Page 30 of Unfix Me

I snorted. “Stick with me and you’ll never go hungry.”

He pursed his lips to hide his amusement. “Isn’t that Scar from Lion King?”

“It doesn’t matter. He made a good speech.”

“So did Hitler.”

I threw a taco at him and it exploded out of the wrapper, covering him in meat, lettuce, and the works. When he tried to toss it back, I dodged. It splatted against the wall and made a mess of his comforter, but we both laughed.

Chapter 11

Sen

It was weird to sit in the stands at a football game. I hadn’t been to any since high school and back then, I was the one people cheered for. The attention had never been something I liked, but I pretended.

This place was significantly bigger than the stadium at my school. I had to crane my head back to see the top of the stands. It was enclosed with bright lights above that made it impossible to see much of the sky. The roar of the crowd was familiar and helped get me in the mood for a game.

Kai found me earlier today and told me there’d be a spot saved for me. He gave me a row number, which put me just high enough to see the entire field and offered a huge amount of leg room since there were no seats directly below it.

I squeezed past the people who were already there until I came to a seat with a makeshift paper placard with my name on it. It was a small thing, but I appreciated that he actually followed through and made sure I’d have a seat. When I picked up the paper, I realized there was writing inside.

Putting a hand over my mouth, I smothered my laughter. I almost couldn’t believe that he’d taken the time to write this himself. West wasn’t wrong when he raved about Kai being a good person. He felt more genuine than most people I’d come across in my whole life.

“You came,” someone said to my right. I turned and saw Brooks with a huge foam finger and a hot dog. It was a laughable sight, the law student with strict parents clinging to those two things.

“So did you.”

“Yeah, West acted like there’d be nobody cheering for him out here.”

“Will he even get field time?”

“Maybe. Apparently, he’s sort of a badass, so I wouldn’t doubt it.”

When the crowd started cheering, I focused on the field. It took me a while to find Kai’s jersey, but when I did, I stayed locked on him. Someone slightly taller than him, who I assumed was West, performed a dramatic bow toward the stands. Kai followed suit, looking a little less thrilled about it, but eager to please.

The first part of the game passed by in a blur. Kai wasn’t on the field and neither was West. They were freshmen, so I wasn’t surprised; just disappointed. I wanted to see how they played. With how close they were, I imagined they operated like a well-choreographed pair.

“I don’t know much about football,” Brooks admitted, leaning close so that I could hear him over all the noise.

“All the steps aren’t really important, honestly. You’ll know when they score. Then, you cheer.”

“A man who makes things simple. I’m a fan of that.”

“I think it’s more fun to just enjoy it instead of picking apart every play. It’s been hard for me not to do that. Habit, I guess.”

“Kai said you used to play.”

I nodded, trying not to ask when that had come up. Did they hang out?

“In high school,” I replied. “Not for me.”

“Makes sense. I know all about parental pressure.”

“Yours might be a little worse.”

He laughed before he stared intently at the field. We were down twenty yards and our points sat a good deal lower than the other team. There was plenty of time to make a comeback, but they’d have to pull it together quickly. When the wide receiver went down hard, half the crowd stood up to see what would happen.

Even though he got up, the coach replaced him. My heart beat a little faster when I saw 43 run onto the field. When he was in position, it looked like he turned his head in our direction. I knew he was just looking into the crowd, but I still felt nervous, just like I always did under his stare.

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