Page 53 of The Midseason Fakeout

The other half though…

This is ridiculous. Everything’s fine. My insecurities are talking, and I really need to focus on football right now. “I’m glad you guys are here for it. It’s going to be epic.”

Darrin leans back in his chair. “I can’t wait to see you live, man. Bailey and I watch all your games at home, but there’s nothing like being in the stadium.”

“Sounds like you miss it,” my dad muses.

Darrin nods, looking introspective for the first time since he showed up. “Man, I do. A lot.”

Bailey hits her knee against mine. “He lives vicariously through you.” She gives a terrible impersonation of her brother. “Did you see that play, Bails? QB1. That’s my boy, right there.”

My mom and dad laugh, but I turn to Darrin. “Why don’t you try out next year? As a walk on.”

“I won’t even be going to Warner next year,” he says offhandedly before taking a sip of his root beer.

“You won’t?” my mom asks, her gaze flipping to Bailey. “Will you?”

Bailey fidgets in her seat. Her face pales a little, and it throws me for a moment.

I’ve gotten used to having her around. Both of them. Fun used to be all about going out and meeting girls and talking football, but now, fun has been a whole different adventure. Crossing out items on Bailey’s list. Seeing my best friend.

Even after this year, or this semester, she won’t be done with her list. It isn’t possible. Then what? Her parents are going to make her go to the school with the bunch of uptight, snobby people?

I turn to Darrin. “You planning on going to that school Bailey told me about? The one her parents want her to go to?”

“It’s a good school. Dad went there.”

“But they don’t have football,” Bailey interjects.

Darrin’s face morphs into a scowl. “Well, I’m not as good as Aidan, so it doesn’t matter.”

The table falls quiet. “Sorry. Excuse me,” he apologizes, throwing his napkin on the table and standing. He pauses a moment, shoulders lifting before moving in the direction of the bathroom.

I watch him go before standing, too, but Bailey wraps her hand around my arm. “I’ll go. It’s my fault.”

Smiling down at her, I pat her hand. “I got it. This is best friend talk.”

I weave through the tables, and when I get to the bathroom, Darrin is staring into the mirror above the sink. Our gazes meet, and he sighs as he starts to wash his hands. “You didn’t need to follow me in here, dude. Sorry I snapped. It’s—” He hesitates, shaking his head.

“What is it, man?”

“Nothing. I don’t want to say anything that’s going to get Bailey in trouble. I don’t know how much she’s told you.”

My stomach falls out.Does he know we’re faking it? No, that can’t be it.“About what?”

He grabs some paper towels to dry his hands and then throws them away. “It’s just, I hope you know there’s no way either of us can stay at Warner. This was like a Hail Mary pass for Bails. A last-ditch effort. The way bachelor parties are supposed to be. You know, get your kicks in now and all that.”

“Fun before you settle down. I get it. But is this school really that good? Sounds like you both don’t really want to go there.”

“It’s one of the best schools in the US. Tons of past presidents went there. It’ll set us both up.”

“You didn’t answer my question.”

He shrugs. “I don’t have a choice, and I’m tired of fighting about it. I have to go to school to get a good job, and that’s the school they want to pay for. I’d be there if it wasn’t for this stunt Bailey pulled.”

I lean against the wall. “I don’t remember your parents being like this. Making your decisions for you and everything.”

“It’s gotten worse since we got older. I don’t know, maybe Bailey is right and she’s always had it like this. They’ve planned everything out, and that’s what they want.”

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