Page 13 of Calm Before the Score

Why was she in Locke’s jersey? Did they hang out? Did he give her one?

I wouldn’t be surprised if he made it his mission to hook up with her. Girls are conquests to him, and he does a great job of reeling them in. I saw Violet when she walked to her seat with Liza. I knew she would be here. She would never miss one of Hartley’s games. After my mom became too weak to come to my games, I stopped having a reason to search the crowd during pre-game warm-ups.

She didn’t see me, but I watched her every move. I saw her laughing with Liza and applying glitter to her face. I saw the jerks around her, staring at her slim figure and jersey falling just above the waistband of her shorts. This is the first time I’ve seen her hair down, and it’s longer than I realized. Her skin is sparkling with glitter, and I catch myself wondering what I did to get myself into this kind of mental torture.

Coming back to reality, I look away to stretch so she doesn’t catch me staring. I don’t talk much before games. I listen to my pre-game playlist and focus on the game plan. I envision myself scoring and running through every scenario that the defense could throw at me. When I look up, I catch those pools of ice blue locked in on mine. Before I can give her a smile, she darts her eyes down and messes with her phone.I caught her looking at me.I shouldn’t care, but being on the football field does something primal to me. The thought of having someone watching me amps me up.

When I scored that first touchdown, I knew who I would be looking for in the crowd. I took my helmet off to get a better look at the stunning girl in the third row. Surprisingly, she waved at me, and my heart nearly jumped out of my chest. The moment didn’t last because that’s when I realized whose jersey she was wearing.

You’re kidding me.

I looked away before I turned into a complete psycho over a girl who wasn’t mine wearing my teammate's jersey. Violet has me so out of my mind that I almost forgot to give my mom her heart to the camera. She’s messing with my head.

It was one kiss, Ryan. Get your head in the game.

I’ve never gone this mental over a girl. I need to clear my head, so I jump into the shower as soon as the post-game meeting is over. I need to find someone else to erase this girl from my mind, not only because of Hartley but because she’s got some kind of pull on me. Welcoming that into my life is a distraction that is best pushed away. I need a distraction.

I told Hartley before the game that I didn’t want to go out tonight, but I’ve changed my mind. I’m too amped up and annoyed to go home. Downtown Tap will be littered with girls wanting to dance with a football player after the first home game of the season. This is what I need to get past the girl withswimming pools for eyes, soft, dark brown hair, and lips that taste like vanilla.

11

Violet

The game was insanely fun, and I’m excited to go out with Liza to Downtown Tap. She already told me that a lot of Springs U students go there because they’ll serve anyone alcohol.

“Please? Just a few drinks. We won, and this is a celebration!” Liza grabs onto my arm and begs as we walk from the stadium to downtown. One of the reasons I love Springs U is that everything is within walking distance. It’s a quaint little college town right off the beach.

I can’t stop giggling at my new friend as she continues to beg me to go out with her tonight. She’s embraced me so quickly, and I love her for that. She never makes me feel like I’m a bother, and I genuinely like spending time with her. My anxious nerves from earlier are long gone. Liza makes me feel like I fit in for the first time in my life.

“Fine! I’ll have one drink just for you, but you need to help me order because I have no clue what to order at bars.” I chuckle.

“You are asking the bar queen! I’m so pumped, ahhhh!” She squeals and hugs me.

We walk up the stone sidewalk to the “Downtown Tap” bar, loud music from inside intense enough to vibrate the ground beneath our feet. We make our way to the bouncer, and he gestures for us to head in. He doesn’t bother to ask us for our IDs. It seems like everyone here knows and loves Liza enough to let her do anything she wants. When we walk through the door, I see Springs U shirts across the dance floor and barstools.

“How are we going to get a drink? It’s really crowded,” I anxiously ask Liza.

“Don’t worry! I have my ways.” She winks back at me.

“Do I want to know?” I shout into her ear because the music is so loud that I can barely hear myself think.

“Probably not, but I told you I’m going to show you the ropes. Tonight is lesson number one.” She laces her fingers through mine and weaves us in between rows of drunk college kids to the front of the bar. I’ve always wanted to be the person that commands a room. Liza is that person. Her presence is undeniable.

“Hey, Payton, Two vodka sodas, please!” she screams to the handsome bartender. Love that they are on a first-name basis. He looks older than us. Maybe in his early twenties?

“I’ve got you, Liza.” He nods back.

“How did you do that? It would have taken me hours to get to the front of the bar and even longer to get the bartender’s attention,” I ask, amazed at how quickly she seemed to move us to the front.

“If you don’t take up space, you’ll get walked all over,” she replies with a hint of sadness in her voice. I don’t want to push her more on that right now, so I let it go.

Our drinks arrive, and I take a big sip. It’s strong, and I debate nursing this drink all night, but one look at Liza tells me that I can let loose around her. Her eyes reflect trust and care.

“Let’s do shots,” I scream above the deafening music.

“YESSSSSSS! Payton, two tequila shots, pretty please?” She flutters her eyelashes at the bartender, and minutes later, we are downing shots back. The burn travels down my throat before settling in my stomach, leaving a bitter taste in my mouth. This is going to be a long night, but I’m ready.

12

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