Page 93 of Broken

“Caroline.”

She glanced up at me. “What’s with you and C names?”

I shrugged. “You’re right. I should probably start with A’s. Ariana.”

Izzy rolled her eyes even as she grinned. “No.”

“Apple. Isn’t that some celebrity kid’s name? We could go with Apple.”

“Ugh. No.” She rolled away, sitting up at the edge of my bed, and my hand slid to her hip, her bump out of reach. “I’ve gotta go. Last thing I want is to get caught.”

I pouted but let her go. “Amy!” I called out just as she left my room, and I heard her laugh down the hall.

Me: Daisy

Izzy: So, we’re on to D names now?

Me: I know my alphabet. Now, Daisy.

Izzy: Not sure if I like flower names.

I sent her a thinking emoji back, a grin practically breaking my face, and I sat back as Annie leaned over my shoulder from her seat behind me.

“Snack bar?”

I nodded. The game was well into the first quarter, but the other team had called a timeout. We hurried down the steps and followed the ramp into the hall of the stadium, finding the line surprisingly short.

Annie ordered nachos while I ordered a BBQ burger and some chips. She was licking some cheese off her fingers when I got mine, and I’d just popped a chip in my mouth when we heard a loud roar from the stadium. Sharing a wide-eyed look, we sprinted back out, running up to stand and watch at the railing as Noah dodged two enormous guys and leapt up with a perfect catch before landing past the goal line.

I threw my hands in the air, wondering what we’d missed that had everyone riled up before. Annie turned to a lady sitting behind us. “What happened at the start of the play?”

“Oh, number sixteen rolled over the back of a linebacker trying to tackle him and came out of it with the perfect long pass down the field.”

Annie whipped around, her hand smacking into my arm as her eyes lit up. “Sixteen! That’s Jet!”

I resisted the urge to rub at my arm–the girl could seriously hit–and wrapped my arm around her neck with a hug as I searched for my friend on the field.

Jet’s whole body was alive down at that field tonight. He was so happy to be back in the game. His eyes caught Annie’s, and he pressed two fingers to the mouth of his helmet before holding them out to her as he ran to meet his team in the huddle.

Annie pressed two fingers to her mouth, every bit of her smiling.

I nudged her. “Let’s go find our seats.”

Heading up the steps, Annie immediately started gushing with Helen and Stef about Jet’s last play while I pulled out my phone.

Me: Delilah

I looked over the crowd to where the dance team was seated in the section by the band and watched as Izzy looked down, seeing my text before sending me a playfully exasperated look.

Izzy: I’ve now got Plain White T’s ‘Hey There, Delilah’ playing in my head.

Me: Sounds like a winner then.

Her head shook, laughing.

Izzy: Not quite. Maybe…

Score!

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