Page 4 of Flip the Field
Amerie
Duncan draggedme behind one of the food tents and no one tried to stop him.
I opened my mouth to scream at his stupid, smug face, but I didn’t get a chance.
“Duncan.”
Oh thank God.
His coach approached from the opposite side with his wife and four kids in tow. “Come have some lobster with us.”
Duncan’s arm loosened on mine and I seized the opportunity to slip away. April came around the opposite corner.
“You okay?” She ran towards me with her arms out. “What did he say?”
“I’m fine.” I shook the creepy Duncan feels off my skin and hugged her.
“He’s such a dick.” April curled her arm around mine. I nodded. We wandered the lobster bake, keeping one eye out for Duncan. I was glad to have escaped his clutches and I wanted to keep it that way for the rest of my life.
I sat with one eye on Duncan. I didn’t want him ambushing me again. When I scanned the crowd, though, another pair of eyes caught my gaze. “Who was that guy with Matthews?” I blinked and turned back toward April.
She looked to the sky. “Brady Hale.”
He was still watching me. It wasn’t in a creepy way, but like he was curious about me. As one of the few African American students at Thackeray, I was used to standing out in the crowd, but I had a feeling my color wasn’t what had piqued his curiosity.
“He’s from Florida,” April cut into her lobster tail and drenched it in butter. “He and Matthews played against each other in high school.” She brought the lobster to her mouth and then stopped. “He seemed awfully curious about who was manhandling you.”
“Really?”
“He asked about you after the dick kidnapped you.” April huffed and then stuffed the lobster between her lips. The sour puss look on her face turned to bliss. She moaned.
I giggled and peeked over my shoulder, but he was gone. “He’s playing football for Thackeray?”
“I think so.” April nodded. “He’s cute. In that sexy, bad boy, mysterious, kind of way.”
“What did he say?” I sipped my water.
“Nothing, really,” She dug back in her food. “He asked why you and Duncan broke up and I asked him if he’d spent any time with Duncan. He said yes, then I said isn’t it obvious.”
We looked at each other and spoke simultaneously. “He’s a dick.”
I loved April. She and I had clicked instantly. I didn’t have too many friends at Thackeray, but I considered her one.
“Hi, Amerie,” Emmy Williams was another.
“Hi, Emmy,” I waved her over. Emmy was, to put it kindly, intense, but she was great. Don’t let her doll eyes fool you –– she was smart and had ambitions to change the world. “How was your summer?”
“Amazing.” She hugged me. I hugged her back. She gave April a side hug before plopping down in the chair next to me.
“How’s your dad?” she asked. “He’s introducing a new bill on gun control next week. Have you read it?”
“No,” I giggled and shook my head. “If it doesn’t have sex in it, I’m not interested.”
April choked on her lobster. I patted her on the back.
“Is he coming up this semester?” Emmy ignored my joke.
“Yeah, maybe when the session’s done, for homecoming or Thanksgiving,” I nodded. Emmy stared at me with wide eyes and I laughed. “And I’ll invite you to lunch, I promise.”
