Something True by Scott Kieran

Author:Scott, Kieran [Scott, Kieran]
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Publisher: Simon & Schuster Books for Young Readers
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE

Orion

We were down by six with one minute left in the game, lined up on Havemill’s thirty-two yard line. Coach hadn’t used the wildcat yet tonight, and if there was ever a time to do it, it was now. He called a time-out, and the whistle blew. We walked over to the sidelines, pads squeaking, breath panting. My chest pads had shifted somewhere in the last few plays, and something was sticking into my ribs. I yanked on the pads as I glanced up at the stands.

Darla was there. Right smack in the middle of the boosters. Even after that stupid fight we’d had yesterday. The fight I had totally turned around on her because she’d completely caught me checking out True.

I was such an asshole. And there she was, cheering for me. And guess who was nowhere to be found? True Olympia. Hadn’t been there all game. I mean, WTF? She was supposed to be my booster.

“Bring it in, guys. Bring it in,” Coach said as we gathered around him near the bench. He looked right at me, and my heart basically stopped. This was it. I knew it. “Floros, it’s all you,” he said. “We’re gonna snap it to you and you’re gonna take it upfield. Marrott, you line up in the wide receiver slot.”

“Got it, Coach,” Peter said.

“Granger, you’d best block number fifty-five like Floros here is carrying your mama across the line, you got me?”

“Yes, sir,” Donnie Granger said, giving me a confident nod.

“All right, then. Let’s win this thing,” Coach said. “Hands in.”

We piled our hands in the middle of the circle. My heart was pounding, like, a mile a second. The whole game rested on my shoulders. It was on me.

“Win on three. Ready?” Coach said. “One, two, three!”

“Win!” the team shouted.

The stands went crazy. Almost everyone was on their feet. As I turned toward the field again, I saw Darla, jumping up and down between Claudia and Wallace. My jaw clenched. I was about to be the hero of this game. And True wasn’t going to be here to see it.

“Sonofabitch,” I said through my teeth.

Why couldn’t I get that girl out of my head? The hottest chick in the junior class was right there in the stands, practically dancing with nerves for me, and I was thinking about a random person who couldn’t even be bothered to show up.

“You all right, dude?” Peter asked me.

“M’fine,” I grumbled. “Let’s do this.”

Peter and Donnie exchanged a look but didn’t say anything to me as we lined up in the wildcat. The defense noticed my position and started to shout to one another in confusion, which was kind of the point. Donnie, who was the center, counted off and snapped the ball and just like that, it was in my hands. I gritted my teeth, put my shoulders down, and ran straight ahead. There was nothing but bodies ahead of me. I was about to crash into another wall, like I hadn’t had enough of that feeling lately.

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