Huh.
“I can’t believe you’re really here.”
I smiled up at him. “It’s really good to see you.”
“You too. But I’m really surprised to see you here of all places.”
“Yeah.” I sighed. “Coming back to Empire High wasn’t my idea. But Jacob wanted to see the game.”
“I have a lot of questions about Jacob. And who his father is. And where that father is. And where you’ve been. But first…I didn’t mean coming to the school. I meant because of…wait…does Kennedy know?”
“I just got back to town and she was the first person I saw.”
“Are you serious?” He looked over my head at the field. The game was probably about to start.
“Yeah. Come on, let’s go get to our seats.”
Tanner was waving us over.
I grabbed Felix’s arms to pull him up the stands.
“Kennedy knows you’re alive?” Felix asked as we climbed the stairs. “She knows you’re here?”
I nodded. “I mean, she doesn’t know where I am right this second,” I said with a laugh. “I probably should have asked her to come, but I doubt she’d want to come to a football game here. You remember how awful everyone was to her here.”
“Um…”
“I mean, I know it got better when we started hanging out with you. And then with Matt and the rest of the untouchables.” But still. I couldn’t see Kennedy wanting to come back and reminisce. She couldn’t wait to go to college and get away from this school. She’d been an outcast just like me. Neither of us belonged in this world.
“Ummm….” Felix said.
I laughed. “Really, you befriending us made everything better.”
He smiled at me, but it quickly faltered. “I really need to tell you something.”
“What is it?” I asked as we reached our seats. There was just this tiny slice of space left on the bleacher. Presumably for me. Although if Tanner would just put his legs down and sit like a normal person there would have been plenty of room for all of us…
“Scoot over,” I said.
“This is just how I sit,” Tanner said.
Jacob looked over at Tanner and mimicked his pose, taking up more room too.
I laughed.
“Hey, Brooklyn! Hey, Tanner!” Penny said from behind us.
My heart starting hammering against my ribcage. Seriously, why were so many people I knew here? If Penny was here that meant James was probably here too. And if James was here then that might mean…
“This area is a little crowded,” she said. “How about you join us up there?” She pointed up the bleachers to a spot where all the untouchables were seated. Except for Matt. I breathed a sigh of relief. Seeing Felix was enough today. I’d catch him up on everything. And I couldn’t wait to hear about how he’d been doing.
“Hi, I’m Penny Hunter,” she said and stuck out her hand for Felix.
“Felix,” he said and shook her hand. “Wait, are you married to James or Rob?”
She laughed. “James. I’m guessing you guys went to school here together? I need to hear all the stories. Come on, there’s plenty of room with us.”
“It might be better if we stay here,” Tanner said. “I guess we can squeeze Felix in.”
