the loud and upbeat music, letting it define my mood instead of all the negative self-talk going on inside my head. That could wait until tomorrow. Tonight, I needed to go out there and do my best. The squad was counting on me.
As I exhaled, I couldn’t help but think about Ben, what he had to be thinking in that moment.
Was he also pumping himself up? Pushing away all the nervous thoughts? Maybe he was looking at himself in the mirror like me and telling himself that he had a game to win.
Not because football was so important but because it was one small step toward a better life for him and his family. Towards proving himself.
If I’d learned anything about Ben, it had to be that.
His drive, his unwillingness to give up.
I blinked back at myself in the mirror.
It’s why he’d said no to me in the end.
No room for unimportant things like love.
I wasn’t a part of his plan.
How could I ever be mad at him for that?
I took a deep breath.
Slowly, I was making peace over what had happened with us.
He led the team through the large paper banner that read GO ELEPHANTS! WIN, WIN, WIN. The crowd went wild, and so did the cheerleaders.
Rachel did several back flips, landing the last one perfectly. The people in the stands went even crazier.
As the game began and the first play was executed, the cheer squads from both schools cheered back and forth.
We clapped, we stomped, we chanted like victory depended on it. And in a way, it did.
By halftime, we were down three points, which meant the game could still go either way.
If the boys won tonight, they’d have a spot at state. If not, this was their last game of the season, so there was a lot riding on how they did.
Ben had already missed one pass, and like the crowd, I could tell something was off with him. He didn’t miss easy passes, and I could tell from the frustration on his face that he wasn’t happy about it.
For about half a second, I thought about going up to him, reminding him that he’d completed how many passes in his life already? There was nothing that he couldn’t do.
I bit my lip. No, I was the last person he would want to see.
He came off the field for half-time, and our eyes met.
I shot him a quick thumbs up, hoping it communicated that I was rooting for him, no matter what.
For a second, I thought he might smile, but then he turned and jogged toward the boys’ locker room along with the rest of the football team.
Lilly called us to get ready, and I remembered that I was supposed to be paying attention. I had to get in place.
We ran to the middle of the football field, pom-poms in hand.
After I found my spot beside Rachel, I turned to face the crowd.
Rachel’s voice could barely be heard above the chaos that was the stands. “Let’s kill it, girls!” she yelled.
This was it. Our big moment as a squad.
Go big or go home, right?
Despite everything that had happened, all the sadness in my life, I was going to go big.
Most of the crowd had gone quiet in anticipation of the show, but a scream erupted from somewhere high up.
The voice sounded kind of familiar…
There. Two waving pom-poms grabbed my attention.
I squinted my eyes. And was that a red and gold uniform just like ours?
Another scream. I recognized the dark hair. “Go elephants!”
Oh. My. Gosh.
Rachel looked at me for a second. “Scarlett, is that your mom?”
I smiled wide, not believing my own eyes. “It is my mom.”
Mom waved at me again, and I waved back. Then she blew me a kiss. I did the same, going from disbelief to laughter.
Lilly called over to me. “Um, are we putting on a show or… are we putting on a show?” she asked sarcastically.
I grinned at her and then Rachel. Whatever pain I still felt, it could wait until after tonight. “Let’s do this.”
33
As soon as the game resumed, the opposing team scored a scathing touchdown.
The coach looked furious, and it only got worse when Ben dropped an easy pass right after that.
The squad had executed an excellent half-time routine, but the boys? They were struggling, big time.
This was an important game, and if they kept this up, they were done for the season.
Rachel grimaced as the coach called for a timeout and then signaled for Ben to come off the field. “If they don’t go to state this year, that’ll be the first time in like a decade or something.”
I grimaced too, my gaze on Ben. He looked dejected, hanging his head as the Coach chewed him out for dropping such an easy pass.
The crowd had quieted down just watching the scene unfold, and I felt embarrassed for Ben. We were close enough to the bench to decipher Coach’s angry words. “The Ben that played the first game…I need him here tonight. He’s not. I don’t know what’s going on with you, Garcia, but you’ve got two choices. Either get it together, or do your team a favor and step off my field, son.”
The words stung for me too. I couldn’t imagine how Ben felt.
Humiliated. Frustrated. Like giving up, probably.
With his helmet still in his hands, Ben stood there for a second. Everyone waited with bated breath, wondering if he really was thinking of getting off the field.
Without even thinking about it, I took a step toward him.
He had to keep playing. The team was counting on him.
So what if he had messed up a couple of plays? They still had time to win. A few errors didn’t erase all of his hard work and talent.
I wanted to scream that at him, but I also knew this wasn’t up to me, wasn’t my decision.
The seconds ticked on by, and I, along with everyone else, waited for Ben to turn around and get back on the field, especially when the referee blew the whistle.
It was now or never.
Come on, Ben, I pleaded silently. You can do this.
But he didn’t step back onto the field.
He stepped off.
Without a second look to the coach, Ben jogged off.
For a second, I wondered if he was heading to the locker room, but he wasn’t. He was heading in the opposite direction, toward the table sitting along the first line of the stands.
Several people sat at that table, including the people who kept score and the guy who spoke into the mic whenever something important happened, like an interception or a touchdown or something.
He spoke into the mic once he realized what was going on. “What is Benjamin Garcia doing?” he began. “Oh, maybe he’d like to take over my job,” he added with a chuckle.
Ben went right up to him, said something to him.
I glanced around at the rest of the girls. Lilly, Rachel, and everyone else seemed just as engrossed in what was happening as the people in the stands.
We normally didn’t just stand there and not cheer, but that was exactly what was happening.
The entire stadium had gone pretty quiet, except for whispers and mumblings, of course.
Ben turned so he was kind of facing the crowd and kind of facing the field.
The entire game had stopped. All attention was on him.
Coach looked entirely dumbfounded, like he couldn’t c
omprehend any reason why one of his star players had decided to do this.
Whatever “this” was.
Slowly, Ben pulled the mic up to his mouth.
His eyes slid from the crowd to the student band to us.
Then his gaze met mine.
I froze.
“Oh. My. Gosh,” I heard Rachel whisper.
Uh, same.
Why was Ben looking at me like that?
More than ever, I wished I knew magic because all I wanted to do was disappear.
Ben spoke into the mic. “I’m sorry, everyone. I just had to…well, see, I’ve been playing like crap tonight because something’s not right, and I need to make it right.”
Was this really happening?
He went on. “You see, this amazing and beautiful girl stepped into my life recently, and instead of seeing that, I ran away scared. Scared that…like other important people in my life…she would leave. But I was wrong. I don’t want to live my life in fear of what might happen. That’s no life at all,” he said.
A few people began clapping at his words.
But he wasn’t done yet. “Scarlett,” Ben said, his voice booming loud. “I’m sorry for being a jerk. And if you’ll still have me, I’d love it if you would be my date to the winter dance.”
He brought the mic back down, set it down on the table beside him, but his eyes remained locked on mine.
All of a sudden, it felt like everyone’s eyes were on me.
I fought the urge to run because I realized that Ben—and every single person in the stands—was waiting for an answer.
“Say something!” Rachel whisper shouted behind a wide smile.
Right.
I opened my mouth to speak. “Yes,” I said.
But I could tell from Ben’s face that he wasn’t sure what I’d said. So I nodded several times. “Yes!”
Rachel began screaming and waving her pom-poms. Only a second later, the rest of the squad followed suit.
Lilly called out a cheer called YES and I wondered what I was supposed to do. Follow along? Stand there awkwardly?
Then Rachel, being Rachel, ran several feet along the side of the football field before launching herself into the air, pulling off about five backflips.
That’s when the crowd began to go wild.
I turned to Rachel and then Ben.
Rachel urged me toward Ben.
Ben began walking toward me, a huge smile on his face.
Slowly, I relaxed and began matching my smile to his. Complete with full-on cheddar and everything as I walked.
The closer we got, the faster we moved until I landed in his arms.
Even feeling Ben against me, I couldn’t believe this was real, that this was actually happening.
How had my life turned into a freakin’ Netflix movie??
Ben looked down at me, still grinning. “Can we try this again?” he asked quietly.
I nodded. “I’d love that.”
Then he kissed me, and I legit wondered if I was in the middle of a crazy dream.
The announcer guy’s voice brought us back down to Earth. “I should’ve known that girl troubles were behind this player’s game being off tonight,” he said with a chuckle.
Some of the people in the stand began to laugh too. Others began to clap and cheer.
Ben laughed too, and I couldn’t help but join him. “You really know how to grab a girl’s attention,” I quipped.
“I do, huh?” he replied. The sound of the ref’s whistle ended the moment. He glanced back to the field. “I…should get going, though.”
I nodded. “You probably should.”
He kissed me on the forehead then said, “See you after the game, Scarlett.”
34
Ben walked off the football field and toward me, a large golden trophy in his hand.
I took him in, football uniform and all, not believing how handsome my boyfriend was.
“You did it,” I cried, dropping my pom-poms so I could hug him.
He grinned and held up the trophy. “Not too shabby, huh?”
“Not shabby at all,” I replied, giving him a hug.
Aaron and a couple of other guys came up to us, patting Ben on the back.
He handed them the trophy and turned back to me, pulling me aside. “Now that the football season is over, not to mention cheer, I’m gonna have more time for us,” he said.
I gave his hand a squeeze. “That sounds good to me. And speaking of the football season being over…”
I walked over to where my gym bag lay in the grass and pulled out a bag of cookies. “For you,” I said, handing him the bag.
Ben smiled as our eyes met. “I still remember the day you tackled me to the ground after you found out about my peanut allergy,” he said, amused.
I laughed and looked down. “Me too.”
He pulled me in close. “I think that’s the day I realized how much I liked you,” he said quietly.
I wrapped my arms around his neck, finding it hard to focus on breathing. Just like that, I was back to not being able to form sentences. “Really?” I breathed. After a second, I worked up the courage to tell him what was on my mind. “For me, it was the moment we bumped into each other my first day.”
He chuckled. “I won’t lie. I thought you were a little weird. Cute but weird.”
I laughed, even if part of me wanted to die from mortification. I knew it!
Mom came up to us, and we pulled apart. Ben shook her hand. “Hey, Mrs. Moore.”
“Ben,” she replied with a smile. “Great game.”
“Thank you,” he said. “Couldn’t have done it without your screams of encouragement from the stands.”
Now Mom looked a little embarrassed. She brought her hand to her chest. “Oh, you could hear me all the way on the field?”
I grinned wide at her.
“Yes, ma’am,” Ben replied. I could tell he was trying not to laugh.
Mom cleared her throat. “Well, I’m glad it helped.”
The football coach called Ben over, and he gave me a peck on the cheek before running off.
Mom and I stared after him. “I like him,” she said. “I’m glad things ended up working out between you two.”
I sighed. “Me too.”
She turned back to me. “So I’m going out with that guy from work next week,” she said.
“Really?” I asked, surprised. “What made you change your mind?”
She shrugged. “I just figure if you’re brave enough to start over at a new school and open up your heart to the possibility of love, then maybe I want to be brave too.”
I wrapped her in a hug. “I’m glad we moved here.”
She hugged me back. “Me too. I think we needed this more than we knew. I love this town, as much as I miss our old home.”
It definitely felt like home.
She tucked some hair behind my ear. “I know we said we would give it time before we made a final decision on staying here, but I want you to know that it’s your decision, okay?”
“We said we would make it together,” I replied, nervous all of a sudden. It was a big decision, and the thought of making it alone was scary.
She smiled. “Yeah, but it’s your senior year next year. I’ll be fine no matter where I am. We’re together, and that’s all that matters to me. If you decide you want to move back and graduate with your old friends or if you just want to be closer to Dad, I’m okay with that. And if you decide that you want to stay here instead, I’m okay with that too.”
I exhaled. Tried to think about it, but it wasn’t the kind of thing that I wanted to rush. That I knew for sure.
Being close to Dad at graduation, being able to go see him afterward and even feeling like he was close would mean a lot.
But Ben, Rachel, Audrey, and Nora meant a lot too.
“Okay,” I said. “I’ll think about it.”
Mom brushed my face with her thumb. “There’s no wrong decision, okay? Either way, we’ll be
fine, and you have plenty of time to decide.”
Mom’s phone rang, and she glanced at it. “I’ll see you at home, okay?”
We hugged goodbye, and she walked off, talking on the phone.
I looked off toward Ben who was still talking to his coach and a couple of older men. It looked like a serious conversation, and I wondered if those were scouts he was talking to.
Maybe Ben had some big decisions of his own to make.
It all made me nervous, but one thing I knew for sure.
We would be okay. Things had a way of working out.
35
Light reflected off the silver snowflake decorations hanging from the ceiling.
I pulled Ben closer as we swayed to the slow music playing in the background.
He squeezed my hand and then twirled me around. My sparkly silver dress caught the light too. It was a strapless sweetheart neckline design. It hugged my figure all the way down to my knees before flaring out.
As soon as Mom had seen it at the mall, she’d pointed it out. “That one,” she’d blurted out.
I’d immediately shaken my head. No way could I pull that kind of dress off. “I should go for something safer,” I’d replied.
Mom had looked at me and scoffed. “Safe? Please…this dress was made for you. Just watch.” And she’d walked right over and grabbed it before hauling me off to the dressing room to try it on.
She’d been right.
The dress fit me perfectly.
And playing it safe? Not something I planned to do in the future.
Because the thing about life was that we weren’t guaranteed anything.
Tragedy happened. Losses occurred.
So why play it safe?
Why not go after exactly what you want?
Mom and I had taken the risk of moving out here. She’d taken that new job.
I’d wanted to play it safe, though, from the moment I got here.
But somehow I’d learned to take risks and start living again.
First it was cheer.
Then it was falling for Ben.
Getting hurt in the process.
But even if I wasn’t dancing with him in the middle of the dance floor right now, I still wouldn’t change a thing.
Falling for Ben & Other Impossible Things (Garcia Brothers Book 1) Page 14