Page 121 of Fraternizing with the Enemy
I’d dreamed of this moment for as long as I could remember. Walking onto the football field with my arm looped through someone handsome, the entire school watching, seeing me at my best—perfect hair, flawless makeup, a dress that made me feel like I belonged in a spotlight. And now that it was actually happening, with Landon by my side and the crowd looking on, it felt like a dream I’d been chasing finally came true.
But instead of being eager for everyone to see me, there was only one person I cared about.
We had to walk past where the Jefferson Bulldogs were kneeling in their halftime huddle, and I found myself searching the faces—scanning every helmet, every jersey—for the one that mattered. I didn’t care who saw me looking.
I just needed to seehim.
And then I did.
Logan was crouched low, helmet by his side, one hand tugging absently at the collar of his shoulder pads. His damp hair clung to his forehead, eyes shadowed beneath the stadium lights—but they were on me. Only me.
Everything around us, the team, the noise, the world,blurred. There were no screaming bleachers ahead of me, no Jade Dyer behind me, and no Landon Settler at my arm. There was just Logan, me, and the stars in the sky.
As blasphemous as it sounded, Logan was beautiful in his Jefferson Bulldog football uniform. I couldn’t believe it was the first time I’d seen him in it. His hair was tamped down against his temples, and his eyes were solely on me. Locked. Simmering. Like he’d never seen anything so beautiful, and the last thing he wanted to do was look away.
His coach was speaking to the team, but his focus was wholly captured. A flush bloomed across my skin, warmth rushing to my cheeks, my chest, all the way to my fingertips. I could feel it in my knees—that aching, weightless kind of feeling, like I was falling and floating all at once.
In the barest murmur, I watched his lips mouth the words “There she is.”
This time, I couldn’t fight my grin.
“Is that him?” Landon asked when we walked past the huddle, forcing me to face forward. My knees wobbled on the next step, the blood once more rushing to my head. “The guy you like?”
There was no judgment in Landon’s expression, nothing but genuine curiosity. I opened my mouth to rush out a quick denial, but stopped. Even though Jade was behind me, I found myself nodding. “Yeah,” I said quietly, admitting it to someone other than my mother for the first time. “It is.”
“I’m happy for you.”
I watched him closely. “And you and Lacey,” I began. “You two are?—”
“Next senior candidates!” the announcer shouted, making me jump again. I hadn’t even heard him announce the first set of seniors. “Co-captain of the cheer squad, Madison Oliphant, and quarterback of the Bobcats team, Landon Settler!”
I squeezed Landon’s arm on impulse, and we both moved to our section on the grass while everyone hooted and hollered. The moment sort of blurred as adrenaline hit me. I found my mother’s gaze at the front of the bleachers, even though it was half obscured by her phone that she held up to record. I grinned extra wide for her footage, hoping she could see I was smiling at her through the lens.
I also spotted where Maisie sat at the front of the bleachers in the student section, which seemed like an odd place for her. Her lips were flat, the only one not cheering. I wondered what Connor ended up deciding on for his grand gesture. I hoped it would be enough.
“And then, finally, our last couple in the running for homecoming king and queen! We have Brentwood football player, Connor Bray, and co-cheer captain, Jade Dyer!”
Jade and Connor stepped forward, completing the lineup as they took their spotlight together. Her gold dress glittered as she moved, and the bracelets on her wrist sparkled in the football field lights. I watched as my best friend’s lips stretched into the world’s largest smile, and it almost transformed her face. With the comfortable way she held onto Connor’s arm, I never would’ve guessed she’d caught him kissing another girl twenty-four hours ago. Jade was the perfect actress.
Something tugged behind my ribs as I looked at her. I couldn’t help but wonder if this was the lastmoment things would feel like this. Uneasy. Pretending everything was fine when it wasn’t. But that wasn’t normal. Not really. Normal was supposed to feel easy. Safe. And I could barely imagine what that would look like.
Still—I wanted it. Even if it scared me, I wanted to know whatrealnormal felt like. The kind that didn’t come with knots in my stomach or waiting for the other shoe to drop. The kind that wasn’t afraid of fallout and backlash.
Even if that meant big things had to change.
Connor looked over then, and we locked eyes. In them, I could see the unspoken request.
Ask yourself what you can live with. Logan was off in the corner of the field, in the football huddle, but his words still reached me easily. What could I live with? Staying in the tense normal, never knowing what the other kind felt like? Could I live with knowing I was a part of the reason Maisie didn’t get her happily ever after?
I knew the answer. Tilting my head down, I gave Connor the barest nod.
I could remember Connor’s words just as clearly.You act when you have something worth fighting for.With those two bolstering sentences in mind, I moved.
I let go of Landon and stepped forward, grabbing Jade’s arm. Her skin was cold as my fingers braceleted her wrist, covering the sparkling band. She jerked toward me, startled. “What are you doing?” she demanded, still yet to shed her megawatt smile for the masses.
I stared into her dark eyes, watching as they hardened. Fear and guilt and determination all rolled into one within me, but I didn’t back down. “I’m sorry.” Thewords slipped out of me, because despite everything, they were true.
Through it all, Iwassorry. I was sorry we’d gotten to where we stood now. I should’ve pushed back against things years ago, starting with sabotaging Maisie at cheer practice. If I’d stood up to Jade, if Maisie had gotten on the squad, if we’d been a friend group and not a prestigious popularity clique—would tonight look different? Would Noah have broken his leg last year? Would Hudson Bishop have been nicknamed the Grim Reaper? Would Lacey Churchill have been run off?
