Page 36 of Switch!
“Sure do.” I really hope that’s not where we’re headed. We reach the edge of the pavilion and step onto the grass. I don’t see any sports equipment, thank goodness.
Eddie stops and turns to face me. “What position?”
“Center.”
“You any good?”
A flash of Caleb’s memory shows teammates slapping him on the back in congratulations. He loved moments like those, mostly because it was the only time his team gave him any praise. Few of them were eager to hang out with him off the field. No surprise there. “I’m pretty good, yeah.”
“I don’t suppose you’re going to Wilson?”
“What’s that?”
Eddie laughs. “A high school.”
“Oh. Mine’s called Mount Tahoma. I think.”
“Too bad. Our football team could use some fresh blood. I’m a linebacker myself.”
“Cool.” I’ve traded military talk for sports banter. Hooray.
“Forget all that,” Eddie says, shaking his arms loose and clapping his hands. “Let’s have some fun. You want me to introduce you to those girls I was talkin’ to?”
I glance over my shoulder. They look nice enough but… “I’m sort of hung up on someone already.”
His smile widens. “You’ve got a girlfriend?”
“I’m working on it.”
“She like you back?”
Now I’m the one who’s grinning. “I think so, yeah.”
“Then this calls for a celebration! Let’s get something to drink. Sound good?”
I nod, expecting that we’ll go to the bar and order a couple of colas. We begin to head that way, but Eddie keeps winding through the throngs of people. He seems to be looking for something, and I’m unsure what until he stops and points. “There!”
“Huh?”
“The table. With the bottles of wine.”
I finally see what he means. Three bottles are sitting on a distant table, but they’re not exactly untended. The adults aren’t clustered around the table, but theyarestanding nearby. “I don’t get it.”
“You like to drink?”
I’ve never had more than a sip when my mom let me, and no, I didn’t like it. Caleb does though. He has memories of getting drunk and having a blast. “I do, it’s just… How?”
Eddie grins. “We’re going to steal a bottle.”
I glance again at the crowd, and instead of people mingling, I see highly trained military personnel. The ideal guards. I turn back to Eddie and shake my head, but he only winks in response.
“Don’t worry, man. Most of them left their guns at home.”
“Most of them?” I repeat incredulously.
Eddie doesn’t seem to hear me. Instead he rubs his hands together while wearing a shit-eating grin. “Let’s get this party started!”
Thirteen ↔ Chapter
