Page 102 of Fraternizing with the Enemy
“Sometimes Noah’s brother, Simon, comes out and reads his poetry. He’s at his friend’s house tonight, right?”
Noah nodded.
I nearly laughed at the idea of Connor or Reed breaking out poetry at a Top Tier party. Even though it was against the rules, it’d end up on Babble, no doubt, and the internet Bobcats would take turns coming up with the most creative way to boo them.
A faint smile was on my lips when my eyes met Noah’s. “Something funny?”
“It just sounds like it’d be a fun time,” I said honestly. “My friends are boring. They just talk about sports the whole time whenever we hang out.”
Wait. Did I just sayboring? Did I just callsports boring? The words had just come out. I blinked, but didn’t have a chance to ponder it long. “Yuck.” Danielle shuddered. “Logan and Noah are like that sometimes, and I have to tell them, not everyone speaksathlete.”
“Sometimes it’s really obnoxious,” Trevor called from where he stood at the fire, pausing his prologue. “It was worse when Noah played.”
Danielle shot Trevor a look, and he hurriedly went back to reciting.
“I’m going to run and grab skewers for the s’mores,” Logan said suddenly, something tight in his eyes. His knuckles grazed my knee. “You want to come with?”
“I’m okay here,” I said with an affirming smile.
“You know where they are, right?” Noah asked, watching as Logan got to his feet. “Hanging on a hook in the garage.”
Logan nodded. “Back in a flash,” he said before heading off back around the house. I burrowed a little deeper into the blanket as I watched him retreat, breathing in the scent of him that lingered. Just before his shadow blended into the night, I caught him stumble over the garden gnome again.
“So,” I began, turning back to the couple, wracking my brain to fill the sudden silence. “Noah, you used to play football, huh?”
The mood of the bonfire shifted, almost drastically. The atmosphere cooled off as if the fire itself had gone out. I absolutely should’ve just kept my mouth shut. “He played up until last year,” Danielle said to me, a strangecurrent in her voice. “He was on the varsity team even back in freshman year, and?—”
“And then Brentwood broke my leg.”
Noah spoke with zero emotion. The words were blunt, as if stating a fact. His focus was on me, but once again, I could mostly only see the reflection of the fire flames in his glasses lenses. “W-What?” I asked, but the word was nearly lost in the crackling of the burning wood.
“Snapped my tibia in the rival game.” Noah’s voice was flat. “First quarter. I’d already released the ball when two Brentwood linemen hit low—both at the same time. It was a compound fracture that shredded the ligament around it, and just like that.” Noah gave a slow shake of his head. “No more football.”
I blinked, trying to imagine the play he’d described. I hadn’t been at that rival game, though, but no one had talked about a Jefferson player getting a career-ending injury from it.
“He was the quarterback last year, too,” Trevor added, coming over to our blanket. “A junior quarterback is practically unheard of. He was going places.”
Danielle kicked Trevor again, this time catching him in the ankle. “But there’s more to life than football,” she said, settling firmer into her boyfriend’s arms. “Dangerous sport that it is.”
The tension around Noah’s mouth ebbed a little as he stared into the fire, ultimately burying his nose into the crown of Danielle’s hair.
“It is dangerous,” I said slowly, a strange defensive edge rising within me. “And it’s crazy how even basic plays can cause accidents like?—”
“It wasn’t an accident.” Noah still didn’t raise hishead from his girlfriend’s, speaking softly into her hair. “It was on purpose.”
No one said anything to support or oppose him, and I had to press my lips together to keep my mouth shut. Noah was saying the Brentwood Bobcat team targeted him and just… broke his leg? Why? Because he was gifted at football? As if it wouldn’t have ended their own futures in football if they’d been caught.
And surely Ashton, at the very least, would’ve bragged about it. He was someone who would’ve reveled in the fact that a Bulldog was hurt on Bobcat soil. Ashton and Kyle were jerks, but notviolent. No way could it have happened the way Noah was saying.
“So, Madison.” Trevor bounced on the balls of his feet, finally tearing into the s’mores supplies. “What school do you go to?”
I didn’t want to lie to them. If I was going to stay around Logan for a long time, the truth would come out eventually. But the idea of being honest without Logan at my side freaked me out too much. “Haven.”
“How’d you and Logan meet?” That was Charlie, who put her cards down and leaned her head on a fist.
I hesitated. Logan never said which friend group had dared him to walk through Brentwood’s open house to flirt with a cheerleader. Hehad, however, said that his theater friends didn’t really care about the rivalry stuff—so I made a risky decision.A 50/50 chance. “He came to my school’s open house.”
And, thankfully, everyone’s eyes widened in surprise. “Open house?” Trevor asked.
