Chapter Eight
“No, Roley, you don’t need any liquid eyeliner. Your eyes are already gorgeous.”
To soften her words, Izzy gave her dog a good belly rub then went back to the mirror to finish applying her makeup. She was naturally so pale that she could wear foundation that matched her normal skin tone and still look Goth. With her black hair and violet eyes, it wasn’t hard to get the look she wanted with minimal effort. Purple eye shadow and lipstick complemented her hair, and she quickly ran her flat iron through it to discourage any heat-induced curls, then put on her earrings and nose stud and she was ready to go.
“Dozer!” She pried his jaw open and pulled her makeup sponge out of his mouth then tossed it into the trash can. “I know you guys want to help, but eating my stuff isn’t the right way.” She scratched behind his ears.
The alarm signaled a door had opened downstairs, and both dogs began barking. Either someone was breaking in, or her father was home. She wasn’t sure which she preferred.
“Izzy?” The dogs raced down the staircase to greet him.
“Coming, Dad.” She took the football book she’d bought and stuffed it into the drawer of her nightstand then slowly followed the dogs, hoping they would mellow his mood. Dozer ran to her as soon as she entered the kitchen, but Roley stayed with Dad. She was an attention whore in the best possible way.
He straightened. “I see you’re going out with your…friends.”
Though he was fine with Audrey and most of the girls she hung out with, he detested the boys in their group, based on appearance alone. He only tolerated Jeremy because he’d been around for so long.
“Yes, we’re going to the football game. First of the season.” She glanced at his face and a laugh nearly shot out of her. He was gobsmacked.
“You’re going to a football game? What prompted that?”
She shrugged. “It’s our senior year. We decided to see what all the fuss is about.”
“Speaking of fuss, have you sent in your applications to UT and A&M?”
Not in the mood to argue with him, she said, “Can we please not do this right now? I need to pick up Audrey, and I don’t want to be late.”
He leaned against the counter and crossed his arms. “I know you want to join that dance company instead of focusing on your education or helping with the campaign, but what if you don’t make it? You need something to fall back on.”
Blood whooshed past her ears. “Thanks for the vote of confidence.” She snatched her purse off the counter and stalked toward the garage.
“Izzy.” The pleading tone in his voice made her stop. Despite their differences, she was more at ease when he was home. He opened his arms and she let him hug her, and just for a moment, she relaxed into his warmth.
“I’m glad you’re home, Daddy.” She pulled away and patted each of the dogs before heading to the door.
“Be home by midnight,” he called just before the door slammed shut.
…
Texas was such a strange place. Their school didn’t have enough money to provide textbooks for every student, but they somehow managed to have a football stadium with a state-of-the-art sprinkler system that sat seventy-five hundred people and had both a press box and an elevator. Sadly, it wasn’t just their school district. It was a Texas thing. Some of the high school stadiums she’d seen in the Dallas area were so big she’d mistaken them for a college campus.
They’d chosen a spot about halfway up the bleachers in the middle of the Renegades’ side.
“So tell me again why we’re at a football game?” Audrey asked, then stuffed more popcorn into her mouth.
“Because I’m trying to help you-know-who improve his game.”
She sucked in a breath and choked on the popcorn. Izzy smacked her on the back. “Are you all right? Can you breathe?”
“I’m not dying. I’m only mostly dead.”
“Yeah, I can see that. Your face is gray.” It was a joke they’d started a few years ago when they saw The Princess Bride on retro night at the local theater. They’d had a lot of offensive comments thrown at them about their Goth style. It was easier to joke about it than get upset.
A large sip of her soda seemed to solve the problem. “How are you going to help him? You don’t know anything about football.”
“I know quite a lot more than I ever thought I would, since I’ve read an entire book about it over the last two days. I also watched a couple of old games online so I could figure out what’s what.”
“What’s he doing to return the favor?”
“Well, he agreed to dance with me in the production. As long as I can guarantee that no one from school will be there or find out about it.”
Audrey chewed and swallowed before answering. “Izzy, how can you promise that?”
She shrugged. “I can’t, really, but there’s no point in telling him that. It is pretty unlikely.”
The rest of the gang climbed up the bleachers toward them, ending the conversation for now. To be honest, she had no idea how she might help Garret, but she hoped to be inspired after watching him play. She’d been to a few professional games, but they were business meetings for her dad and they’d sat in luxury suites, so she hadn’t paid much attention to what was happening on the field.
“Ladies, to what do we owe the pleasure of being invited to such an auspicious event?” Jeremy asked. She’d had an instant kinship with him when they met in kindergarten, since his dad had been a long-haul truck driver who died in a crash when he was a toddler. They never talked about it, mostly because they both agreed that missing someone you couldn’t remember was a waste of time. Of course, that didn’t stop them from doing it.
A few of the nearby families were giving them the side eye, but they were used to it. Jeremy had gone all out for the football game. His hair was Renegade blue and spiked like a triceratops.
Audrey threw popcorn at him. “Izzy thinks we should all watch at least one game before we graduate. You know, see what all the fuss is about. Plus, we heard if you take your ticket stub, you can get half-price milkshakes at the Dairy Hut until midnight after the game.”
“Fine,” Trevor said. “I guess I can sit through a few hours of anything if I’ll get a free milkshake afterwards.”
“I said half-price, not free.”
“C’mon, Audrey. You know you want to buy one for me.”
“Really, really not,” she said without heat.
Izzy waved to Stacy, who was looking lost at the bottom of the steps.
Jeremy raised a brow and sat next to her. “So what are we really doing here?”
She should’ve known he wouldn’t let her explain it away so easily. “I can’t tell you everything right now, but I’m here to watch Garret Mitchell.”
“Seriously?”
“It’s not what you think.”
“I really hope that’s true. You know what he did to me. He can’t be counted on to follow through.”
He had a point, but surely it was possible Garret had changed over the years since. “I promise I’ll be careful. It’s worth the risk to be able to audition.”
“So he agreed to dance with you?”
She nodded.
“Don’t count on him to follow through.”
“I don’t have any other options.”
“Just be careful. I don’t want to see you get hurt.”
“Thanks.” She squeezed his arm.
“He’s a player, and he’ll probably try something with you. Do you know how many cheerleaders he has chasing after him? I don’t think he’s ever dated the same girl more than once. Use ’um and lose ’um.”
That didn’t sound like the Garret she knew, but then again, she didn’t really know him all that well. Jeremy might be right, but why would he have offered to dance with her if he was such a terrible person? He could’ve just walked away. Unless he really didn’t trust her and assumed she still had the video of him dancing. “Thanks for the warning.”
“Just remember you can’t count on him to keep his promises.”
The PA system crackled to life. “Please rise and direct your attention to the flag for the singing of our national anthem.” They stood, including Trevor, because despite the fact that everyone thought of them as the rebels of the school, when you grew up in Texas, you respected your state and country.
The players stood in front of the bench, all of them focused on the flag. Garret was easy to spot because he was one of the tallest players on the team, and after spending so much time watching him, she recognized how he moved.
Everyone started clapping and cheering during the last stanza. When the music ended, Garret turned to scan the stands. His eyes stopped on her and her heart skipped a beat. He shot her a half smile then put on his helmet and said something to one of his teammates. Despite what Jeremy said, he had agreed to dance with her, and that wasn’t the sort of thing a jerk would do. But the moment she finished that thought, the idea that he didn’t trust her popped back into her head.
Trevor stood. “I’m gonna need some sustenance to make it through this. Can I get you ladies anything?”
“I’ll go with you.” Stacy had been crushing on him since freshman year, but he still hadn’t figured it out. Or maybe he had, but wasn’t interested and didn’t want to hurt her feelings. It was hard to tell with him.
Izzy shook her head and watched while Garret and one of the other players went onto the field to speak with the referees and two guys from the other team. She’d forgotten about the coin toss to decide who would receive the ball. The Renegades won and decided to kick off.
Garret seemed so confident out there, like it was where he belonged. Suddenly, she really wanted to be the one who helped him get that scholarship he so desperately wanted. It wasn’t like she wanted a real relationship with him, not really, but it would make her feel more justified in her questionable actions if she could do something to help him, too.
“What are they doing here? It looks like somebody let the animals out of the barn.”
Izzy glanced over her shoulder and spotted some of the JV cheerleaders a few rows up. They were speaking loudly on purpose, and of course they were talking about her and her friends. That was exactly why a real relationship would never work with Garret. She hoped there wouldn’t be a need for them to pretend to date, either, because it would be just as bad.
Jeremy scooched about a foot away from Izzy and starting drumming on the bleachers and singing loudly. “Who let the hoes out, who, who.”
It took all of her willpower not to turn around and see how the girls were reacting. The few adults in their section openly stared at him, but he kept going until the cheerleaders left.
Once play started, she tuned everything else out, including the cheerleaders and Jeremy and Trevor writing lyrics to a song about a comet hitting the stadium, and focused on the game. She’d looked on the school website to confirm that Garret’s position was tight end, which according to her book, meant he was used both as a blocker and a receiver. More often than not in this game, they used him as a receiver.
Before she knew it, the whistle blew, signaling the end of the first half. The Renegades were up by a touchdown. Izzy shifted her focus back to her friends, who were arguing about something. Dancing had trained her to be able to block out everything.
“Izzy, you know I love you, but I can’t take any more of this,” Jeremy said. “The pandas at the National Zoo get less attention than we’ve had tonight. Anybody want to join me to see if the Dairy Hut will give us our milkshakes early?”
“I will,” Trevor said, and of course Stacy decided to go with them.
Audrey met her eyes and raised her brows.
“You can go if you want. I know this isn’t your scene.”
“Yeah, but I don’t want to leave you here alone among the sharks.”
Izzy laughed. “I’ll be fine. Go on.”
“Call me when you get home.”
She glanced around and waved to her neighbors, Mr. and Mrs. Conrad, but there was no one else she knew well enough to talk to. She spent so much time alone at home it didn’t really bother her. At least the side-eye families had stopped judging now that she was by herself. She sat back down to make some notes about the way Garret balanced when he was blocking. He’d have a lot more leverage if he kept his weight on the ball of his foot, just like she’d told him with his leaps.
All things considered, he’d been pretty nice to her despite her attempt to blackmail him. She didn’t know many other people who would’ve agreed to dance with her after that, even with free lessons, and he got mega bonus points for including his sister in their agreement. If they were dating for real, she imagined he would be the kind of guy who’d open the car door for her and insist on paying for her dinner.
The stadium erupted in sound. The players had returned for the second half. Despite herself, a shiver of excitement zipped through her. Though she’d never admit it, she was enjoying watching Garret play. He was fast and strong, and she liked knowing she had contributed at least a little to his success.
They lined up, and the opposing team kicked off. Garret ran in front of the guy who had the ball and pushed people out of the way as he went. With his help, the Renegades ran it all the way down for a touchdown.
When there were just two minutes left in the game, Garret caught a short pass along the Renegade sideline and ran forty yards to score a touchdown. With a twenty-one point lead, she figured they were guaranteed a win and decided to leave early to avoid traffic. Except for the reminder about keeping his weight centered, she didn’t have much to suggest to him. Maybe she’d come up with something before they met for his lesson tomorrow.
Murmuring excuses multiple times, she finally made her way down the row and rushed onto the stairs that exited under the bleachers. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the dark after the bright lights above, and she nearly smacked into someone coming up.
He grabbed her upper arms to steady her. “Leaving so early?”
The rumble of his familiar voice made her breath catch. “Garret? Shouldn’t you be on the field?”
“Coach won’t put me back in again this late in the game when we’re so far ahead. I saw you running away and wanted to make sure everything is all right.”
“I was just trying to get out of here before the rush. You know, beat the traffic in the parking lot.”
“What happened to all of your friends? Did you have a fight?”
“No. They got bored and left at halftime. This isn’t really their scene.”
His brown eyes caught and held her gaze, sending a shiver through her despite the heat. “But you stayed.”
She nodded, suddenly embarrassed, though she wasn’t sure why. “I couldn’t very well leave that early after I said I’d watch your game.”
“Will you wait for me? I’ll try to be fast, but we never know how long Coach will talk, and I need to shower after that.”
“My dad is back in town. I have to be home by midnight.”
He glanced at his wrist, but he wasn’t wearing a watch.
She bit back a grin. “It’s just after ten.”
“I have to go or Coach will kill me.” He walked backward down the stairs. “Wait for me. I’ll find your car.”
She grinned stupidly at him until he was out of sight.
He’d asked her to stay. She let herself grin for a moment in the relative darkness of the staircase, then went back and sat in the nearly empty stands and watched everyone filing out to the parking lot. She always carried a book with her, so she took it out and opened it but didn’t look at the page. It was just to discourage anyone from talking to her.
About ten minutes after the stadium cleared out, she got a text from Garret.
I’m at your car, but you’re not???????
I’m still in the stands.
Sooner than she would’ve suspected, he popped out of the staircase. They’d turned the lights off a few minutes before, but it was still bright enough to see clearly, since it took a while for them to cool down.
“Did you measure the bleachers to make sure you were in the exact middle?”
She grinned. “No, I just wanted to be able to see both ends of the field.”
She balanced on the bench with her legs crossed. He flopped down beside her and leaned back with his elbows against the row behind them.
“Are you interested in going to a party?”
She shook her head. Definitely not, though she was glad to know that he wasn’t embarrassed to have his friends see them together. “No, but thanks for asking.”
“I figured that’s what you’d say.”
“What if I’d said yes? I don’t think your crowd would welcome me.” She bit her lip.
“The guys on the team already suspect something, since they all saw me shoot up here to intercept you before you could leave. If it seems like we’re hooking up, they’ll never guess about the ballet stuff.”
Why did his perfectly reasonable explanation feel like a stab in the back? Her father would kill them both if he ever heard of a rumor about them hooking up. “Go catch up with your friends. We can talk tomorrow.”
“Nah. I’d rather stay with you.”
Her heart flip-flopped, and she was glad the lights had dimmed, because she was pretty sure her face was red. “Here?”
“Wherever you want.”
“Here it is.” She turned ninety degrees to face him. “What made you want to play football?”
His eyes widened. “Not the question I was expecting.”
She paused for a second, but then decided it was better not to ask what he’d thought she was going to say. “Is it just that you’re a boy from Texas, so you have to?”
He laughed. “No. I’m not a sheep that follows blindly. I’ve wanted to play football for as long as I can remember. I was three or four when my dad took me to my first Renegades game, and I was hooked from the moment the game started. Dad said I stood on my seat for the entire game, holding a hot dog and a soda, but never took a single bite or sip.”
Izzy smiled at the image of a tiny Garret mesmerized by the game. He had probably been adorable when he was little.
He ran his fingers through his hair. “You know what it’s like around here. There’s no hero greater than the quarterback of the football team. Even though I watched college and professional games as I got older, I was still obsessed with playing on the varsity team. There’s nothing like running out onto that field with the fans screaming for you and knowing it’s in your power to win the game, to make the whole town happy for at least a few hours, no matter what else is going on in their lives.”
Somehow he’d managed to capture the reason she loved to dance.
He glanced down at his shoes. “Man, that makes me sound so cocky.”
She shook her head. “No, I get it. That’s why I love to dance. It’s about telling a story, pulling the audience into what I’m doing and transporting them into my world with me. Making them forget whatever’s bothering them for a while.”
He squeezed her hand and held on to it. “Yes. That.”
His hand was warm and dry and much larger than hers. He made her feel small in comparison, delicate even, though she was usually the tallest girl in whatever room she was in. They sat in silence for a few moments, enjoying the sound of the crickets, the faint noises coming from the highway a few miles away reminding them that they weren’t alone. The lights were dim and probably close to shutting completely off.
She gently pulled her hand away and reached for her purse. “So, what happened to wanting to be the quarterback? Despite my lack of football knowledge, I looked you up on the school website, and you’re the tight end.”
He shrugged. “It turns out I’m better at catching than throwing.”
“Well, I have a few pointers for you.”
His brows shot up. “You do?”
“Isn’t that why you wanted me to come? So I could give you more advice about how to improve your game?”
His smile dropped. “Yeah, sure.”
Her chest tightened. She’d done something wrong, but she wasn’t sure what. Maybe Jeremy was right that Garret had some other motive for helping her. “Remember everything I told you about leaping? The stacking and all that?”
He nodded.
“You need to do that when you block, too. You kept rolling to the outside of your feet and digging your heels in. That messes up your balance and makes it more difficult for you to keep your forward momentum.”
He grinned, and her heart skipped a beat. “So you want me to keep my weight on the ball of my feet even when a three hundred pound guy is trying to get past me to sack our quarterback?”
She nodded. “Only dig your heels in as a last resort if the guy is already pushing you back. Otherwise, when you’re balanced, it gives you the leverage you need to push someone out of your way. Remember your lessons about how to leap?”
“You know I do.”
“Well, think about what you learned and apply it to blocking.”
He nodded. “I get what you’re saying, but it’s hard to remember when someone’s trying to tear your head off.”
“That’s why repetition is so important.”
“And here I thought you could only have your head torn off once.”
She smacked the back of her hand against his arm. “Very funny. You need to practice until it’s second nature and you don’t have to think about it, you just do it automatically. I’ve probably done a plié millions of times.”
He glanced at his phone. That was her cue to leave. His friends were probably texting, trying to get him to go to whatever party they were enjoying. No doubt there were cheerleaders waiting for him. She stood. “It’s eleven thirty. I need to head home.”
“Okay.” He followed her down the bleachers and stayed with her when he should’ve headed for his car, which was probably parked back behind the locker rooms.
“You don’t need to walk me to my car.”
“Maybe I want to.”
“Then maybe I want you to.” What was she doing? She shouldn’t be encouraging him. “Oh, I almost forgot. Did you find better cleats to wear?”
“Elliot and I bent every pair of cleats at Sports Depot, and I bought the pair we decided were the most flexible. There’s not a lot of variety, but Coach said he’d look into getting some samples sent, so maybe I’ll be able to find something better. I just don’t want to buy something online without testing it first.”
They’d reached her car, and she wasn’t sure how to say good-bye without it being weird and awkward. “So, thanks for inviting me to the game. I’m glad I came.”
“So am I.” He held her gaze, and her heart thumped so hard she was afraid he could hear it.
He ran the pad of his index finger along her jaw, sending sparks of electricity through her, then he leaned in and pressed his warm, soft lips against her forehead. She went weak in the knees but managed to stay upright. They were both still for the space of a heartbeat, then he pulled away.
“So, thanks for inviting me. I had a good time. Good night,” she babbled. Pressing the key fob, she clicked the locks open and slipped into the car at warp speed. Though she couldn’t be sure with the parking lot lights reflecting on her tinted windows, it looked like he was smiling.